Expanded Centenary Wind Ensemble set for debut
SHREVEPORT, LA — When the Centenary College Wind Ensemble performs this month, it will have a look and a sound not seen or heard at Centenary in several years.
Director Thomas Hundemer expanded the former Centenary College Brass Ensemble this year by inviting members of the campus community to form a larger group. Their efforts can be heard in two performances. The first is scheduled for Thursday, November 16 at 5:00 p.m. outdoors in the Hargrove Amphitheater followed by a more formal performance Sunday, November 19 at 2:30 p.m. in the Hurley School of Music Anderson Auditorium.
Both performances are free and open to the public. Hundemer will conduct works by J.S. Bach, Gordon Jacobs, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Thelonious Monk, and others. The Sunday performance is followed by a reception hosted by the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity.
In addition to music students, the current larger wind ensemble includes several students from other majors, local musicians, and campus faculty and staff including a dean, a biology professor, and even the College registrar. Hundemer believes “the larger group is much more fun and gives all players a bigger and fuller musical experience.”
Hundemer adds that the he was surprised at the quality of musicianship. “I’m really grateful for all the campus and community musicians who have volunteered to play.”
The wind ensemble will open each performance with a march, which Hundemer says is a tradition with most bands. From there, the programs reach back many years with a Bach chorale and a modern adaption of two of William Byrd’s Elizabethan-era pieces originally written for harpsichord. Music from the 20th and 21st centuries rounds out the remainder of the concert, including Thelonious Monk’s Blue Monk and a performance of music from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean because, Hundemer says, “I just never get tired of that.”
The November 16 performance is outdoors, so the audience is encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather. Food will be available to purchase from La Michoacana’s food truck.