With virtually every magazine cover showing a picture of George W. Bush or John Kerry and maps of Electoral College votes posted on walls like a kind of political wallpaper, it's hard to forget about the upcoming election. Walking around campus, the air is thick with excitement as students gear up for battle as well.
In perfect compliment to this charged atmosphere, the Tufts Wind Ensemble is presenting a concert framed by the theme "Music for Protest and Change," an homage to the often overlooked transformative power of music. The pieces selected were composed at times of social unrest, often leading to revolutions and inspiring men and women to change their world.
"There is a constantly evolving scene in politics," said Wind Ensemble conductor John McCann, who chose the theme for this year's concert. "So, this music is certainly relevant today."
The selections come from a variety of periods of revolution throughout history, ranging from three revolutionary marches written in 1848 Prague to a reworking of a Pink Floyd song called, "The Turning."
"A Movement for Rosa," composed by Mark Camphouse, was written in honor of Rosa Parks, the well-known civil rights icon who refused to sit in the back of an Alabama bus. The civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome" is embedded in the piece, but, "They don't hear it right away," said McCann. "At first, you sense the frustration, defiance, and then a moment of epiphany. The song makes itself heard subconsciously."
That "Rosa" ends in a sad, noncommittal way, suggests that the progress hoped for by the civil rights movement is not yet complete.
Another piece, "Epinicion," mimics ancient Greek pieces of the same name that were sung on the battlefield as the living were separated from the slain. The modern piece, composed by Jon Paulson in 1974 at the end of the Vietnam War, is somewhat unusual. The music is written in a manner that allows the performers and the conductor to have a lot of control over the way the piece is performed.
The Tufts Wind Ensemble aren't always such rabble-rousers. Just last spring they performed a Disney-themed concert for a group of elementary school students who joined in the music-making with their voices as well as with their maracas. Once a year, they make an international trip, spreading Tufts music across the world to such locales as Dublin, Prague and Iceland.
The group is both a class and a TCU student-recognized organization. There are about 40-45 members. Wind Ensemble president and trombone player Lewis Reilley said, "The ensemble is an extremely diverse group. I would say there is no 'typical' member."
The Tufts Wind Ensemble encourages you to remember the great movements of times gone by - free of charge.
