Culture
Ohio University Wind Symphony Releases “Color + Light”
By: Emily Votaw
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Just in time for the Ohio University School of Music’s 100th anniversary in 2017, the Ohio University Wind Symphony has released their second commercial album, Color + Light.
“We recorded the album during winter storm Jonas; so we lost a couple of sessions and had to stretch out a few of our others,” said Andrew Trachsel, the Ohio University Director of Bands, as well as Associate Professor of Music and Assistant Director for Recruitment for the School of Music.
“Very early on I started to see ‘color and light’ as being emerging themes in the project,” said Trachsel of the album’s title. “A lot of the pieces have to do with color or light in the compositional language that the composer used; or they are interesting texturally – having to do with the colors of sound.”
Trachsel said that pieces such as “Winter Dreams,” the sixth recording on the album, denote a specific sense of light – or absence thereof.
“Winter Dreams” has a lot of darker sounds in it – evoking snow and shorter days and darker light,” said Trachsel, who said that another particularly evocative piece on the album is based on German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich’s early 19th century work “Monk By the Sea.”
“Just like the painting, the piece is hazy,” said Trachsel of the composition, which bears the same name as the iconic painting. “Although there are a lot of dark colors in the painting, it’s actually very colorful within that palate. It’s been a lot of fun making that happen through the music.”
Color + Light features not only some of the most talented OU students, but also the School of Music’s assistant professor of trombone, Lucas Rego Borges, who plays on “Concerto for Trombone.” The release of this album marks the world primiere recording of the piece, which the School of Music commissioned and performed for the first time last year.
“It’s always amazing to be able to collaborate with your colleagues on something like this,” said Trachsel of working with Borges. “The great thing about teaching at a School Of Music like ours is that you get to work with these great students and collaborate with your colleagues – who are the experts in their fields.”
The project was funded entirely by Ohio University’s twin Alpha Delta chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, honorary band fraternities.
“The organizations work to set up the funding for the production and post-production of band project recordings,” said Trachsel, who said the funding cycle set up by the fraternities will allow for a new commercial album release every two years. “To my knowledge they’re the only student organizations on any college campus doing this for their band program.”
The album will be available for purchase at a variety of retailers, online and otherwise, in January. Right now you can obtain a $10 CD copy from Trachsel by contacting him at trachsel@ohio.edu.