The ISU Wind Ensemble’s first concert of the semester filled nearly every seat in the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall on Friday evening.

The performance was labeled as a concert of “international” music. It represented the countries of Hungary, Scotland, Germany, Russia and the U.S., through its five chosen compositions.

The ISU Wind Ensemble is comprised of 60 students who play woodwind, brass and percussion instruments. The ensemble is directed by Michael Golemo, professor of music and director of bands at ISU.

“It’s an immensely talented group of students. They work hard. They are dedicated, and they play at an incredibly high level. It’s a fun group to work with,” said Golemo.

Golemo said he didn’t originally plan on having a theme for the concert, but after seeing all the different countries represented through the selections, he decided to go with the international theme.

The concert began with Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas’ “Merry Music for Wind Band.” This was a pleasant, light sounding piece to start the performance.   

This was followed by Julie Giroux’s “Culloden.” It was a change in tone from the first selection. “Culloden” was an epic sounding piece, which is likely due to its subject matter. Its title refers to the Battle of Culloden, which is an important and deadly battle in Scottish history. The piece was distinctly Scottish sounding. Its second movement featured parts of 13 Scottish songs.

The third composition performed was Cyrill Kistler’s “Prelude to Act III of ‘Kunihild.’” This piece is pulled from the German opera “Kunihild,” which is based on a medieval legend. Its fanciful music transported the audience to a fairytale land of a magical castle, an alluring princess and a gallant knight.

The fourth composition came from Russian composer Boris Kozhevnikov. It was titled, “Symphony No. 3, ‘Slavyanskaya.’” It was the longest composition performed on the night, running around 15 minutes. Its first movement was an assertive change of pace from the previous Kistler piece. The second movement slowed it down to music for a waltz. The third and fourth movements were both energetic and cheerful.

The final composition performed was American John Mackey’s “Aurora Awakes.” This was the most contemporary selection, being composed in 2009. The name of the composition is derived from the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora. The piece is meant to represent the rising of the sun. The music started slowly and quietly, but over a span of 10 minutes, it built toward a lively and inspiring conclusion.

Bryce Sederburg, a junior in management information systems, plays the E-flat clarinet for the ISU Wind Ensemble. He says “Aurora Awakes” was the most difficult piece to master during practice.  

“The last piece, ‘Aurora Awakes,’ is a little difficult because it’s not a traditional melody. It’s more based on sounds and colors. So we had to spend a lot of time figuring out how we wanted to make it sound, not relying on actual harmonics, but rather what kind of sound we [needed to] make and how we emphasize it,” Sederburg said. “It’s a different way of playing and writing music.”

Zach Howell, an ISU graduate in 2014 with a degree in music education, came back for the concert. “Aurora Awakes” was his favorite composition he heard.

“The ending [piece] I thought was fantastic … because of how many different layers and levels there were with it. I thought it was a very good piece,” Howell said. “I thought they did a very nice job with it.”  

Howell not only enjoyed the final composition, but also their performance overall.  

“I thought it was really good. They usually have a performance this early [in the semester], and usually you can hear there is some work that needs to be done, but I thought that they did outstanding,” Howell said.

Sederburg credits their successful performance to their preparation.

“We rehearse four times a week. Dr. Golemo knows how to bring a program together. It’s just a process of working on a song a little bit at a time, and then eventually about one or two weeks before [the concert] we start running each piece, and then by the end, we are ready to perform,” Sederburg said.

Sederburg was pleased with how everyone sounded in the night’s performance.  

“I thought it went really well, I was really happy with how we played,” said Sederburg. “I think Dr. Golemo was really happy too.”  

The ISU Wind Ensemble will now turn their attention to their upcoming joint performance with the ISU Percussion Ensemble. It will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m.