On a blustery Monday, March 31, the Lakeland College Music Department put on the spring Small Ensembles concert on the Bradley Theater stage. Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands Christopher Werner and Director of Choral Activities Lani Knutson had the audience sit on the Bradley stage instead of the auditorium seats. The Jazz Ensemble would have been too loud for the audience to hear the vocal performers. The concert consisted of Frauenchor (Lakeland’s women’s choir), Jazz Ensemble band, and Lakeland Singers.

Frauenchor started the evening off with a song called “Sound the Trumpet.” Frauenchor received plenty of applause from the audience. The all-women’s group performed four more tunes under the direction of Knutson. The most recognizable piece of music was “For Good” from the hit Broadway musical Wicked. Senior vocal performance and pedagogy and writing major Brittney Beckmann and junior choral music education major Sierra Ramirez had solos.

After Frauenchor had wrapped up, the Jazz Ensemble entered the stage. They performed the 1938 classic “The Lady is a Tramp,” with a solo being performed. Next in line for the evening was the Academy Award winning song “Skyfall,” used in the 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall. Music instrumental performance major Zhanming Liu had a wonderful electric guitar solo that the audience loved.

“I love to do this for an audience,” said Liu, the senior guitarist. “It’s fun to play with great musicians.”

Lastly, the Lakeland Singers joined the Jazz Ensemble for the final piece called “Moonlight Serenade.” The combination was very well put together by the music directors.

“It was a nice setting for the Jazz Ensemble,” said Werner. “It was great for the soloists as well.”

The Lakeland Singers and Jazz Ensemble had rehearsed for a few weeks to perform the song. The audience loved the old time feeling to “Moonlight Serenade.” The audience loved the final song to the concert. About 30 chairs were set up on the Bradley stage for the audience to sit on and enjoy the ensemble. All of the chairs were filled with visiting citizens and students.

“I really liked this concert,” said freshman Brittney Koerner, who is a music and psychology major.

The concert was about 45 minutes long, and the concert started at 7:30 p.m. This was not the first Jazz Ensemble that Lakeland has performed. The college has put on the jazz ensembles for at least four years straight. In the end, the Jazz Ensemble was a success and the ensemble performance groups were a great form of entertainment for the students and citizens on that windy March evening.