Eastern’s Concert Band and Wind Symphony groups will be performing at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Dvorak Concert Hall in the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

The Concert Band will perform first, followed by the Wind Symphony. Tickets to the concert will be $5.

According to Alicia Neal, the director of bands and associate professor of music, students in the groups have been working on the music to be performed since the second week of class.

Neal said her favorite part of directing the groups is watching the students grow and improve.

“Every time we do something it gets a little bit better,” Neal said. “I like seeing them do things that they’ve never done before and be successful on things we worked on and be able to execute it under pressure.”

Neal said she is especially excited about the concert because it takes place during family weekend.

“I think a lot of students’ parents are going to probably make it to this concert, more than they would normally maybe come to a concert,” Neal said. “I’m excited to actually meet their parents because some of them I don’t know, and some of them I know well and I’d like to see them again.”

One of the pieces Neal said she is most looking forward to being performed is “Awayday” by Adam Gorb.

The Concert Band will also be performing excerpts from “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland.

“I think that I’ve seen the most growth from the students on those two pieces,” Neal said. “They’re the hardest.”

Willie Morris, a senior music education major and saxophone player in the Wind Symphony, said to prepare for the concert, the students often spend a great deal of time practicing their parts of the performance on their own.

“It’s taking something that’s extremely difficult, if it’s technically difficult, and slowing it down then speeding it up gradually until I can play it at tempo,” Morris said.

Jaida Brockman, a sophomore music education major and flute player for the Wind Symphony, agreed that much of the practicing was done individually.

“I think the coolest part is when we’re all together and we all know our stuff,” Brockman said. “It’s just a matter of putting the puzzle pieces together.”

Morris said his favorite part of being in the Wind Symphony was the feeling of togetherness.

“Whenever we come together, the feeling of playing a piece and then when it’s over and you realize that you’ve just done this thing together is super powerful,” Morris said.

Mercury Bowen can be reached at 581-2812 or mjbowen@eiu.edu.