Banding Together

The Eastern Wind Symphony has garnered a stellar reputation internationally and may be better known overseas than in its own backyard.

By: Susan Van Dongen
   For musicians who don’t pursue a career in the field, life after college or graduate school can be hauntingly silent.
   This seems to be especially true for band or wind musicians. How quickly the fingers, lung capacity and embouchure go downhill.
   Instrumentalists will be happy to learn there are a number of community bands throughout the state. According to Dr. William H. Silvester, professor of music at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, many haven’t embraced the quality repertoire musicians expect.
   Not so with the Eastern Wind Symphony, based at TCNJ and conducted by Dr. Silvester.
   "This is more like a professional group than most community bands," he says. "People are here because they really want to be. The musicians who have joined are very good and very committed."
   Thanks to more than a dozen recordings distributed all over the world, the EWS has garnered a stellar reputation internationally and may be better known overseas than in its own backyard. Dr. Silvester hopes to boost the group’s hometown popularity with more area appearances, including the EWS’ spring concert at TCNJ June 8.
   The EWS was conceived in the spring of 1996 when several former students from TCNJ approached Dr. Silvester about putting together a high-quality symphonic band for students, musicians and music educators, as well as former bandsmen and women who longed to play again. The group is populated by a number of former and current TCNJ students but has also welcomed graduates of such world-famous music schools as Juilliard.
   "We have a number of free-lance performers and music educators, but also doctors, scientists, people in law enforcement — all kinds of people," Dr. Silvester says. "Our personnel cuts a wide swath across the community."
   In addition to Central Jersey, the musicians hail from New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, commuting hours to the EWS’ semi-regular rehearsals.
   An esteemed music adjudicator, Dr. Silvester handpicks the members of the EWS through professional-level auditions. The group numbers about 65 and the ranks are currently filled. However, Dr. Silvester keeps a roster of substitute personnel in case of emergencies. He suggests prospective members consult the EWS Web site for audition guidelines.
   "If people contact us, we will listen to them (play)," Dr. Silvester says. "Once in a while, if someone auditions and if there’s a spot, we’ll find a place for them. We normally draw from our ranks of substitutes, though."
   Sometimes the ranks swell to accommodate a larger symphonic work, such as the "Mars" and "Jupiter" movements from The Planets by Gustav Holst, slated for the June 8 performance. The concert will also include movements from Modest Mussorsgky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, as well as works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and John Philip Sousa.
   A resident of Yardley, Pa., Dr. Silvester grew up in Utah, earning his bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in Logan, a master’s from Brigham Young in Salt Lake City and a doctorate from Arizona State University in Tempe. Before coming to TCNJ 21 years ago, he spent a number of years at California State University in Northridge.
   "They have a huge music program, with about 1,000 music majors on campus," he says. "I’m an orchestral musician by training and I came to TCNJ because I saw a great opportunity to build such a program here."
   In addition to conducting the EWS and Wind Ensemble, Dr. Silvester teaches conducting and music education at TCNJ. A respected conductor, clinician and music educator, Dr. Silvester has guest-conducted groups nationally and internationally, including the United States Army Band and Field Band, the National Symphonic Band of Columbia and the Russian Army Band. He served as supervisor of the New Jersey Governor’s School Division of Music for 15 years.
   The EWS has produced a handful of CDs on the Klavier, Mark and Curnow labels, recorded live at TCNJ’s Kendall Hall and the music department’s concert hall. The quality attests to a well-rehearsed ensemble as well as the all-digital recording technology TCNJ invested in a decade ago.
   For example, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue or Bernstein’s "Symphonic Dances" from West Side Story — from the EWS’ latest recording Symphonic Collage (Mark, 2002) — almost leap out of the speakers, all crisp percussion, precision brass and sparkling woodwinds.
   Listeners who might shy away from a band performance, perhaps imagining their own high school band laboring through the classics, will be pleasantly surprised by the EWS’ versatility and level of musicianship.
   "We can do chamber works by Strauss or Mozart for a group as small as 13 winds, but we can also do large symphonic works," Dr. Silvester says. "Or we can do transcriptions from orchestral literature, like the Holst pieces. It’s a very flexible organization, and there isn’t a weak player in the group."
The Eastern Wind Symphony, conducted by Dr. William H. Silvester, performs at Music Building Concert Hall, The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, June 8, 4 p.m. Tickets cost $7; $5 seniors and TCNJ alumni; $2 students and children. For information, call (609) 771-2775 or (609) 771-2549. On the Web: www.easternwindsymphony.com