‘This is the moment’: UTC Wind Ensemble performs at Carnegie Hall

A wide view of the UTC Wind Ensemble performing onstage at Carnegie Hall, with the audience seated across multiple balcony levels.

The UTC Wind Ensemble performs onstage at Carnegie Hall. Photo courtesy of JW Bruce.

For one University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student, the moment didn’t fully resonate until the music stopped.

After months of preparation, the UTC Wind Ensemble performed on Wednesday, March 18, at Carnegie Hall, one of the most recognizable performance venues in the world.

“When we finished one of our songs … I don’t know, I just feel like the way that we turned and looked at the audience, it was like, this is the moment,” said Alexander Sponable, a sophomore music education major and saxophonist from Cleveland, Tennessee.

During spring break, the ensemble traveled to New York City for the opportunity to perform and experience the city together. Sponable, who lived in New York until the second grade, said it was his first time visiting the city—like many of the other students in the ensemble.

“There was always something happening,” he said. “I was just blown away the entire time.”

Outside of the performance, the trip gave students a chance to experience the city. The group explored Manhattan, including a visit to the New York Public Library and guided tours through the city’s most well-known areas.

The students also attended a Broadway performance of “Hadestown,” which Sponable said added more depth to the experience as they saw professional musicians and performers at the highest level.

“It was incredible,” he said. “Just seeing that level of performance and then thinking about the fact that we were about to play in Carnegie Hall. It was kind of surreal.”

Throughout the trip, Sponable helped document the experience by taking over the University’s main Instagram account (@utchattanooga), sharing photos from the trip in real time.

He said it was scary posting to such a large audience at first.

“But then I posted something and it just started snowballing,” he said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is actually not scary. It’s very fun.’”

UTC Chancellor Lori Bruce and Professor of Engineering JW Bruce joined the Wind Ensemble in New York City. The two attended performances and participated in activities throughout the trip—including “Hadestown.”

“I noticed we all got to talk to the chancellor at one point,” Sponable said. “It was nice to see that she cares about the band and being there with us.”

Alexander Sponable

All the activities led up to the biggest moment of the trip, and—when it arrived—Sponable said it felt different from any performance he had been a part of. It was not the same concert halls the ensemble had played in before.

“The listening environment was so different than any other playing environment I’ve played in,” he said. “It was harder to listen to my trio of people around me.”

One of the most meaningful parts of the program, he said, was a commissioned piece honoring a former UTC band director.

The work, a world premiere by Tyler S. Grant, was commissioned by Jenny D’Andrea in honor of her late husband, longtime UTC band director Tony D’Andrea. She joined the ensemble onstage for the performance.

The program also featured Joseph Alessi, principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic, giving students a chance to hear and perform alongside one of the top musicians in the world.

Sponable said that the opportunity to play among his peers, who come from multiple different academic backgrounds, was part of what made the experience stand out.

“We’re all very talented musicians,” he said. “Regardless of their major, it’s cool to see that everybody’s here to play music and play at a very high caliber so we can perform well.”

Of the 59 students in the ensemble, 10 are from UTC’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.

For Dr. JW Bruce—a saxophonist, like Sponable—that number says a lot about the students behind it.

“I’m always in awe of students in engineering and computer science who are involved heavily in these extracurricular activities that are also so time-consuming,” Bruce said. “I personally have a hard time understanding their ability to manage their time and their schedules to fit in all the demands.

“Our engineers are always so talented, but these are a special group.”

That level of dedication was on full display during the performance itself.

“They were playing so beautifully that night with so much emotion,” Bruce said. “I was so proud—for the students, for the faculty and staff, and for UTC—how we were being represented on this world stage by such an outstanding performance.

“They probably won’t fully appreciate how truly special that moment was until they’re much older. It was filling me with a sense of joy for them that they were making a moment they will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives.”