“We have an orchestra?”

This question is often heard from students, but this semester, the St. Edward’s University Orchestra plans to strike a new chord with the student population.

The group will perform “Pirates!” a medley of music from “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Pirates of Penzance” March 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mabee Ballroom. The 45-member ensemble will perform with members of Austin’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society who will sing and act out scenes from the show.

Adjunct Professor of music Annette Jurcevic is the founder and driving force behind the club. She hopes this semester’s second performance will bring attention to the orchestra.

Jurcevic said the orchestra will perform a medley of melodies in different styles from around the world.

“I’m excited for the audience’s sake about ‘Pirates,'” Jurcevic said. “There are some wonderful, classical, moving pieces.”

“It’s more interesting than ‘Let’s sit through two hours of orchestral music,'” she said. “[This] gets people thinking a different way about it.”

Freshman Elyse Cortez has played the violin since she was 10 years old. For Cortez, being part of the orchestra provides a sense of community.

“The [size of the orchestra] allows the players to get to know each other,” she said.

Before the orchestra, there was the Chamber Music Program: a marginalized group in the musical shadow of Mary Moody and the Mariachis, a program that didn’t get much of the limelight. In 2007, the program grew from a simple quartet into the one-credit class and corresponding club that is now the St. Edward’s Orchestra.

Last year the orchestra hosted two events, the first on Halloween: “Monsters, Mahler and the Macabre,” where storyteller David Thompson and his partner Lucinda Wise told tales against the backdrop of the music. To Jurcevic’s dismay, there were technical difficulties during the show.

“It was very heartbreaking,” Jurcevic said.

Thankfully emotional wounds were healed when Jurcevic set to work on her next piece, what she calls the “crown jewel” of her career.

“This is what I’m most proud of,” she said, holding up an invitation she’d held onto from the show entitled “Infinite Spaces.”

The project was more than a performance of sound. The room was converted into a gallery of art, photography, poetry and video, all done by students and centered on the theme of infinite spaces. The live performance was then used as a backdrop for the exhibitions, such as a silhouette play put on by actors’ shadows behind a screen.

Jurcevic got the music for the project from professor and composer Pierre Jalbert of Rice University. While much orchestral music is decades or centuries old, some is as young as its listeners.

Bobby Byers, a 2009 St. Edward’s graduate, started out in the ensemble before joining the orchestra.

“My favorite memory of participating the past few years has been seeing the quality of our players progress constantly,” he said.

Music hasn’t become Byers’ career, but he still plays the euphonium on his own.

Music is played for various reasons; for the members of the orchestra, music is made simply for the sake of the craft.

And, come March, make music they will. Hold onto your treasure chests, St. Edward’s, “Pirates!” are coming to campus.

 

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