This month REVUE is all about love, which can come in so many forms.

There's romantic love, family love, and the love you feel for your friends. Then there's passion; the love you can feel for an art form or activity that fulfills you.

REVUE Mid-Michigan sat down with Andrew Hawks, assistant principal bass player and librarian for the Lansing Symphony Orchestra (LSO), to learn about his passion for the double bass and his profession as a musician.

What's the best part of performing in a symphony in front of an audience?
It's a form of communication you have. You can share a story or something that you have to say, an emotion with someone. And to be able to do that collectively, with 75 to 80 people (in the LSO), it just enhances the impact that it can have on someone.

Why did you choose to play the double bass?
I'd have to say it's the range. The frequency of the bass, to me, is soothing, it's relaxing. It's not squeaky or screechy. There was a famous bass soloist (Gary Karr) that described the sound, ‘If chocolate could sing, it would sound like the double bass.' It's one of those sections in the orchestra that you don't hear or you won't notice it until it's not there. It gives the foundation.

When did you decide to get serious about music?
I didn't really take it seriously until halfway through my undergrad. I didn't understand the dedication it took and the practicing and trying to pursue perfection in your art until I got older. I figured that practicing music isn't work, and I put my focus into that.

What's the hardest part of recitals and auditioning?
You really have to get into yourself and not worry about the external environment. If you're playing a piece of music and you hear 200 people playing the same piece of music, it can kind of throw off your balance a little bit and take your focus away ... It has to be like you're reciting a speech or something; where every single syllable has the rhythm that you want. It's a language too.

Nights of Musical Romanticism

Swinging sounds and loving lyrics will be featured in this pre-Valentine's Day concert with the orchestra's Big Band. Guest vocalist Ryan DeHues will also perform with the band, performing songs by great jazz singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

What makes it a great date?
According to Ron Newman, interim director of the Big Band, it's the rarity of seeing a live Big Band performance. "You just don't get a chance to hear a good big band that much anymore," Newman said. "That's a special thing, to hear really good musicians. Ryan is a wonderful singer ... I think that the audience loves him and it's a type of singing that you don't hear often."

Masterworks 4 Appalachian Spring
Wharton Center, East Lansing / Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. / $15-$45 / whartoncenter.com, (517) 432-2000

Selections will include Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring and Cesar Franck's Symphony in D Minor, with a special tuba concerto composed by Bruce Broughton.
The concerto will feature Principal Tubist Phil Sinder, who describes the piece as a "colorful and creative romp" for both himself and the orchestra.
"I really revel in attempting to make this ‘underdog' of the orchestra sound just as clean, clear, facile and musical as each of the other smaller instruments," Sinder said.
The originality of the tuba concerto, coupled with the popularity of the other pieces in the concert, makes it a special performance for the musicians of the orchestra.
"Aside from spectacular music, just the novelty of the whole thing will certainly be a strong motivator for musicians involved," said Timothy Muffitt, LSO's music director and conductor.

What makes it a great date?
According to Muffitt, it's the concert's wide range of selections. "Even for people who have never been to the orchestra before, this will be a great first concert to go to," he said. "It has a lot of variety; it has music that will be immediately appealing to listeners who are hearing it for the first time. It's just a very colorful, dramatic and exciting program," he said.