Imagine being chosen to perform a concert with many other musicians, but your only time to practice as a group is the day before the concert. Their directors chose this talented group of musicians to participate in this experience. They met new people in different colleges throughout Wisconsin. They had roughly seven hours to practice and learn the music together before they performed in front of an audience the next night.
The Intercollegiate Honors Band is a band formed by directors submitting an application for their students and having them be a part of this experience. The experience is unique to any other college band. This band had a day and a half to prepare music that many hadn’t played to put on a show the next night for family, friends, and the community of Whitewater. This year’s collegiate band had a guest director who world premiered her piece in the concert called “Bolerobot.” They played other pieces such as “Outdoor Overture” by Aaron Copland, “Vulnerable Joy” by Jodie Blackshaw, “Over the Blue and Green” by Clare Howard, and “Prestissimo” by Karl L. King.
“Outdoor Overture” is a piece that represents the American musicianship that expresses contemporary aspects while keeping it simplistic. The piece “Vulnerable Joy” is about the motherly love of the humpback whale, where you hear the mother call represented through the instruments and her baby calling back. It’s a sentimental piece that absorbs you into the ocean life. “Over the Blue and Green” is a piece that describes what Earth looks like to astronauts in space as they encounter the planet from space for the first time. This piece shows the emotions and the grandness of how the astronauts felt when they first saw our planet within our solar system. “Bolerobot” is a piece made by the composer that takes you on a journey of a robot that comes to life and gets connected with his soul, expressing the self-journey and how hard it can be during the time but also how relieving it feels to finally understand one’s self. The last piece of the concert was a march called “Prestissimo,” an upbeat and a fun way to end the concert.
“My favorite aspect of the Intercollegiate Honors Band is meeting and getting to know the guest conductor and experiencing a new conducting style that is different from the style that I am used to,” said Madison Mudrak.
Mudrak had the opportunity to join the honors band for a second time. She explained this experience to be fun and exciting, whether that’s meeting other college students from different areas of the state or understanding the new music in a timed manner.
“The main thing that differentiates the Intercollegiate Honors Band from other bands that perform at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is the exceptional musicianship that is shown throughout the whole experience and the ability to adapt quickly to people you don’t know and music you haven’t seen before,” Mudrak explained.
Her favorite piece is the “Bolerobot” because of the emotional story that carries on with the piece. She describes how emotional she can get when practicing and performing the piece since many people can relate to it.
“My favorite aspect of Intercollegiate Honors Band is the music we learn and the people we meet. I also enjoy how the Honors band is a selection of college students from colleges all over Wisconsin and how we all meet up for one day to chat and work on music before returning to our campus life.” Loren Kutz explained.
This was Kutz’s first time being a part of the honors band and she expressed how much she has enjoyed the experience.
“I enjoyed meeting new musicians who are music majors that share the same passion for music and being able to play with them as well as performing live music for others to enjoy since live music is generally better to listen to.” Kutz expressed how her favorite piece of the concert was the march “Pretissimo” since she finds it very fun to play with others.
Both Mudrak and Kutz were some of the few musicians who were selected from UW-Whitewater to be a part of the Honors Band. The Honors Band was a great way to start off the college performances because it not only showcased the students at a collegiate level but also included some fellow Whitewater members.
This event happened on Jan. 17, but the Center of the Arts has many more events that people can enjoy, whether they want to listen to instrumental and vocals or see a theatre or dance performance. Check out the ticketed and non-ticketed events at UW-Whitewater to experience the students’ hard work and performance.
