Through the front door of the McCorkle Music Building, down the hallway and into the first door on the left, Brittan Braddock stood firm on her podium. Braddock, Mercer's director of bands and coordinator of music education, calmly lifted her baton in front of the Mercer University Wind Ensemble, then brought it down. At her signal, the entire ensemble erupted.
After finishing the section of the song, Braddock looked to the performers. The band waited patiently for her comments as Braddock smiled, which seemed to help ease the tension in the room.
“Y’all all have improved tremendously," Braddock told the ensemble.
The wind ensemble was rehearsing in preparation for their concert, “Voices,” performed at the The Piedmont Grand Opera House in Macon on Nov. 24.
According to the Mercer University academic catalog, the wind ensemble is an “organization of wind and percussion musicians [that] perform music composed for full band as well as various chamber ensembles.”
What this description leaves out from the experience of being in the ensemble is the sense of community the members and director develop with each other.
With a week before the concert, the mood in the band room was confident. Even as the pressure set in, the band kept a good spirit. In one moment, trombone player Seth Curlee '27 began to cough after practicing a section, causing the entire room to laugh, including Braddock.
“Let’s take a deep breath,” Braddock said to the ensemble before readying to get back into practice.
The light hearted nature, in spite of the stress, was evident during the concert as well. While she explained the program, an audience member’s phone began to ring, prompting a chuckle from Braddock.
“There’s a learning moment. Please make sure to silence your phones,” Braddock told the crowd assembled in the nearly 2,500-seat auditorium.
Four pieces were selected for the concert. “Flying Jewels” by James David, “Adoration” by Florence Price and “Deciduous" by Viet Cuong were all selected for their unique stories and instrumentation, Braddock said.
However, the main piece for the second half of the concert was James Stephenson’s “Symphony No. 2: ‘Voices’.”
“It is very difficult. [The students] have been sweating bullets over preparing this piece,” Braddock said about the symphony.
The practice for this piece was also unique, as Stephenson himself came to Mercer to help explain his vision for how "Voices" should be performed, and the reason for its name.
“He's trying to celebrate all of our voices being important in our country. You know, he wrote it for the United States Marine Band and really celebrates the idea that all of us are created equal and should have a voice in our future,” Braddock said.
Ultimately, Braddock said she feels that challenge is good for growing the band.
“I love how far the group has come on this music. I feel like we're peaking at the right time. I know that it's been a challenging semester of music and I think that's good.” Braddock said.
And if the audience's reaction is a fair judge, it seems the ensemble's performance in November was as successful as Braddock had anticipated as it received a standing ovation from the crowd following its final breath.
