On Wednesday, Sept. 5, the Tennessee Soybean Festival hosted a joint concert with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra (JSO) and the UTM University Singers at the Festival Park Amphitheater in downtown Martin.
The orchestra led in a spirited performance conducted by Peter Shannon, and featuring prominent accompaniment from the choir under the direction of Mark Simmons, UTM Director of Choral Music and Associate Conductor for JSO.
UTM’s University Singers have only been able to prepare since classes started beginning Aug. 27, but still gave an energetic performance.
Mason Parker, a junior Music Education major and choir member, said that although there was a bit of a rush to prepare for the concert, “The orchestra was very professional and Dr. Simmons had [them] well-prepared.”
Though the concert was preceded by a bit of rain, the crowd was unmoved and eager to hear the performance that kicked off with “Fanfare for the Common Man,” followed promptly by the “Pizzicato Polka” and the “Tritsch-Tratsch Polka,” compositions by Johann Strauss.
There were two themes that became apparent throughout the performance in the choice of compositions, the energy and familiarity of popular music paired with patriotic anthems. The former was manifest early in the orchestra’s animated jog through a medley of Big Band jazz, followed by a selection of songs from the score of Jurassic Park. Their rendition of the hymn “Be Still My Soul” was made to specifically invoke “Finlandia,” the Finnish composition from which the tune is borrowed.
This was followed with a still more spirited offering of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” led into by the UTM choir’s boisterous male voices, which drew a considerable amount of singing from the crowd and was quite deliberate and powerful.
Both this strain of melancholy patriotism and the connection to popular culture was established in the center-piece song, “Hymn to the Fallen” composed by John Williams and lifted from the score of the film Saving Private Ryan. It was during this piece that the University Singers and the Symphony rose for the most intimate moment of the evening in moving harmony.
The performance featured a great deal of other songs demonstrating the Symphony’s range and skill, most notably the symphony’s concertmaster Kate Ryan, who performed the solo for the theme from Schindler’s List.
Closing on a high note, the concert concluded with “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” “The 1812 Overture,” and “Gonna Fly Now” (universally known as the theme from Rocky). The closing of the concert also featured a well-choreographed fireworks show woven into the final pieces that had the audience excited and engaged. A member of the symphony, Anthony Lu, third cello, said, “The performance was extremely exciting, the audience was completely sold and we played our best.”
Afterwards, Jeanette Stirman, a sophomore Agriculture major who sings with the choir, told The Pacer that working with the UTM choir was, “amazing,” and that, “even though I’m not a music major, I took this as an opportunity to de-stress. The choir is very laid back.”
In total, the concert marked an exciting night for the arts and music here at Martin.
UTM’s University Singers hold hands as they sing the Alma Mater. | Pacer Photo/ Sarah Knapp
