The UW Wind Symphony embarked on a Wyoming tour last week, in which the high-level performance ensemble performed their most recent program and worked with middle and high school student musicians with masterclasses throughout the state.
The tour allowed the members of the Wind Symphony to share their hard work with the greater Wyoming community, and to give the gift of music to those who might not otherwise receive it.
“Yeah, it’s really special. You know first, it’s just nice to take all the hard work that the students on campus put into a performance, you know taking lessons and practicing their parts, and we put hours of rehearsal in,” said Dr. Matthew Schlomer, Director of Bands at UW. “So it’s really nice to take that out on the road and give other people that gift of this really finely honed music that they may have never heard before.”
The UW Wind Symphony is composed of the highest level of performing musicians here at UW. Its members work hard and dedicate themselves and their time to the group, and perform a variety of different programs and concerts each season.
“Wind Symphony is the top level, the highest achieving musicians in the music department. It’s an auditioned group, the students have to audition to be in there. They take lessons, and it functions at a pretty professional level,” Schlomer said.
This tour gave the Wind Symphony performers an opportunity to expand their performance careers by performing in a variety of settings and locations, and by providing instruction opportunities as well.
“The other thing that’s wonderful about the tour is that the students have an opportunity in between concerts to go out to schools and do masterclasses and coach students in one one-on-one playing,” Schlomer said. “It was really fun to see some of those younger, middle school and high school students really light up when they had this information right at hand, and the improvement that they saw.”
The tour also provided musicians with a space to interact and share their love for music with those who need it most. Schlomer described the experience as “a beautiful way to exist with other people”.
“I think it’s a rare case for people to come together from all different walks of life and sit in a room with the single goal of making something profound and beautiful together,” Schlomer said. “They have to listen to each other. They have to sometimes, you know, proclaim their musical opinion for the audience. And we have to follow that one person, and other times you have to take your own opinion and subjugate it to somebody else’s opinion because they have the solo and we have to support them.”
Schlomer expressed his pride in the UW Wind Symphony’s students’ presentation of their performance, and their representation of the University as they interacted with Wyoming’s budding musicians.
“I’m really impressed with the integrity that our students have when they’re out in public and how much pride they take in their own work and enjoy sharing it,” Schlomer said. “It was very impressive to see that level of integrity and professionalism.”
