LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra Big Band performed at the University of Lynchburg on Sunday.
The theme was a celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day as the band played World War II-era music.
Ula Kauppi, the executive director for the LSO, says that while she helps with the shows, David Glover, the LSO music director/conductor, makes the decisions regarding the show’s themes.
“We wanted to come up with something that could take us to the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival,” Kauppi said. “We like to go tour and we thought that this would be a fun nostalgic celebration for our audience.”
When asked about the WWII-era theme and music, Glover said that today was meant to honor the nation’s history while also giving the audience music that they could get up and dance to.
“We just thought it was a great opportunity to honor this really important historic event in our nation’s history and also play some music that we love,” Glover said. We’ve been playing big band music for quite some time now.”
The performance was put on by Glover, conducting a 16-piece band alongside a vocalist with a fusion of WWII jazz and swing music
“A lot of what we’re playing is Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller. It’s a lot of those great American songbook tunes,” Glover said. “So swing music, jazz and all of them blended together in this big band kind of style.”
The most important part of the performance was the audience, giving them a chance to go on the floor with their partners, dance, and enjoy a fun afternoon filled with music.
“That’s kind of what we’re all about,” Kauppi said. “Just taking a break from your everyday things, problems, issues and stresses and just enjoying the music for a couple of hours.”