Symphonic Band to dedicate concert to injured student

The Symphonic Band, under the direction of Jon Waters, will dedicate its spring concert on Saturday, April 29, to band member Bernadette Wolfe, a freshman music major from Bellevue who was injured in an auto accident April 18. 

“It’s times like this when our community comes together, our friends come together and the band family comes together,” Jon said. Bernadette plays oboe in the Symphonic Band and also performs with the Marching Band.

The theme of the spring concert is I Lift My Eyes. “We lift our eyes to look at nature, in times of trial and heartache, in looking to God for guidance. All of the pieces we perform will be centered around that theme in some way,” Jon explained.

The Heidelberg Youth Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Elizabeth Tracy, will open the concert with two pieces, Yorkshire Ballad and Sang.

The Symphonic Band will kick off its program with the three-movement First Suite in E Flat by British composer Gustav Holst. The piece is considered the impetus for composers to write specifically for bands. The band will also perform Steven Bryant’s Dusk, John Mackey’s Sheltering Sky and An American Elegy, composed by Frank Ticheli as a tribute to the survivors of the Columbine High School tragedy. Ticheli wrote an alma mater for Columbine and then composed a larger piece around it. For the performance, the Symphonic Band will sing Columbine’s alma mater and then play Ticheli’s Elegy just nine days after the 18th anniversary of the tragedy.

The Youth Wind Ensemble will come together with the Symphonic Band to close the program with a traditional march, Americans We by Henry Fillmore and Gettysburg.

For Gettysburg, 'Berg alumnus Dan Corfman, ’87, will guest direct the ensembles. Dan, who is the band director at Gibsonburg High School, has been rehearsing with the band throughout this season.

The bands will end with a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. in Brenneman Music Hall.