Josh Falcone – General Assignment Reporter –
Dr. Craig Hlavac and the Southern Concert Band, an exceptional blend of the fabric that makes up the Southern community, are preparing for their upcoming performances later this spring.
Hlavac, the band director, said the band is an eclectic mix of the various people that mold Southern, and that this is what makes it truly special.
“It’s a unique group,” he said. “The band is made up of Southern faculty, staff and of course students. This makes it special, that everyone comes from all walks of life in this band. That is what I really like about it.”
The band is hard at work preparing for their concert, which will take place in April, Hlavac said.
SCSU Band led by Band Director Dr. Craig Hlavec practicing “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
“We will be performing ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ on April 29th in the Lyman Center,” he said. “It will feature a solo pianist as well as the whole band in accompaniment.”
In addition to the spring concert, the SCSU Band will also perform at Commencement on Friday, May 17th at the Webster Bank Arena, Hlavac said.
The work the SCSU Band will be performing in their spring concert, ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ is a 10-part suite originally composed in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. The composition was then arranged for orchestra, most famously by Maurice Ravel in 1922. The suite is meant to represent the listener walking through an art exhibition, with each piece in ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ representing a piece of artwork. Mussorgsky was inspired to write the suite by the death of his friend, Russian painter Victor Hartmann and a posthumous exhibition of Hartmann’s work.
Hlavac said that the reason the band only has one concert this semester is due to the complexity of the musical pieces the SCSU Band performs.
“We really only have enough practice time to rehearse for one concert,” Hlavac said. “That has a lot to do with the harsh intricacy of the works we perform in concert,” he said. The SCSU Band has been looking for instrumentalists, especially clarinetists, bass clarinetists, and string bass players, Hlavac said.
The SCSU Band rehearses every Thursday at 7:30 and Hlavac encourages anyone with prior musical instrument experience looking to play again are to contact him via email.
“We were looking for instrumentalists, actually we are still looking for instrumentalists,” Hlavac said. “If someone has experience playing a musical instrument and is interested in playing again, they are welcome to contact me.”
