The Ashland University Symphonic Band is comprised of the outstanding wind and percussion players at the University. The ensemble begins Saturday's concert with Procession of Nobles, the fifth piece based on the opera-ballet Mldada by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; followed by Minnesota Portraits by Samuel R. Hazo, which includes three movements depicting snapshots of Minnesota in winter. The band’s third piece is an instrumental adaptation by Eric E. Whitacre of his a cappella choral work Lux Aurumque. The Symphonic Band's program concludes with Leroy Anderson's holiday classic Sleigh Ride.
After a brief intermission, the 65-member Ashland Area Community Concert Band takes the stage. Established in 1993, the ensemble is designed for both university students and members of the Ashland community to continue their musical study and creative activity. The Community Band’s program begins with T'is a Gift by Anne McGinty, which was composed as a tribute to three band members who lost their lives aboard TWA Flight 800; followed by John Philip Sousa’s most melodic and best-written marches, Fairest of the Fair; and the fifth movement of Robert Russell Bennett’s Suite of Old American Dances titled Rag. The Community Band will finish the concert with two collections of some of the most popular Christmas carols and songs in A Most Wonderful Christmas and Christmas Music for Winds, which includes holiday favorites from Jolly Old St. Nicholas to Angels We Have Heard on High, Silent Night and more.
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