MITCHELL — The Wartburg College Wind Ensemble is making a stop in Mitchell as part of the program's 2022 American Heritage Tour.
Their only stop in South Dakota, the ensemble will perform at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 20, at the Corn Palace in one of the tour's final performances of the tour across the Midwest.
Under the direction of Craig Hancock, the 45-member ensemble will perform repertoire from a variety of works that includes John Philip Sousa marches and pieces from contemporary composers like Aaron Copland, Samuel Hazo, Eric Whitacre and Julie Giroux. Brian Pfaltzgraff, Wartburg music professor, will join the band as a tenor soloist for some pieces.
"Everyone will find something during the concert that will reach out and touch them," Hancock said in a news release. "Whether you want to be entertained, educated or somewhere in between, we'll get your hands clapping, your toes tapping and hopefully some appreciative smiles for the great work of these fine youngsters."
Based in Waverly, Iowa, Wartburg's tour has taken the ensemble through Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska, already. Following its stop in Mitchell, the group is scheduled for two performances in Minnesota.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Wind Ensemble is an auditioned group comprising the college's finest wind and percussion players. Its members are first- through fourth-years and represent nearly every academic major on campus. Most members are in multiple music ensembles and almost all are involved in other co-curricular activities.
The Wind Ensemble tours each spring and schedules an international tour every third year during Wartburg's one-month May term. The last tour took the ensemble to Japan in 2019.
The event at the Corn Palace is open to the public at no cost, though freewill donations will be accepted. All proceeds will benefit future Wartburg Wind Ensemble tours.
Wartburg, a four-year liberal arts college internationally recognized for community engagement, enrolls 1,543 students. Wartburg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and named after the castle in Germany where Martin Luther took refuge disguised as a knight during the stormy days of the Reformation while translating the Bible from Greek into German.
