Alumni gathered to perform on February 9th. Photo by Anna Meassick.
Alumni Musicians Return for another Memorable Performance
The University of Rhode Island’s Alumni Association prides itself on organizing social events for graduates of URI for decades, and this year was no exception. On Saturday, Feb. 9, the Alumni Association and the URI Music Department teamed up once again for an Alumni Wind Ensemble Concert.
The Alumni Wind Ensemble Concert started in 2011 as a way for URI graduates to reconnect with their musical roots at URI. Comprised of about 50 alumni from as far back as 1964 and as recent as 2018, this year’s concert featured a wide variety of pieces. These pieces included everything from German Composer Felix Mendelssohn in the early romantic period to contemporary marches, all conducted by Associate Director of Bands and Music Professor Dr. Brian Cardany.
Also performing in the concert was “Pentawinds,” a student group featuring Molly Vallee on flute, Tyler Vanable on oboe, Jon Howe on French horn and Adam Stevens on clarinet.
Aside from the performance aspect, the concert has served as a social event in which alumni can catch up with old friends and reminisce in old memories.
“We are not students anymore, so we do not have a structured setting in which to express ourselves through wind ensemble music,” Allison Lacasse, alumna of the URI music department said. “This [concert] was a way to keep the spirit of our undergraduate and graduate years alive. There is something extremely special and nostalgic about walking into the doors of the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, where we performed so many concerts together.”
Many of the alumni performers agreed that even though they had left the music department at URI, music had never really left their lives. While some of the alumni performers were music majors and had become professional musicians, most of the alumni worked in non-musical professions.
“The beautiful thing about the people on stage is that while they might not all be in the music business, playing their instrument was important enough to them to continue alongside their career,” Lacasse said. “Now that we are older and working in the ‘real world,’ it’s a wonderful respite to be able to feel at ‘home’ here at URI and make music together.”
Even beyond concerts like this one, the URI alumni performers encourage students to keep music in their lives. In fact, for some performers, music provides comfort and healing in the face of life’s struggles. In the case of Alumnus Trumpet Player John Counnas, music is a therapeutic process.
“I had a bad car accident [that] just caused all these problems– breathing, getting sick,” Counnas said. “And what do [the doctors] tell you to do? They tell you to breathe into something to get stronger.Therapy-wise, [music] really has been great for me, the neurological stuff, the emotional stuff. Music is like the one thing that gets rid of all anxiety.”
Even when everything else is going poorly, as it so often does in life, music is a constant reprieve from the pain. After all, in Counnas’ words, “The downbeat is still a downbeat and everybody needs to be in time and… we just keep moving forward.”
The Alumni Association understands that some people are hesitant to come back to URI for an event like this after so long, but Lacasse reassures all alumni that the concert is not intended to be perfect.
“We are a judgment-free zone,” Lacasse said. “If you haven’t played your instrument in months or years, you are welcome to join us and choose a part that you are comfortable with. Our environment is welcoming, friendly, and positive.”
The URI Alumni Association and music department also invite alumni to perform alongside the current marching band at homecoming and with the basketball pep band at home games in the Ryan Center.