Upcoming Music Department performances

Fall 2017 concert lineup

By Caroline Ho, Arts Editor

Got a free evening the next couple of weeks? Looking for some lovely live music to take your mind off paper and exam stress? Perhaps the Music Department’s Fall 2017 Concert Series, starting this Friday, can ease some of those end-of-term woes.

All shows take place in the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre, and with the exception of Choirs in Concert, they’re completely free and open to all audiences.

Choirs in Concert (Friday, November 24 at 7:30 p.m.)

Conducted by Eric Hannan, the first concert of the series features the Music Department’s Chorus and Chorale vocal groups. These talented students and singers will be performing a range of music, including pieces by Mozart and Mendelssohn, English folk songs, and choral music from Latin America.

Admission is $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors, and free for students. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

An Evening of Jazz (Monday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m.)

The Douglas College Night Band, led by Blair Fisher, is a near-professional-level band made up of community members. The group is a big band, meaning it’s a fairly large ensemble with about 20 musicians on trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and the more typical band instruments of piano, guitar, drums, and bass.

An Evening of Jazz also features performances by the Dues Band, led by Robin Shier and made up of Music students. They’ll be playing a broad spectrum of jazz, funk, and blues, with plenty of improvised solos.

Music for Winds, Brass and Percussion (Wednesday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m.)

The first half of this concert will feature two groups: A special guest saxophone quartet from New Westminster Secondary School, and the Percussion Ensemble led by Rob Caldwell.

In the second half of the show, the Douglas College Concert Band, directed by John van Deursen, will take the stage. This wind band has lined up a repertoire of Renaissance music, some traditional American wind band pieces, a wind arrangement of Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,” and more. Van Deursen told the Other Press he describes the theme of the Concert Band’s performance as “music of the people.”

FusionFest (Thursday, November 30 at 7:00 p.m.)

The newest addition to the fall concert lineup, FusionFest is presented by the Music Technology Diploma Program, which recently expanded from a one-year certificate to a two-year diploma program. Students in this program learn both how to compose and arrange music digitally—often going on to work on ads and on video game and movie soundtracks—as well as how to mix recordings.

At the FusionFest concert the Music Technology students, along with some guest music production and technology groups from local high schools, will be bringing their skills to the stage with a show full of rock, pop, and a lively jam session vibe.

Student Composition Concert (Friday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m.)

Last but certainly not least is the Student Composition Concert, where Music students will be presenting their own original songs, written under the tutelage of Doug Smith but composed by the students themselves.

Van Deursen said that it’s always a refreshing surprise to hear the original creations that are performed at the concert. “You really have no idea what’s going to happen. Every student has their own vision, their own idea.”