Arizona State University Violin Concert Report

On April 26th, I attended the College of Liberal Arts Department of Performance Studies presenting there Small Ensembles Concert. The performance began at 7:30 at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church and the ensemble was coached by David Wilborn. The ensemble included a variety of brass including; a horn trio, a brass trio, a trombone and tape, and a trombone choir. The performers were talented, but I did not care for the pieces that were chosen for the concert.

Exposition IV: An Appalachian Spring, is a performance of various musicians within Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts. The event took place at Moss Arts Center in the Anne and Ellen Fife theater, with musicians stationed on stage and on the side balconies. A different instrument section played each segment of the performance, including: horn ensemble, string ensemble, bassoonists, percussion ensemble, jazz ensemble, the Linux Laptop Orchestra, Kinect sensor and computer, and male and female choirs. This exposition was held in order to benefit the performing arts scholarship program at Virginia Tech, but it seemed that the performance had the goal of showing off the individual ensemble’s talents, and, in the end, combining those talents.

Smithville High School presented two winter concerts. I got the opportunity to view both performances. The first show was by the Vocal Music Department directed by Mr. Marcus Duncan and aided by accompanist Emily Rowland, and the second show was by the Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Band conducted by Mr. Tom Brockman and Ms. Brittany Terwey. There were very similar aspects of the two concerts and very different aspects of the two concerts.

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.

For example, beyond the theater being less than 3 miles away, UT offers students 7 dollars tickets to shows compared to what non-students pay which is 15 dollars. In addition, the symphony orchestra is beneficial because it offers students an experience that many 17-24 year olds have not experienced and that is watching an orchestra perform. Another way it helps the UT community is by offering students a way to step away from studying for two hours and see the great elegance that comes with playing in an orchestra. The Knoxville symphony provides an experience for people to go watch amazingly skilled musicians show off their skills. Also, it provides the UT community a chance to listen to the great music of passed musicians like Mozart, Beethoven, and many

The Strings Ensemble at Harding Fine Arts Academy is taught by Mr. McKenney. It consists of instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, and bass. The instruments combine in order to create phenomenal harmony and melody alike. Each section of instruments holds their own part in each piece of music. Students learn not only how to improve their instrumental skills, but they also will learn how to cooperate with their peers in order to be successful.

On Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at eight o’clock in the evening in Longmire Recital Hall, The Florida State University presented the Faculty/Guest Artist Recital which included David Kalhous and Jihye Chang both pianists, the two collectively performed 20 pieces during the concert. I have never been to a recital of this sort, I assumed the venue would be large and there would be people singing and playing different instruments. The venue was actually small and there was only a piano. I was surprised that the crowd was so small being that the concert was at Florida State University, I assumed there would be a great number of people. The Longmire Recital Hall was small and the seating was arranged like movie theater seating. The lighting was very low; there was only enough lighting to see the pianist. Since this was my first time attending a recital of this sort I was confused as to why the pianist had to bow before each piece, or how long the audience applauded after each performance. Performers for this event were David Kalhous and Jihye Chang. David is a brilliant pianist, who is now gaining recognition in Europe and the United Stated for his elegant musicianship. Jihye Chang is also a pianist, who serves as an adjunct professor of music theory at Florida State University.

On November 5, 2016 at 7:30 pm the Civic Orchestra played in the Stocker Center at Lorain County Community College. They played three pieces all by different composers. They also had Janine Porter singing one of the pieces.

I went to see All Beethoven at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday, July 16. This concert featured Los Angeles Philharmonic and violin soloist Martin Chalifour under the leadership of conductor Bramwell Tovey. LA Phil is an outstanding, awarded symphony orchestra that performs at the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall all year round. Martin Chalifour is a well known solo violinist while serving as the Principal Concertmaster of the LA Phil. Last but not least, Bramwell Tovey is a Grammy-winning conductor who had been conducting many other orchestras beside the LA Phil.

Growing up, I was always fascinated by the violin. I started off what would become the most successful of my two instruments in the Spring of 2005, the violin. It was an enthusiastic beginning; I was always practicing and had this constant desire to play all day and night. All this excitement gradually faded away. The dull, monotonous practicing and lessons eventually grew old. The passionate seven year old had vanished.

On Tuesday, February 9th, the Allen High School Wind Ensemble performed a concert consisting of only pieces by Frank Ticheli who is a 21st century composer. The ensemble began with Postcards and then played Amazing Grace. The concert ended with a sense of finality with Angels in the Architecture, which is also composed by Frank Ticheli.

The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Kraemer, played at the Tilson Music Hall on Indiana State University campus. The orchestra came to Terre Haute as part of the Indiana State University 50th Annual Contemporary Music Festival. To hear the orchestra play was a delight. The pieces that were played were by James A. Beckel, Jr. and Libby Larsen.

On Sunday, May10 2015, a concert was held in The Broad Stage. The concert was played by Santa Monica College Symphony Orchestra, whose conductor is Dr. James Martin. For this concert, I would identify myself as a referential listener at this concert. I say this because I am not an expert in music, therefore it would be hard for me to be a critical listener. I wouldn’t be able to tell what went wrong with a performance even if some incorrect notes were played. I was more of a referential listener because the music was soothing and brought my mind to peaceful thoughts. This essay will tells my experience of the concert in order to persuade my friend to  attend a classical music concert with you in the future.

My family and I attended the Attacca String Quartet concert at the Glema Mahr Chamber Music Series at Madisonville Community College on September 25, 2017. The musicians were Amy Schroeder, violin; Keiko Tokunaga, violin; Nathan Schram, viola; and Andrew Yee, cello. The concert began around 7:30pm.