The 2012-13 program, "Weightless," pays tribute to the manned space flight programs of the past, present, and future. The show opens with a launch sequence, accompanied by music from Richard Strauss' tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra (as featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Then, the band speeds through the atmosphere and into near-Earth orbit with Frank Ticheli's Nitro and music from Star Trek by Michael Giacchino. As the musical astronauts settle into orbit and look back on the earth, the band features North Georgia graduate student, Jeff Keegan, as he performs Land by T. Muramatsu on the marimba. Jerry Goldsmith's First Contact serves as a feature for the brass section.
The concert begins at 7:00 in the Lumpkin County High School Gymnasium.
The November show is a sneak-peek at what the Golden Eagle Band has in store for audiences this year, though patriotic and ceremonial music in the American military band tradition will also be performed. The first complete performance of "Weightless" will take place on Feb. 24.
The Golden Eagle Band is the oldest college marching band in the state and is one of the oldest in the country. In existence since the founding of the university in 1873, the Golden Eagle Band serves as the official musical representative of the university and its nationally recognized Corps of Cadets.
As the university has grown and changed, the Golden Eagle Band has evolved from a traditional military band into its present form, which is most correctly described as an American drum and bugle corps.
Members of the Golden Eagle Band are drawn from the university's student body with both military and non-military students participating in equal number. While the band continues its service to the Corps of Cadets, its primary focus is the preparation and performance of indoor marching shows, with design elements similar to those of Drum Corps International.
For more information on the band programs at North Georgia College & State University, please visit the band's website, www.ngcsuband.org.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2012/11/254911