The conductor who received enthusiastic applause from students
in the UCLA Wind Ensemble after a rehearsal last week was not the
ensemble’s veteran band director Thomas Lee. She was an
eighth-grade student from John Adams Middle School in Santa
Monica.
The student, Allegra Fonda-Bonardi, will have the opportunity to
conduct “Stars and Stripes Forever” tonight in
Schoenberg Hall in front of what Lee believes to be the best wind
ensemble he has had at UCLA.
Fonda-Bonardi was the winner of the annual essay contest started
nine years ago as an outreach program with the neighboring Santa
Monica community. The program was created to build a relationship
between the students in Santa Monica and those at UCLA in order to
encourage them to eventually enroll here.
This year, students were asked to write their response to the
question, “What does music mean to you?” It was a topic
that interested Fonda-Bonardi and she wanted to spend time
reflecting on it.
“Basically music brings people together,”
Fonda-Bonardi said. “It bridges language gaps, races,
cultures, everything. It’s a universal language.”
Her essay will be printed in tonight’s program for the
audience to read.
Fonda-Bonardi has a musical background in trombone, piano, and
singing, but is new to conducting. She was thankful to receive help
from her music teacher Angela Woo.
According to Lee, one way that Fonda-Bonardi is taking her role
as guest conductor to a higher level than previous contest winners
is by showing dynamic contrasts with her left hand in her
routine.
Yet despite Fonda-Bonardi’s talent in conducting, she is
nervous.
“One of the biggest challenges is getting over the
butterflies in your stomach. The scariest part is the downbeat and
the walk onto stage,” Fonda-Bonardi said.
Lee attributes the success of this year’s wind ensemble to
a chemistry between what he calls a great faculty and talented,
bright students. These praises come in spite of the group’s
younger make-up.
“It’s a great ensemble,” grad student David
Brennan said. There are a lot more younger musicians, and they
display a maturity in their musicianship that you (usually)
don’t find until a much later age.”
Tonight, the UCLA Wind Ensemble hopes to use this
“universal language” of music to celebrate “the
human spirit.” Each piece in the program, including works by
Hector Berlioz and Donald Grantham, represents some aspect of the
theme. The performance will feature the world premiere
of Grantham’s “Come, Memory …” a tribute to
Sept. 11, 2001.
UCLA is one of six universities to receive the honor of being
asked to perform this piece, which is commissioned by Kappa Kappa
Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, the national band honorary fraternity and
sorority. A large audience is expected to attend the concert.
“I am very proud of this concert. I think it is going to
be exhilarating,” Lee said. “We can do things with
music that you can’t express in any other way. I promise you
it will move you. It will touch your soul.”
The UCLA Wind Ensemble performs 8 p.m. tonight at Schoenberg
Hall. Admission is free.