By Karen Gavis/se news editor
The musical talents of three distinct groups will merge for a free concert March 6 on SE Campus.
The concert will feature the SE Jazz Ensemble, SE Chamber Orchestra and guest artist group Mix Magyk.
Gregory Dewhirst, music, art, dance department chair, also directs the jazz band. Earlier this semester, during the Phi Theta Kappa induction, Dewhirst surprised the crowd as he paraded through the audience with a performance of When the Saints Go Marching In on the saxophone.
Dewhirst said jazz is part of his musical background and something he thinks is attractive to the community.
“It is very accessible to a lot of people,” he said.
Adjunct music instructor Thomas Connely conducts the SE Chamber Orchestra and the all-volunteer Northeast Orchestra, a group outside of TCC.
Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 44 will be performed during the spring concert, and A New Creation, written by Connely, will premiere at a later date.
“It is going to be a fun concert,” he said.
SE music student Maddie Torres plays the violin and belongs to both the SE Chamber Orchestra and the Northeast Orchestra. Torres is undecided on her major but knows she wants music to be part of it somehow.
“I think without music I would go insane,” she said.
Torres has played the violin since fifth grade and said she would like to see more people become musically involved on SE Campus.
“We need more orchestra members,” she said. “We need more fine arts members, period.”
The SE music program is making an effort to grow and reach out to the rest of the campus and Arlington in particular by becoming more visible and getting to know people, Dewhirst said.
“We want to find our unique niche,” he said.
David Reid/The Collegian
Mix Magyk, a group consisting of former SE students, seems to be finding its niche. Dewhirst describes Mix Magyk as “a contemporary R&B-type sound with a pretty heavy jazz influence.” The group recently played at the House of Blues in Dallas and is preparing to travel to Austin in April to record its first album.
Mix Magyk member Matt Garcia said the House of Blues was accommodating, and the group enjoyed the atmosphere.
Members of Mix Magyk met in fall 2009 on SE Campus while in Dewhirst’s jazz band, Garcia said. The group has performed on SE Campus in the past, but this will be its first performance in the Roberson Theatre.
“We are ecstatic about getting to perform our own material in front of our peers,” Garcia said. “We are even hoping to get Dr. Dewhirst to perform a tune with us.”
Open to the public, the concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in SE Campus’ Roberson Theatre.
