The Sweet Sounds of SWE

On a Tuesday afternoon in Douwstra Auditorium, the sound tells the story before anyone says a word. It’s full. Layered. Confident. A far cry from just a few years ago, when the Symphonic Wind Ensemble could fit into a single sectional.

“When I interviewed for the job, there were 11 students,” Brad Lampe, lecturer of music and director of SWE, recalls. “I remember asking, ‘Is this a sectional?’ And they said, ‘No, this is the band.’”

Today, there are more than 60.

That kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident. But Lampe is quick to deflect credit, pointing instead to the students themselves.

“The bottom line is the students have to want it,” he says. “And the ones I started with wanted to be better. You could tell.”

What’s taken shape since Fall 2022 isn’t just a larger ensemble — it’s a culture. One built on invitation, persistence and a belief that music still matters deeply in students’ lives.

Lampe spends time reaching out — sometimes one email at a time — to students across campus who once played an instrument but haven’t found their way back. He visits high schools, reconnects with directors across Iowa and creates opportunities for current students to share music beyond cam­pus. The approach is part relationship-building, part quiet recruitment — and it’s working.

But numbers alone don’t explain the turnaround.

Step into rehearsal and you’ll find a balance that feels inten­tional: Music that challenges top performers, music that invites developing players in and music that connects with audiences.

“You have to educate at a collegiate level,” Lampe says, “but you also have to make it something people want to hear — and something students want to come back to.”

Just as important is the atmosphere. Rehearsals are focused, but never rigid. There’s laughter alongside account­ability, energy alongside precision. Students show up because they want to be there — and that changes everything.

“They’re not worried about whether it’s ‘cool,’” Lampe says. “They just want to make music.”

That sense of ownership has created something bigger than performance. It’s built connection — between students, across disciplines and even among ensembles. Where there was once little overlap, now instrumentalists sing in A Cappella Choir, vocalists play in the band and students move fluidly through Central’s arts community.

For Lampe, that collaboration is essential. “You can’t separate the music from the relationships,” he says. “The musical moments create the connection — but the connection amplifies everything.”

It’s what keeps him coming back, even after a long career and an attempted retirement.

“I love making music with them,” he says simply. “That’s it.”

And it’s what students carry with them when they leave.

Because for many, this is the last time they’ll play in an ensemble like this — surrounded by peers, challenged by repertoire and guided by someone who knows both when to push and when to listen.

“The arts make us human,” Lampe says. “They’re what fill your soul.”

At Central, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble is doing just that — one rehearsal, one performance, one student at a time.