SAU honors area veterans with concert

by: erin tiesman
Staff Writer

Dr. Eugene Bechen, director of the St. Ambrose Symphonic Band, sent a message of hope and patriotism during the Nov. 5 Veteran’s Day concert, which also featured a donation for Quad City Family Support of Troops.

"The concert was awesome, the best year yet," Bechen said. "We took it to another level from the past years."

This being the 32nd year, the tradition for the Veteran’s Day concert is important not only to the SAU community, but to the many veterans in the Quad City area as well.

"It used to be more focused on the music. This year, I tried to balance music with a tribute, showing the importance and awareness of what Veteran’s Day is and what it means," Bechen said.

Last year the primary focus was a tribute to Sept. 11, 2001, Bechen said, but this year they tried to stay "in the middle" when it came to the political standpoint.

"We wanted to increase awareness of the war situation in the Middle East," he said. "Not only in the band but with the entire community. We still have to get real. We have people that are getting injured, dying, every day over there. We just want to make sure people stay real."

Bechen said at the end of the concert, the primary message was patriotism.

"We had a message of support and awareness but the whole concert ended on a very patriotic note."

Veterans that attended came to the concert in full uniform, carrying the flag of their branch from their service. "It was really fun and neat to see," Bechen said. "We did a piece called ‘Armed Forces Salute’ and when we played it, all the veterans in the audience stood up. It was really cool."

Throughout the concert, a video screen provided multimedia support of a slide show presentation.

The University Chorale sang "America the Beautiful" during the showing.

Bechen said next year they hope to move the Veteran’s Day concert to an off-campus location so it is more accessible to the public.

"Next year we hope to for the concert to actually fall on Veteran’s Day. That would be really neat," Bechen said.