The Western Winds, a unique ensemble pairing graduate students with their music professors, will perform its next concert at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, Oct 28 in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. Conductor Scott Boerma and graduate students Jayce Porter and Chris Smith join Cara Lieurance to preview the music.
The program spans four centuries, opening with Giovanni Gabrieli's brass works from the late 1500s and closing with arrangements from Stravinsky's ballet Pulcinella. Graduate oboist Jayce Porter, a vocalist who came late to oboe, will perform Paquito D'Rivera's "Aire Tropicale" with the graduate wind quintet. Porter notes the piece "covers a lot of genres, but it's largely this Afro-Cuban descent."
Trombonist Chris Smith also studies voice and notes the profound connection between the two disciplines: "It’s scary how related this is to playing trombone." Smith, who is from from Charlotte, North Carolina, says that his goal at WMU is to "be as well-rounded and versatile as I can be."
The Western Winds format requires professional-level preparation. "The expectation is you show up to rehearsal one, knowing your part, and it's all about coming together as an ensemble," Boerma explains. The double quintet sections rehearse just three 50-minute sessions before performing.
Tickets are available at the door or through wmich.edu/music/events.