On Monday March 4, the Blackburn department of music and theatre put on a French inspired band concert. The band put on a fantastic performance that embodied a true French experience. Jordan Mueller, a senior math major who is a percussionist for the band, stated, “I think we did pretty good and the time we spent practicing really brought the performance together.”
The first three songs they performed were “Le Regiment de Sambre et Meuse,” composed by Robert Planquette, Émile Waldteufel’s “Skaters’ Waltz,” and “Danse Bacchanale,” composed by Camille Saint-Saëns. The next three songs that they performed were “An American in Paris,” composed by George Gershwin, Paul Dukas’ “La Peri Fanfare,” and “Les Misérables,” composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg.
Students from Blackburn and members of the community make up the Blackburn College band. This makes the band unique and it builds connections to the community and through generations. There were many people who came to watch the performance from students coming to watch a friend perform to members of the community coming to watch for entertainment.
Tom Philbrick conducted the performance and help put the concert together. Philbrick chose these specific songs because he felt that it embodied a true French experience and that those songs would make the audience feel that experience as well.
Isabelle Powell, a sophomore psychology major who attended the concert stated, “I thought they did really well and the third song, ‘Danse Bacchanale,’ was my favorite.” Most of the composers of the songs that the band performed were from France, the others were not, but their songs were inspired by the French culture. Overall, the band put on a great performance and the next performance from the music and theater department is Brighton Beach Memoirs on Sunday April 7, at 2:00 p.m. in Bothwell auditorium.