The WKU Jazz Band and WKU Symphony held their annual holiday concert in Van Meter Hall, on Friday, Nov. 22.
The concert opened with the symphony’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “Daydreams on a Winter’s Journey. The jazz band then played jazz arrangements of songs from “The Nutcracker”.
Afterward, the jazz band and the symphony played classic Christmas songs such as “Santa Clause is Coming to Town,” “Twelve Days of Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
Ramon Amos, a freshman molecular biology technology major said, he enjoyed how the jazz band and symphony worked together.
“I like the fact that they incorporated different pieces that utilize, not only just like components with string instruments too, and using, their, range and stuff like that, to kind of go ahead and help the jazz band,” Amos said.
Brian St. John, music professor and conductor of the symphony, said this was the third time the symphony and jazz band have played together.
St. John said the idea of a combined concert came during the COVID-19 pandemic when there were restrictions on how large bands could be.
“It’s hard to find a lot of music that would fill Van Meter with a small group, but if we combined it with a jazz band, then we could do a small orchestra with a jazz band,” St. John said.
Nate Taylor, a saxophonist and clarinetist in the jazz band, said he enjoyed the opportunity to work with the orchestra.
“Saxophone players don’t often get to work with the orchestra because they’re not in it. So super cool for me to, like, get to sit and play with them,” Taylor said.
Taylor Hamilton, a clarinetist in the orchestra, said she enjoyed playing alongside the jazz band because it’s not a genre she always gets to play.
Hamilton also said she thinks it’s important for people to get out and listen to WKU’s different bands.
“I feel like some people, they don’t really know, what we do, like they see the music building, and they’re like, what even goes on in there,” Hamilton said. “But if you just like come out to our concerts and you see like what we’re doing in there, and you just enjoy music.”
News Reporter Anthony Clauson can be reached at [email protected].
