Concert Recap: NDSU Wind Symphony, Boston Brass Take “Centerstage”

Saturday, Feb. 28, wrapped up a very special week in NDSU’s Challey School of Music. Not only did Festival Concert Hall feature multiple concerts throughout the entirety of the week, but it also played host to the renowned brass music group Boston Brass, trumpeter Allen Vizzutti (who was filling in for a member of the brass band) and composer Kevin Day. Boston Brass spent the back half of the week listening to student instrumental ensembles and also hosted clinics for students. The week’s festivities concluded with Saturday’s Wind Symphony concert in which the large ensemble, alongside Boston Brass, performed the world premiere of Day’s latest composition, “Centerstage.” In the following article, I’ll be recapping the concert’s highlights and relaying some notes on the concert setlist.

Because of how notable an event like a piece’s world premiere is for the school of music, the concert’s setlist took advantage of and capitalized Day’s presence by including multiple large ensemble and chamber pieces by the composer. The concert opened with two chamber ensembles, those being a saxophone quartet and a brass quintet (with drum set). “Metrofusion,” the saxophone piece, was an energetic and borderline chaotic back-and-forth frenzy of quick, technical segments and lyrical, gliding passages. Meanwhile, “Shine,” the brass piece, was an upbeat and glowing shuffle that captured the big band sound that I, at least, have associated with other student groups like the NDSU Jazz Ensemble and Pros & Cons Brass Band.

As if the energy in Festival Concert Hall wasn’t already building, the entirety of the Wind Symphony really cranked things up a notch with their rendition of “Nitrous,” a Kevin Day piece inspired by the “Need for Speed” video game series. This piece was as high-octane as could be expected by any with such a name. Following this, the group performed Eric Whitacre’s “The Seal Lullaby,” a piece originally intended for a DreamWorks Animation film that ended up being canceled. This piece was a sharp contrast to all of the preceding music; as the name suggests, this tune was very subdued and calm, but these qualities shouldn’t be counted towards making the piece uninteresting, as it was definitely the most emotionally rich and charged piece of the night.

The concert then continued with Malcom Arnold’s “Four Scottish Dances” and Roshanne Etzady’s “Against the Rain.” “Four Scottish Dances” featured a wide variety of colors and moods across its four movements, from folk dance-inspired fanfares to graceful, sweeping strokes meant to represent Scotland’s mountainsides. On the other hand, “Against the Rain” was derived from a choral piece based on Edna St. Vincent Willay’s poem “Love is Not All (Sonnet XXX).” This was another one of the concert’s more relaxed and gentle pieces, which included solos by Audrey Henry on flute and Rylie Schick on trumpet.

Finally, the moment that the entire concert had been building towards, was the premier of Kevin Day’s “Centerstage.” According to Day regarding this new piece, “I have been inspired for years by what brass instruments can do and how they continue to push the boundaries of audience expectations.” After being asked by Boston Brass to create a composition, Day stated the following: “I knew I wanted to write something that would truly capture their virtuosic spirit, while also creating a piece that could be accessible for them to perform with various wind bands.” “Centerstage” itself demonstrated not just brass power, but the same personality and liveliness that the following Day pieces also showcased. Naturally, Boston Brass was the focal point of the piece, and rightly so, as their prowess was on full display for this piece. Following this finale, an encore performance was held with the performance of “Malagueña,” a fiery piece inspired by the Spanish dance of the same name.

Overall, this was one of the most entertaining Wind Symphony concerts put on by NDSU in recent years, not just because of the excitement surrounding a world premiere, but because of the pieces and performances as well.

This concert and others from earlier in the week can be found and streamed at https://www.ndsu.edu/music/stream.