The captivating sounds of 56 student musicians who make up the University of Mississippi Wind Ensemble will fill the Ford Center on Thursday night.
The Wind Ensemble – a concert band normally consisting of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments – will hold its 17th annual Spring Benefit Concert at 7:30 p.m. April 27 at the Ford Center. The concert is free and open to the public.
“I’ve been teaching for 42 years, and I’ve never in my life had a band as good as this,” conductor David Willson said. “I’m more excited than I’ve ever been. And I’m not making that up – I can show you emails that I’ve sent.”
Willson said having an outstanding band like the one he has this year is like winning a football national championship – both require perfect symbiosis across the board.
Rarely does a football team go to the national championship two years in a row, Willson said, because, like a band, if just one component changes – whether it be a prima donna at the top or someone more in the background – the whole ensemble changes.
“The depth and attitude of the band just hit this year,” Willson said. “I probably need to retire because I don’t think I can have another year this good. It’s special.”
Willson said selecting one favorite song from the concert is like picking his favorite student – impossible.
However, “Before the Sun,” composed by Mississippian Julie Giroux, appears to be the piece Willson is most enthusiastic about because it contains a violin solo, which is unusual for a wind ensemble.
Junior Jiwon Lee, a double flute and violin music performance major, will perform the violin solo in “Before the Sun” and said she is all excitement and no nerves – probably since she has been playing instruments since she was a kid.
Growing up as an only child, Lee’s parents introduced her to instruments in order to keep her entertained.
“It sounds really cheesy,” Lee said. “But they’re my best friends.”
Willson said “Before the Sun” is supposed to depict the day in the life of a farm family, like a hoedown but slower.
“It’s kind of like the background to the most beautiful movie you’ve ever heard,” Willson said. “It’s just phenomenal.”
Lee describes her violin solo as having a “fiddle-ish,” Native American-like sound to it. She said her fellow performers all also really love “Before the Sun.”
At the start of the semester, Lee said Willson began trial runs of 20-30 potential concert pieces and then asked the students for their feedback.
Willson said he has to pick something that challenges the advanced wind ensemble musicians but is also something the audience will enjoy.
“I learned a long time ago, if students like the music, that’s 80 or 90 percent of the work,” Willson said. “Because if they like it, they’ll work on it.”
Freshman Austin Moran, a bass-clarinetist, said the wind ensemble has been rehearsing for the spring concert three times a week for two hours since the semester started.
Willson and Lee estimated that anywhere from 400 to 600 people typically attend Wind Ensemble concerts, which seems like a large number but in reality does not fill up the Ford Center, Willson said.
Convincing the common person to go to a college band concert is not easy, Willson said.
“Of course, I know they’re not, but I wish more people would turn out,” Willson said. “But almost without exception the ones that are forced to go there cause they’re taking music appreciation, when it’s over, some of those kids come by and say, ‘That was unbelievable.’”
Willson said he encourages people to just take five minutes to get some headphones out and listen to “Before the Sun” and then decide whether attending a band concert would be worth it.
“It would be great if we could get a good crowd this time,” Lee said.
