CUWE works ardently at their dress rehearsal

On Sunday, March 2, The Columbia University Wind Ensemble is hosting its 6th annual Columbia Festival of Winds to benefit the Musical Mentors Collaborative, a Columbia music outreach and education program to benefit elementary school children in NYC public schools.  The group offers free music lessons to these students to help teach them musical instruments.

The event goes from 2 pm to 6:30 pm in Roone Arledge and will feature performances from CU Wind Ensemble as well as several visiting bands.  Tickets can be purchased at the TIC and are $15, or $5 with a CUID.  This will get you into the all-afternoon event and the reception afterwards (woohoo!), so this is something you should definitely check out.

The CU Wind Ensemble will be performing “Caccia and Chorale” by Clifton Williams, “Requiem” by David Maslanka, “Fantasia for Alto Saxophone” by Eric Ewazen (with special guest soloist Paul Cohen), and “Moth” by Viet Cuong.  The visiting ensembles will include the Columbia Festival Band, Mark Twain Intermediate School band, NYU Concert Band, Princeton University Wind Ensemble, Manhattan Wind Ensemble, and a band in which all the ensembles perform together in a massed finale.  If wind bands aren’t quite your thing, Columbia’s own SHARP a cappella will be performing at intermission.

This is a great cause, so you should all definitely check this out (also it’s only $5).  Plus, it doesn’t start until 2 pm, so you’ll have plenty of time to recover from your Saturday night before heading over to the event.  With a wide variety of musical ensembles and a great program, the Festival of Winds is sure to have something to entertain for all.