In taking the reins as conductor of the MC3 Band, Jay Romines threw his players a few slow pitches to gauge their aptitude for the material he plans on bringing to the stage on Nov. 3 for the ensemble’s annual fall concert.
What he found was a group of serious players who stepped up to the plate and knocked every suggested composition out of the park, a very good sign of things to come.
“In our first rehearsal, I wasn’t sure about the numbers or the instrumentation, so we tried two or three pieces, and I played it safe,” said Romines, who has served as the band director at Knoxville Catholic High School for more than two decades. “I found out quickly that the group was really solid and could do more. I’ve had some experience with community bands in different areas, and this one is really strong. It’s a nice mix of college students, some high school students and some players from the community who are more mature, like me.”
The MC3 Band was originally established in 1992 as the Maryville College-Community Concert Band, and the inclusion of players who perform traditional wind band compositions using a symphonic band arrangement from both the College and the local area has made it a fond addition to the MC instrumental programs. In August, the MC Division of Fine Arts and Dr. Eric Simpson, the College’s director of bands, announced Romines as the MC3 Band’s new conductor.
“The really neat thing about the MC3 Band is that it ties the College to the community in such a palpable way,” Simpson said. “The relationships forged by people who make music together are like no others. And that’s part of why I am so excited for the ensemble to give its first performance under Mr. Romines: He’s a conductor with a long history of facilitating those relationships, both in East Tennessee and on a larger scale, and that’s what the audience will hear at the concert. It will be just great.”
Titled “A Celebration of Symphonic Band,” the program will feature works by John Philip Sousa, John Williams, Dmitri Shostakovich, Percy Grainer, Hugh Stuart, John Mackey, Randall Standridge and Stevie Wonder, among others. It’s quite the range, Romines added, but members of the band have risen admirably to the task.
“I think I’ve challenged them technically and musically, and I asked for every new selection if any of them had played that particular work,” he said. “If I remember correctly, none of them have played any of the pieces we’re going to play in the concert except the Sousa march.”
It helps, Romines said, that he inherited a group of seasoned players with a dedicated work ethic, and as they’ve grown more familiar with his takeover of the conductor’s baton, he sees the possibility of expanding the MC3 Band’s concert calendar as a very real one.
“I’m talking to the band about it and Dr. Simpson about it this week, but I think this group plays so well that we need to do more than one concert a semester,” he said. “This group is so strong, I think we need to do two concerts a semester. I think we could probably have played the concert we’re going to play on Nov. 3 a couple of weeks ago, because they were ready to go. So I’m really excited about exploring more with the band and this program, and to see if it’s possible for them to do more, because I think they can.”
“A Celebration of Symphonic Band,” featuring clarinet soloist Renae Dishman, will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus. Admission is free, and the concert is open to the public.
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