The Palomar Concert Band presents “Symphony of Colors,” showcasing a fully instrumental performance designed to highlight the visual qualities of music through a heavy emotional palette.
The instrumentalists will attempt to encapsulate the sense of sight using only the sound of instruments backed by colorful lighting. With musical compositions such as Hazo’s “Blue and Green Music,” the “Symphony of Colors” promises to deliver an array of colorful imagery. The show premieres at 7 p.m. on May 3 at the Howard Brubeck Theatre.
“I just love working with this group of musicians. They’re very talented and very cool to hang out with and make music together,” Director Heather Barclay said.
The show will feature thirty instrumentalists playing a wide variety of wind instruments including piccolo, obo, trumpet, clarinet, French horn, tuba, baritone, saxophone, as well as percussion.
The show is dedicated to Diego Gutierrez, a Palomar College alumnus who played percussion in the concert band. Diego died just before the production of “Symphony of Colors” began. The instrumentalists and the Palomar Performing Arts Department hope to honor his memory through colorful musical numbers.
This production has been in the works for a few weeks. Palomar students meet to rehearse once a week, which calls for quite a tight schedule. This has been the biggest challenge, according to Barclay, but with such a talented and dedicated group of musicians, Barclay said she is sure the concert will be a crowd pleaser.
The concert will feature many songs with colors in the title, such as “Greensleeves,” “The White Rose March,” “The Blue and Gray,” and more.
Another feature includes Henry Mancini’s “Mancini!” which doesn’t have a color in the title but may bring nostalgia for certain audiences as the theme song for “The Pink Panther.” The band will also play Spanish and Latin songs to pay homage to Cinco De Mayo, which falls a couple of days after the performance.
“I hope that people will learn to deeply listen to music with different colors and layers; any type of music, not just symphony,” Barclay said.
For more information on the “Symphony of Colors” and ticket purchase, visit the Palomar Performing Arts Website.
