Verona students take the stage with UW–Madison’s Wind Ensemble

For some Verona Area High School students, their next concert may offer a taste of their future.

The Verona High School Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Eric Anderson, will join the University of Wisconsin–Madison Wind Ensemble, led by Scott Teeple, in a joint concert on Friday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall. Each band will perform alone, under both conductors, before performing one work together at the conclusion of the program. The concert is free and open to the public.

For those who cannot attend the concert in person, the concert will also be streamed as a live webcast here.

“Eric and I have struck up a friendship that has centered around our students, music and music education,” says Teeple, associate professor of music. “A shared concert is an idea I’ve wanted to implement for some time now.”

When Teeple came to Madison several years ago, he began reaching out to high school programs and other musicians in the area. Anderson, a 1998 UW–Madison alumnus in music education, welcomed the opportunity to show his students the life of a musician on campus.

“This kind of experience makes the connection between K–12 music and postsecondary music,” says Anderson. “It’s not just ‘Wow; look at all the cool opportunities for playing and taking part in music,’ but also ‘Look what’s right here in our backyard.'”

The two ensembles will spend Friday together in preparation for the evening’s performance. Anderson’s students will also take tours of the School of Music and the expanded Chazen Museum of Art before a dinner at Union South.

Both groups have prepared separate halves of the concert, as well as a combined work. As part of the collaboration, Anderson and Teeple will also switch places for two works originally written for mixed choirs by composer Morton Lauridsen. Anderson has come to the Humanities Building to rehearse “O Magnum Mysterium” with the college students; Teeple has worked on “Contre Qui, Rose” in Verona.

In a playful twist, both works were arranged by H. Robert Reynolds, a colleague of Lauridsen and the former UW–Madison Director of Bands. In recent years, Reynolds has returned to campus on multiple occasions; he and Teeple will headline a workshop this coming spring.

This exchange shows Anderson’s students the lasting value of musical collaboration. Whether pursuing music as a major or integrating it into extracurricular activities, many former Verona students choose to continue playing music in college. One clarinet player auditioned for a spot in the School of Music just over a week ago.

“To me, this joint effort provides an opportunity for each musician to raise the bar just a little more,” says Teeple. “When the ensembles meet on Friday and sit interspersed with each other, it’s going to be a great time for music and sharing.”