The Gustavus Honor Band Festival and Concert will celebrate its 25th anniversary on November 3 and 4. The band, 100 high school students from 47 high schools in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin and conducted by Douglas Nimmo, will present the festival concert on Monday, November 4, at 7:00 p.m. in Christ Chapel on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus.
The Gustavus Honor Band Festival and Concert, one of the Music Department’s favorite traditions, is an ensemble of approximately 100 high school students who are nominated by their directors and chosen to participate in this prestigious learning experience. These students, who come from all over Minnesota and surrounding states, will spend November 3 and 4 rehearsing together, under Dr. Nimmo’s direction. They will share their work publicly in a concert at 7:00 p.m. on November 4 in Christ Chapel. This year’s concert is a collaborative effort and will include the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, the Gustavus Choir, and the Choir of Christ Chapel. The Festival and Concert is a fantastic learning experience, whose primary goal is in the “pursuit of musical excellence,” as is stated in the call for student nominations. The festival also serves to introduce students to a learning community at Gustavus. The students, both at the high school and undergraduate level, find the experience enjoyable, memorable, and life-changing.
The concert will open with the Gustavus Honor Band performing three pieces: “Procession of Nobles” by Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov, “Elegy for a Young American” by Ronald Lo Presti, and finally “Rejouissance,” a work by James Curnow. The following four selections will be presented by the Gustavus Wind Orchestra: Vaclav Nelhybel’s “Symphonic Movement,” “Morning Alleluias for the Winter Solstice” by Ron Nelson, “Spoon River” by Percy Grainger, and finishing with “Overture to Colas Breugnon” by Dmitri Kabalevsky.
In the second part of the concert, the Gustavus Honor Band and the Gustavus Wind Orchestra will perform together, beginning with Russell Alexander’s “Colossus of Columbia.” The final work on the program includes the Honor Band, the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, the Gustavus Choir, and the Choir of Christ Chapel, all conducted by Brandon Dean, conductor of the Choir of Christ Chapel, performing “Sine Nomine” by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
The Gustavus Honor Band Festival Concert, in celebration of the 25th year of the Gustavus Honor Band Festival, will perform in Christ Chapel on Monday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.
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