Tartanband schedules fall concert to coincide with annual Maryville College Scholarship Dinner
Nov. 6, 2025
The Maryville College Scholarship Dinner doesn’t always include a full band concert as the evening’s entertainment, but this year is a little bit different.
The annual event, which brings together donors and the scholarship recipients who benefit from their generosity as a way to acknowledge the difference their philanthropy has made, will take place on Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Clayton Center for the Arts … and immediately following, the Maryville College Tartanband will perform its annual fall concert.
It wasn’t necessarily planned that way, but for Dr. Eric Simpson — associate professor of music at MC and director of bands, as well as the conductor for Tartanband — the happenstance made programming this semester’s concert a little less intense, he said.
“Normally, we have a theme, but this time, there isn’t one,” Simpson said. “Because it follows the scholarship dinner, all the music was picked to be very accessible and familiar to an audience.”
Selections for the performance, which will take place in the Clayton Center’s Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre, include:
• “Opening Night on Broadway” (a medley that includes music from “The Producers,” “Avenue Q,” “Spamalot,” “Wicked” and “The Lion King”);
• the Scottish folk song “Auld Lang Syne” as arranged by Charles Wiley;
• “Such Small Things,” by Nathan Daughtrey;
• “Havana Nights,” by Randall Standridge;
• “Skyfall,” by Adele and Paul Epworth (from the James Bond film of the same name); and
• “From the Start,” by Laufey and Spencer Stuart.
The performance will also serve as a spotlight, Simpson said, for three seniors and long-time band members whose schedules won’t allow them to participate in the ensemble next semester: Matthew Hurst ’25 on trumpet, Rebecca Johnson ’26 on alto saxophone, and Stephanie Holt ’26 on bass clarinet.
“The spring Tartanband concert will take place on April 7, but Matt is graduating in December, and he already has a job writing code for Schneider Electric,” Simpson said. “Rebecca is interning next semester, and the time will conflict with the band’s rehearsal schedule. Steph is student-teaching next semester, so she is in the same boat as Rebecca.”
While the upcoming concert may be their last time to perform with the band on the Clayton Center stage, that doesn’t mean their time in Tartanband is done. Comprised of 30 students, the ensemble also doubles as the Maryville College Pep Band, which performs at every home football game. The members’ contributions to school spirit and player enthusiasm may not have contributed to points scored by the football team, but it’s difficult to imagine this record-setting season going the way it has without the sounds of the Alma Mater and the Maryville College Fight Song, among others, ringing out from the stands of Lloyd L. Thornton Stadium.
“Sadly, this is indeed my last concert,” said Johnson, an American Sign Language-English Interpreting major as well as the drum major of the band. “The community I have found within the Tartanband has been very uplifting and kind! Some of my favorite memories here at Maryville College have been conducting at various football and basketball games. Being in the Tartanband has been a wonderful creative outlet throughout my time in college. I am not majoring or minoring in music, so it has been lovely getting to play saxophone and conduct simply for the sake of fun!”
And, she added, contributing mightily to the Scots spirit at athletic events and on the concert stage. Band members are grateful for the support of the MC community, Johnson said, and the opportunity to see the band in a more formal setting is a nice counterbalance to the frivolity of performing for athletic events.
“The Pep Band has been doing a great job at football games,” Simpson said. “They’ve given it a lot of effort, and I think it’s safe to say it definitely makes a difference in the experience of the fans who come out to support the Scots. This season has been incredible to watch (the Scots started out 5-0 for the first time in four decades and now sit at 7-1), and we’ve got one more opportunity to perform: Nov. 15, during the game vs. Trinity (University).
“I think it’s important for fans to understand just how hard these students work to prepare for both athletic events like football (and the men’s basketball home opener on Nov. 18) and a more formal concert like the one they’ll perform on the 13th. It’s challenging for them, and it’s challenging for me, but it’s also so fulfilling. This time of year, they seem to hit their stride with figuring out how to balance the various needs of the group, and I’m looking forward to the way they will showcase their capabilities during the fall concert.”
The Tartanband fall concert will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center. Admission is free, and the concert is open to the public.