Applause filled Kresge Auditorium Wednesday night at the DePauw Chamber Symphony's performance, despite low turn out during Winter Term.
This concert was the first of the five performances the ensemble has scheduled during Winter Term. Thursday morning, the Chamber Symphony left campus to continue the series in England.
Orcenith Smith - founder, conductor and music director of the program since 1974 - is leading the tour to two concerts in London, one performance in Oxford and another in Bath before returning on Jan. 18.
Smith said 35 of the 60-member University Orchestra were selected to perform with the Chamber Symphony in England.
Nicole Brockmann - School of Music faculty member and viola soloist - is also accompanying the ensemble. She is featured on tour as the viola soloist in Gustav Holst's "Lyric Movement."
The piece before Brockmann's performance is American composer Leonard Bernstain's Overture to "Candide." Following Brockmann's performance is "In the Steppes of Central Asia" by Russian composer Alexander Borodin, excerpts from the ballet "Rodeo" by Aaron Copland and "Skylife" by David Balakrishnan. Also included is Johann Strauss's overture to the operetta "Die Fledermaus" - an opera which will be adapted by DePauw students in February.
The concert concludes with English composer Benjamin Britten's "Soirées Musicales."
The Chamber Symphony is known for its tours. In the past, the orchestra has traveled extensively, performing over 100 concerts in 80 different locations in the United States and Canada. Since the early 1980s, the orchestra has also toured overseas, to countries such as Great Britain, Spain, France, Italy and Austria.
Because of the demanding nature of the program, the faculty holds high expectations for the participating students.
"Musicians play more than just their notes and rhythm," Smith said. "They need to fit their audience."
But strong performance is only one of the expectations. The program also demands that the students get used to the tight schedule of performing and traveling, challenging their stamina on the road.
"It's different to travel, to experience jet lag and to eat different food," Smith said.
He noted that problems always arise during the long, packed schedule of traveling and performing for the ensemble.
"As adults, we need to know how to deal with it," he said.
He recalls a particular time when one of the best players got sick on the eve of a performance, and the ensemble had to go on without him. For these moments, Smith implements a motto for the Chamber Symphony's trips: expect the unexpected.
Senior Mara Wallace, a violinist, that she always keeps this lesson in mind. Last year, when Wallace was touring with the Percussion Ensemble to Beijing, it was so cold in the building that she almost could not play. Because of that experience, she expects the unexpected to happen in any trip, including this one, as different environments impact the musicians.
"The ceiling might be too high that make me nervous," she said.
However, for sophomore horn player David Acton, this Winter Term is his first overseas trip and also the first time he will ever experience such a tight schedule. He said the most important thing to do is to keep in shape.
But Smith notes that because the trip is a Winter Term project, the program is designed not to be too hard on the students so that they can appreciate the English culture and see something new.
"It's an honor for [the students] to do [the program] and do it well," he said.
