Kaia Anderson, online publishing coordinator
On Oct. 18th Augsburg had its annual Homecoming Music Showcase, which featured all of Augsburg’s ensembles, including the jazz band, choir, orchestra and concert band. The event took place in the chapel, where the musicians and audience alike gathered to listen to the ensembles play.
The jazz band was the opening act with songs like “Gator Bait,” “Impressions,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” – featuring Katelyn Lee and “BAILE INoLViIDABLE” by Bad Bunny. “Gator Bait” was an upbeat piece based on New Orleans jazz. Lennon Krueger, a music education major at Augsburg, said that this was his favorite piece to play. “I loved getting to emulate the New Orleans feel.” Krueger had the trombone solo on “Gator Bait” as well, “I think my solo went alright, I messed up a little bit, but I don’t think it was apparent to the audience.” Originally sung by Ella Fitzgerald, “Someone to Watch Over Me” is a very sentimental piece. For the concert, Katelyn Lee, another student within the music department, beautifully sang as the jazz band played as her accompaniment.
The choir’s performance was very emotional, with songs based around community, healing and freedom. Gideon Zupfer and Sam Bartelt opened for the choir with the start of “Down to the River to Pray” as the two sang the rest of the choir slowly filed in. This felt like a magical moment, sitting in the chapel, listening as the space was filled with melodic harmonies. Bartelt said, “I think it went really great. I heard a lot of people got emotional over the songs we sang. I think the reason they got emotional is cause it meant a lot to them. Especially the last song we sang” The final song, “Gimikwenden Ina,” was the most emotional song of the afternoon, focusing on the Native American community and remembering what was taken during residential schooling.
“The final song, “Gimikwenden Ina,” was the most emotional song of the afternoon, focusing on the Native American community and remembering what was taken during residential schooling.”
Kaia Anderson
Mark Elliot Bergman conducted the orchestra in playing two original pieces that he composed, both based on Minnesota during the fall. The first song, “Barndance” was an animated piece, featuring lively strings and very reminiscent of being in the country at a fall festival. The second piece took inspiration from the “Great Minnesota Get Together.” This piece was more laid back and focused on the hustle and bustle of the state fair. William Doezal, who played for both the orchestra and concert band, said he “thought the concert went well. It was really nice to hear all of the other ensembles […] This was a little more meaningful cause we were playing something Mark wrote.” According to Doezal, Bergman changed parts of the score to better fit his musicians.
The final ensemble to play was the concert band, conducted by Kenneth Green. This group played four songs, “L’Inglesina,” “Seis Menuel,” “Down a Country Lane” and “Go Time” – which featured the saxophone section. “Down a Country Lane” stood out from the other three pieces that were played, in part, to its slow melody. Doezal said it was his favorite concert band piece to play, “I like the slower more melodious songs.”
The showcase ended with the concert band playing the “Auggie War Song” while the choir and audience sang along, bringing the homecoming weekend to a wonderful end.