On Thursday, Oct. 9, the Fannin County High School Band welcomed the University of North Georgia Wind Ensemble to the FCHS Fine Arts Center for a concert titled “Shared Spaces.”
The performance began with UNG Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands Ashley Jarrell guiding his ensemble through four songs: “Tuttarana” by Reena Esmail, “City Trees” by Michael Markowski, “Solace in the Wind” by Kevin Day and the title piece, “Shared Spaces for Wind Ensemble” by Viet Cuong.
Jarrell explained that most of the concert repertoire was no more than two years old.
“Believe it or not, new music is not all weird and not all bad. You can find the right stuff, you just have to look really hard,” he said.
For the final piece of the night, the FCHS Band joined the UNG Wind Ensemble on stage to perform “The Melody Shop” by Karl L. King. FCHS Band Director Grant Davis, who conducted the piece, said it features “one of the most difficult euphonium solis” he has ever seen. UNG students CJ Yeager, Bethany Bruning, AJ Lee and Lucy Dalton played the soli during the concert.
“They [played] something that sounds really cool, but it’s technically really, really hard,” said Davis. “Thank you to the University of North Georgia and to Dr. Ashley Jarrell for letting me conduct this wonderful group of humans and letting us share the stage with them.”
Jarrell returned the gratitude, explaining that the concert’s theme was “bringing people together and supporting communities.”
He encouraged guests to donate to Her Hope Pregnancy Center in place of an admission fee, adding that the ensemble plans to support a different charity at each performance.
Brett Ledford, a trumpet player and sophomore music performance major at UNG, said even he planned to donate to the cause that night. He said he and his peers were grateful for the opportunity to support a “really good charity” through music.
“It was a great experience,” said Ledford. “The Fannin County High School Band did great. They were amazing. It was a little cramped, I can’t lie, but that’s how it is when you have two full ensembles on stage.”
According to Jarrell, the UNG Wind Ensemble hopes to perform with the FCHS Band again in the future. For now, he said it will spend the coming weeks preparing for a concert at Dawson County High School Performing Arts Center on Nov. 18.
