The University Band will perform a five-piece repertoire Sunday at MemAud.
Alexander Shambrock, a freshman trombonist studying mechanical engineering, said the University Band’s concert Sunday is going to be “pure awesome, nothing else.”
The University Band will perform five pieces at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
Josh Boyer, director for the University Band and assistant director of bands, said the concert will be “polished and exciting” and anyone with a love for band music should attend.
The University Band, or U Band, is an ensemble of students and faculty, as well as members from the community. Members of the band are not restricted by age or major. Of the approximately 70 members, 80 percent or more are non-music majors, Boyer said.
“These are people that aren’t doing music as a life decision, they just want to continue to play,” he said.
Boyer, an Ohio University alumnus, directs the University Band, along with two teaching assistants, Justin Kevan and Jeremy Harmon.
He also said that a number of the band members are current or retired professors.
Scott Carson, who teaches in the philosophy department, said, as a professor, he has not had many opportunities to play his music, and the U Band allows him to do just that.
“You meet a lot of great people,” he said. “It’s like a nice little community.”
The band practices once a week in Glidden Hall in preparation for four concerts performed throughout the year. This Sunday’s concert is the first of the semester for the University Band.
Among the variety of pieces being performed are “In Late November” and “The Strategic Air Command,” directed by graduate conductors Harmon and Kevan.
Kevan, a graduate student studying music education, will conduct “Strategic Air Command” composed by J. Clifton Williams, which was originally composed for a military band, he said.
“I think it’s really cool to do something that was meant for a military band and try to emulate that in the march style,” Kevan said.
“In Late November,” by Randall D. Standridge, will also be performed along with pieces by Claude T. Smith, Michael Oare and Andrew Boyson Jr.
“(It’s the) day after Halloween, so, I mean, what else do you have to do the day after Halloween other than go to church and repent?” Shambrock said.
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