The 45 members of UTM’s Wind Ensemble definitely know the meaning of commitment, perseverance and hard work. The Wind Ensemble is a select ensemble, which means that it is an auditioned group. To audition for the group, music is assigned to the students, who then prepare for the audition and play the piece for the director and sometimes applied faculty. The members are chosen based on how well they play selected excerpts. “These students learn very quickly and improve every time they play. They are extremely talented musicians,” said Director Dr. Brian Amaral.

The ensemble rehearses Mon. through Fri. from 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Since most of the members of the ensemble are Music majors, most of them also meet with private instructors. These students are extremely dedicated to this ensemble. “Their improvement is due to the hard work of the students and the dedication of the applied faculty,” said Dr. Amaral.

The Wind Ensemble usually performs two to three times a semester. One of their big performances is at the Honor Band Clinic, which is held at UTM. The Honor Band Clinic is where top musicians from area high schools and some seventh and eighth graders come to UTM to improve their techniques by learning under college music professors. The Wind Ensemble performs during a concert to close out the clinic.

The most important performance of the Wind Ensemble is in the Tour of High Schools. During this two-day tour, the Wind Ensemble travels to high schools in West Tennessee to perform for the students. They perform two to three times a day during this event.

This tour serves a dual purpose. The first purpose is that it gives members of the ensemble multiple opportunities to perform high quality music. The second purpose is to allow high school band members to hear a great college level ensemble.

Along with the Wind Ensemble, students get to hear UTM music professors that they could study under. This tour, to an extent, also serves as a recruiting tour.

The final performance of the year for the Wind Ensemble will be held on April 26.

“This group learns quickly and performs at a higher level every time they play.They improve at every concert,” said Dr. Amaral. “The level of musicianship is very high.”

UTM is very proud of its Wind Ensemble. Its members truly are extremely talented and are sure to be very successful in their music careers.