Scott Turner
In Motion Staff Writer
Daytona State College’s News-Journal Center is host to a variety of acts every semester.
photo By: Lisa Silversmith/In Motion
The first song of the night, ‘Enter the Galaxies’ by Paul Lovatt-Cooper, was inspired by space travel and had a very futuristic sound. The next pieces, Excerpts from ‘The Little Russian’, and ‘Amazing Grace’, had a much more traditional brass sound than the first piece, but still a certain individualism from the band. Dr. Dustin Burgess, Assistant Professor of Music at Bethune Cookman University, guest conducted the next piece, also more traditional, Kevin Norbury’s arrangement of ‘Gaudete!’. The final song before the intermission, Ferguson Downey’s ‘Give It One’, which Shoopman described as “An incredibly difficult piece to play. We have the only brass band on the planet who can play it.”
After the intermission, the performance resumed with a debut piece from Dr. M. Shawn Hundley, Assistant Professor of Music at Bethune Cookman College, entitled ‘Launch’. The next song, the theme from the movie Silverado, was a divergence from the previous titles, and had a much more American Western feel to it. Rick Mizell, Assistant Conductor, conducted the next piece, ‘Remembrance’. Describing the song, Mizell said “It’s a piece traditionally a new years or holiday song, but at it’s core it’s a song about friends we have today and friends who are no longer with us, and how we remember them.” The piece was a beautiful yet somber one. The next piece was once more conducted by Shoopman, and was entitled ‘The Teddy Bear Massacre’ by Paul McGhee, based of the children’s song “The Teddy Bear Picnic”. An unusual and uncomfortable piece, it took the audience on the journey of a much more sinister nature than the previous pieces. The final program piece, ‘Pines of the Appian Way’, had a slow but powerful tone to it that closed off the performance solidly.
After a resounding standing ovation, the band performed a rendition of ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’, causing many in the audience to clap along with the tune.
Shoopman had excellent stage presence, and conveyed historical anecdotes in a fashion that captivated the audience interest. The songs were from an impressive array of styles, and each one offered up a different sound for the listeners to consider. Shoopman also extended his personal thanks to Daytona State College for an incredible experience with the event, saying “The minute we got here we felt super welcome, so a huge thanks to Daytona State who made all this possible.”