Ensembles

The Georgia Southern Symphonic Wind Ensemble is the most select of the concert bands, with a membership limited to 50-55 of the most accomplished woodwind, brass, and percussion performers on the Statesboro campus. Members of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble perform repertoire of the highest caliber, representing all musical style periods from the Renaissance through modern day, featuring works created by the finest composers for the historical and modern wind band.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble typically performs two to three concerts each semester on-campus or regionally and regularly tours Georgia and the Southeast. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble has appeared in London, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Florence, and Munich.

The Wind Symphony fosters the highest performance standards while offering its 60-75 members the opportunity to expand their technical expertise and musical understanding. Programming for the Wind Symphony features challenging and engaging repertoire drawn from the rich musical tradition of the modern concert band.

Membership in the Wind Symphony is open, by audition, to all Georgia Southern students who demonstrate a proficient level of performance ability on wind and percussion instruments. Auditions for seating placement in the ensemble are held at the beginning of each term.

The Wind Symphony generally performs two concerts each semester on campus and occasionally performs off-campus and on tours with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

The 65-80 member University Band, which rehearses one evening each week during the Spring and performs one public concert, is open without audition to all Georgia Southern students and faculty members and musicians in Statesboro who have experience on a brass, percussion, or woodwind instruments and are interested in continuing to perform in a musically collaborative atmosphere.

The Southern Pride Marching Band’s home is Georgia Southern’s Allen E. Paulson Stadium. The band performs at all home football games, select out-of-town games and parades, and in exhibition at high school marching band contests throughout the state. Recently, Southern Pride accompanied the Eagles to away games at the United States Naval Academy, the University of Alabama, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the University of Georgia. Additionally, Southern Pride performed at Turner Field for the 2013 Atlanta Braves Opening Day, and members of the drum line performed with country rock star Elizabeth Cook on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Southern Pride’s aim is to combine the highest quality of musicality and execution, while providing entertainment and enthusiasm for all fans of Georgia Southern football. It’s this combination of quality and enthusiasm that has earned Southern Pride its title, The Hardest Working Band in Show Business!

The Hoop Troop Basketball Pep Band performs for home- and away-games during the conference tournament season. Earning the reputation The Boro’s Most Dangerous Band, the Hoop Troop leads the spirited crowds of Hanner Fieldhouse and adds excitement and support for Eagle basketball.The Hoop Troop’s repertoire includes jazz, Latin, television theme songs, R&B, hard rock, classic rock, Motown, and pop music.

The Hoop Troop meets during the spring semester. Membership is by audition only.

The Net Squad Volleyball Pep Band performs at select home games during the Fall semester, providing energy, excitement, and entertainment in Hanner Fieldhouse. The band’s repertoire includes classic rock, hip-hop, alternative, pop, theme songs and more!

Membership is by audition, and auditions are held during the first few weeks of the Fall semester.

Dr. John Franklin
Interim Director of Bands
jdfranklin@georgiasouthern.edu

Student brass quintets at Georgia Southern University have the opportunity to explore and perform a vast amount of literature specifically written for two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba. Membership is by audition or permission of the director.

The Georgia Southern Horn Ensemble provides a unique setting to perform diverse genres of music originals and transcriptions for horns. The ensemble’s mission is to perform the finest chamber music written for horn and to lead Georgia Southern students to a greater understanding of brass chamber music literature. The ensemble performs on campus and in outreach programs and is open for membership to music majors and non-music majors by audition or permission of the director.

The Trombone Ensemble has played recitals on campus and in outreach programs to area secondary schools. The literature performed includes original works for trombones and transcriptions. The range of styles represented includes music from the Renaissance to modern pop and jazz. Membership is by audition or by permission of the director.

The Trumpet Ensemble provides an outlet for trumpet chamber music performance. The selected literature ranges from the Baroque era to jazz-inspired works and is played by trumpet groups ranging in size from four up to twelve or more trumpeters. Membership in the ensemble is required for trumpet music majors, and is open to others by permission of the director.

The Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble performs literature written specifically for the tuba family, as well as transcriptions of other repertoire. Membership is by audition or permission of the director. On-campus recitals and performance demonstrations in the secondary schools are the goals of this chamber group.

Southern Chorale is the premiere choral ensemble of Georgia Southern University and is directed by Dr. Shannon Jeffreys, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities. Southern Chorale’s membership draws from the most talented vocal students to provide a professional foundation for performance and choral music education majors and meaningful musical experience for those University students who wish to continue to sing in an elite ensemble. This primarily undergraduate ensemble performs literature from all styles and periods with an emphasis on a cappella repertoire and masterworks with orchestra.

In addition to numerous campus and community performances, Southern Chorale has appeared at conferences of the National Collegiate Choral Organization, American Choral Directors Association, and National Association for Music Education. The choir won significant prizes in the Anton Bruckner International Choral Competition in Linz, Austria in 2013 and months later earned the highest score given in Sing ‘N’ Joy International Competition and Festival, winning the Spiritual Category.  During the summer of 2016, Chorale won the Grand Prize in the mixed category and the spirituals category at the Laurea Mundi, Budapest. This summer, they received Gold in the Ave Verum ICC in Baden, Austria and Level I Certificate in the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany. Southern Chorale collaborates with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and Chorus most recently performing Brahm’s Ein deutches Requiem and is in preparation for Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

University Singers (Statesboro) is designed to provide a quality choral experience for all Georgia Southern students. University Singers is open to all students, without audition.

Southern Gentlemen is Georgia Southern’s award-winning men’s barbershop ensemble. Southern Sirens is a contemporary a cappella group for women. Membership is by audition.

The Contemporary Vocal Ensemble (Armstrong) performs popular and musical theatre selections. Membership is by audition.

The Georgia Southern Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dr. Rick Mason, provides a venue for qualified musicians to perform jazz in a 20-member big-band. The group performs at least four concerts each year on campus with a repertoire ranging from Big Band Era standards to contemporary styles and original jazz compositions. Guest artists who have performed with the group include Bobby Shew, Tom Malone, and Jon Faddis. The Jazz Ensemble’s popular concerts serve to expose listeners throughout southeast Georgia to this authentic American music.

The Georgia Southern jazz area also features smaller student combos, which normally consist of five to eight musicians. By their very nature, these chamber groups feature a greater emphasis on jazz improvisation than is possible within the larger Jazz Ensemble setting. The combos perform material from the traditional and contemporary jazz repertoire with an emphasis on small group performing skills and jazz improvisation. These combos play numerous on- and off-campus concerts.

Any student can audition and participate in opera regardless of major. The repertoire is diverse in styles, genres, and languages to always offer our community new and exciting performances!

Auditions are held every semester and requirements may vary by semester. Auditions are open to all Georgia Southern students regardless of major.

Through the Georgia Southern Opera’s outreach company, students participate in community engagement and service learning, taking opera on the road and out into the community. University students travel to local elementary, middle, and high schools performing opera for children, offering workshops, and presenting recitals in community venues, sharing music throughout the region. This allows students to make a positive impact on others and apply their skills in real-world settings.

Auditions for the Georgia Southern Symphony & String Camerata are part of the Scholarship Auditions each school year. For information about the audition process, please write directly to Dr. Steven Elisha: stevenelisha@georgiasouthern.edu

Music Majors & Minors

Music Students auditioning for a Music Scholarship will have the opportunity to audition for the Georgia Southern Symphony. In addition to the audition requirements* for a specific degree program, students will be asked to prepare the following orchestral excerpts below:

• String Audition Requirements
• Mozart: Magic Flute Overture
• Bizet: L’Arlésienne Suite No.1

Non-Music Majors

Non-Music Majors will have the opportunity to audition for the Georgia Southern Symphony by appointment. Students will be asked to prepare a scale/arpeggio (up to 4 sharps and 4 flats, 2-3 octaves), a short solo work that best demonstrates level of ability and the following orchestral excerpts below:

• Mozart: Magic Flute Overture
• Bizet: L’Arlésienne Suite No.1

Under the direction of Dr. Matt Fallin, the Georgia Southern Percussion Ensemble provides students an outlet for percussion chamber music performance. The selected literature ranges from transcriptions, popular music, world and folk music, contemporary literature, as well as a variety of traditional percussion ensemble staple literature. The Percussion Ensemble performs on campus at least once per semester.

The Armstrong Percussion Ensemble is made up of percussion majors, percussion minors, and other students from the Armstrong campus. The ensemble performs music written and arranged specifically for percussion instruments. Directed by Dr. Stephen Primatic, the Ensemble performs two concerts a year in the Fine Arts auditorium.

The Magnolia String Quartet is the premier orchestral string chamber ensemble at Georgia Southern. Coached by Dr. Larisa Elisha, the MSQ performs extensively on campus and throughout the community and Southeast coastal region, including participation in competitions and performing at major events.

Low string students participate in this unique ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Steven Elisha.

The Georgia Southern University Clarinet Quartet, under the direction of Dr. Linda A. Cionitti, performs several times a year on campus, at area public schools, and throughout the state. The ensemble has performed at the Vandoren/Buffet Clarinet Choir Festival in Atlanta and the Georgia Music Educators’ Convention in Savannah and was selected to present a concert in conjunction with the Savannah Music Festival.

The Georgia Southern University Flute Choir performs a variety of music, from full flute ensemble to duos, trios, and quartets. The Flute Choir is directed by Ms. Diane Kessel.

Southern Saxophones, the Georgia Southern University saxophone studio and ensemble, is active on campus and throughout southeast Georgia. Since its inception in 1999, Southern Saxophones and the Southern Quartet have performed for ArtsFest, Winds at Southern, Earth Day, the Better Breathers Association, Scholar’s Day, Downtown Statesboro’s F1rst Friday, in City Market Savannah, and at the Georgia Music Educators Association in-service conference. Our saxophone students have performed at Atlanta Sax Day, regional meetings of the North American Saxophone Alliance, the Carolina Saxophone Festival, the US Navy Band’s International Saxophone Symposium, and the Southeastern Saxophone Symposium.

We hold a fall studio recital that includes soloists and Southern Saxophones. Night of Wild Sax is our annual spring concert of solo and chamber music featuring saxophone ensembles ranging from duos through full saxophone choir.

Visit the Southern Saxophones Soundcloud channel for recordings of the GMEA All-State etudes and other solo and ensemble performances.