Southwest Civic Winds likes themes and milestones. The symphonic wind ensemble will celebrate its 14th season with a pair of performances titled “An American Overture,” a show that will celebrate the forthcoming dates marking America’s 250th birthday along with 150 years of Colorado’s statehood. The performances will take place Friday at Ignacio High School’s Performing Arts Center, and Sunday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
If you go
WHAT: Southwest Civic Winds presents “An American Overture”
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Friday at the Ignacio Performing Arts Center in Ignacio High School, 455 Becker St., Ignacio; Sunday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive
TICKETS: $20
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.southwestcivicwinds.org
This year’s theme and program, which will feature historical and familiar pieces of music along with some contemporary works, all come from Artistic Director Jared Wright. A diplomatic process, he comes up with a set list, sharing it with the musicians.
“I generally am the one who chooses the theme,” he said. “Typically there will be an email or phone call or text message saying, ‘Hey, we haven’t done this in a while’ or ‘Have you heard this new work?’ so I’ll take that into account. Then I’ll choose the music that I feel not only fits the theme but also is indicative of the concert band repertoire and the tradition that we’re carrying on with this band.”
The musicians then get to work. Seasoned players all know the body of work that is part of the repertoire, while also understanding that they can never rest on their laurels – a musician is forever practicing, and they’ll all get up to speed on what it will take to play this performance’s selections.
“The charts are well organized in the organization. Jared picks the music, there’s discussion on the parts and its decided who plays what, that’s the easy part,” trumpet player Chris Ross said. “As far as playing the music, practicing, it is just a routine. You have to listen; your ears are the best tool you have in practicing music. So if you listen, and just practice, put those two together and then you rehearse, and you’re prepared.”
Selections for this show will include works by Frank Ticheli, Michael Sweeney and John Philip Sousa, among others. While the band may at times play these pieces of music as originally intended, this is art, and there is always room for liberties, which may or may not be taken.
“There’s always opportunities for interpretation, and sometimes you can sit and listen to a recording, and you know, ‘Oh, that’s Bernstein conducting this because the band does that’ or ‘Oh no, that’s John Williams back in the days when he directed the Boston Pops because they’re playing it like this,’” Wright said. “So, there are ways to tell that, and as an ensemble we do make those artistic decisions. We could slow down at a certain spot or speed up in a certain spot, or play something louder for emphasis, and we make those artistic decisions in the rehearsal so yeah, sometimes we do take those liberties to make them our own.”
Every region should have a musical ensemble like the Southwest Civic Winds. This isn’t a band looking to write and score the next big hit, rather, it’s a group of volunteer musicians respectful of an ever-growing canon of music celebrating the world’s greatest composers and conductors. They also do it because it’s a load of fun.
“There’s a quote from the Ken Burns series on jazz where someone said, ‘Jazz is the most fun you’ve ever had with your clothes on,’ and so I kind of feel like the concert band in some spots, it’s like that,” Wright said. “It’s the most fun you can have with a bunch of other people and just be enjoying yourself and making music together. It’s pretty special.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
