Centenary Wind Ensemble sets spring concert for April 13
SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary Wind Ensemble will present a spring concert outside at the College’s Hargrove Memorial Amphitheatre (“the Shell”) on Tuesday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to all Centenary students, faculty, and staff. Masks and adequate social distancing are required for all audience members. The concert will also be streamed live at centenary.edu/windensemble.
“The Centenary Wind Ensemble’s spring 2021 program is perhaps a broad reflection of the difficulties we’ve all experienced this past year: uncertainty, hardship, tragedy and now, hopefully, redemption,” said Thomas Hundemer, director of the Wind Ensemble and lecturer in music at Centenary’s Hurley School of Music. “The concert features music from the stage and screen, including film scores and a traditional selection of marches.”
The “Midway March,” one of four on the program, evokes the heroism and sacrifice of one of the seminal naval battles of World War II, while Viktor’s Tale, with clarinet soloist Tim Wright, also composed by John Williams, is a story of a man stranded without country in an airport terminal, a fate that Hundemer likens to the “stranded” feeling that many experienced during lockdown in the early stages of the pandemic last spring.
Leonard Bernstein’s suite from “On the Waterfront” is a rough and tumble piece of both redemption and tragedy, chosen primarily because it showcases fine solo playing from the Wind Ensemble’s talented students and faculty. The somber music from Rachmaninoff’s “Vespers,” a Russian setting of the “Hail Mary;” the sprightly setting of Psalm 19 (“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork”), and especially the exuberant opening to Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, a setting of lines from Psalm 70 (“Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make hast to help me, O Lord”) each express prayers for better times to come, as does the classic march “In Storm and Sunshine.” Rounding out the concert are lighthearted marches (“Amparito Roca,” “Cinderella March”) and melodic genius Gounod’s delightful “Ballet Music from Faust.”
The Centenary Wind Ensemble is made up of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. For more information, contact Thomas Hundemer at thundemer@centenary.edu or call 318.869.5247.