The Quill/Chad Hummel
By Danielle Bettendorf Staff writer
Susquehanna’s orchestra performed a concert on Nov. 6 at 2:30 p.m. in Stretansky Concert Hall.
The group performed four pieces: “Overture to Egmont” by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, “Suite No. 4, Scènes pittoresques” by French composer Jules Massenet, “Letter from Home” by American composer Aaron Copland and “Masquerade Suite” by Soviet Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian.
“We kind of span the globe in a lot of ways, from the early 1800s to the early 1900s, and even Copland gets into the mid-1900s, so there is this good variety of music,” said Gregory Grabowski, associate professor of music and orchestra director.
“It’s this nice variety of a big sampling of lots of different styles, lots of different composers [and] different time periods,” Grabowski said. “[It’s] a fun concert not only for us to play, but a fun concert for the listener [because of] the sheer variety of the music.”
Grabowski said that the program was intentionally composed of pieces that may be better known as well as pieces that may be more obscure.
“I hope that [the audience comes] out having enjoyed the music, whether it’s a well-known masterpiece or a hidden gem,” Grabowski said. “I always like to have a mix: my ideal whenever I’m programming is to have something that people can hang their hat on, and then something that’s going to stretch the listener, something that might take them out of their comfort zone.”
“Whether that’s Aaron Copland [with] a piece people aren’t as familiar with, or a wonderful piece of music that people may not know very well, it’s one of the things I love about the university,” Grabowski added. “The idea of a university orchestra is that we’re not dependent. As a professional group is selling tickets, or getting donors, [they] often have to program in such a way that appeals to what the audience wants to hear.”
“In the university, we have this opportunity of experimenting a little bit more, of having a bit more freedom with our programming,” he continued. “That’s something that I love being able to do. [To] find a way that the listener comes out having loved the performance, having loved the concert and going ‘I’ve never heard of that, and that’s such great music.’ That’s something that I always love hearing after one of our concerts.”
When it came to selecting the pieces, Grabowski said he made sure the pieces balanced each other out.
“Figuring out a program is always challenging,” he said. “Finding that mix, that balance of stretching them to the next level, finding something that’s enjoyable to play and enjoyable to listen to and something [that] checks all of these boxes is always tricky.”
Grabowski also praised the orchestra and said the students have continually progressed with the music that they have played.
“The students are doing a fantastic job with this,” he said. “They’re constantly growing, they’re constantly surprising me and I love seeing our projection [for the future]. If the audience comes out of this with anything, it’s the idea [of] how far we’ve come, even in the past couple of years.”
Audience members at the concert echoed Grabowski’s sentiment, with a focus on the orchestra’s efforts as a whole.
“I really like the quality of the orchestra here at Susquehanna,” senior Carrie Leaman said. “I think Grabowski has done wonders to bring it together and to make it unified.”
“I hope they see the trajectory we’re taking,” Grabowski continued. “The difficulty of music is going up, the level of music making is increasing [and] the quality of performances are only getting better and better.”
