By Jessie Gorges, editor

Sebits Auditorium was unmistakably a house divided on Feb. 5. Some were enthused and lightly tapping their feet. Others were bobbing their heads, trying to stay awake during the Friends University Community Orchestra Concert.

The orchestra, a collaboration of Friends students and community members, partnered with two young award-winning piano players, Mary Detrick and Katie Henderson, for the concert in the Riney Fine Arts Center.

It was clear that the concert was off to a slow start when the audience was unsure when to applaud during the first three pieces by George Bizet. The audience started to perk up by the fourth piece, “Farandole.” Audience members seemed to enjoy the sharp violin sound, loud brass and upbeat rhythm. 

Everyone tuned in when Detrick and the orchestra started to play “Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102,” by Dmitri Shostakovich.  Detrick won the Wichita Area Piano League Competition last November. The audience was impressed how her fingers seemed to confidently find their way across the piano. But it wasn't just her gleaming self-confidence that had the audience aroused; it was her age that caught the house’s eye. Detrick is only 16.  

"It's insane," Friends freshman Beth Wagner said. “It takes some time and dedication to play like that.”

When Henderson, a senior at Friends and winner of last November’s Miller Concerto/Aria Competition, got to the stage, she was welcomed by a warm applause and an even louder ovation after she and the orchestra finished playing “Fantasy on Hungarian Folk Melodies” by Franz Liszt.

“So what could we possibly play after that?” Richard Roller, music director, asked the audience. “It’s like having a wonderful filet mignon. This is just a little dessert.”

But it seemed that some of the audience could have done without dessert. The last piece, “Tales from the Vienna Woods” by Johann Strauss, could not have come swiftly enough. Several audience members were checking their watches and stealing furtive glances at the exit doors. The concert only ran about an hour and a half, but the last piece seemed to drag.

Although the audience gave the orchestra booming applause and agreed the concert was well blended and skillfully played, the concert was not everyone’s cup of tea. This concert was perfect for classical music enthusiasts, but it left half of the MTV generation uninterested. It’s not that the younger generation doesn’t appreciate classical music; it’s just hard for them to sit still for more than an hour listening to Bizet and Strauss.