'Cats Team with Bienen School of Music on Entrance Video
1/29/2016 11:40:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Martina Barrera-Hernandez
Northwestern Athletic Communications
Thirteen Northwestern basketball players. Six cellists. One video.
This season's men's basketball entrance video brought together an unlikely crew: the entire men's basketball team and members of the Northwestern chamber orchestra.
The brainchild of Cameron Good, assistant director of Northwestern Broadcast Operations, was inspired by a cello portion performed in Avicii's song "Heart Upon My Sleeve" and was brought to life with the assistance of the director of athletic bands, Dan Farris, and the orchestra's assistant teacher, Chris Wild. Wild recruited NU cellists to participate in the video and learn a new score. He also created the arrangement for the video and organized the cellists' rehearsals.
On the day of the video shooting, the basketball team had no idea what was in store for them at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
"It certainly grabbed [the team's] attention when they saw kids wearing tuxedos with cellos walking on to the basketball court," Kevin Zaporski, a sophomore cellist, says. "It's not something a regular cellist normally does."
However, NU athletes are no strangers to the school's ingenuity and resourcefulness. While the appearance of the cello orchestra came as a surprise to the team, they immediately knew they were in for a unique experience.
"They started playing and the smoke came up," says sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh. "We all kind of looked around at each other like, 'This is going to be cool!'"
For both the basketball team and the orchestra, the video provided a unique opportunity to bridge two worlds and create an enhanced sense of community. Athletic bands' director Farris hopes that the success of this collaboration leads to more campus collaborations in the future.
"The collaboration of sports and classical music coming together was really cool and creative," Lucas Buterbaugh, a freshman cellist, says. For the first basketball game of the season where the video was aired, the six cellist attended the game to view the final product and cheer on the 'Cats. "I feel really privileged to have been a part of it."
The basketball players were just as thrilled.
"I've never done anything with a live performance before," said sophomore forward Gavin Skelly. "It was almost like being at a concert. It was a cool atmosphere to be in. It was something cool and different that I don't think any of us had really done before. We were all excited about it."
In fact, making the video proved to be an all around eye-opening experience. According to McIntosh, seeing other students excel at their strengths, brought about a new sense of "mutual respect."
"They would watch us in awe, while we would watch them in awe as well," McIntosh says.
For McIntosh, the video not only highlights the spectrum of creativity at Northwestern, but also the fact that, despite being home to individuals with a wide array of skills, the school provides a supportive, close-knit community.
"You can bring in different groups and they interact well together just because we all understand it's a small community that we have here, and we all embrace that."
Northwestern Athletic Communications
Thirteen Northwestern basketball players. Six cellists. One video.
This season's men's basketball entrance video brought together an unlikely crew: the entire men's basketball team and members of the Northwestern chamber orchestra.
The brainchild of Cameron Good, assistant director of Northwestern Broadcast Operations, was inspired by a cello portion performed in Avicii's song "Heart Upon My Sleeve" and was brought to life with the assistance of the director of athletic bands, Dan Farris, and the orchestra's assistant teacher, Chris Wild. Wild recruited NU cellists to participate in the video and learn a new score. He also created the arrangement for the video and organized the cellists' rehearsals.
On the day of the video shooting, the basketball team had no idea what was in store for them at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
"It certainly grabbed [the team's] attention when they saw kids wearing tuxedos with cellos walking on to the basketball court," Kevin Zaporski, a sophomore cellist, says. "It's not something a regular cellist normally does."
However, NU athletes are no strangers to the school's ingenuity and resourcefulness. While the appearance of the cello orchestra came as a surprise to the team, they immediately knew they were in for a unique experience.
"They started playing and the smoke came up," says sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh. "We all kind of looked around at each other like, 'This is going to be cool!'"
For both the basketball team and the orchestra, the video provided a unique opportunity to bridge two worlds and create an enhanced sense of community. Athletic bands' director Farris hopes that the success of this collaboration leads to more campus collaborations in the future.
"The collaboration of sports and classical music coming together was really cool and creative," Lucas Buterbaugh, a freshman cellist, says. For the first basketball game of the season where the video was aired, the six cellist attended the game to view the final product and cheer on the 'Cats. "I feel really privileged to have been a part of it."
The basketball players were just as thrilled.
"I've never done anything with a live performance before," said sophomore forward Gavin Skelly. "It was almost like being at a concert. It was a cool atmosphere to be in. It was something cool and different that I don't think any of us had really done before. We were all excited about it."
In fact, making the video proved to be an all around eye-opening experience. According to McIntosh, seeing other students excel at their strengths, brought about a new sense of "mutual respect."
"They would watch us in awe, while we would watch them in awe as well," McIntosh says.
For McIntosh, the video not only highlights the spectrum of creativity at Northwestern, but also the fact that, despite being home to individuals with a wide array of skills, the school provides a supportive, close-knit community.
"You can bring in different groups and they interact well together just because we all understand it's a small community that we have here, and we all embrace that."
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