Every spring, students and professors of the Glendale College, as well as members of the local community, have a chance to enjoy annual concerts performed by the Glendale College Community Orchestra (Glendale.edu, n.d.). On May 22, the Orchestra performed in a huge concert, which took place at the Mainstage Auditorium.
Bethany Pflueger was the conductor of the Glendale College Community Orchestra, and, probably, this was the key thing why the performance was so successful. This concert featured Glendale College Concert Singers, and it was also led by Chris Rios and Chris Coulter as musical directors.
The Glendale College Community Orchestra that gave a performance was a full orchestra with string sections, brass, woodwind, and percussion. There were two groups of students that played violin. The first group was composed of Nancy Smith, Anna Yeghiazarova, Erika Noble, Jamie Self, Denise Hanisee and other students. Joan Towles, Robert Tomlin, Megan Parmele, Marva Washington, Esther Luoh and other members played violin in the Violin II group. Also, there were three students who played Viola: Richard Bruner, Diego Camillo, and Karen Moore.
It should be mentioned that the string section was also presented by cellos and bass. Thom Fountain, Seth Biagini, Rima Shivanyan and Kyungmee Im played cellos, and the bass sound was added to the flow of the music by Armen Manavazyan and Mario Lopez.
Mary Brooks, John Storch and Jamil Sidi played flutes and piccolos, and Kimo Yap was responsible for the oboe. James Stanley and Leanne Powers played saxophones, and this sound gave the unforgettable impression to the public. Stanly and Powers, together with Richard Holloway, were also responsible for the clarinet part of the concert.
The audience also had a chance to enjoy the sounds of bassoon, and Darrin Smith together with Nancy Newman were the ones who took care of the bassoon part.
In addition, Orchestra featured horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba and timpani players. Larry Covellone and Doug Shabe were the main trombonists of the show, and Harry Smallenberg played the tuba. Gary Urwin, Dennis Kummel and other students played trumpets, and Jennifer Thayer, Miriam Hartman, Dan Harmon, and J.P. Wammack played the horns. Johnny Hidalgo and Jason Goodman added the percussion sound to the whole music.
It should be noted that abovementioned are not all the players that participated in the concert, and there are some others. Concert directors also asked faculty and guest artists to participate, and some of them were Paul Baker who played the harp, Craig Kupka who played the trombone, an oboe player David Kossoff, Connie Beeter (a bass player), and Cathy Biagini who played the cello. It should definitely be added that Gail Acosta, a guest artist, was asked to participate as a concertmaster.
It has already been mentioned that music was accompanied with singing, and the audience had a chance to listen to great soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Among the soprano singers were Tesa Blanchard, Cindi Baker, Pam Land, Shannon Gray, and other prominent singers. Alto part was covered by Lorna Ariondo, Erin Beilstein, Jan Freemyer, and other students. Aron Escoto, Dylan Bourne, Reid Woodberry and others were responsible for the tenor part. Finally, Rokas Balandas, Greg Brandt, Justin Fischer and other male students sang the bass.
A close attention should be paid to the music that was performed at the concert. The concert program included many well-known musical works. The concert started with performance of “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Aaron Copland. Then, the audience enjoyed “Gloria” composed by Francis Poulenc, and this part featured Shannon Gray as the soprano soloist. After the intermission, the orchestra performed “Jeux d’enfants, op.22”, a petite suite composed by Georges Bizet. The concert program also included performance of a prelude by Claude Debussy called “L’Après-midi d’un faune”. Finally, the concert ended with “Bolero” by Maurice Ravel.
When talking about Prelude “L’Après-midi d’un faune”, it should be mentioned that in English this prelude is known under the name “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”, a symphonic poem. It is interesting that Debussy initially planned to compose a trilogy, and the prelude was supposed to be followed by the Interlude and the Finale (Classicfm.com, n.d.). However, the Prelude was the only part composed by Debussy, and this part performed by the Glendale College Community Orchestra reminded the sunny afternoons by its great flute tunes.
Ravel’s Bolero is another popular musical work that was played at the concert. Maurice Ravel, a famous composer created this work as a part of the ballet, but it later became known as an orchestral piece of music. Glendale College Community Orchestra managed to perform all parts of the work in a very professional way, and the audience could enjoy this masterpiece performed by a large orchestra that consisted of strings, harp, percussions, brass, and woodwinds.
The concert took place at 3pm, May 22, at Mainstage Auditorium of Glendale College. Students and seniors had to pay $7 for the ticket, and the cost of the general admission was $10 (Glendale.edu, n.d.). The tickets could be purchased at website glendalearts.com or at the GCC Box Office prior to the performance.
In general, the concert was performed in a very professional way, and it was obvious that it took the orchestra players and the singers a lot of time to make all necessary preparations. The key role in making the concert follow all requirements was played by Bethany Pflueger who was the chief conductor of the concert. The concert program was well-developed, and the audience enjoyed their time listening to the music masterpieces performed by the Glendale College Community Orchestra.
References
Classicfm.com. (n.d.). Debussy - Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. Classic FM. Retrieved 31 May 2016 from http://www.classicfm.com/composers/debussy/music/prelude-apres-midi-dun-faune/
Glendale.edu. (n.d.). News Releases. Orchestra performs annual spring concert. Retrieved 31 May 2016 from http://www.glendale.edu/?page=1887
