Seven Ohio University music students will swap their pencils for batons at the Symphonic Band concert tonight at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
Richard Suk, an OU professor of music who also directs the OU Marching 110, will oversee the performance but is not conducting one note at this concert.
Instead, two graduate students and five undergraduates, who auditioned for Suk and fellow music professor Andrew Trachsel during Fall Quarter, will conduct one piece each at the concert.
They're rehearsing (the songs) as well
Suk said, and then Dr. Trachsel and I take them out individually and give them a one-on-one private lesson after they conduct and say 'You need to work on this look at this
(and) did you hear that?'
Kathleen Dean, a senior studying music education and music theory, will conduct Eire by Melanie Donahue at the concert, and said that she is looking forward to managing the rehearsals for the concert.
That's not something that you get a chance to do very often
Dean said, and obviously as a teacher and music educator
it's going to be important to know how to run a rehearsal.
Garrett Doty, a senior studying instrumental music education, is conducting Portraits by Jim Colonna.
I'm student teaching next quarter
Doty said, so it's a nice time to be part of a full ensemble with mature
young music majors ... before I'm thrown out into the real world.
Suk said the student conductors personally chose the piece that they will conduct from the Ohio Music Education Association repertoire, which is the same music used for the OMEA high school band.
I got to conduct one of the bands when I went to undergrad at Southern Miss
Suk said. I thought it was a great opportunity and it really whet my appetite for standing in front of an ensemble
so we're hoping it does that for them as well.
