A Large crowd of DeKalb residents and NIU students came to hear the performance of the NIU Wind Ensemble Thursday evening.
From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., the NIU Wind Ensemble’s instruments left audience members awed during their concert in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the Music Building.
The concert included six songs: “Weiner Philharmoniker Fanfare” by Richard Strauss, “O King from Sinfonia” by Luciano Berio, “Flight,” for Solo Oboe and band, by Stacey J. Berk, “Of Our New Day Begun” by Omar Thomas, “Melodious Thunk” by David Beidenbender and “Barnum and Bailey’s Favorites” by Karl King.
Andrew Glendening, the director of the School of Music and professor of music, conducted the five songs with Erica J. Neidlinger, the night’s guest conductor and associate professor and conductor of the Wind Symphony at DePaul University conducted one.
Thomas Bough, the director of athletic bands and wind ensemble conductor, said his favorite song from the concert, in which he had a hand in choosing, was “Of Our New Day Begun.”
“Of Our New Day Begun” was one of the more important and powerful songs of the night with the message of the song being one of remembrance of the nine souls who lost their life in the June 17, 2015, act of domestic terrorism at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The song had the influence of gospel music throughout it and included the performers stomping their feet and singing during the song with the ring of tambourine echoing out while the others performers played.
Henry Lloyd, a clarinet performer who played in the event, said that his favorite song to play was “Of Our New Day Begun.”
“I really liked the Omar Thomas piece that we did, “Of our new day begun.” The DePaul director came in, she was great. And the piece itself was a lot of fun too. So, it’s probably one of my more favorite ones. And, you know, “Barnum and Bailey’s” at the end was also good,” Lloyd said.
Alex Montijo, a sophomore accounting major, came to the event to support the NIU Wind Ensemble.
“ So what brought me here was, you know, even though I’m currently an accounting major, I always like to follow new music, typically nowadays, you know, because, like, I still love listening to music. And, you know, I personally love the Wind Ensemble,” Montijo said.
If you missed the performance and would like to give it a listen, you can go online to the School of Music’s website.
