Upcoming Symphony Concert seeks to create an evening of unforgettable music – theechonews.com

The attention of all in the room falls upon a violinist standing up to lead her ensemble members into a unified chord. Before long, overtures of music are set in motion, testing new chords and rhythms and taking listeners to a place they’ve never been before.
The Taylor Symphony Orchestra seeks to create this atmosphere for their upcoming concert on May 7th: a dynamic interaction that reminds the audience that live performance is still alive and well.
According to Christopher Bade, a professor of music at Taylor University, audience members will be in for an exciting and diverse exploration of music spanning from the romantic period to the modern era.
“We’re going to be playing Schubert’s great C-major symphony number nine, (highlights from) Pirates of the Caribbean, the overture to Barber of Seville, and the first movement of the Bach concerto number three,” Bade said. “It feels like these are the works that challenge us… we’re working hard and we’re making progress.”
Directing a concert of this scale—particularly with a piece by Schubert that is forty-nine minutes in run time—is no easy task.
Organizing such an event takes resolve and a great deal of careful coordination, according to orchestra stage manager and student artist Bethany Atanus.
“Planning for (the concert) is months in advance, because we have to get with event services, plan with them… we’re walking over (to Rediger), scouting out what we want things to look like,” Atanus said.
Atanus also discussed using methods like drawing out maps of the stage on paper to more fully understand the kind of space the orchestra members will have to work with, all of which occurs alongside them learning the challenging performance scores.
With obstacles from logistics to learning sheet music to overcome, the average audience member may wonder what makes displaying this kind of art form so special. To that, Dr. Bade has a resounding answer.
“Cause we’re awesome!” said Bade. “I know everybody has stuff to do, everybody has a busy life, but here’s one time in their life where they can go to things that are at a really high level for free. It makes me sad when people don’t support things that are great, whether it’s in our field or any other field.”
As a multi-talented and multi-faceted student body here at Taylor, it can be difficult to make time for things like art and music with so many other opportunities.
Yet if students are willing to lend their time to an event that is designed to delight its audience with different styles and sounds, they will be able to not only support their peers who have devoted their time to the concert. They will also get to experience music that glorifies God.
Being a music major and getting to perform for others brings Atanus not only professional satisfaction, but joy in her faith, Atanus said.
“It’s a great blessing,” Atanus said. “I love being blessed by great music, especially classical music. Last semester, we played the entire Beethoven’s fifth, and people came up to me like ‘I felt [the presence of God] through the whole room.’”
The presence of God is not limited to one space or medium. It can be found in the strings of a violin concerto, in the throbbing pulse of cello undertones, and in the triumphant noise of clarinets.
Indeed, the beginning overtures of the Symphony Orchestra concert in May could very well be the start of an audience encountering Christ in a new and brilliant way.

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