Samantha Schwanke/Winonan
This past Sunday, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble performed one of its winter concerts.
I sat down with the director, Dr. Lovejoy, to get the scoop on how his concerts, and the band, are put together.
Lovejoy does two concerts a semester, one just before midterm and one before finals.
“The other departments and I have to debate for space,” said Lovejoy. In fact, during our interview, he received a phone call in which he was trying to fit in concerts around the dance, choir and orchestra departments for next October, December and even April.
Lovejoy especially enjoys this time of the year’s concert, though, because he gets to be inventive.
“This concert is when I get to experiment,” said Lovejoy, “There’s no real connection from piece to piece. It gives the students and audience a lot to digest and expands their horizons, since they’re used to concerts having a sequence. With this concert, for example, we did a jazz piece, which most concert bands don’t do much of. Also, in this concert, we had a singer [Dr. Dunbar] perform in Norman Dello Joio’s piece ‘Songs of Abelard’, and a group of soloist in Jack End’s ‘Blues for a Killed Kat’ and Charles Ives’s Variations on ‘Jerusalem the Golden’.”
The music department has a vast library, allowing Lovejoy to be able to find unique pieces for his ensemble to play.
He picks songs that can be used as teaching tools during the band’s rehearsal time, as well as several other factors.
“There are a number of factors that go into picking the repertoire: is it music that I really like? Is it interesting? It has to be pieces that are both musical and intellectual. Can I use it to teach concepts? I also like to look and see if the composer is having some sort of celebration, like Dello Joio in this concert. It’s his centenary,” Lovejoy said.
For band in general, Lovejoy wants to make sure that his students are getting as much as possible out of the class.
“I believe that our primary purpose in this setting is to make students better players. There needs to be content being taught,” Lovejoy said. “Half of the band members aren’t music majors or minors and they’re involved because they enjoy playing music, so I need to make sure they’re being taught something about the music.”
This is accomplished through the unique pieces that Lovejoy picks. This concert in particular was a challenge to the band students because there was no relationship between the pieces.
It required them to understand the complexity of each piece as a separate entity, yet be able to somehow connect it enough to make the performance successful.
There is a misconception that only music majors and minors can be involved in the music department, but that’s not true.
“Our reason for wanting music majors and minors in band is so they have a chance to show their increased skill, which they’ve gained through the music classes they have taken,” Lovejoy said. “The fact is we’re open to all majors and this is a huge plus because those students bring something to the band: a skill set we can use in the ensemble.”
The music department encourages anyone who’s played an instrument before, or been involved in a different art, get involved.
Lovejoy makes sure to check all incoming freshmen to see if they’ve been involved in band in high school and invites them to join the university band.
“Out of those 300 or so freshmen, we get about 60 to join band every year,” Lovejoy said. “Many people don’t realize that you don’t have to be a music major or minor to be in band. Many students also complain about the time factor; will they be able to balance it all? But usually students make is happen if they want it to.”
Band is an academic class like any other class on campus.
“Students are basically tested every rehearsal; it’s all interactive learning and is taught with non-traditional content,” Lovejoy said. “Band is reading in a different language. I think the arts in general, and music specifically, makes who we are more human. Unlike other academic classes, different sets of information can be different and still be right; you never perform the same piece twice, especially when you’re playing the piece live.”
Many people don’t realize the complexity that goes into making a successful band. It’s not just about every individual player, or even individual section. The band is a whole group of people who are working towards a larger goal, much like a sports team.
“Band in particular is about what everyone brings,” Lovejoy said. “It takes an incredible amount of teamwork, more so than even sports because everyone has a specific part and that makes things way more complicated. Think of all the multi-tasking you have to do with an instrument; you have to sit correctly, hold the instrument while pressing down the correct keys with both hands, you have to control your airstream, and read what’s on the page in front of you, notes and dynamics, and watch the conductor. It’s accomplishing something magical.”
Contact Samantha at [email protected]
