Student-run orchestra promotes light atmosphere, charitable giving with concert

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The DePauw Pops Orchestra filled Kresge Auditorium with the sound of several iconic and beloved songs of the ‘80s on Wednesday night. Their set list included pieces from films such as “Indiana Jones” and “Back to the Future,” as well as from musical theater, with an arrangement of several songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera”.

The concert also delved into pop with a DePops member’s arrangement of “Thriller/Africa,” a piece that includes two 1980 pop hits by Michael Jackson and Toto, respectively. The well-known pieces both hearkened back to the younger days of the faculty and adults present, and entertained the students in the audience as well.

“I love everything ‘80s, so hearing some of the greatest hits from the '80’s transformed into classical music was great. I loved it,” first-year Kelsi Dye said.

DePops is characterized by set lists of similarly well-known songs, something for audience members and DePops musicians alike to appreciate.

“It’s a lot of fun music," sophomore Kevin Salinas explained. "It’s fun playing popular music because it’s different than just classical music that we play every day, so it’s a nice break from the usual."

Started last year, DePops is a student-run organization for musicians to participate in outside of the School of Music, one that is less “stressful and scary as sometimes actual orchestra or band is,” sophomore Megan Qua said.

This relaxed environment certainly does not translate to any laziness or lack of talent on behalf of the musicians, though.

 “What I’ve seen in this orchestra that’s different than the university orchestras is that we are more relaxed, but just as dedicated to the music, because everyone who is here wants to be here. There’s no obligation for a credit,” the DePops president, junior Elizabeth Gering, explained.

Gering also noted that the orchestra includes students from the School of Music and from the College of Liberal Arts.

“We get a very diverse crowd of people,” the DePops conductor, junior Andrew Casey, affirmed.

Along with the musical dedication and talent within DePops, there is a dedication to using their music for a greater cause. Casey explained that their concerts often work to benefit a particular charity or group; in the past, they have benefitted Greencastle Middle School.

Thursday’s concert benefitted SASA (Students Assault Survivor Advocates) in honor of a former member, Mei Fujisato, and all victims of sexual assault.

Fujisato, who would have been a sophomore this year, left DePauw after she was allegedly sexually assaulted several months ago. Her account of the story and the aftermath appears in a public Facebook post that she released on Oct. 13. As explained in the post, Fujisato returned home to Japan for medical recovery.

“We’re dedicating [the concert] to Mei and to every survivor of sexual assault,” Gering explained.

DePops holds practices on Sundays, and welcomes a variety of skills sets in orchestral instruments.