The Wayne State College Jazz Band will perform an assortment of music in Ramsey Theatre on December 1 at 7:30pm.
Directed by WSC band instructor, Michael Genslinger, the jazz band consists of 19 students who play variety of instruments that range from saxophone and trombone to tuba and trumpet. With a total of eight arrangements prepared for the program, it’ll range from arrangements such as “Winter Wonderland” by Felix Bernard and Jack Cooper as well as “The Christmas Song” by Mel Torme, Robert Wells and Dave Wolpe. Genslinger said the program will also be the world premiere of “Wildcat Blues,” composed by Wayne State College’s own student, Jayden Carper of West Point, NE.
Depending on the semester,The jazz band usually performs in both the spring and the fall. However, this program will be the last performance for a while, because the band plans to go on tour, accompanied by the wind ensemble.
Even though this is just his second year at WSC, Genslinger has enjoyed directing the WSC Jazz Band.
“I think the most fun part is seeing students latch onto their favorite tune,” Genslinger said. “And you can tell because of the energy behind it.”
One of Genslinger’s students in the jazz band is trumpet player, Ethan Wibben who uses his instrument to show his enthusiasm while playing in the jazz band.
“My favorite part about the band is that I feel like I can show my ‘wildcat side’ as there are some songs where I can either play super precise and loud, and some other tunes where I take it slow and expressive,” Wibben said.
Wibbin said that he as well as other trumpet players are often found switching between parts or tunes, during a performance.
“Something different about the trumpet section than any other section is that we switch parts for different songs, so I might play the first part for a few tunes, and then switch for second or third part for some others,” Wibben said.
While Wibben loves being able to perform the peices that the band puts together on stage; he enjoys the work behind the scenes which he believes makes the hard work worth it. “A lot of preparation for the upcoming performances is just generally making sure teh whole band can match accenting, like how we play the notes and how they affect the mood of the piece,” Wibben said. “Certainly making sure the instrumental sections, rhythm section, and piano are all in sync with one another.”
Over all, Genslinger is excited to have the community and other WSC students hear the program that they have worked hard to put together.
“It’ll be a good concert that will showcase the students and will have a wide array of solos performed,” Genslinger said. “We will get to feature a lot of individual students.”
