On this past Thursday, October 8, the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra performed their “Awakening” Concert in the Howard Performing Arts Center (HPAC) conducted by Dr. Chris Wild. Because of COVID-19, the Symphony Orchestra live streamed their event over Facebook. The live stream allowed people to watch from all over the world including Argentina and the Philippines. Over a hundred devices watched the concert live. Many alumni and family members joined to watch the concert. Dr. Wild commented, “By broadcasting our concert through Facebook we were able to connect with many more listeners than is typical of our concerts. Within the first twenty-four hours of the live-stream, approximately 4,000 people had viewed the video.”
Most of the performers wore masks or modified masks based on their instruments. Dr. Wild said, “We’re very fortunate that our concert hall happens to have a choir loft that is connected around to the balcony, creating lots of room up high and to the sides where musicians could sit.”
A first violinist, Samantha Cardwell (freshman, music), said, “It was a weird experience because there was no audience, but I still felt excited because we were performing live. After every song, our conductor would clap and make us laugh. The vibe of the room wasn’t tense, but enjoyable.” Another performer, Wesley Martin (sophomore, physics, computer science), said, “Performing in front of a few cameras is quite different from performing for a live audience. On the one hand, there is less pressure on you because you can’t see the people watching. On the other hand, it feels kind of silly to stand to the applause of a couple cameramen and no one else. Overall, though, I’m satisfied with the performance, and the changes we had to make due to Covid weren’t a big deal to me.”
The performance was based on the theme “Awakening.” A total of five pieces were played by the Symphony Orchestra with a half hour intermission in the middle. The first piece, “Mother and Child,” composed by William Grant Still, expressed the picture of infancy and reliance on others. “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” composed by Johann Strauss II, is a very famous piece about a morning of the Danube River in Vienna, Austria which expressed joy. Then, the third piece, “Jota,” is composed by Mauel de Falla in his ballet “The Three-Cornered Hat” and shares the excitement of dance. After the intermission, the Symphony Orchestra performed “Finlandia,” composed by Jean Sibelius, which expressed courage and hope coming from dark times. “Russian Easter Festival Overture” conveyed an Easter weekend as composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
One student who attended the concert over Facebook live, Jasmine Smith (junior, criminal justice and psychology), said, “I really enjoyed the performance! It was amazing to see how the orchestra was able to still perform beautifully under the circumstances. My favorite piece from the performance was the second piece.” Overall, the concert was very beautiful and successful.
To watch the concert, you can go to https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1053451141781212. Also, the Department of Music plans to hold another program on Saturday, October 24 at 8pm. The Wind Symphony will be performing a “Songs of the Sea” concert. Keep watching for more information.
Originally published on October 13, 2020.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.