Beam Me Up

Allen Fields remembers a time when playing in the band meant marching at halftime.

But these days, the University of Arkansas program manager prefers to sit in the stands. That is, when he's not taking up his french horn with a local concert band, the Arkansas Winds.

The all-volunteer group of Northwest Arkansas musicians will play its first concert of the new year Feb. 28 at the Tonya McCuistion Performing Arts Center in Farmington. The new venue has been in the works for three years and opened its doors to classes on Jan. 13, says theater teacher Jennifer Garza.

The Arkansas Winds concert will be the first large performance for the stage, she says, and it's a kickoff that is expected to be a bit "out there."

"It's 'Hi-Fi, Sci-Fi,' and it's called that because the music is mostly science fiction related -- movies, television and video game related," Fields says. "It's something we haven't done before, and it's a lot of really good, powerful music that really moves you."

The Arkansas Winds will perform selections from the five "Star Trek" television shows, themes from "Lost in Space" and "Inspector Gadget," works by John Williams, themes from video games Civilization 4, Kingdom Hearts and Halo, and more, he says.

"We'll also be playing 'Godzilla Eats Las Vegas,'" he says with a laugh. "It's not actually based on a television show or movie, but it's the composer's representation of what would happen if Godzilla attacked Las Vegas. It's very exciting."

The Arkansas native says that the group chose to perform science fiction-related music because of the emotions the music elicits. John Williams, for instance, is known for his powerful scores, Fields says, which offer the ebb, flow and rise that creates a "heroic" sound.

"The music becomes very exciting, and there's a lot of movement," he says. "And that's added to by the way the different parts of the concert band interplay with each other, particularly the percussion. It's very exhilarating to hear and watch."

The six-person percussion section will be on their feet, rushing from one instrument to the other, he says, adding to the excitement of this already fast-paced music. Fields says he hopes that the modern scores will be a draw for a younger audience, many of whom might not have heard a concert band play. And maybe they would be interested in becoming members, too.

"Arkansas Winds is a community band, so we have no auditions," Fields says. "You just come and join and see if it is a good fit. There really aren't a lot of options for people to play after high school or college, so this is a great way for people who played in marching bands to continue making good music with good people."

-- Allison Carter

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NAN What's Up on 02/20/2015