Aire Istmeno

This concert overall was interesting and entertaining. The way that the ensemble is split into trios and groups and the short and plentiful songs provide a refreshing change continuously giving the audience a chance to hear different play styles. The only critique I have of the pieces is that at times they had a disorganized sound that I did not recognize as pleasant to listen to. The emotion I was able to leave with was a lightened mood, but I did not have any deep emotional connection to the music. My favorite piece of the night was “The Obstinate” because of the amazing french horn solo that is played halfway through and leads into the conclusion of the song. The style of this concert was new to me and I enjoyed becoming a part of a musical era and style that is not something that I would typically indulge in. The art behind these pieces was shown through the passion of the performers

The music played throughout all of the concerts adhered to be diverse. The instruments, the individuals performing, and the conductor all proved to be outstanding. The concerts proved to be interesting as I witnessed them, first hand.

This concert took place on Thursday March 16, 2017 in the Atkinson Recital Hall located at New Mexico State University in the Music Center at 7:30 in the evening. The concert consisted of four jazz bands, NMSU jazz one and two as well Las Cruces High school jazz band one and two. The first the stage the NMSU jazz II, director by Pancho Romero. The first song they had played was “Primera Vista composed by Wayne Wallace”. Along with the jazz band they also have a few percussionists as well, on bongos, xylophone, and a drum set. The band also played two more songs called “Undecided arranged by Mike Tomaro/Shavers” and “Afro Blue arranged by Michael Mossman/Santamaria”. My favorite was the Afro blue song, there was a lot of solos which I loved

The La Jolla Symphony concert was held on a warm Saturday night, May 5th, and it was definitely a memorable experience, since it was the first symphony concert that I have ever attended in my life. The whole atmosphere was very engaging and the music itself was very different in an insightful way. Over the course of the concert, five pieces were played as Sameer Patel conducted. Each piece was incredibly unique in their own way and did associate themselves together and also to many of the concepts we have learned in class. The concert overall was astonishing that I enjoyed every second of it and will now attend as many more symphonies as I can.

This week, on February 27, I visited the Latin Jazz Ensemble concert at Sacramento State University. It was my first time at a jazz concert in Sacramento. The jazz ensembles performed seven pieces during the concert with twelve different instruments. “Mama Cool Beans”, “Keeper for the Flame”, “Next Exit”, and “Plena Con Sabor” were four different and unique pieces which I liked and I think these compositions inspired the audience.

I loved the improvisations for this recital, especially the saxophonist from Konrad Plays Klarinet, Colin Houlihan. As a former saxophonist, the tone and constant improvisation was incredible as he put his entire soul into that instrument. Sweating, smiling and happy, anyone could tell that Colin was happy to be there. “So Dance Samba” by Antonio Carlos Jobim also had a lot of improvises. “So Dance Samba” started with the frontline playing together for a certain section before individual solos played. The clarinet improvised with long notes at a high pitch and gradually got faster in notes as the sound increased. The trombone solo had a strong forte resonance with a percussion background and electric guitar background. The pianist solo used syncopated notes and many arpeggios that were in the higher register. The electric guitar solo slowly built up his part, the clarinet played another solo and then the last solo went to the percussionist. The percussionist and the entire band made it seemed like the piece had ended, and then they would play again which made me very

I attended the concert of Anton Nel and Bion Tsang at Bates Recital Hall on Friday night, April 15, 2016. Anton Nel played piano and Bion Tsang played cello. The concert lasted about an hour and thirty minutes. The performers total performed three Sonata by different composers, but my favorite one is the first one, which is Sonata in C major, Op.102, No. 1, composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

On the evening of Tuesday, November 28 at 7:30, I attended the UNG Instrumental Honors Recital. To be quite frank, I was entirely unsure of what to expect as I had never attended an instrumental concert before. The entire evening had a semi-formal air about it, despite the casual t-shirts and jeans many people were wearing. Each musician would step on stage to a completely silent audience, settle on the provided chair if necessary, take a deep breath, and then finally let the music sweep them away as they played for the audience. The passion and emotion each musician had was clear from the intensity of their respective facial expressions, which changed depending on what piece they were playing.

My favourite piece from the percussionist was when she started playing The Village. The unique sound of The Marimba left me in awe and made me feel like I was in a village in Africa with jungles surrounding it. It was defiantly one of my favourite pieces! Another enjoyable piece was the Moderato by Piu Mosso. It was different than the other pieces because it conveyed what I felt like was a horror feeling. The tuba started off the piece and was later accompanied by the trumpets in a minor note but later on changed to major tonality near the middle of the piece. It was very elegant and I enjoyed the major parts more than the minor parts in this piece. The group also played some other interesting pieces near the end of the performance which caught my attention. She’s like the swallow (Newfoundland) was a very interesting piece because it sounded like a James Bond piece in the beginning but soon changed into a weird piece because it didn’t follow the normal flow of music and was not as calm as I expected it to be. Another piece that I believe didn’t follow the normal patterns of music and sounded kind of odd was Star Dust. It did

This weeks piece was “Blue Bossa” performed by the J.J. Johnson Quintet. The piece was a musical ride in the slow lane. The piece sounds very smooth and left me enjoying the melody more than I was taking notes on it. The piece was interesting and I enjoyed the many solos that were performed by the various members of the band. This piece left me bobbing my head and tapping my feet to the cool melodies of “Blue Bossa”.

Honestly I did not expect much from this faculty recital, because I have no involvement with campus music society, nor understanding of the quality of their work. My whole attitude changed once the recital started and I had read the small information packet for the night. The performance space was chosen perfectly and every spectator was able to the pianist perfectly. Seats were comfortable and suited the music that was

The first piece performed was Toussaint’s Procession from Dia de los Muertos, in the beginning, it had a dark, slow march, which, to me, suggested a body being carried to a tomb. Conga del Fuego, composed by Arturo Marquez was very festive, I loved how the conductor

The performance given by the Andean ensemble was quite spectacular, from the marching in of the Tarkeda Los Jovenes and the fact that it used recorders and drums in way which I don’t think I’ve heard before. I also think that the arrangement of the songs on the concert was well done, starting off with an upbeat song then transitioning to songs that have a sort of slow fast form to them and concluding with sort of dance music that the audience couldn’t help but move to. The instruments that were used in the concert are what surprised me the most, which included guitars, drums, flute, shakers, recorders, and violin to name a few. To be completely honest I didn’t really know much about the Andean music prior to this experience as it wasn’t something I was exposed to growing so I didn’t even know it existed. From an audience member’s perspective, I felt like the music

The performance the Orange County Wind Ensemble was absolutely entertaining. Right off the bat I noticed an odd trait, they had a cello in the band. I thought that it was odd, but when used it was used well and with finesse. The conductor was full of energy, excitement, and enthusiasm. He would jump up in the air, wave his hands wildly, and filled the room with excitement. It was obvious that he was having fun, which made the experience all the more enjoyable. The size of the room only complemented the band, I could hear every note clearly.

This semester I have experience many live musical performances. Some of these performances have let me down but for the most part, these performances have been everything I ever expected. My two favorite performances this semester were Festival Vallenato and Ultra Music Festival. Although these two types of music are different in every way possible, the people and the performers are exactly where I feel I am in the right place.