Story 5

On March 4, 2010 the Anoka-Ramsey Music Department presented the musical production “March Fo(u)rth!” at the Coon Rapids campus of Anoka-Ramsey Community College. It began at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center and concluded about two hours later.

As the title implies, “March Fo(u)rth!” had a general theme of marching music, but involved so much more. It began with the anthem “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In” as the Concert Choir entered the stage from both sides of the auditorium, men on one side, women on the other. To conclude the production and fulfill the theme of marching band music, the Concert Band performed the “National Emblem March”.

Even with the marching music theme, the musical performances between the opening and closing songs were very diverse.

Right after the opening performance of “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In”, the Concert Choir switched the mood to the very slow, gloomy song “Come, Sweet Death” and then concluded their string of songs with “Stomp Your Foot”, a choral square dance number.

The Guitar Ensemble, which contained eight guitarists playing simultaneously, had a Spanish folk song theme. It was a special night for the Guitar Ensemble as it was their first year as a group at the Coon Rapids campus of Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

The Chamber Singers performed three vastly different songs, from the song “El Hambo” inspired by the Swedish Chef from “The Muppets” television show, to the musical “Rent”’s version of “Seasons of Love”. Just the women of the Chamber Singers performed the slow, melodic harmonies of “Come My Way, My Truth, My Life”. Then the men of the Chamber Singers performed the fast-paced and humorous Dutch Folk Song “Johnny Schmoker”. The song, which received much laughter and applause, involved rapid hand motions to match the lyrics, and the pace of the song increased as it neared the end.

A ten minute intermission transitioned the production into the second half, which consisted of solely instrumental performances.

The Jazz Ensemble led off the second half of “March Fo(u)rth!” with their own version of Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island”. This group of musicians included typical pieces of a jazz group, including a piano and brass instruments, but also had a cello, which the ensemble’s director Richard Manik called a unique addition to jazz music.

The String Orchestra performed traditional songs with the full orchestra but also played a piece, “‘Simple’ Symphony”, where they plucked the strings the entire song rather than used their bows to play the string instruments.

The Concert Band closed the performance with their combination of brass and percussion. Their first song, “Incantation and Dance”, developed from a slow, gloomy number into a fast, dramatic piece. They then concluded the evening with a classic march song merged with the National Anthem, in “National Emblem March”.

The evening provided a vast source of musical genres and included instruments and ensembles of all sorts. “March Fo(u)rth!” was a great showing of the musical talents of the students at Anoka-Ramsey Community College.