Two concerts were held this week at WSC: woodwind ensembles on Monday and the symphonic band and wind ensemble yesterday.

The Monday concert consisted of small groups: flute choir, clarinet choir and a saxophone quartet. The flute choir included piccolos, flutes, alto flutes, and a bass flute. The clarinet choir was similarly made up.

Yesterday, the symphonic band, directed by Josh Calkin, and the wind ensemble, directed by David Bohnert, gave their first performances of the year.

While the symphonic band has community members along with WSC students, the wind ensemble is entirely Wayne State students and is audition-only.

“Most of those in the wind ensemble are also in marching band,” Bohnert said. “Some were marching last weekend, and now they have their first sit-down concert.”

The symphonic band’s program was selected by Calkin for specific reasons. It began with John Williams’s “The Olympics,” in honor of the 2016 Summer Games, and concluded with John Philip Sousa’s “President Garfield’s Inauguration” because of the recent presidential election.

Bohnert said he really liked “Wu Xing,” from the wind ensemble’s program. It is a contemporary piece featuring percussion soloists.

“One of the interesting things about this piece, is that it features two of our percussion instructors: Brad Weber and Lauren Calkin. They have a lot of different instruments,” he said. “Some are traditional, like triangles. Others are like a stick, basically. They tap it on the floor and then hit it, which makes a really cool sound. They have gongs and bass drums. Lots of variety.”

Some of the selections were difficult.

“‘Bacchanale’ and ‘Butterflies and Bees!’ are probably more challenging and they push us, which is a part of the selection,” Bohnert said. “They push us as musicians to get better.”