Royal Purple

Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Kraig Przybylski

As people around the world get ready for the holiday season, students and staff members have been making preparations of their own. The music department will be holding their annual Gala Holiday Concert, dinner and silent auction in the Young Auditorium Dec. 6.

The event will consist of musical and choral holiday pieces. Among the groups scheduled to perform are the Gospel Choir, Jazz Ensemble, the new campus group Main Street Vocal Jazz, Men's Chorus, Women's Chorale, Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Whitewater Symphony Orchestra.

Members of the Jazz Ensemble and the Main Street Vocal Jazz groups will combine to perform a piece together. In combination with members of the various vocal groups, the Whitewater Symphony Orchestra will be performing Johann Sebastian Bach's "Christmas Orator." The 16 minute long piece consists of a series of six cantatas recognizing the six most important days of the Christmas season. In addition to the main performance, student groups will be performing in the Fern Young Terrace before and after the concert, and during intermission.

"The Gala is a true celebration of the incredibly talented students we are fortunate to have in the musical ensembles here at UW-Whitewater," Music Professor and Director of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble Glen Hayes said. "It is a joyful family event in the truest sense."

Many of the groups did not have much time to prepare for the event, but worked hard over a short time to learn their pieces for the performance.

"Our fall concerts run until mid-November, so we begin preparation after those," senior Krystal Solum said. "Every significant large ensemble prepares a piece or two, and there's usually work between vocal and instrumental groups to perform a couple of combined piece. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble is performing a traditional Yiddish Klezmer dance often used in celebrations."

Solum plays trumpet and French horn.

These musical group members are busy students, leaving little time to practice for the Gala.

"Due to other performances, we have very limited rehearsal time for the music," Nick Zoulek, a junior performance major who plays the alto saxophone for the jazz band and Symphonic Wind Ensemble said. "Because of this, a lot of individual practice and preparation is expected of the performers. It's a good experience for us in that it teaches us to prepare a top notch performance in a short amount of time, which is how it normally is in the professional world of music."

"What I like about our group is the fact that we don't get nervous," junior music education major and Main Street Jazz member Maddie Olson said. "We enjoy what we do, and love to show it off to others so they can enjoy it too."

Not only is the Gala a chance for students to show off their talents and to provide a little holiday spirit, it is also a time to raise funds for the music department. A Gala Benefit Dinner is being held before the show, and proceeds from the ticket sales will go back to the music department. For more information about the event, or to order tickets, call (262) 472-2222 or order online at http://tickets.uww.edu.

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