Boone Recital Hall Performance Essay

“On Broadway, although some female roles are narrow, demeaning, passive, or long-suffering and convey weakness, the performer sings with incredible strength. Listening to the female singing voice is a more complicated phenomenon. Visually, the character singing is the passive object of our gaze. But aurally, she is resonant; her musical speech drowns out everything in range. A singer, more than any other musical performer, stands before us having wrested the composing voice away from the lyricist and composer who wrote the score.” Said Musicologist Carolyn Abbate (Wolf, p.31)

As a University of Northern Iowa College student taking Soundscapes, I attended a recital by Annalea Milligan on Wednesday Oct. 19th, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. in Davis Hall, a small auditorium, at the Gallagher Bluedorn. Annalea Milligan received her Bachelor of Music degree in performance at Pacific Conservatory of Music, and is currently a first-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Music degree in bassoon performance at University of Northern Iowa. For the first half of the program she played the bassoon in Rhapsody composed by Willson Osborne and then she was accompanied by Mariya Akhadjanova on piano playing Variations on Theme of Pergolesi composed by Otmar Nussio which included I. Arietta, II. Scherzetto, III. Tamburino, IV. Lamento, V. Ostinato, VI. Rapsodia, VII. Elegia, VIII. Barbaresca, IX. Stornello, and X. Danza. Then after a brief intermission Milligan played the bassoon and was accompanied by Serena Hou with the harpsichord playing Concerto in G Minor, RV 495 composed by Antonio Vivaldi which included Presto, Largo, and Allegro, not to mention she also played Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6 composed by Heitor Villa-Lobos and was accompanied by Azeem Ward with the flute which included I. Aria (Choro), and II. Fantasia. I will depict the first and second part of the recital and describe my reaction and total opinion about the overall concert.

Successful classical soprano performer Leontyne Price was one of the first artists to benefit from Marian Anderson’s hard work and dedication. The day after Marian Anderson’s death, April 8th, 1993 Price discussed the ways in which Anderson was able to overcome obstacles while remaining consistently professional and keeping the high standards she set on her performances. Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897. She was considered one of the most celebrated African-American artists of the twentieth century. Anderson identified herself as a contralto, which is the lowest frequency female voice with in a choir. Although Anderson is classified as a classical vocalist her repertoire included many genres such as opera, traditional American songs, concert literature and spirituals. Her live performances spanned the years of 1925 to 1965. The majority of her performances were recitals or concerts, some of which took place within major venues. Through Anderson’s successful career she paved a path for many other African-American vocal artists to follow. This paper explores the ways in which Marian Anderson’s career, from her early beginnings, struggle for recognition, and worldwide acclaim shaped her identity as a representation for African-American vocalists after her to follow.

She provided a brief description about the songs to the listeners to make it more lively and yes, she recited some of the lines fast. I was immensely engaged

Next, they performed O virtus Sapientiae, which was a lovely NEUMATIC piece, with a solo by Emma Rosenthal. The last song performed by the Women’s Chorale was Five Hebrew Love Songs, dedicated to the late pianist Shane Summers, was one of my favorite performances of the night. The song was accompanied by Ray Arreola on the Viola and had a couple solos performed by Rosenthal. This was, in my opinion, one of the best performances of the night, the HARMONY of the voices and viola, and the alternating TEMPOS, creating deep emotion. After these performances it was apparent that Ms. Rosenthal is extremely talented and a seasoned performer. Rosenthal executed her solos with grace and

have been well showcased in this difficult piece. These pieces are seen as challenges for many modern singers as well. It goes to show just how talented and well trained the performers were.

The wonderful concert that I attended was Susannah. Susannah was an opera created by Carlisle Floyd and presented by the University of Northern Iowa’s Opera. Dr. Mitra Sadeghpour directed the performance. This concert performed January 25, 2016 in the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center in the concert hall at 7:30 p.m. The orchestra that is used was the symphony orchestra that was placed before the stage blocked by black curtains. Dr. Rebecca Burkhardt directed the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra.

For fans and followers of the opera scene, Mulligan's young career is a refreshing gift to the art community. Having been cast in his first role at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 2003 when he was still a Juilliard music student, the talented singer has gone on to garner international acclaim and admiration ever since his voice took to the spotlight. A dual United States

The soprano singer sings about how “Jesus, my desire! Drive world and Satan out and let your image in me renewed sparkle”. The singer demonstrates the personal change and growth that was experienced and how Jesus was and is merciful by helping her through the process of growth by driving Satan out. The composers and musicians are able to demonstrate grace and mercy by the lyrics the singers sing as well as the different tempos used while playing the

For my second review I attended Jazz at Wolfson again. However, this concert was different from the first performance two weeks ago. Special guest this time was saxophone player Mark Colby, Mike Di Liddo, guitar, Jim Gasior, piano, Gary Thomas, bass and Rodolfo Zuniga played drums. Auditorium was about half full.

On the evening of October 18th, 2015 I attended the live Jazz music performance of Nilson Matta’s “Brazilian Voyage”. The performance was held at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, located in the Jazz Lincoln Center, in New York City. Nilson Matta is a Brazilian bassist, composer, and producer. Matta is considered to be one of the greatest bass musicians in the world, and has earned great reputation for his unique sounds (Nilson). The staff members were very welcoming, and were all dressed in black attire. The venue had dim lighting, and each table had a lighted candle; which created a nice romantic and intimate atmosphere. Behind the stage, there is a spectacular scene that overlooks Central Park, and the city.

During the performance Perine sang a total of 12 solo songs and a duet. During the entirety of the show Perine showed excellence in her posture and breathing. She stood in a all black dress for the entire show. She was never slouching her shoulders, her knees were never locked, and she stood tall and confident. At moments, the audience could not comment on her posture because she would walk around the stage to give the show a more alive feeling. Her breathing was excellent also. Throughout most of the show many were impressed that she did not breath a lot from her chest. The audience, could more than likely tell that she was breathing

Oklahoma Performing Arts, Inc. has the mission that every individual deserves the opportunity to empower and develop his or her character through classical arts training and community service programs and presentations.

The Women’s Choir Festival included many different singing groups from Baylor and the community. The women’s choir and Bella Voce each performed two songs. The third part of the concert consisted of 4 soloists singing in opera style. The final performance was a large group of singers from 9 high school and the Baylor Choirs. Everyone got on stage for the final performance and sang 3 songs together. All the songs that were performed varied in qualities. Some had a very fast tempo while others were very slow and sorrowful. Most of the music was under four minutes in length, except for the final composition which was a blend of songs and therefore went on longer. After each section, had performed they would either sit on stage and watch the other groups go, or they would move into the first few rows of seating for the crowd and wait for their turn again to go. All of the soloists came from

The concert began with Schola Cantorum and soloist Kevin Punnackal performing O Sapientia (No. 1 from the Antiphons). It was a very intimate way to start off the concert especially since I was sitting right next to them as they sang. The song in itself was effective in invoking a spirit of knowing oneself. As a listener one could feel the emotions of the song through not only the lyrics but in the way Schola Cantorum sang the song. The song was sung acapella. It was clear from the jump of their use of polyhonic texture (except when the soloist sang), pitch, key and much more. The melody was carried by their beautiful voices, working with them same tempo Leaving the audience stunned by how lovely they sounded.