We’re ‘wind’ing down the year

Lauren Ganger, Arts and Entertainment editor

On May 5 at 4 p.m. in the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center, the Mercyhurst University Wind Ensemble will perform its final concert of the season.
This concert will feature several important works chosen by director Scott Meier, Ph.D.
“Equus” by Eric Whitacre, a piece Meier describes as having minimalist roots and being highly syncopated, is one of the pieces on the program.
It was commissioned for the Wind Ensemble at the University of Miami in 1997, and its name comes from the Latin word for “horse.”
It is a moto perpetuo, a type of piece Whitacre himself describes as “a piece that starts running and never stops.”
The piece was premiered by the Wind Ensemble at the University of Miami in March of 2000, three years after it was commissioned.
Another piece on the program is Charles Ives’ infamous “Country Band March.”
Meier calls this piece “an important piece of American musical history.”
It parodies the quality of music performed by country bands and uses quotations from famous band pieces in addition to a main theme Ives composed himself.
Ives, known for developing and employing new, experimental techniques in his music, puts these techniques on display to mimic the sound of a country band.
Meier describes this piece as “incredibly challenging.”
“Limerick Daydreams” by Nathan Daughtrey is a fantasia on the piece “Highway to Limerick.”
Meier describes this piece as “going in and out of lucidity.”
Meier also says that it “floats in and out of dreamlike musical development” throughout.
Cameron Porter, B.A. Music, will conduct Frank Ticheli’s arrangement of “Amazing Grace,” with Grace Siwinski, B.A. Music Therapy, featured on alto saxophone.
This concert promises to be an evening of great music and “very challenging literature” in the words of Meier.
Tickets to this concert are $5 for the general public.
Tickets are $2 for Mercyhurst students with ID, staff and children age 12 and younger.