The Trent University Music Society (TUMS) hosted their annual Spring Concert on March 29. The event took place at 7 p.m. in Bagnani Hall at Traill College. There were performances by the Concert Choir, Concert Band, Madrigal Choir, and the Jazz Band of the Trent University Music Society.

The Concert Choir performed “A Field of White” by Amy F. Bernon, “The Maggie Hunter” by Ruth Watson Henderson, “All Ye Who Music Love” by Balthazar Donato and words by Thomas Oliphant, “Banquet Fugue” by John Rutter, and “Pie Jesu” by Victor C. Johnson. The choir, directed by Faye McMilan on the piano, were excellent and the audience was visibly pleased by their performance. My favourite moment was when a singer belched loudly and aptly at the end of “Banquet Fugue.”

The next to perform was the Concert Band who was led by Shane Reid, the President of TUMS as well as the conductor of the band. They started by paying tribute to the late Stephen Hillenburg by playing “Sweet Victory” by David Glen Eisely and Bob Kulick. Hillenburg was none other than the creator of Spongebob Squarepants, the popular Nickelodeon animated television series that many of us are fond of. This was followed by a performance of F.J. Ricketts’ “Colonel Bogey”, a famous British march and  “a concert band staple.” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music was the last piece performed by the Concert Band, thus bringing their impressive show to a close.

The Concert Band was then replaced by the Madrigal Choir, who performed “So Well I Know Who’s Happy” by Orazio Vecchi, “Hymn 92” by Thomas Tallus, “Sicut Cervus” by Giovanni Palestrina, “Love is Come Again” by J.M.C Crum, “Kyrie” by William Byrd, “Kyrie Eleison” by John Merbecke, and “Missa Brevis” in B by W.A. Mozart. The Madrigal Choir was joined by the talented Julia Li on the piano for their performance of “Missa Brevis”. In addition to the fine entertainment that was provided Peter MacKinnon, the Madrigal conductor, stressed the importance and difficulty of studying and performing music in university, adding that they believe members of the TUMS should earn a third of an academic credit to each year they are a member of this group. He also brought up the fact that Trent University is the only university in Canada that does not have a music department!

The final ensemble to take the stage was the Jazz Band. They performed "The Girl from Ipanema" by Antonio Carlos Jobim and "A Night in Tunisia" by Dizzie Gillespie. While the Jazz band was splendid like the other musicians, I only wish that they played more than two songs.

And that was the end to a wonderful evening of music. The TUMS will be hosting another event called the Rise Up and Sing: Spring Concert on April 7 at St. Giles Presbyterian Church at 2:30 p.m. The event will be a good way for music enthusiasts to escape the stress of impending midterms. Speaking of music enthusiasts, it would certainly be nice to see Trent University form an actual music department, but in light of the recent developments that we have seen regarding education and tuition fees, who knows when this hope will come to fruition?