Ferris State University has a rich and diversely talented musical population, and the upcoming fall concert series will draw upon the talent of Ferris students, high school students and community members.
The first fall concert starts at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, in the Williams Auditorium and the concert is free to attend. The music comes from an eclectic mix of sources and genres.
The music performed by the FSU Symphony Band includes titles such as “The Little Mermaid” by Alan Menken, “Americans We” by Henry Fillmore, “Prelude and Fugue in G Minor” by Johannes Sebastian Bach, “Air for the Band” by Frank Erickson, “Emperata Overture” by Claude T. Smith and a fun piece called “Rollo Takes a Walk” by David Maslanka.
“There should be a little something to appeal to everyone in all of the little styles we’re playing,” said Richard Scott Cohen, director of instrumental concert ensembles.
Veterans Day will also be celebrated by the FSU West Central Concert Band. The 14th Annual Veterans Day Concert will start at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in the Williams Auditorium. This concert is free to attend as well.
“The whole concert is designed to honor our veterans, and their families and supporters,” Cohen said. “It’s not a concert that celebrates war, but it is a concert that celebrates people who have chosen to serve our country.”
The music selected for this concert are war and battle tunes from different wars fought by the United States. The titles include memorializing Korean War veterans with variations of Korean folk tunes, World War II veterans with “Lest We Forget” and a marching tune, World War I with “A Cohan Salute” by George Cohan, a tribute to those who have fallen including the piece “Five” by Kenyon Wilson commemorating those who died at the base shooting in Chattanooga and patriotic songs such as the “Star Spangled Banner” and “Proudly We Hail.”
“The musical selections we pick can either be in memory of one of those war periods,” Cohen said. “Sometimes it’s a piece of music that celebrates one of the branches of the service. We have one piece that celebrates all of the branches of service, called the ‘Armed Forces Salute’ and it has all of the anthems of the armed forces. We ask the veterans and their family members to stand up and be recognized when they hear their anthem being played.”
Included in the ceremonies during the concert will be the Ferris State University Student Veterans Association, the Big Rapids American Legion Post No. 98 Honor Guard, Ferris’ own Donna Smith as the announcer and several others from the Ferris and Big Rapids community.
Also, the FSU Jazz Band is playing their fall concert, starting at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in the Williams Auditorium. Admission to this concert is free, as well.
“We’ll be doing some traditional jazz, going back to the 1950s for the Count Basie Orchestra,” said Matt Moresi, director of the FSU Jazz Band. “One of the titles we’ll be playing is ‘Flight of the Foo Birds,’ that’s directly from his ‘Atomic Basie’ album.”