The Westminster College Wind Ensemble will present a fall concert, “Praises,” featuring three guest student conductors at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, in the Will W. Orr Auditorium on Westminster’s campus.  

The 39-piece ensemble will perform selections from Ralph Vaughan Williams, Fergal Carroll, Grace Baugher, Katahj Copley, Frank Ticheli, Eric Whitacre and Paul Dooley that celebrate the beauty and resilience of the human condition and its ability to commune with nature while struggling with the light and darkness of life.  

Student conductors Shelby Pocono, Ryan Bramson and Jeremy Beckinger will lead the ensemble alongside Aaron Himes, Westminster’s newly appointed director of bands and coordinator of music education. The three students were winners of the School of Music’s Young Conductors Competition held earlier this year.

“‘Angels in the Architecture’” by Frank Tichelli is the piece I am the most excited to perform,” said Pocono, a senior music education and clarinet performance major from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. “In this work, there is a constant battle between good and evil. The piece evokes emotions of peace, chaos and pain, sometimes simultaneously.”

“Having the opportunity to rehearse and conduct the Wind Ensemble has been an amazing learning experience and allowed me work on skills I may not have otherwise been able to until post-graduation with the support of my peers and professors,” said Pocono.

“I’m so glad my hard work has paid off. This is such a great opportunity to strengthen my musicianship and perform in a great concert,” said Bramson of Springdale, Pa., a junior music education major with a focus on percussion.

In addition to the Wind Ensemble, Pocono is current secretary and past president of the Titan Marching Band and is active with the Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Choir and the woodwind quintet The Wicked Winds of the West. Over the past three years, Pocono was selected to perform with the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Honors Band and successfully auditioned for principal chair this year. As a soloist, Pocono was named runner-up in the 2024 Butler County Symphony Orchestra Association Collegiate Concerto Competition.  

Aside from the Wind Ensemble, Bramson performs with the Titan Marching Band, Percussion Ensemble Big Blue Pep Band and Symphony Orchestra. He is a member the Westminster College chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educators Association.  

Beckinger, a senior music education major focusing on horn from California, Pa., serves as the principal horn of the Westminster College Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble. He also performs with several chamber groups including the Market Street Brass brass quintet and The Wicked Winds of the West woodwind quintet. He also serves as the field commander of the Westminster College Titan Marching Band.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Himes at himesad@westminster.edu.

Above from left, Shelby Pocono, Ryan Bramson and Jeremy Beckinger.

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