Last Thursday night, the Tarleton State University Chamber Winds, accompanied by Dr. Leslie Spotz, did a wonderful job in their program of the Rachmaninoff piano concerto. The ensemble started out with a small brass ensemble that included 12 students playing trumpets, French horns, trombones and the tuba. The piece had a slow start, but was overall soothing and nice to hear.

The second piece, “Adagio Para Orquestra de Instrumentos de Viento”, started with just flutes and clarinets and was very soft and slow and serene, as were the middle and closing pieces, but during the second and fourth section, the tempo picked up and had faster rhythms and brass fanfares, accompanied by Spotz on the piano.

For their final piece, the ensemble played “Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18”, in c minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Accompanied again by Spotz, the three-part piece started out at a nice pace that echos the chime of Russian church bells. The ensemble then entered and toward the middle of the first movement, the music built into an enthusiastic climax. The second movement brought a more intimate feeling to the piece. This piece had a very nice mixture of piano and woodwinds. The final movement’s tempo began to increase and ended with a big finish.

The concert was beautifully performed, both by the Chamber Winds and Spotz.