'A magic within the room': UPEI music ensembles return to in-person performances
CBC
For the first time in two years, student musicians at UPEI are getting the chance to perform live and in person for large audiences this fall.
Thanks to the P.E.I. Vax Pass and loosened COVID-19 restrictions in the province, UPEI's wind symphony, string orchestra and concert choir are once again holding in-person concerts this week.
"As musicians, what we love the most is performing for other people. So it's super exciting to be looking at getting back to in-person performing this year," said Dale Sorensen, assistant professor of brass at UPEI and conductor of the wind symphony.
The wind symphony will perform Nov. 25 at the Dr. Steel Recital Hall.
The ensemble consists of 42 wind, brass and percussion players, and is made up mostly of music students. A few community members and non-music students also play in the group.
Other large performing groups on P.E.I. are also starting to hold concerts again, including the P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra, which performed last weekend as a full orchestra for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
"There's just a different feeling that you get when you've got people there listening to you," said Sorensen.
Students who play in the wind symphony agree.
"There's something about live performance that really creates a magic within the room," said Olive MacPhail, a fourth-year music education major who plays tuba in the ensemble.
"Once you are a part of a huge ensemble like the wind symphony, it's a matter of working together to create that magic for the audience."
Devyn Collette is in her first year as a UPEI music student but has been playing alto saxophone with the wind symphony since Grade 11.
"It's a very proud moment whenever you can walk out and see that many people being able to watch you," said Collette.
During the 2020-2021 school year, Sorensen had to get creative in order to hold rehearsals.
Due to COVID-19 distancing restrictions, the entire ensemble couldn't meet at once, and they could only rehearse for 30 minutes at a time.
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