Resistance is futile

by: Jenny Baxter- AWS percussionist

We played an arrangement this week from Star Trek: First Contact, the 1996 movie and one of the few I’ve actually seen, in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and crew must thwart the Borgs yet another time in order to save the human race and even the crew from Borg assimilation. This movie is unique in its abundance of human interaction, and the piece we’re playing has the most emotion and “human” element of our songs.

Something Patrick said this week stood out in my mind. He said that it was amazing how many variations on the same theme we play and how different each of them are. Despite my parents’ addiction to sci-fi, I could really never get into the episodes or movies more than occasionally, but now I hum the theme waiting for my bus and I actually want to watch some of the famous episodes to know what everyone else is talking around nachos at Applebee’s. Just more proof that music makes the movies.

Where no ensemble has gone before

by: Jenny Baxter- AWS percussionist

The Austin Wind Symphony is wiping the dust and rust off their instruments and getting off their couches and into their chairs, because it’s concert season again. Our first practice was Tuesday, August 12th, in preparation for our Star Trek concert.

Being a percussionist, I’m always really impressed with how well band members can sightread. I’ve had to sightread some mallet parts but usually it’s just rhythms. But the clarinets and flutes are trilling, the strings are going crazy and the brass are pumping notes out. They’re not all right of course, but I have to say that the music we played sounded pretty great for first runs and I think we all left feeling good about it.

And in the spirit of this concert, one of our members recently came back from a vacation in Las Vegas, where she visited the Star Trek Experience in the Hilton. My parents, hardcore sci-fi fans also visited this exhibit on our family trip, though they didn’t dress up, but I’ve heard it’s pretty awesome. Unfortunately it’s about to close on September 1st after 10 years to make way for a Michael Jackson….thing. I think we need a protest. Until next week, live long, prosper and practice.