Music School's Mosaic concert greater than the sum of its parts

Andy Colwell Graduate student Eric Hahn conducts a wind octet on stage in Eisenhower Auditorium during the School of Music's Mosaic concert on Sunday, Dec. 6.

University Park, Pa. -- The music of more than 300 Penn State students filled Eisenhower Auditorium during the School of Music's Mosaic concert on Sunday, Dec. 6, a concert meant to represent the variety of talent in a nonstop format.

The event, in its third year, featured two sets of 10 musical selections that ran from one to the next without stopping, as the musicians performed from positions scattered about the entirety of the 2,595-seat venue. In two parts that lasted approximately one hour each, one group would begin its selection just as the previous number came to a close, leaving applause for the end of each half.

Beginning with Professor Dan Yoder's Centre Dimensions jazz ensemble, the concert featured nearly 20 ensembles and soloists, ending with a large finale which featured the Symphonic Wind Ensemble with a combined choir composed of the Concert Choir, Glee Club, Oriana Singers and Chamber Singers, along with soprano soloist Melissa Black, a senior. Groups large and small performed from the stage, grand tier, balcony and even from within the seats of the hall.

According to organizers, the event's title, Mosaic, is meant to represent the entire music program available at Penn State, creating a concert event which would showcase the widespread talent of the school's students and faculty.

For more information about the School or its upcoming performances, visit http://www.music.psu.edu and to see photos from the concert, visit http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2191 online.