On Sunday, Nov. 16 in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center, the Department of Fine and Performing Arts hosted a performance by the Elizabethtown College Community Orchestra. The orchestra is made up of 78 musicians, who are both students at the College taking orchestra as a class and members of the community. This aspect of the orchestra makes the group very unique on campus. This season’s repertoire consisted of a variety of works, including Farandole and American Patrol, and a selection of composers from Bach to Tchaikovsky.
The ensemble is led by Dr. Robert Spence, the director of instrumental music, who also leads both the College’s orchestra and the symphonic band. He has been involved with the programs for several years and looked forward to this orchestra concert. He emphasized two important points that he enjoys about his position: making the experience educational and keeping it entertaining. He explained that this is for both the audience and the members of the orchestra because when the audience attends the concert, they are not only entertained by the program, but educated by the history and ideas that surround the selections.
Similarly, the performers in the orchestra are entertained with the music that they learn to play, but they also get a good educational experience out of it. They worked on the music for several months to perfect it and learned how to work with their section and as an ensemble, becoming overall better musicians. When choosing the repertoire, Spence says that he tries to make the music both entertaining and educational by choosing pieces that will give a musical experience and be fitting to the skill level of the orchestra. Spence also selects pieces he is familiar with that the ensemble as well as the audience will enjoy.
The concert opened with short performances from the College’s horn ensemble and percussion ensemble. After their performances, the orchestra began its first piece, a selection from the opera “Samson and Delilah,” written by Camille Saint-Saëns, the story of which is based off the biblical tale. They continued with two pieces written by Bach, first a chorale titled “Wachet auf,” followed by the “Little Fugue in G minor,” arranged for orchestra from the organ. At the end of the first half, the orchestra performed two selections from the play L’Arlésienne; “Menuet,” which was guest conducted by senior Joe Holbock, concluding with “Farandole,” conducted by senior Jason Sandonato.
After a short intermission, the orchestra continued its concert with a section of a string quartet by Tchaikovsky entitled “Andante Catabile.” It was followed by an arrangement of “American Patrol,” a march originally written for piano, that has become one of the country’s many patriotic songs. The last piece of the night was entitled “Handprints,” written by modern composer Steven Amundson. “Handprints” stuck out to Spence as a piece he thoroughly enjoyed and looked forward to performing. It is a piece that starts off calmly and as it goes on it builds in intensity. The piece also featured organ music.
Since the orchestra is made up of both students and members of the community, it presents a different twist on how the group is run because there are members from as young as middle school to those who have been playing for several decades. There are also Etown alumni who were a part of the band as students and who now return as members of the orchestra. Overall, the orchestra provides a very nice musical experience to see or participate in. There will be two final concerts from the Fine and Performing Arts Department this semester: Sunday, Nov. 23, the Symphonic Band will be performing their concert, and the Annual Family Christmas Concert will be on Wednesday, Dec. 3, both in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center.
