The LBCC orchestra and the woodwind band brought some festive sounds with a “mysterious” undertone at their final concert for the semester, ‘Eggnog: A Holiday Mystery’ on Sunday, put on by the LBCC Performing Arts department.
The theme put a spin on what the usual type of music the orchestra and woodwind band chooses to do; instead of doing an outright Christmas-themed concert, the songs chosen were “holiday-adjacent” but with a “mysterious” feel.
LBCC orchestra conductor Roger Przytulski said that the current ensemble’s skills are the basis of how the music is picked and added a theme afterwards.
“We like to play stuff that is advanced because we have different abilities in our group and then we choose themes that correlate, like December but not fully ‘holiday-like’ as we run out of music over time. I chose pieces that have a mysterious and magical quality to them,” Przytulski said.
The specific imagery of eggnog was considered a “colorful idea” by Przytulski and emulated a “soft holiday feel.”
However, the music played was anything but soft with very strong stringed instruments playing well-known classical pieces like “Dance of the Knights” from the ballet, “Romeo and Juliet”.
In the orchestra lineup, performer Abraham Corona, who’s been with LBCC for over five years was able to perform a solo on the tuba, which isn’t well known for it being a soloist instrument.
“This kind of an arrangement for a tuba, a big burly instrument, let it be able to be showcased. It means a lot to show people what a tuba can do,” Corona said.
Though the big, burly and strong instruments were seen as a way to power the “mysterious” theme of the concert, the woodwind band lead by head conductor Brian Hamilton brought a more cheerful and festive mood for their performance.
Remixed arrangements of familiar holiday tunes were heard throughout the woodwind band’s set, including the compositions of “Jingle Them Bells” and “Three Wise Guys” which added a bit of flair to classic Christmas tunes.
The woodwind band closed out their set with holiday classic “Jingle Bells,” which Hamilton noted was requested yearly by students throughout his 25 years of conducting at LBCC before he finally allowed students to perform this year.
Hamilton noted that the group refrained from doing any actual holiday music performed stereotypically around Christmastime which served to be refreshing and new.
“There’s a different spirit to not doing traditional holiday music besides that one piece, the all around spirit of the music just feels different and has a different type of entertainment,” Hamilton said.
“Eggnog: A Holiday Mystery” was the final performance for both the orchestra and woodwind band for the semester and year; concerts will continue into next semester.
The spring semester concerts are anticipated to be featured in the brand-new Performing Arts building, building G, that finished construction earlier on in the year.
