Students perform classical selections

In its first concert in the renovated auditorium, Penn's Wind Ensemble, a student orchestra consisting mostly of non-music majors, treated an audience of several hundred students, alumni and family members to a performance of classical overtures on Friday night. During the two-hour show, the orchestra performed concertos by composers including Mozart and Vivaldi. The Wind Ensemble, conducted by Ensemble Music Director Ricardo Averbach, showcased its individual instrumental sections during the first half. Each instrumental section played a separate piece that highlighted the strengths of that particular group. For example, the percussion piece, A La Nanigo, by Mitchell Peters, allowed the section to showcase the synchronicity and variety of the drums. A piece from the Don Giovanni Overture, performed by a "mix" of oboes, clarinets, bassoons and horns was guest conducted by College senior Adam Warshafsky, the president of the Wind Ensemble Board. The University Flute Ensemble also featured a solo performance by freshman flutist David Mills during a concerto from the famous Vivaldi piece The Four Seasons. Near the end of the first half of the performance, Averbach perplexed the audience for a second when he slowly turned around toward them and raised his hands in a conducting stance. The lights then focused on the University Brass Ensemble who had assembled on the side balconies to play above and behind the audience's heads. "I thought it was cool that they played from the balconies. They really mixed it up a lot," said College senior Paul Danifo, who had come to see his friends perform. Before intermission, Averbach announced the release of the Wind Ensemble's debut compact disk. Averbach jokingly pointed out that the CD was the culmination of "only" four years of work. "At Penn, we try to do fun and cultural pieces because they're almost all non-music majors," he said. Averbach then expressed his gratitude to two Penn alumni for their contributions to this year's Ensemble. Daniel Dorff, a composer who received a degree in composition from Penn about 25 years ago, wrote a piece specifically for the Wind Ensemble, entitled Allegro Volante. The piece opened the second half of the show. Jerry Levinson, a Swarthmore College faculty member and Penn alumnus, also composed a piece for the Ensemble. The pieces "Mars" and "Jupiter" from British composer Gustav Holst were particular crowd favorites. "I was definitely impressed," College senior Cathy Zorc said. "The first half was innovative and the second half was phenomenal. It was like being at the Kennedy Center in D.C."

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