The symphony orchestra has been hard at work preparing for the May 3 performance at The Asteria Theatre. The symphony is led by Dr. Brian Krinke.
Over 50 student musicians currently play with the symphony. At their upcoming performance the symphony will be playing repertoire such as Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5 and a student arrangement titled “RAIN.” It was arranged by music business senior Grace Goodland and is conducted by liberal arts music major and senior Dominic Olmos.
Senior music education major Aeneas Lenahan will also conduct “Carillon” from the opera “Carmen” by Georges Bizet.
“Arranging for an orchestra has helped me develop a better understanding of the strengths, limitations, and role of many instruments. I play the trumpet and saxophone…I really don’t know much about most instruments, especially strings and percussion. I’ve had to do a lot of research on instrument ranges,” Goodland wrote.
Goodland described “RAIN” as “fast-paced and technical.” It was originally written for piano by Tony Ann and arranged for the orchestra by Goodland, and is meant to replicate the sound of falling rain.
“I think it’s a beautiful piece and that Tony Ann is extremely skilled in piano composition,” Goodland continued.
Students have a variety of favorites among the pieces. The repertoire played by the ensemble transcends centuries, with some pieces selected from the 19th century, and RAIN featured as a modern piece, originally composed in 2021.
“I would definitely say the Dvořák Symphony… either the first or fourth movement is my favorite, the level of intensity it gets is pretty awesome,” said music education major and freshman cellist Wesley Long.
The wide repertoire of CMU’s symphony lends broad playing experience and classical training to CMU musicians. Many music majors feel the ensemble is invaluable for preparing them for a professional music career.
“It helps a lot, especially playing with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra now, it just gave me a lot of background experience for that specific genre of playing because I’d never really done symphony orchestra before I came to CMU,” says percussion performance junior Daniel Weaver.
Weaver is a percussionist for the symphony orchestra, and said CMU’s symphony orchestra prepared him for professional roles. It defined the expectations of a professional symphony and gave him the experience necessary for his role as a percussionist in the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra (GJSO), the largest professional symphony in the Grand Junction area.
“It builds my endurance, as I play low horn, and endurance is hard,” Olmos said.
Olmos will be returning to California after graduation this semester to teach K-12 music. The symphony provided valuable insights to Olmos as an aspiring career musician and educator.
“I’m really excited to perform. There’s gonna be lots of music, and it’ll be very interesting. I’m very excited,” Long said.
