Missouri Southern State University - Crossroads Yearbook (Joplin, MO)

Page 27 text:

MUSIC MAKERS The MSSC Lab Band is a smaller instrumental group than the Concert Band. This group performs music of the jazz idiom. The Lab Band performs at various school and civic events throughout the year. All of the ensembles in the music department at MSSC serve as recruiting devices for the school as well as for the department itself. The Lab Band especially is active in this area. Each year, during the spring, the Lab Band tours various area high schools to perform for students and in¬ form them as to what is available to them at Missouri Southern. This year, for the first time, the Concert Band also became active in this area by touring area high schools and participating in the annual band festival at Silver Dollar City in the spring. By: Kathy Morin 23

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The Missouri Southern State College music department provides a wide variety of activities for students and members of the faculty and community. The many organizations on campus are comprised of students who are both majors and non-majors in the field of music. One of the most popular groups is the orchestra. This group is made up of members of the faculty as well as students and musicians from the surrounding area. The MSSC Orchestra concentrates on classical period music for their performances. The “Lion Pride” marching band is a very popular organization on the MSSC campus (top right). This organization, which practices an average of three or more hours a week during the fall semester, has more members than any other ensemble in the music department. The “Lion Pride” performs at all Lion football games, participates in homecoming activities, and the “pep” band performs at all Lion basketball games throughout the year. During the Spring semester, the MSSC Concert Band organizes. This group practices for three hours a week as a group, and the individual members spend several hours with individual practices and sectional rehearsals. The Concert Choir is an organization which consists of about fifty members. The Concert Choir consists of both music majors and non-majors, and performs a wide variety of choral music. A smaller, more select group than the Concert Choir is the Collegiates. Members of the Collegiates are usually music majors and are selected from Concert Choir members. This group is more diverse in their perfor¬ mance. They include traditional as well as popular music. In the instrumental department, a small, select group is the Brass Choir. This ensemble performs chamber music at concerts and recitals. I i l 22

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BEFORE the SHOW GOES ON by Raymond Lee Senior Theatre major Each year at MSSC a group of dedicated young men and women endeavor to expand both their knowledge and experience as theatre students. These students come from all areas of the country. To some theatre is a full-time major, to others it’s a part-time activity that sublimates their regular course of study. But they all share a common goal; to produce the best in theatrical entertainment. The theatre has been called the most complex of the arts, since it requires many creators. The various creative elements which go into the college’s 4 main stage or 2 traveling children’s shows are usually provid¬ ed by the students. The visual background, for example is the work of student set, lighting and costume designers, who seek to interpret the qualities found in the script through visual means. Several months in ad¬ vance of production, the student designers research the period in which the play is set, studying styles of clothing, architecture, furniture, and other elements to prepare designs that are historically accurate as well as theatrically effective. Student actors embody the mood and spirit of a play by creating means of expression through body and voice, the role, and the stage en¬ vironment. Student technicians work to achieve the application of the designers’ creations into practical form. In like manner all those who are involved in the many aspects of production work to achieve a high degree of excellence characteristic of the Missouri Southern Theatre Department. 24