An early look at the Chamber Orchestra’s upcoming concert
The chamber orchestra’s first concert of the spring semester is happening on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Feb. 21, the Bethel College Chamber Orchestra will be putting on their February concert. The orchestra has been busy this February. For one, they have been preparing for this upcoming concert. Secondly, on Feb. 14, the orchestra gave Valentine’s Day performances to students and faculty around campus. By playing renditions of songs such as “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, they provided a multitude of fun musical performances. They now quickly shift focus to the upcoming concert, which promises to contain exciting pieces of varying styles.
The Chamber Orchestra will be performing a variety of featured works by composers such as Vasily Kalinnikov, Hector Berlioz, Carlos Gomez, and Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins. The ensemble is composed of around five violins, two violas, two cellos, a double bass, and an oboe.
Peter Buller, the orchestra’s oboist was asked about what excites him about the upcoming concert; he provided some insight into his role and what interests him as he prepares for concert week. Although he mentioned that he only plays in two pieces, he provided a closer look at both:
“The first of these pieces is the first movement from Kalinnikov’s Symphony Number 1. When playing it as a small chamber piece it becomes really complicated because of how many interweaving themes Kalinnikov writes over each other. It’s an exciting piece that keeps doing something different.
“The second piece is a short march by Berloiz that feels different from a traditional American Band march but retains the style of a march,” Buller explained.
This concert will take place Wednesday, Feb. 21. in Krehbiel Auditorium within the Fine Arts Center. There will also be a live stream available through the Bethel College music department YouTube channel.