The 42nd season of
the Eugene
Symphonic Band
kicks off with a new
conductor at the
helm and some new
talent behind the
instruments
By Jack Clifford
Oregon Daily Emerald
July 15,1957, Ford Motor
Company began produc
tion on its newest automo
Vy bile, which promised to be
a car of the future with loads of
luxury items, cool-looking extras
and other highly touted bells and
whistles.
The Edsel lasted just three
years before landing in the junk
yard of history.
That same month, Robert Vagn
er introduced the Eugene Sym
phonic Band to the community
and one simple factor has kept it
alive until today: solid musician
ship.
“The quality of the band has al-.
ways stayed the same — this has
always been a high-quality
group,” says tuba player Dwight
Vance, who has played with the
band since its inception. “[Vagn
er] was a real stickler for quality,
and he wouldn’t accept anything
less.”
The Eugene Symphonic Band
begins its 42nd season Monday
night at Beall Concert Hall, with a
program that includes traditional
band music, marches and dances.
The band started out as a sum
mertime collaboration, Vance
says, and its inaugural appear
ance that year was at the local July
4 fireworks display. Like many of
the other musicians in the group,
Vance is a retired music teacher
— he taught in Corvallis and has
been making the commute to re
hearse and perform since the ear
ly ’70s.
This season finds a new face at
the front of the band. With long
time conductor and University
music instructor Robert Ponto on
a one-year sabbatical, Timothy
Reynolds, who also conducts the
University Wind Ensemble, takes
over the baton.
“He’s been a really nice addi
tion, mainly because Tim de
mands a lot out of the group, but
this group is very musically quali
fied and is capable of coming up to
the expectations that are asked of
us,” president of the group, Russ
Wakefield, says. “Tim knows his
music very well and he comes ex
tremely well-prepared. He has us
playing really well this year.”
In addition to his work with the
wind ensemble, Reynolds brings
quite a bit of experience and
knowledge to the conductor’s
stand. He holds music degrees
from California State University,
Chico and Northern Arizona Uni
versity. Reynolds is currently a
doctoral student at the University.
Not only has he honed his tal
ent in the scholarly realm, but
Reynolds is also familiar with the
Eugene Symphonic Band. Since
moving to Eugene three years ago,
he says he has attended as many
performances as possible and
even served as guest conductor
for a few summer performances.
Still, the heat is turned up a tad
now that he is in the spotlight for
Monday’s season-opening concert.
“Fortunately, since I’ve had a
couple of opportunities to guest
conduct in kind of a less formal
way, I am a little less nervous
about it,” Reynolds says. “This
group has a tradition of being a
fine ensemble, with excellent per
formances, and I’ve heard just
some outstanding things. More
than anything I am excited about
the opportunity to conduct a fine
group of really seasoned musi
cians.”
Reynolds admits that he pays a
lot of attention to detail, but at the
same time he says his ultimate
goal is to make the performers feel
comfortable by bringing clarity to
his conducting. He also balances
what a composer intended for any
particular musical selection with
his own take on the music.
“It needs to be fun for the play
ers because they’re here to play
and have a good time; but they
want to sound good as well and
these people know what it takes
to sound good,” Refolds says.
“Our rehearsals are sprinkled
with light-hearted times, but over
all they’re pretty serious re
hearsals because that’s what [the
performers] really like.
“This group comes prepared to
a performance. There’s never a
feeling of ‘I hope it comes together
at the concert.’”
All of the members donate their
time to the band and the group
survives through community do
nations and ticket sales. In addi
tion to Monday night’s show, the
band will perform three times be
tween now and mid-May.
Wakefield guesses that about
one-half of the band’s 60 members
are either active or retired music
teachers. Three-fourths of the
band has been involved for close
to 20 years, Wakefield estimates,
which is about his length of asso
ciation.
“I don’t know exactly — I ran
out of fingers and toes to count,”
he says with a laugh.
There is a pressing need to be
gin recruiting younger players to
join, Wakefield notes, but it’s a
difficult task because the older
players are reluctant to leave such
a high-quality ensemble. He is
seeing an influx of students, how
ever, either current college stu
dents or those just getting out of
school.
One such addition is Matthew
Wolfgang, 22, who is a musical
education major. His mother
Jeanne plays flute in the band and
his father Rick has performed
with band in the past. Although
he is a clarinet player, the younger
Wolfgang is sitting in the percus
sion section for Monday’s concert.
“It’s very exciting and honor
able,” he says. “It’s really neat to
be able to play in a group with
adults that I’ve grown up with.
Most of these people have known
me since I was very little.”
Despite the age differences be
tween him and other members,
Wolfgang says he is treated as a
peer.
“It’s one of the few places
where you can sit in a group with
professional musicians and feel
equal,” he explains. “At the Uni
versity or in high school there’s
that mentality of ‘I’m older than
All photos by Scott Barnett Emerald
The Eugene Symphonic Band opens its
42nd season Monday night at Beall
Hall. New conductor Timothy Reynolds
(left) will be leading a group of 60 mu
sicians, including percussionist
Matthew Wolfgang (above right) and
tuba player Dwight Vance (above left).
you, so I’ll explain everything.’
That doesn’t work here.”
Beyond signing up new blood,
Wakefield says the group plays
music in concerts that appeals to
a very broad audience. The band
might perform everything from
traditional marches to “very so
phisticated, complicated classical
music to modem musical scores a
la ‘Star Wars’ and that type of
stuff. We’ve tried to hit every age
group with our selections.”
Reynolds agrees that Monday’s
concert will be “upbeat and pretty
much what we can call an Ameri
can concert.” The program in
cludes William Schuman’s
“Chester,” Henry Fillmore’s “His
Honor,” Norman Dello Joio’s
“Satiric Dances” and Guy
Woolfenden’s “Illyrian Dances,”
among others.
For the first time in a regular
season performance, Reynolds
will have a different view of the
orchestra. The new conductor just
hopes that he can spark the same
response he’s previously experi
enced as a listener.
“I’ve been in the audience
many times for Eugene Symphon
ic Band concerts and the response
is always quite surprisingly
great,” Reynolds says. “The same
people come back to hear us, year
after year.”
The Eugene Symphonic Band
is in concert Monday at Beall
Concert Hall, with the music be
ginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are
available at the box office the
night of the performance or from
any of the band members.
Admission is $8 for family, $
for adults and $2 for students and
senior citizens.