Dressed in blue and sparkling, soloist Nancy Andrew played poised and animated, her flute singing and the orchestra behind her. At times the flute seemed to supersede its form of an instrument and become a voice that glided gracefully beside the strings and guided each movement. One could almost hear Andrew’s flute sing the words.
Andrew was the featured faculty soloist for W.A. Mozart’s Concerto No. 2, part of the University Symphony’s concert Sunday. With the guidance of conductor Wayne Bennett, the symphony played the Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms and Hary Janos Suite by Zoltak Kodaly in addition to the concerto by Mozart.
The performance opened with the Brahms overture, a grand introduction.
Bennett said this piece is one of Brahms’ “most well-known.”
“It’s upbeat, and has four sections of traditional, university-type songs,” he said.
“It’s a very light-hearted piece,” principle cellist Jonathan Vetter said. “It’s kind of boisterous, and a fun piece to play.”
Next, the orchestra performed Mozart’s concerto.
“It was written by Mozart over the winter of 1777 to 1778,” said Andrew.
“It’s a beautiful work. It sounds like Mozart’s operas — very much like an aria,” Andrew said.
This is Andrew’s first year with the University. Having previously played with the University of Arizona and the wind ensemble of Youngstown State University, Andrew praised the University symphony’s excitement.
“They’re sensitive as collaborators and play at a high level, and Wayne is a constant musician who rehearses extraordinarily well,” she said.
“Nancy is a fine soloist,” Bennett said. “We’re really looking forward to having her. We try to feature our faculty artists.”
The final piece composed by Hungarian composer Kodaly was performed by Hary Janos. The orchestra played six movements from the opera.
“The piece starts out very serious,” Vetter said. “The first note sounds like a sneeze. In the Hungarian culture, any song that is preceded by sneeze is probably not true. The piece is about a man who makes himself out to be a war hero and goes into taverns and tells people about his adventures. It’s a crazy piece, very extroverted.”
Overall, it was a strong, beautiful performance. The orchestra was exquisitely smooth and generous in sound, and played with great artistry and visible passion.
This performance is part of several concerts the University orchestra has scheduled for the year.
“The orchestra has been really busy this year,” Bennett said. “We played at the Hult Center on Oct. 31 with Helmuth Rilling, the director of the Oregon Bach Festival.”
“This was the first time the orchestra was featured at the Hult,” Andrew said. “It was phenomenal. They played really well. The community really supported it; the house was full except for the balcony.”

Tiffany Jow is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald