Fall Concerts

With the school year in full gear, all of the musical ensembles here on campus are presenting their first concerts of the year. This is a really exciting time for all of the ensembles because it’s the first time we get to show off our new members as well as feature upperclassmen that are stepping up to the plate and leading both sections and the ensembles themselves.The Wind Ensemble, in which I play the oboe, kicked off the concert season with their first concert “From the Stage to the Screen,” which featured both classic wind ensemble repetoire, like Molly on the Shore by Percy Grainger, and famous movie music, like the music John Williams wrote for Harry Potter and Star Wars. It was a fun concert and it even featured the Concert Choir, Bethel’s mixed choir which anyone and everyone can audition for, singing Morten Laurdison’s O Magnum Mysterium. This concert was a lot of fun and the audience was one of the biggest I’ve seen in my short tenure here at Bethel.The Chamber Orchestra kicks off their concert season on Thursday, featuring pieces by Bach, Haydn and Brandenburg. The Orchestra will also have Professor of Music and Department Chair Karen Schlabaugh playing harpsichord, so we will sound downright authentic.With Fall Fest just around the corner as well, so are more performances. Fall Fest weekend is when Bethel’s jazz bands perform for the first time, both at Taste of Newton Thursday evening and on the Green Saturday afternoon. Concert Choir will also be singing at the Fall Fest church service Sunday morning. Fall Fest is also the weekend when the theatre department kicks off their season! I’ll be posting more about that in the next few days. All in all, Bethel definitely has a number of performance opportunities for all you musicians, actors, etc. The best way to experience these things isn’t through the blog, though that’s definitely a viable option; the best way is to come experience them for yourself. Coming and visiting the campus, and getting to experience performances in particular, is what finally influenced me to make the decision to come to Bethel. Fall Fest is an excellent way to experience both the campus and Newton, as well as get your fill of musical performances.