A Week Full of Music

This past week has been chock full of musical performances at Bethel College. Most of the Bethel ensembles have performed in one capacity or another, as well as an influx of guest musicians performing along with them.It started Friday, when during Convocation a Grammy award-winning saxophonist taught us about music theory and the relationships of notes to each other, and how that plays out in a song. Later that night he performed with Bethel’s Jazz Ensemble I, who played along with Jazz II and the smaller Jazz Combo. It was an inspiring show of Jazz.

Not a fan of jazz? Well, this week we had our Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra perform. Not a fan of orchestra? Today there was a two-man group playing a mix of styles at Mojo’s, the campus coffee shop. It was folk mixed with rock mixed with electronic all with a live guitar and drum, as well as a mini keyboard strapped to the guitar.Scared of listening to more than one person make music at a time? Well, you could’ve also had a good time at Austin McCabe-Juhnke’s senior trumpet recital this past Sunday.This past week has been a wonderful smash-up of all different kinds of music. It’s wonderful to be exposed to this sort of thing at Bethel, a mix of student passion and collegiate event planning. That magic mix strikes again soon as Concert Choir leaves for their tour of the Northwest over spring break, and perform their home concert as students come back. As fun as spring break will be, I’m looking forward to coming back to this mix of passion and talent that is Bethel College.