On Saturday, April 26, Chase Gymnasium was filled with family, music majors, peers and the intrigued. The large stage at the back of the gym was populated with percussionists, brass players and woodwinds topped with a few conductors. The musicians behind the instruments ranged from close Biola companions to unrecognizable yet seasoned professionals. When the room went silent the audience was sent into the imaginative world of A Lone Ranger, Sheriff Jesse, Deputy Billie and numerous other characters. The mood was set by one of Bruce Broughton‘s works from “Silverado” and the next three hours were filled with cowboys, bandits and the occasional sarlacc.
The Biola Symphonic Winds Ensemble has existed for many years and there is one event every five years which keeps those memories alive. This year, the Biola Conservatory put together their usual POPS Concert with alumni also performing per tradition. Biola music professor and conductor for Symphonic Winds, Karl Meyers,, thought that being joined by alumni was a major highlight of the event. Meyers reflected on how great it was to see how much the Symphonic Winds meant to the alumni, Biola and some of the professors, and hopes to possibly put on the event more often than every five years.
Alumnus John Cowan, class of 1975, reminisced strongly about this and previous concerts as a highlight of his post-Biola life. Cowan, a trumpeter and music teacher, recalls previous Symphonic Winds conductor Robert Feller emailing him about the concert in 2015.
“I said, you know what, I’m still playing professionally, let’s do it, so I came ten years ago,” Cowan remarked.
Freshman Cinema and Media Arts major and Music minor Juliana Huffman has found Biola’s Symphonic Winds to be a pivotal part of her journey. Huffman first heard about the POPS Concert before college when her brother’s friend invited them to the event which led her to join.
“It was clear that [God] wanted me to be in Symphonic Winds, so I stuck with it,” Huffman testified.
James Allison, senior double major in French horn performance and music education, not only played A Lone Ranger but also was one of the student conductors. Allison described his role as student conductor as “putting together and helping run logistics” relating to POPS.
“I specifically worked with music repertoire, organizing and directing the movie side of things as well as music,” Allison said. When asked about his favorite part of this year’s concert, Allison said it was getting to conduct the trio while a short film of the production’s big Mexican standoff played.
“This was the biggest moment of the whole concert for me,” Allison said.
Chase Gymnasium’s soundscape was flooded by a vast array of classical, contemporary and modern pieces. Arrangements ranged from the scores of “The Magnificent Seven” and “Jaws” to Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from “Les Misérables. Meyers considered “The Cowboys” by John Williams to be his personal favorite work from the concert.
“[It’s] been on my list for a while,” Meyers said “It was fun to do that one, especially with such a large ensemble.”
From a raffle-winning audience member conducting the ensemble to The Mandalorian making an appearance, this year’s spring semester POPS balanced serenity and silliness in true Biola fashion. As Christians, it is important for us not just to create art but also to consume it, taking advantage of the many opportunities Biola offers to appreciate God’s beauty on and off campus. If you ever have the time, or know an artist on campus, I highly encourage attending one of their events. These Biolans work hard to perform their God-given gifts and if you are wondering where to start, I could recommend nothing better than Biola’s numerous POPS concerts.
