About the ensemble
The Wind Symphony is the university’s large concert band. It has 61 players this fall. Last year 41% of members were in engineering or technology programs, 18% in health sciences and 9% were music majors or minors, and the remaining third came from everywhere else, including two people from the cyber range who would like it known that they also play contrabass clarinet. The repertoire mixes standard wind-band literature with new work. One new piece is premiered each year, usually by a Porter graduate.
This year’s premiere, on April 4, is Spillway by alumna composer Teodora Marsh ’12. It is a twelve-minute piece built on the sound of the Porter River going over the dam in spring, and it calls for an amplified sheet of steel that the Founders Hall machine shop is building to her specifications.
Director and rehearsals
The Wind Symphony is conducted by Anton Yoon, professor of practice in instrumental performance and conducting. Before Porter he spent years in professional touring productions, and it shows in how rehearsals are paced.
- Full rehearsals: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 4:00–5:20 p.m., Band Room (Applied Arts Building 150).
- Sectionals: one 50-minute sectional a week, scheduled by section leaders around labs.
- Dress rehearsals: the evening before each concert, 6:30–9 p.m., on the Heritage Auditorium stage.
Two unexcused absences per term are allowed without comment. Clinical rotations, required labs and athletic travel count as excused if you say so in advance. Yoon has rewritten a rehearsal plan around a nursing simulation schedule more than once.
Credit
The Wind Symphony is listed in the class schedule as MUS 1610 Wind Symphony. You can take it for 1 credit or 0 credits, and it is repeatable every term. The 0-credit option puts the ensemble on your transcript without adding to your load, which helps students at the credit cap in packed programs. Membership, either way, counts toward the music minor ensemble requirement. Students in ensembles get practice-room priority (see practice rooms) and can apply for the $1,000 Ensemble Music Scholarship. Its deadline is March 1. Other music courses are on the music course list.
Concerts this season
| Date | Program | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Oct 11, 3 p.m. | Fall Choral & Wind Concert, shared with the University Choir | Heritage Auditorium |
| Thu, Nov 19 | Afternoon brass masterclass with the visiting Lantern Brass Quintet | Thorsen Theatre |
| Sun, Dec 6, 3 p.m. | Winter Concert: marches, a carol medley, and the annual “conduct the band” raffle | Heritage Auditorium |
| Sun, Apr 4, 3 p.m. | Spring Concert: premiere of Spillway by Teodora Marsh ’12 | Heritage Auditorium |
| Sat, May 15 | Commencement brass and percussion | Ironclad Fieldhouse |
Tickets: $8 public, $5 seniors 65+ and youth, free for Porter students. See the box office. Some members also play in the pit for the spring musical. It is a separate commitment, and those seats are filled from Wind Symphony players first.
How to join
Come to a placement hearing in the first week of a term. The next ones are January 25–28, 2027. A hearing takes ten minutes: a short piece of your choice, two scales and a little sight-reading. It sets your part and chair. It is not a cut. If you have not played since high school, bring the piece you remember best and say how long it has been. The details are on ensemble auditions.
The university lends tubas, euphoniums, horns, bass clarinets, bassoons, baritone saxophones and most of the percussion. There is a $25 maintenance fee per term. Bring your own flute, clarinet, trumpet or alto sax if you have one. Lockers in the Band Room are assigned the first week.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. The Wind Symphony, its director, members, concerts, commissioned piece and composer are invented; there is no ensemble to join and no concert to attend.