The American River College concert and symphonic ensembles recently took a small tour of performances through the Bay Area.

The tour was March 28-30 and took the mixed ensemble all over the Bay Area, spanning across local high schools, Los Medanos College and a clinic held in the San Francisco East Bay area.

“I asked my ensembles in the beginning of the semester if they would be interested in a mini tour,” said music professor Susan Hamre, “and most of my performers thought it would be a fun idea.”

The setlist for the tour included “Far and Away” by John Williams and an Eric Whitaker piece from the film score of “101 Dalmatians.”

Newer, contemporary pieces were played as well.

The mixed ensemble wrapped up the show playing “El camino real: A Latin fantasy,” by Alfred Reed and the “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

With this set list, the performers were able to showcase their versatility playing a wide variety of different styles of music.

This tour was the first time the concert and symphonic bands took such a trip since the start of Hamre’s tenure at ARC.

“This was a good opportunity for us to get a new experience” said music major Louie Goodenough.

The underlying goal of the trip was to help give students a new experience as performers, playing in several venues in a day.

“I felt that we learned a lot,” Goodenough said, “I learned much about myself and what I am capable of, and I hope we do something like this next year, with maybe more (venues) added to the trip.”

“After this trip, it really opened my eyes as to what I wanted to do after I leave (American River College),” Goodenough added.