Last Tuesday, Oct. 17 Concordia’s Wind Orchestra partnered with local schools and held this year’s first Concordia Wind Orchestra Invitational Concert in the CU Center. Len Montgomery, conductor of Brethren Christian High School, and Dr. Tony Mazzaferro, conductor of Fullerton College Concert Band, led their groups through a set of fantastic music. Following, there was a performance by the Concordia Wind Orchestra.  

“The CU Center is a very unique performance venue for bands due to its reverberant acoustics and aesthetic look,” said Dr. Jeff, Held, director of the Concordia University Irvine Wind Orchestra ensemble. “It is enjoyable to know how much other groups enjoy coming here to perform and their sound takes on a life of its own in our space.”

On top of being a unique experience for visiting bands, playing at Concordia can be a useful experience as well. “These high school invitationals are a great way to expose the Concordia Music Program to prospective students,” said Cassandra Forrero, junior student and member of the Concordia Ensemble.

Partially because of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the Concordia Wind Orchestra Invitational is programming music based on Lutheran hymnody or the organ style of toccata (a technical virtuosic piece of music). According to Dr. Held, “The most familiar piece we will perform is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and we'll do it with Dr. Tom Mueller on the organ.”

As for one of the advantages of having a collaboration of high school students and colleges students alike, “We are making more friends at different high schools, and when students hear the Concordia Wind Orchestra, they have been impressed,” said Dr. Held. “We have seen a number of auditions from schools that participate.”

As far as advice goes for future students looking to get into the Concordia Orchestra band in years to come, in the words of Dr. Held himself, “Audition as soon as possible.”

The invitational is in the past, but there’s still many Concordia music programs to come. The Fall Choral Concert is Sat., Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the CU Center. The Box Office is located in the Music Department office in the CU Center and is open Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. The Box Office is also open in the lobby of the Studio Theatre one hour before each performance. Tickets may be purchased online by selecting the event in the calendar. All students receive complimentary tickets to campus performances. For more information, please email boxoffice@cui.edu or call (949) 214-3418.

Tags: Alexander Carr, Alexander Carr

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