Harvard Wind Ensemble’s Holiday Concert Evokes Merry Musicianship

On Dec. 2, the Harvard Wind Ensemble hosted its Holiday Concert in Lowell Lecture Hall. The band was arranged in a triangle formation in the center of the stage area, in a typical wind ensemble formation with tubas and trombones in the back and flutes toward the front facing the audience. Since the audience was on the smaller side, the setting provided more intimacy than the typical connection between audience member and musician. The concert began with three less well-known pieces and ended with a string of holiday favorites.

Director Mark Olsen introduced the first piece, “Shell Game” by Bruce Broughton, by describing the popular pastime where one hides a pea or other small object beneath a shell or cup and moves a few cups around, asking the player to determine where the pea ends up. In the piece, the triplet motif passed between the instruments mirrored this swishing motion.

The next piece, “Oppositional Elements,” also featured repeating motifs in different instruments. Gilreath used elastic scoring, meaning Olsen and the band could determine which instrument played which part.

“I thought about, with the instrumentation that we had, what would be some pieces that were interesting and challenging for them, but also interesting for the audience?” Olsen said in an interview with The Crimson.

Since the size of the ensemble for this concert was smaller than usual, the repertoire was also curated differently.

“The first concert that we did, we had a full instrumentation. We had a smaller instrumentation for this one. So that created some different challenges for us, and that was new and interesting exploring the literature that could be done with that instrumentation,” Olsen said.

The smaller number of musicians allows for a close-knit community.

“I’ve been in this group for four years, and I think, because of its size, we’re a very small, tight-knit ensemble, and it’s a very supportive community,” Jazlyn Navarro Jiménez ’26, the current president of the ensemble, said.

Incoming president Anisha Kolambe ’28 echoed this sentiment.

“You get a lot of personal time and attention to the quality of the music that you’re playing. You get a lot of advice from the conductor himself,” Kolambe said.

The flautists, namely Kolambe, Navarro Jiménez, and Kaitlyn Mady ’29, performed three movements from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” including “Dance of the Mirlitons” and “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” These features were made possible by the sectional rehearsals held by the flute section throughout the semester.

“We bounced ideas off of each other in terms of how to shape the music. And it was a very collaborative experience, which I enjoyed,” Navarro Jiménez said.

Musicians in the ensemble are able to give input about specific works that they want to play to the conductor, who takes their opinions into account when crafting each concert.

Though the small community is a special part of Kolambe and Navarro Jiménez’s life at Harvard, larger ensembles can be better equiped to play more traditional repertoire. One of Kolambe’s goals as president is to recruit more players in order to balance out the instrumentation.

“I don’t think we’re fully recovered to where we used to be pre-Covid-19, and we really need to balance out some of the instrumentation. For example, we need a lot more clarinets and oboes, some of the euphoniums and other instrumentation,” Kolambe said.

It is challenging to craft a mix of chamber music and more traditional pieces meant for a larger, fuller wind ensemble. However, Navarro Jiménez is proud of the way the ensemble has grown and will continue to grow.

“The majority of our group is freshmen, which is really nice, because we were able to get attendance to be much more timely,” Navarro Jiménez said.

This year the ensemble also performed at Visitas, for the first time since Navarro Jiménez has been part of the group. This additional performance in front of incoming freshmen may have also helped to increase recruitment numbers.

“I think it’s really nice, because, as a saxophonist, there aren’t a lot of groups on campus that sort of incorporate classical saxophone, and it’s really nice that wind ensemble does and I get to meet other classical saxophonists through the experience,” first year Sarah H. Sun ’29 said.

The group rehearses twice a week, allowing for the musicians to see each other often and form friendships. Sometimes, in the midst of late night coursework and classes, this schedule can be tiring. Navarro Jiménez, Kolambe, and Sun find the ensemble to be worth the commitment. Sun mentioned that the ensemble does not feel like a burden since it is disconnected from her schoolwork.

“When you’re actually here and you’re with everybody else, you’re having a lot of fun, and it’s a highlight of your day,” Kolambe said.

Throughout the night, it was clear that the musicians enjoyed contributing to the community and musicianship of the ensemble. Their love for performance and connection to music was exemplified in the final piece of the concert, “Sleigh Ride,” where they played the classic holiday tune with an enthusiastic energy.

“I think the other thing I really appreciate about Harvard is that there’s a lot of spaces on campus where you can play music, and it’s something that I feel is very well supported by the college,” Kolambe said.

The Harvard Wind Ensemble is one of these spaces, welcoming both student musicians and interested audience members with open arms.