On Sunday, Feb 28, The Winter Concert, directed by Dr. Kenneth Kohlenberg, will be held in Building 2 in Blair Hall Theater. The concert will last from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm and is free of charge.
The two groups performing during the concert are the Community Concert Band and the Community Wind Symphony. Dayton area musicians make up both groups. Their numbers are similar, with 70 musicians in the concert band and 50 in the wind symphony. There are 20 Sinclair students in the concert band, although there are only a few in the wind symphony.
The conductor of both groups, Dr. Kenneth Kohlenberg, is the program director and a professor of music at Sinclair. He has been at Sinclair since 1987 and has conducted both groups the entire time as part of his work.
The Winter Concert has changed in many different ways over the years. Before Sinclair switched from quarters to semesters a few years ago, the concert sometimes took place in March. However, now that Sinclair uses semesters, the concert always takes place in February. This year, there is another new element. In previous years, the concert band and wind symphony perform separately, but this year the two groups are sharing a performance. The community band will perform for the first 30 minutes, followed by an intermission, then a performance by the wind symphony.
Each group will perform four pieces. The community band will open with an overture by John Phillip Sousa called “New York Hippodrome”. Another piece they will be playing is called the “Chorale Shaker Dance”, composed by John Zdechlik. This piece, according to Kohlenberg, has been popular among concert bands since the 1960s. Kohlenberg described the next piece, “Illyrian Dance” as “fun and imaginative.” He also mentioned that “There are a lot of dance pieces,” in the concert.
After the intermission, the wind symphony will open with “Roman Carnival Overture”, by French composer Hector Berlioz. Other pieces by the Wind symphony include “Yosemite Autumn” by Mark Camphouse and “Dance of the New World” by Dana Wilson. Camhouse was inspired to write the piece while visiting the national park with his family. This piece, according to Kohlenberg, gives the listener “[a] lot of feelings and pictures…grandeur [and] beauty of the park.” “Dance of the New World” is a contemporary piece, featuring “A lot of the drums,” Kohlenberg explained.
Kohlenberg said that the Winter Concert is “A great way to spend an hour and a half on a Sunday,” since football game season is over. There is free parking on the street, and admission to the event is free, so the entire event is free of charge. The theater seats 459 people and, most importantly, Kohlenberg said with a laugh, “The heat will be on.”
Micah Karr
Reporter