Whitworth’s music department started the new Whitworth Community Band this fall. The decision to start the Community Band came after the successful launch of the Community Chorale last year, allowing structure for the Community Band. The band currently has around 50 members, with a mix of current students, alumni and members from Spokane’s wider community. The band is directed by music faculty Richard Strauch and Kyla Fague, and its first performance is on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at Cowles Auditorium.
Richard Strauch spoke on the importance of this community band saying, “what we do in the music department is about reaching out beyond our campus and music is always such a great way to connect people.” Both directors recalled a quote from a former Whitworth president Bill Robinson who said that “the music department is a front door of Whitworth University” and this band is a way that Whitworth is opening its doors to the community.
The band is open-enrollment and non-auditioned allowing students to interact and perform with those outside of the current student body. Kyla Fague spoke on why open enrollment matters. “It just brings Whitworth into the community and the community into Whitworth, and I think it’s a positive relationship on both ends,” she said. Students can enroll in this class and those outside school can enroll through the webpage for community ensembles.
One of the motivations for forming the Whitworth Community Band was alumni interest. Both Fague and Strauch spoke on the level of alumni interest. Strauch said that alums have “looked for another place to play and they’re really happy to have that […] it’s kind of like they come home.” Fague built on this, highlighting an alumnus who drives from the Tri-Cities area because “he can’t find a place to play and is willing to make the drive for this opportunity.”
Students interested in joining the band can enroll in this class during enrollment for the upcoming spring semester and everyone can come and see the Community Band’s performance on Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at Cowles Auditorium where the band will be performing six pieces.
