Both musi­cal groups will be per­form­ing a vari­ety of pieces for this week’s concert

The Ferris State University Symphony Band and the Ferris State University West Central Chamber Orchestra will both be per­form­ing con­certs this week.

The FSU Symphony Band was founded four years ago and is spon­sored by Ferris through the university’s Music for Life! Initiative. The band is com­prised of FSU stu­dents, mem­bers of the com­mu­nity, and some musi­cians from high schools across the region. The band con­sists mainly of Ferris students.

The band encour­ages stu­dents and com­mu­nity mem­bers to par­tic­i­pate if they are able. Ferris stu­dents are able to earn credit and schol­ar­ships by par­tic­i­pat­ing in the band. These stu­dents enroll in Music 160 in order to do so. Community mem­bers and high school stu­dents may par­tic­i­pate for free.

Richard Scott Cohen, musi­cal direc­tor and con­duc­tor, said, “The sym­phony band con­cert is built around the con­cept of hav­ing a vari­ety of dif­fer­ent styles and will fea­ture seven musi­cal selec­tions in all.”

The FSU West Central Chamber Orchestra will also be per­form­ing a con­cert this week.

The orches­tra is also com­prised of Ferris stu­dents, com­mu­nity mem­bers, and select high school stu­dents from across the region. This will be the forty-third con­cert sea­son for the orchestra.

The over­all size of the orches­tra has been the largest in recent years. Cohen said that this year’s string orches­tra has a record high num­ber of Ferris stu­dents participating.

The orches­tra con­cert will fea­ture music from across a wide vari­ety of eras. There will be music from the romance era, the post-romance era, and the clas­si­cal era. The orches­tra will play six musi­cal selec­tions in all.

Both the orches­tra and sym­phony band have had to deal with con­stric­tions on prac­tice time.

“It can be a chal­lenge because we only rehearse once a week for 90 min­utes and there are no reg­u­lar prac­tice hours for our mem­bers,” said Cohen.

Despite prac­tice lim­i­ta­tions, Cohen believes that both musi­cal groups will put on great shows.

“I think both groups have done a great job and the con­certs are going to be great,” said Cohen. “Everyone who par­tic­i­pates are peo­ple who have lots of expe­ri­ence and love music.”

The FSU Symphony Band will be per­form­ing tonight at 8 p.m. The FSU West Central Chamber Orchestra will be per­form­ing Sunday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. Both con­certs will be held in Williams Auditorium. The con­certs have free admis­sion and are open to the public.

Songs to be Played

FSU West Central Chamber Orchestra

• Overture from “The Barber of Seville” By Rossini
• Palladio By Karl Jenkins
• Serenade for String Orchestra By Norman Leyden

FSU Symphony Band

• James Bond Suite By Frank Erickson
• On the Campus By John Philip Sousa
• Irish Songs By Robert W. Smith