Colgate University’s Symphonic Band, a student-run group, performed their Fall 2024 concert, “Evolution,” Friday, Nov. 15 in the Memorial Chapel. The concert showcased wind, brass and percussion from student-instrumentalists. The audience enjoyed listening to a variety of music, from old school to contemporary.

Senior Danny Ruiz, the director and conductor, explained the recent revival of the symphonic band.

“This is only our second performance ever as this iteration of the symphonic band. The ensemble existed a long time ago and looked very different before it fell away,” Ruiz said. “We revived the ensemble last semester and had our debut concert, which was a rather short performance. My goal was for this concert to be a more ‘whole’ experience.”

Sophomore Hunter Magnuson plays the B-flat trumpet and spoke to the band’s primary goal.

“The main objective of Symphonic Band is to develop our musicality while performing fun songs as an ensemble, all under the tutelage of our wonderful director, [Ruiz],” Manguson said.

Senior Alex Tauber took up timpani for the band, which was in need of more percussionists.

“Getting to perform this music in front of my friends is always a really rewarding experience,” Tauber said.

Students who attended, such as junior Max Shah, were inspired by the performance and the dedication of each player.

“I found it very impressive to learn that the symphonic band had only recently been revived because they performed to a degree that suggested they had been a well-established ensemble for a long time,” Shah said. “Each piece was a testament to the musical excellence of some of today’s Colgate students.

The symphonic band performs a concert each semester, which is no small feat.

“Preparing for it along with the rigorous academics of all those involved is quite the undertaking,” Ruiz said. “We rehearse every week, learning new pieces as well as refining previous ones, all in preparation for that concert. The concert space and advertising is then handled by the student leadership with help from the Colgate music department.”

Magnuson delved into more details on the behind-the-scenes preparation.

“For our concert, we met for two hours every Monday starting from the beginning of the semester to focus on improving songs we knew or to introduce new music into our repertoire for the performance,” Magnuson said. “We also had a dress rehearsal last night as a final push before the big day.”

Shah and Ruiz agreed on their favorite song: “Ambush” by Dakota Pederson, which closed the concert.

“Their last piece stuck out to me greatly because of its captivating use of percussion” Shah said.

“I chose it to be our finale for a good reason,” Ruiz added.

A march-style piece, “Americans We,” was Magnuson’s favorite.

“As someone who’s been playing band music since fourth grade, I love to play marches, and this one just has so much energy to it. It certainly helps that this march also heavily features the trumpet section,” Magnuson said.

Tauber pointed to the song that most challenged him.

“The trickiest piece for me was probably ‘Afterlife’ by Rossano Galante,” Tauber said. “This piece requires a delicate balance of loud and soft dynamics from the whole group, and it imposes the additional challenge of needing to retune the timpani mid-performance.”

The Symphonic Band enveloped the Memorial Chapel in rhythmic and electric sounds. The performers look forward to performing again in the spring and, hopefully, for many more years to come.