Music can bring people together.
And thats exactly what area community colleges plan to do with their first-ever combined concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. The theme is Music from the Movies. The event is free.
Allen Community Colleges band and choir will be joined by those from Neosho County Community College and Fort Scott Community College. Its the first time the schools have performed together.
Music is more universal than we might think, ACC band director Jeff Anderson said. Were all in it for the same goal, to make the piece sound great and entertain the audience. Maybe that can transcend this concert. Maybe we can think of other ways to collaborate.
AN IDEA for the combined concert developed more than a year ago, when ACCs Vice President for Student Affairs Cynthia Jacobson looked for opportunities to collaborate with other area community colleges. The schools may compete on athletic fields, but the arts seemed a perfect way to bridge the gap.
The first challenge was to decide what type of music to perform and which numbers. A video call with representatives from three schools led to the movies-related theme.
The pieces will be familiar to the students and the audience, with songs from Shrek, The Pink Panther and Mission Impossible as well as medleys from Frozen and Les Miserables, and a medley of songs from composer John Williams like Star Wars, ET and Jurassic Park.
Each schools band and choir will perform a couple of songs. Then theyll combine the three bands and three choirs. They also will perform as one big group, with all the bands and choirs. Each schools choir and band directors will take turns leading the numbers.
It gives our students an opportunity to play with bigger ensembles and different directors. When youre playing with 30 other people, its just a different experience, Anderson said. It also teaches the students to be flexible and learn on the fly, which is an important life skill.
ORGANIZING the event brought special challenges, Anderson and ACC choir director Adrienne Fleming said.
The bands have not practiced together. The first time theyll perform together is at a dress rehearsal Wednesday afternoon, just a few hours before the performance.
Anderson typically customizes song arrangements to emphasize his students strengths and compensate for instruments the band lacks. But thats difficult to do when hes never heard the Neosho or Fort Scott bands.
And when it comes to the choir performances, Fleming faced her own challenges. The Les Miserables medley, one of the two combined choir pieces, is 15 minutes long and features numerous solos. Students from all three schools have learned the solos and will audition at the dress rehearsal Wednesday.
Its been quite the undertaking, Fleming said. With the auditioning process, theres an air of competition among the students.
The other combined choir piece is Skyfall, a grammy-winning song by Adele from the James Bond movie. It will be performed a cappella and features body percussion and solos. Those solos have been assigned with ACC students taking lead roles.
Its a unique opportunity, Fleming said.
THE CONCERT will be performed on the Bowlus stage rather than the Creitz Recital Hall, where ACC typically offers its spring concerts. Anderson expects increased attendance with the additional colleges.
He anticipates the concert will last about an hour and a half, with quick changes between the various choirs and bands.
