On Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, the 2026-2027 season of Southwestern’s Wind Ensemble and Orchestra officially began to resounding success. The day was cloudy, the soft winds offering the facade of a fall Texas will not experience for a long while. Inside the Alma Thomas Theatre and beneath the wise direction of David Norris and Emma Strub, the 43 students brought life to 5 pieces from various authors and inspirations in a dazzling array of the talent that has both entered and been cultivated within the Sarofim School of Fine Arts.

First to take the stage was the Wind Ensemble, led by director David Norris. Their 3-piece program featured selections from “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff, as well as “Puszta” by Jan Van Der Roost, and “Danzon No. 5” by Arturo Marquez. The first of these, “Carmina Burana”, had two selected movements – “Fortune plango vulnera” and “Ego sum abbas”. The latter of the two is one of my personal favorite pieces of classical music, especially because I have a penchant for the dramatics in the most famous movement of “Carmina Burana”, that being “O Fortuna”. The second piece the Wind Ensemble performed was “Puszta”, which Norris described as Romani-style music translated through Van Der Roost’s composition. And, indeed, the performance had me tapping my toes. One could almost imagine dancers swirling about to the music. The Ensemble finished strong with “Danzon No. 2” in a performance completed by the presence of a black and silver sombrero. Similar to the previous piece, “Danzon No. 2” was practically begging audience members to leap out of their seats and try their hand at dancing (albeit that may not have gone well).

After a short intermission, the Orchestra took the stage. Led by Emma Strub, they performed two symphony pieces. The first piece was “Symphony No. 1, Op. 11, in G Major” by Joseph Bologne. Besides being a composer, Strub detailed how Bologna was also a violin prodigy and a fencer who never lost a match, which she later said was “too many things to be good at”. The piece itself features three movements, my personal favorite being “Andante”, which features delicate sounds that reminded me of the falling of leaves that may happen soon. The second piece performed was one of Mozart’s creations. His very first symphony, written at age 8. All I have to say of this is: Get to work, second graders. While considered more simplistic, especially in comparison to his later works, “Symphony No. 1, K. 16, in Eb Major” still holds the essence of the older Mozart we all know. 

In all, both performances truly revealed how skilled our musicians are. Even so early on in the semester, they managed to pull together a glorious array of sound and harmony. For those who wish to watch the performance detailed here after-the-fact, a recording can be found here. As for other events, the next musical performance hosted by the Sarofim School of Fine Arts will be the Musicale, October 16th at 3 PM. Further information about upcoming concerts, performances, and the Sarofim Music Series can be found on the Sarofim School’s calendar. Once again, the biggest congratulations to the hardworking students and their dedicated directors for this stunning performance!