The OU Symphony Band and Concert Band, directed by Brian Britt and Jeff Jahnke, present a joint concert on Monday night, April 27, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall in Catlett Music Center on the University of Oklahoma campus. Admission is free. It's the final concert of the 2008-2009 academic year—some recitals with symphonic winds are ahead, as usual, but this is the last full-band concert of the season. A live stream is available if you really can't make it (those of you who live in Alaska, for example, are excused).

In case you've been away from the band program for a while: the Symphony Band is an undergraduate ensemble of up to 70 players, whose members and parts are chosen by audition. It's been part of the band program for about 10-12 years now. The Concert Band has been around much longer, and is open to absolutely anyone who wants to play—no one is turned away, and auditions are solely for chair placement. The Symphony Band is mostly composed (no pun intended) of music majors, while the Concert Band, like The Pride of Oklahoma, has a majority of players with non-music majors.

I did not get to see these bands in concert earlier in the year, which I regret. I've heard that Concert Band participation is lower this year, but I haven't seen it. If it is, I understand—when times get tough, students are under more and more pressure to drop "optional" activities. Yet if the Concert Band becomes optional, that makes it far too easy for The Pride to appear optional when the fall semester arrives. Every one of you knows exactly how much work and effort is required of a member in The Pride of Oklahoma, and how disappointing it is when the students with the talent and leadership to be a major part of The Pride wind up not participating due to other pressures.

That's why we like band scholarships to be for both semesters and to include participation in a spring ensemble like the Concert Band. So, again, if you have some extra cash, please consider a tax-deductible donation to one of our scholarship funds so that more students can participate in both fall and spring ensembles each year.

With that future-building plea now said, click here to read more about Monday night's program, including links to PDF scores, audio samples, and more.