Music faculty relish Carnegie Hall experience with the University Wind Symphony

In February the Texas A&M University Wind Symphony appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall, featuring guest performers Kathryn Woodard and David Wilborn. Members of the Department of Performance Studies faculty, both say the experience of playing at this venue was a first.

An assistant professor of music, Woodard, who played the piano in George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” said she attended several concerts at Carnegie Hall while living in New York before coming to A&M. “It had a special meaning for me to actually get to play there,” she said.

However, Woodard said, because of her ties to both Texas and New York and because she is known for playing new music, playing a classic piece in an equally well-known venue “was a little like two worlds crashing together. On the one hand it was a struggle being between those two worlds, but on the other hand it felt very comfortable. [I felt] lots of tension and lots of excitement.”

Wilborn, an associate professor of music, said the concert was meaningful for several reasons. Playing the trombone solo in what was only the third public performance of his own piece, Concertante Caprice for Bass Trombone and Wind Symphony, “was great on many different dimensions, as a soloist and as a composer,” he said. “It will be hard to beat.”

Performance receives excellent reviews
In the spring issue of the New York Concert Review, critic Rorianne Schrade evaluated the performance, characterizing the band [Texas A&M University Wind Symphony] as “excellent even without the qualifying phrase ‘for a student group.’”

Woodard said much attention has been paid to the review. But while the recognition was welcome and exciting, the review only confirmed what those familiar with the student symphony already knew, she said. “We already knew how good the band is. People on campus are surprised at how good the review was, but we were not. [Director] Tim Rhea has been working for many years with the band at A&M, and this is long, long awaited recognition.”

Wilborn said that, while A&M’s band program is highly regarded among the college band community, it was encouraging to know that people with no connections to Texas A&M or to collegiate music programs were impressed by its achievements.

“For the first time, the band was receiving its accolades from a sort of national perspective and from a public perspective outside of that confined domain of the band world,” he said.

Carnegie Hall performance brings national recognition for Wind Symphony
Both professors cited the Carnegie Hall concert as evidence of the strong working relationship between the performance studies department and the band program, which many people do not realize are two separate entities. “This performance leaves open the possibility for future collaboration between the department and Student Affairs,” Woodard said.

Further benefits, Wilborn said, could stem from the increased exposure resulting from the performance. “Perhaps some other composers will want to write for the group, and some other outstanding premiere performances might come out of that,” he said. “It also helps the department with recruiting. Any opportunity we have to display what we do in performance studies is a good thing for us.”

Wilborn said the Carnegie Hall appearance was just one of several factors that will contribute to the growth of the performance studies department in the near future. With the development of a master’s program nearing completion and plans for an arts and humanities building underway, the department should continue to attract increasing numbers of new students, he said.

-30-

Jackie Upshaw