Elon University strongly encourages students to apply their education outside the classroom and off campus. Few student organizations apply this as devotedly and enthusiastically as the Elon Music Ambassadors.
The Elon Music Ambassadors performed a public concert Nov. 24 for the Elon University community in Yeager Recital Hall. The group will go on a road trip throughout the east coast to play at various high schools, which starts when final exams are finished in December.
The EMA program was formed a few years ago to recruit musical talent from high schools along the east coast. The group has visited 32 different high schools in five states, performing for approximately 4,000 high school students.
“The reason we are doing these programs to start with is because this group was originally formed as mainly charged with the task of recruiting,” said Music Professor Virginia Novine-Whittaker.
The ambassadors travel not only across state lines, but also in their performances. This semester, the chosen theme was “American Road Trip.” The group was split up into smaller parts that each represented a part of the United States.
“[In the piece] we travel all over the U. S. A. We start in our home, here in North Carolina, and work our way through the states,” said senior Michelle Warshany. “In Utah, our engine overheats and we have to take the train to get to California. After we travel down Route 101, we take a plane to Hawaii, our last destination. We end the show with ‘I've Been Everywhere,’ which sums up our travels.”
The EMAs are not a typical orchestra or string quartet. The mixture of instruments and vocalists in the group are based on the students who qualify, and the music is adjusted accordingly. The students in the group are chosen based on musicianship, academic and leadership skills.
“It gets even more complicated because of the fact that this music was not necessarily created for this instrumentation, so now what are you going to do?” Whittaker said. “You have to arrange the music to fit this group. You can't just go buy the sheet music because it doesn't come up with a flute, saxophone, trombone, two vocalists, guitar, bass and piano. That's not what it's arranged for.”
Once the group voted on and chose each piece in “American Road Trip,” the piece was shaped to the unique instrumentation of the group, which changes year to year. The themes are always meant to be both educational and entertaining.
“EMA always performs a variety of repertoire touching on many genres but use a common theme,” said senior music education major Jessica Zelenack. “This semester we're performing songs that could be associated with a road trip across the U. S. We have different pieces that describe or are associated with different places and landmarks in the U. S.”
Whether they’re driving for hours on the road or performing on one stage, the EMA strives to attract both current and prospective Elon students to their world of music.