Maryville College Tartanband to fete Beethoven’s Ninth during Nov. 8 concert
Oct. 28, 2024
Considered one of the greatest achievements in music and the high-water mark of Western classical music, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony turns 200 this year, and the Maryville College Tartanband is throwing it something of a party.
At 7 p.m. on Nov. 8, in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts, the student ensemble will perform “Divine Spark,” a concert inspired by and related to Beethoven’s Ninth, according to Dr. Eric Simpson, professor of music and director of bands at MC.
Works on the program include “Shimmering Joy” by Tyler S. Grant; “March in F,” by Beethoven; “The Beethoven Machine,” by Michael Colgrass; “Alegria,” by Carol Brittin Chambers; “We May Rise,” by Elaine Hagenberg; “Alegre,” by Tania Leon; and “Joyful Variants,” by Naoya Wada.
The performance, Simpson said, is an opportunity for the 37-member collective to shift gears after a busy fall sports season as the College’s Pep Band, which performs for every home football game on Honaker Field, and even made its first out-of-state away-game sojourn earlier this semester, serenading Scots fans when the team defeated the Southern Virginia University Knights 54-6 on Sept. 21.
“The trip to Virginia was pretty great. Students had a great time supporting the Scots,” Simpson said. “It was the first time the band traveled to an out-of-state sporting event since 1979, and the band represented MC well. The entire trip was alumni-funded, and without a very serious group of Highlander Marching Band alumni (and the vision [of MC President Dr. Bryan] Coker), we wouldn’t have a Pep Band program right now.”
An official Maryville College band dates back to 1909, when the MC Cornet Band performed at ball games and public events, and after World War II ended, the ensemble, which had evolved into a marching band, became an integral part of MC life. Although membership dwindled and the band eventually fizzled out in the 1980s and 1990s, nostalgic alumni in recent years approached the College about a fundraising initiative to restart it. The Tartanband, founded by Simpson in 2016, became the likely successor, and beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, the group doubled as the Pep Band, and has done so ever since.
It’s a challenging demand of the students to prepare for both football and fine arts performances, Simpson said, but it’s a rewarding one — and membership is slowly growing. There’s no firm deadline on when the instrumental program will field a marching band, but Simpson is confident it will eventually happen and proud of student efforts for constant improvement.
“They’re really starting to hit their stride with figuring out how to balance the various needs of the group. It’s taxing, but it’s fulfilling,” he said. “I pick music very carefully to match their skill sets. And I have very frank conversations with a lot of my colleagues about how the students are doing, and how they are balancing their major with their instrumental music responsibilities.”
The student performers, however, are just one half of the equation. Supporters and live music enthusiasts are critical for both the continued success of the Tartanband, and the eventual manifestation of a new version of the Highlander Marching Band.
“If there’s one thing I would tell people — go to concerts! Don’t stay home and stream them,” Simpson said. “We’re fracturing as a society, and we need the experience of live music, performed and heard together. There is a reason anthropologists can identify musical practices in every civilization since we starting keeping records. It’s important. Experiencing it through a screen may be more convenient, but it’s not the same.”
Just as no Tartanband concert is ever the same. Already, Simpson is planning for the group’s spring performance, which will take place at 7 p.m. April 15, also in the Nutt Theatre. To balance out the seriousness of the Nov. 8 program, he’s looking to direct his students in some lighter fare.
“It’s a comedy theme, because the concert this fall probably takes itself a little too seriously,” he said with a chuckle. “As far as other big plans, we’re trying to make a big recruiting push this year, because next year will be year four of our Pep Band program, and we’re planning on a lot of cool stuff happening in year five.”
Mum’s the word for the time being, but the public is invited to join in the journey, beginning with the Maryville College Tartanband fall concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, in the Nutt Theatre. The performance is free and open to the public.