MOOD SWINGS: AREA MUSICIANS WELCOME ALTERNATE `MOOD' SWINGS WITH PADUCAH SYMPHONY

Mark Fulgham may have to remind himself he's got a working pass to the Moody Blues March 2 concert at the Show Me Center.

"There's always a tendency to become so engrossed in what's going on, especially when the group in front of you is the Moody Blues, that you might be a bar late coming in," said Fulgham, who teaches music at Southeast Missouri State by day and plays for the Paducah, Ky., Symphony on selected evenings.

Fulgham, who is an avid fan of the Moodies, will perform as first trumpet during the concert. "I was in Colorado and talked to one of the guys who did the band's promo and he said it was just a fantastic show," said Fulgham, who is in his fourth year with the Paducah Symphony.

Fulgham was referring to the Moodies' Concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in March of 1992.

The success of that concert led to the Moody Blues' decision to tour the country and perform with various local symphony orchestras.

"From what I've heard, they're going to use a number of people on the faculty here and close to a dozen folks from Cape," said Fulgham. "It's a lot of fun doing shows like this. It keeps you in touch with your art and gives you a different perspective. I hope this will lead to some other shows in the future."

Keith Bales, a senior music major at Southeast, is one of Fulgham's students. He is also scheduled to perform with the Paducah Symphony in conjunction with the Moody Blues.

"I've listened to some of the songs by the Moody Blues, but I can't say I follow them," said Bales. "I've played with the symphony for some classical shows, but this will be my first time working with a rock and roll band. It should be interesting."

Both Fulgham and Bales will join Heidi Bergman, a classical violinist and music instructor at Southeast for the first and only practice a day or two before the concert.

Bergman sees the Moody Blues concert as a way for an audience to witness the flexibility of classical musicians.

"I would like to see more events that involve a classical orchestra here because there is so much that can be done with that," said Bergman.

"This will be a departure from the classical music I normally play, but it will be fun," added Bergman. "I like to widen my horizons. My first love is classical music, but I also like jazz and some rock. I'm just glad that they asked me to perform."

Bergman is one of the few violinists in the world who can say she played a Stradivarius. "I'm still trying to find some bankers who'd like to do me a favor and bring a Strad to our campus," she quipped. "I tell them they could call it the SEMO Strad. It would be a tremendous investment."

The trio will join 52 other members of the Paducah Symphony the day before the concert.

"It's a little unusual for them to give us the music so early," said Fulgham, who has played for shows that featured Henri Mancini and Robert Goulet. "Usually you get the music the day before the first rehearsal and you just jump into it. This should make it a little easier."

Asked what he would do if he gets too caught up in the concert as a listener, Fulgham replied,"I'll just have to work hard to catch up. After all, unless it's a big mistake, I don't even think anyone in the audience will know what happened. All of the attention is drawn to what's going on on stage."