On Friday, Feb. 9, UNI hosted the Northern Festival of Bands 2018 in the Great Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center (GBPAC). The Northern Iowa Wind Ensemble and the UNI Symphonic Band each performed a few musical pieces, as they have done in previous years.

“First, the symphonic band is playing three pieces and then the Wind Ensemble is playing three pieces,” said Hugh Zehr, a freshman economics major and tuba player for the UNI Symphonic Band. “There is some pretty exciting repertoire. We have practice for two hours twice a week to prepare for the show, so I’m excited to see how it goes.”

The first piece that was performed was a musical composition written by Giovanni Gabrieli, an Italian composer and organist. The piece was a part of Gabrieli’s “Sacrae Symphoniae,” written in the late 1500s for St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice.

According to UNI Symphonic Band Conductor Justin Mertz, this musical piece maintains the Renaissance behind Gabrieli’s work and emphasises the creation of a unique atmosphere. It was chosen to be part of the Northern Festival of Bands because of the Gallagher-Bluedorn’s similarly distinct atmosphere.

The UNI Symphonic band proceeded to perform Gustav Holst’s “First Suite in E-flat for Military Band” and Symphonic Dance No. 3, “Fiesta,” as a tribute to the 25th anniversary of the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra.

“I’m here for the UNI honor band. We’re just here to watch, so I think it’s going to be really cool because we’ve never heard their band so I’m interested to see all of their practice and hard work pay off,” said Grace, a student from Waterloo West High School who attended the performance to see the UNI honor band.

After intermission, the Northern Iowa Wind Ensemble played “Wine Dark Sea,” a depiction following the story of Odysseus, a Greek King and hero of Homer’s “The Odyssey.”

The first piece they played after intermission, “Hubris,” represents the journey Odysseus takes after the Trojan War as he and his crew triumphantly march in celebration of their victory.

The next piece, “Immortal Thread, So Weak” told the heartbreak of an immortal nymph named Calypso who holds Odysseus hostage as he tries to leave her to return home to his wife and son.

The final piece played by the Northern Iowa Wind Ensemble, “The Attention of Souls,” tells the story of Odysseus’ journey through the underworld where he must make a sacrifice to the dead.

Ryan Frost, a percussion instructor at UNI, attended the event to see his students perform.

“I am here to listen to my students perform, as well as support the ensemble. It’s the Northern Festival of Bands this weekend, which has high school students throughout the state, and we have just under 300 students in attendance for this festival,” Frost said.

“It’s an exciting event that we host every year this time in February. This event is great, our students work very hard up to this point in the semester and they’re definitely putting on a great concert tonight,” Frost continued.