The Union University Department of Music hosted its Commercial Music Ensembles Concert on Nov. 6 in the G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel.
Friends, families and music lovers gathered to hear student ensembles perform in faculty-led groups.
Attendees were treated to performances across two genres of music not typically featured in the department’s classical repertoire: two bluegrass groups and two jazz band combos.
Mark McDowell, assistant professor of commercial music, opened the night with prayer before Surrender, a bluegrass lab ensemble directed by Bob Mayo, assistant professor of recording engineering and music technology, took the stage. The second group, also named Surrender, followed with its own unique take on the genre.
Jazz band combos A and B, both directed by D.J. Culp, associate professor of music, closed out the night with several recognizable classics, featuring lead vocals by veteran student performers.
The event was a chance for groups to showcase music genres that university choirs and orchestras don’t often get to perform.
“I love Mozart and Beethoven, like many people do, but we have such a variety of musical expressions in today’s culture that we need to learn how to incorporate those and train our students to move from style to style,” said John Kinchen, chair of the Department of Music.
“One of the things I love about what this type of concert does for us is you’ll see students playing jazz or bluegrass music, and yet they’re the same students singing in our choir, in our traditional ensembles, or playing in our orchestra,” Kinchen said.
Kinchen’s hope is that including broader genres of music in the department will welcome more students with diverse talents and interests into the program in the years to come.
“We want to showcase that; we want to show people that music can be an expressive art, but also an expression of faith — and all of it can be harnessed for Jesus Christ,” Kinchen said. “Ultimately, that’s the whole focus.”
