Wind Ensemble blows U. away

Composed mainly of proud parents bearing grins and holding camcorders, the audience at the University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble's Saturday performance resembled that of a typical high school band spring concert. But the Wind Ensemble's program was hardly characterized by the lightheartedness one might expect at such a show. The performance took place at the Cathedral Church of the Saviour. There, the 62-member group performed six pieces ranging in variety from the overture of an opera written by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi to Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait. Copland's piece is a tribute to Abraham Lincoln and includes a script citing details from Lincoln's life and beliefs as well as quotes from his famous Gettysburg Address. The piece Ghost Train, composed by Eric Whitacre, came with a forewarning by Ensemble Music Director Ricardo Averbach that despite some of the dissonant chords heard throughout the piece, the musicians were "probably not playing the wrong notes." The piece could in fact have made the perfect background music to a murder scene in the movie Scream. A guest appearance and song narration by a member of Congress also made the concert unique. Democratic Congressman Chaka Fattah, who represents Pennsylvania's second district, read the script that fades in and out of the music. "We cannot escape history," Fattah began, quoting Lincoln while the horns carried a solemn melody fitting for a battlefield scene. The audience of about 100 seemed moved by the rendition of Copland's tribute and applauded enthusiastically at the close of the piece. The crowd also enjoyed the piece La Fiesta Mexicana, composed by Owen Reed. The three varying movements of the piece make the song difficult to describe, as Wharton sophomore Dave Muir discovered. "It was different, playful, with a lot of different instruments involved," he said. The ensemble also performed Hindemith's March from Symphonic Metamorphosis, which was conducted by College junior Adam Warshafsky, and English Folk Song Suite by Vaughan Williams. Penn undergraduates -- some of whom are music majors -- make up most of the ensemble but a few members of the community are also involved.