Public Invited to Livestream University of Mary’s Spring Band Concert

Performance livestreamed 3 p.m. March 21, on Music Department’s Facebook page.

BISMARCK, ND — What a year it’s been. Nearly 12 months ago, the University of Mary, as well as most other universities in the country, closed its classroom doors to in-person teaching. All students were asked to complete the semester virtually, in an attempt to “flatten the curve” of the spiking pandemic.

“I had just returned home from conducting the Montana AA Band Festival in Billings,” said Dennis Gowen, professor of music and conductor of the University of Mary Concert Band. “To learn that we would not be able to share the fruits of our labor last spring was heartbreaking, both to me and our students.”

This past October, the ensemble took advantage of the warm weather and presented their fall concert two weeks earlier than usual, in an outdoor campus setting overlooking the Missouri River. This spring, they performed a virtual concert in Founders Hall on the University of Mary’s campus.

The spring concert, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 21, will be livestreamed and feature the Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst, The Symphonic Gershwin by Warren Barker, and the trombone feature Rolling Thunder by Henry Fillmore. Two student conductors are also scheduled to conduct the band.

“Mussorgsky chooses to use dissonance in the woodwinds to create the feeling of the witches sabbath and uses the brass to bring the intensity to the audience,” says Gabrielle Nett, the St. James, MN, native who conducts Modeste Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain. Wahpeton, ND, native Kailee Klein, conductor of Joseph Compello’s Slavic Scherzo, says “Slavic Scherzo is a fiery, energetic Bohemian dance modeled after Dvorak’s Slavic Dances and contains shifting accents which keeps the listeners at the edge of their seats.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of these two fine young music education students,” said Gowen. Klein feels the experience has “given me an opportunity to explore my skills as a conductor, while also improving my rehearsal strategies,” while Nett says that during this semester, “my musicianship has grown beyond belief. I am extremely thankful for this unique opportunity.”

The performance takes place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 21 and livestreamed on University of Mary’s Music Department Facebook page. For more information, please contact Danielle Abler, Department of Music administrative assistant, at (701) 355-8301.

Spring Band Personnel

PICCOLO

Greta Anderson

 

FLUTE

*Maria Osterbauer, Columbia Heights MN

Rachelle Klein, Hazen ND

Greta Anderson, Bismarck ND

+Kat Lawson, Bismarck ND

Alexis Ternes, Devils Lake ND

April Mogard, Deering ND

 

OBOE

*Emily Cicha, Mandan ND

Emily Sahl, Wahpeton ND

 

BASSOON

Briele Vollmuth, Mandan ND

 

CLARINET

*Kailee Klein, Wahpeton ND

Isaiah Blickenstaff, Perham MN

+ Mary Claire Talbot, Carol Stream IL

Raquel Bata, Langdon ND

+Eve Heupel, Dickinson ND

Kelli Anne Vetter, Bismarck ND

 

BASS CLARINET

Brian Talbot, Carol Stream IL

ALTO SAXOPHONE

*Beth Kensok, Wheatland ND

Ben Lee, Bismarck ND

 

TENOR SAXOPHONE

Patrick Litton, Bismarck ND

 

BARI SAX

Lia Enander, Grenora ND

 

TRUMPET

*Brooke Mueller, Bismarck ND

Kira DeMaris, Northfield MN

Annika Bobb, Taylor ND

Nick Mortenson, Jamestown ND

 

HORN

*Jehannah Sollmann, Port Angeles WA

 

TROMBONE

*Lucas Schlosser, Mandan ND

Reese Lausen, Billings MT

+Kendall Tibor, Bismarck ND

Logan Quinn, Wilton ND

+Zachary King, Glendale Heights IL

Collin Prom, Swanville MN

Danielle McLaughlin, St. Paul MN

 

EUPHONIUM

Mary Gutenkauf, Aberdeen SD

 

TUBA

*A J Anderson, West Fargo ND

Nathan Heenan, Larsen WI

Keenan Athman, Hamilton MT

Sarah Pankratz, Billings MT

 

PERCUSSION

*Zach Marquette, Buffalo MN

Adam Boddicker, Kearney MO

Isaac Davis, St. Paul MN

 

*= principal or co-principal

+ = section leader