"Godzilla Eats Las Vegas" - What Kind of Concert is This?

Science fiction, a legendary film monster and music combine for a memorable finale in a concert planned at Utah State University.

The finale caps an evening that includes members of the USU Wind Orchestra and the USU Symphonic Band in a performance of Godzilla Eats Las Vegas.

 

The two groups unite for the concert Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center. Tickets are available at the door and admission is $3, with a family rate of $10.

 

“The concert finale features the combined ensembles — including 120 players — in this tongue-in-cheek selection,” said Thomas P. Rohrer, director of bands in USU’s Music Department. “The piece, by Eric Whitacre, graphically depicts a fantasized destruction of ‘Sin City’ by the famous sci-fi monster.”

 

The musical tale is set in a theater-like structure, Rohrer said.

 

“The piece progresses through one scene after another, telling the fictitious story of Godzilla’s rise from the desert to his rampage through Las Vegas,” Rohrer said.

 

Whitacre, the composer, hails from Las Vegas, where he served as principal conductor of the College Light Opera Company and as chorus master for the Nevada Symphony Orchestra.

 

The concert includes separate performances by the two USU student groups. Nicholas Morrison directs the Symphonic Band, and Rohrer directs the Wind Orchestra.

 

The Symphonic Band will present Variations on a Korean Folk Song by John Barnes Chance and Liturgical Music for Band by Martin Mailman.

 

The Wind Orchestra will perform Suite Francaise by Darius Milhaud, Olympia by Jan Van der Roost, Circus Overture by Williams Schuman, Sinfonia Nobilissima by Robert Jager and Incantation and Dance by John Barnes Chance.

 

For information on the concert, contact Rohrer at (435) 797-3004. The concert is sponsored by the department of music in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at USU.

 

Contact: Thomas P. Rohrer (435) 797-3004