The Fullerton College Symphonic Winds filled the Campus Theater Thursday with a mix of marches and folklore-inspired pieces written for band with Miles Davis playing lead trumpet.
Okay, not ‘the' Miles Davis, but the student with the same name seemed on his way to the lofty namesake.
More than 100 people gathered to see the Fullerton College Symphonic Winds, conducted by Tony Mazzaferro.
The FC Symphonic Winds also hosted guest soloist Courtney D. Jones on trumpet. Jones is a doctorate student at UCLA and has studied under legends like Jens Lindermann and Wynton Marsalis. He has also performed with the MET LA Theater Company and the Loudon Symphony Orchestra of Virginia.
Mazzaferro explained the evening as a folk music inspired event.
One of the pieces, "American Hymnsong Suite" by Dwayne S. Milburn explored American folksongs, while "Festal Scenes" by Yasuhide Ito played through on variations of Japan's folk history.
The band also played pieces by John Williams and John Philip Sousa, both classic composers of marches.
Lead euphonium player Steven Hanst opened the ballad "Benediction" by John Stevens with a stirring solo. The song was originally written for a tuba quartet.
At intermission Kappa Kappa Psi, an honorary service band fraternity and sorority, gave away gift baskets in a fund-raising raffle. FC is the only community college left in California that still has a chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi.
Jones performed in the first song of the second set, with a smaller ensemble while the rest of the band got to take a seat and enjoy the show for a few minutes.
He played well, although it appeared he had technical difficulties with his mouthpiece, as he was constantly attempting to clear it of some object.
The night closed with Sousa's "The Invincible Eagle" and exhortations to attend the next concert.
The FC Symphonic Winds will perform again Dec. 8, at the Campus Theater.
"I don't think there's anything on TV that night. I checked, it's all reruns," said Mazzaferro.
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