Jazz Ensemble, Band and Orchestras albums now streaming

The Grove City College Department of Music has dropped two streaming albums featuring music made by student musicians in recent years.

One album features the Jazz Ensemble and the other highlights the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony Orchestra. Both are available on all major streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music.

“I am excited to release these new albums and proud of our faculty and students for their work to bring this music to streaming media. This was a group effort by so many individuals, and I am so thankful for all their contributions,” said Department Chair Dr. Jeff Tedford, professor of music and director of orchestras.

The Jazz Ensemble was recorded in May 2022 at Audible Images recording studio in Pittsburgh. The Orchestra and Band release is a collection of studio and live recordings.

The Jazz Ensemble album features five selections, including “Truth Bucket,” written by Professor of Music Dr. Joseph Hasper, who directs the ensemble, and “Feels Right,” written by junior Charlie Hubbell, a music education major and Trustee Scholar who is involved in the Band, Jazz, Choir, and Orchestra programs. Other selections are “Take Five,” “Spain,” and “Tank!”

“It was great to get the Jazz Ensemble back in the recording studio again,” Hasper said. “The songs we picked for this session show the diversity of the band’s players.” Hasper noted 2022 graduate Evan Dearie’s “spicy” drum groove and solo on jazz classic “Take Five,” his classmate Holly Smith’s “absolutely insane” clarinet solo on “Tank!,” and senior Miles Dorst’s guitar work on “Feels Right.”

“It was an absolute blessing to compose, rehearse, and record with the Grove City College Jazz Ensemble,” said Hubbell, the ensemble’s lead trombone player. “I never dreamed that my song would be recorded in such high quality or rehearsed with such a motivated and talented ensemble. The willingness of Dr. Hasper and the Jazz Ensemble to give and take feedback created an excellent experience I will always value.”

Listen to the Jazz Ensemble album on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Bands and Orchestras album features students directed by Tedford and Dr. Andy Erb, professor of Music and director of bands.

Symphony and Chamber Orchestra selections include live performances of the “Forrest Gump Suite” and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, movement 2” from April 2022, “Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D Minor” from spring 2021, and “West Side Story Selections for Orchestra” by Leonard Bernstein, a track from the group’s 2011-12 album. The recording, which was previously only available on CD “sounds amazing” and is one of just a few recordings of this arrangement by Jack Mason, Tedford said.

The Concert Band selections are: “Fantasy on Old 100” featuring the Wind Ensemble, “Crosslands,” “Kyiv 2022” – a composition by Brian Balmages written immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and “Stars and Stripes Forever” featuring the combined Concert Band and Wind Ensemble.

“It is an absolute pleasure working with the Grove City College bands” Erb said. “Our talented and dedicated students really made the preparation process enjoyable, and I was so pleased that we were able to feature some of our own students as conductors on our second concert last spring. For example, ‘Crosslands,’ a piece on this album, was conducted by Lindsay May, a senior music education major.”

Listen to the Band and Orchestra album on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Grove City College Department of Music offers degrees in Music, Music Business, Music Education, Music Performance, and Music Religion in addition to minors in Music and Musical Theater. The Department also includes nearly 300 students from every major on campus in performance opportunities in bands, choirs, orchestras, and private lessons.

For more about the Department of Music visit: gcc.edu/music.

Jazz Ensemble, Band and Orchestras albums now streaming

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