Cal Poly Pops Concert: 'Strike Up the Band!'

Local piano virtuoso and Cal Poly music Professor W. Terrence Spiller will be the guest solo artist at Cal Poly’s Wind Bands Winter “Pops” Concert at 8 p.m. Friday, March 8, in Harman Hall in the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.

The concert, titled “Strike Up the Band,” will feature the university’s 80-member Wind Orchestra and 70-member Wind Ensemble performing popular music written and arranged for the modern wind band. The bands will perform music from movies, musicals, pop culture, and even recent video games. The concert will conclude with one of the most widely recognized pieces of music ever composed, George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” featuring Spiller at the piano.

The Wind Ensemble will also perform music from the movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” as well as featured selections from the Broadway musical “Les Misérables.” Additionally, the Wind Ensemble’s portion of the concert will feature the music written for the popular video game series “Halo.”

The Wind Orchestra will begin the concert with Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band.” The band will also perform music from the classic movie “The Magnificent Seven” and Karl Jenkin’s “Palladio,” made popular by the DeBeers diamond advertising campaign (“Diamonds are Forever.”) The Wind Orchestra will conclude with the ever-popular original work by Eric Whitacre for wind band, titled “Godzilla Eats Las Vegas.”

Director of Bands Andrew McMahan and Associate Director of Bands Christopher J. Woodruff will conduct the concert.

Tickets to the concert are $12 and $14 for the public and $9 and $12 for senior citizens and students. New pricing includes all Performing Arts Center fees, and event parking is sponsored by the PAC. Tickets are sold at the Performing Arts Ticket office between noon and 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. To order by phone, call SLO-4TIX (756-4849).

The Music Department offers a 10 percent discount to patrons who buy season tickets to four of its events through the Performing Arts Ticket Office; a 15 percent discount is given on tickets to five or more events.

The Cal Poly Winter Band Concert is sponsored by Cal Poly's College of Liberal Arts, Music Department, and Instructionally Related Activities program. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-756-2406.