As the Wind Orchestra played the last notes of its Carnegie Hall program, musician Marisa Curbelo anticipated “the ring,” the resonance of the final chord throughout the renowned theater.
“Everyone looked around in amazement and awe at how gorgeous the sound was,” the junior music therapy major from Cape Coral wrote in an essay about the experience. “I remember sitting there thinking, ‘This will never happen again.’ ”
Perhaps not, but the resounding success and thrilling memories of the trip will echo in their lives for a long time. The applause of more than 1,200 concertgoers including family members and FGCU President Wilson G. Bradshaw. Elbowing their way, in tuxedos and formal black frocks, through crowded sidewalks to make their way to Carnegie Hall. Chowing down on authentic New York pizza and street-vendor hotdogs. Broadway shows, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the view from the top of the Rockefeller Center.
Azul was right there along with Alex Ingebritson, a third-year music education major from Royal Pam Beach who snapped pictures all over the city of a plush Eagle toy seeing the sights. It was her first visit to the Big Apple.
“Exploring New York City with Azul and my peers was a surreal and breathtaking experience,” she said. “As a future music educator, this once-in-a-lifetime chance to perform in Carnegie Hall was a beautiful experience that I will share with my students for years to come.”
Many of the young artists were transformed by the experience, according to Dr. Rod Chesnutt, Wind Orchestra conductor and head of instrumental studies at FGCU.
“For some, New York City was a cultural new world that opened their minds to the possibilities available to them,” he said. “Musically, the students performed on the world’s stage and showed they were prepared by their FGCU experience.”
Jesus A. Segura, a senior music education major from Immokalee, said he would “cherish forever” his memories of the trip. After gawking at the bright lights of Times Square, riding the subway to the 9/11 memorial and seeing the Broadway musical “School of Rock,” he said he knows why it’s called “The City That Never Sleeps.”
“I grew up in a small town aspiring to one day be able to travel,” he said. “I am so honored to say that I earned the chance to travel with the Wind Orchestra to New York. This was truly a magical experience. It was history in the making … such a great landmark for the school.”
One of several student music ensembles at FGCU, the Wind Orchestra is composed of 51 of the university’s finest wind and percussion instrumentalists, who are selected by audition. They were invited to perform Nov. 27 in the Isaac Stern Auditorium/Ronald O. Perelman Stage as part of Carnegie Hall’s Debut Series. With five curvilinear levels, the auditorium is the hall’s largest performance space and has been presenting the world’s premier artists since 1891.
The Manhattan Chorale & Chamber Orchestra, which shared the concert program, invited FGCU after requesting the orchestra’s first commercially released CD, “Introductions,” as well as a recorded performance from the 2015 Florida Music Educators Association Conference. The recordings had created a buzz within the music world, according to Chesnutt, which the orchestra lived up to in New York.
“The Carnegie Hall performance established FGCU and the Bower School of Music as a force in the national music community,” he said. “The Wind Orchestra is a reflection of the university, with students primarily from the FGCU service area. Yet, they performed at a level comparable to the finest music schools in the country. The shared philosophy of musical excellence held by the faculty and imparted to the students in the Bower School was on display that evening. More than 2,100 patrons enthusiastically responded to the performance with overwhelming applause lasting well over a minute. It validated the support of the university for the arts and demonstrated that we can truly change lives.”
The concert marked the first time an FGCU music ensemble performed at Carnegie. Priscila Navarro, an international prize-winning pianist who graduated in 2015, played a solo recital at there in March 2013.
- Read Marisa Curbelo’s complete essay
- Learn more about the Bower School of Music & the Arts
- Order the Wind Orchestra’s CD from Amazon