Fresh off a fall pep band season, Tartanband prepares for a full fall concert
Nov. 7, 2022
If there’s a theme for this semester’s Tartanband, it likely comes down to this: turn and burn.
The Maryville College student instrumental ensemble has served as the Pep Band for MC Scots football games this fall, which helped the members gel as collaborative performers but left little room for lengthy rehearsal periods, said Dr. Eric Simpson, director of bands at Maryville College.
“One thing it’s important to note about this concert is that they’ve never done it this way before: For the past few years, Tartanband has played one fall concert, but split it with one of the vocal ensembles, so that meant they really only played half a concert,” Simpson said. “This year, instead of three pieces, we’re playing six, including one with several movements. That’s a lot more material, and a lot less time to learn it in.
“In the past, they would come in at the start of the semester and start learning those pieces, but this year, they came in and started learning the Pep Band book, and that didn’t give us a lot of time to rehearse for our regular fall concert. These students are basically playing in two ensembles at the same time, and the dedication and commitment they’ve shown to mastering material for Pep Band and for Tartanband is really something else.”
As soon as the final home football game wrapped on Oct. 29, sousaphones were traded in for tubas, baritones for euphoniums and the upbeat and punchy music for the gridiron for more complex pieces. The program for the Tartanband fall concert — which takes place Friday, Nov. 11, at the Clayton Center for the Arts on the MC campus — is a varied one, Simpson said. Works on the program include “Courtly Airs and Dances” by Ron Nelson; “Dusk” by Steven Bryant; selections from “Up” by Michael Giacchino; “Solas Ane” by Samuel Hazo; “3 O’Clock Mix” by Jonathan Newman; “It Had Better Be Tonight” by Henry Mancini; and “Cinema Paradiso” by Ennio and Andrea Morricone, featuring guest performer MC trumpet instructor Sarah Fellenbaum.
“Ennio … wrote over 400 scores, many of which can only be described as iconic like ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’ and ‘The Mission,’” Simpson said. “‘Cinema Paradiso’ is Morricone’s love letter to film, and it’s all wrapped around this beautiful, haunting melody that sings above plaintive chords from the ensemble. Sarah’s sound on that piece will be one of the highlights of the concert, for sure.”
It also adds another element of diversity to the program that’s meant to challenge his players, many of whom have expressed an interest in rising to it. The pep band material performed during the football season has been enjoyable, but many student players — some of whom aren’t music majors — are ready for meatier offerings, Simpson said.
“I have students who come to me and say, ‘I would love to play some more artistic music,’” he said. “The program for this concert is really diverse and not themed, which is intentional, because they’re playing so many different kinds of music, and part of this concert is to see what they play well and what they enjoy playing. It ranges from very traditional art music and classical programming to straight-up popular music.”
Upon its completion, he added, the players will again be required to turn and burn, as the rehearsal schedule will allow for only five sessions before the Tartanband joins other MC ensembles for a Dec. 6 Christmas concert.
“This band has worked harder than any other band I’ve had at Maryville College since I’ve been here,” Simpson said. “They’ve had so much more to do, but they’ve done it really well, especially given all of the challenges and the fact that most of them are not music majors: They’re students in other disciplines, balancing music with the rest of their lives, and I just think that’s really impressive.”
That Tartanband fall concert will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts. Admission is free, and the concert is open to the public. For more information, call the Clayton Center box office at 865-981-8590.