Concert At The Pennfield Performing Arts Center

One the afternoon of Sunday, 03 May, 2015, I was watched a performance of the North Dakota State University Spring Choral Concert Festival Concert Hall at North Dakota State University. The NDSU Concert Choir has a distinguished tradition of performing eminent choral literature at the highest level of artistry.

I chose the genre string quartet and attended a concert at First Presbyterian church on October 19th, 2014. Because of its location the sanctuary where the concert took place had many stained glass windows. It was marvelous and in my opinion well suited the feel of classical music. The audience was very responsive and attentive. They applauded when the musicians appeared, in between pieces, and at the very end. They were quick to join in the sing along portion of the concert. Overall the people attending were an older crowd but you could tell they truly appreciated the music. The concert’s duration was around an

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.

My initial response to the concert was of much surprise. First, when I walked in I didn’t expect to see such a formal event. Thank goodness I showed up in my work clothes! My initial reaction to the music however was one of great surprise. I didn’t really know what to expect from the Lee’s Summit Symphony because honestly I didn’t even know they existed. Once the symphony began to play “Don Giovanni” my mood instantly changed. The symphony was incredible, and the music was not what I had expected at all. I was surprised by how much of the music I had actually heard before and just not realized it.

This song seemed to require the most work from the performers as it used a wide range of dynamics, pitches, and tempo. The last song of the evening, and probably my favorite (not just because it was the last), was “Folk Dances”. This song, just like the first, had a very festive feel to it. The upbeat tempo, lead by the flutes and clarinets, made the song very enjoyable to hear and also had a very happy feel to it, which, in my mind, made it a very appropriate closer. The song started with a great tempo but a relatively soft dynamic. This quickly changed about half way through the song when the dynamics picked up. The loud dynamics with the fast tempo at the end of the song had a very grandiose sound and left the audience with a great taste in their mouths.

The music took up a good amount of time of the service and it really kept me engaged, mainly because I really enjoy music. The lyrics were projected onto the screen. I really enjoyed the lyrics being projected, it was very convenient and nice that I was able to follow along even though I am not an active member of the church, being able to follow along with the lyrics made me feel more comfortable. I wasn’t expecting there to be a live band and lyrics projected as an easier way to follow along. I really enjoyed that experience though because it kept me engaged. I used to attend St Paul's Lutheran in Kankakee and I remembered a choir so ultimately that is what I was

The concert “Spring Winds” took place on Santa Fe College’s Gainesville campus. “The Santa Fe Handrummers” were all dressed in African clothing since they were performing traditional African songs. “The Santa Fe Winds” were dressed up in suits in dresses and they all looked nice. Some people in the audience dressed up while others wore more casual clothes. The venue was clean with comfortable seats. It looked like the venue was able to hold around a hundred people. The sound quality was great but it was a little loud due to how close the seats were to the stage. The concert was still enjoyable and I had a great experience.

People seemed overcome with emotion. There were several songs sung during the concert and each song had the audience just as vocal and physical as the one before it. People would shout and raise their hands in the air, shaking them or waving them around. In a way, it reminded me of the Tarab music of the Middle East that seem to feel its audience with ecstasy and enchant them. The gospel music evoked strong emotions in the audience and people sang along with the artist as they clapped their hands in time with each other.

Furthermore, my overall opinion of the entire performance was that it was marvelous. It made me love “Of Mice and Men” and it also made me appreciate how hard the cast and crew worked into making every show the

Which of course was a performance I had to go see. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking that because the venue was well attended with people of all ages. Even though walking into the venue was quite embarrassing because I did not get the memo of dressing exclusively fancy, I’m sure the audience ended up forgetting I was even in the building because the selections were all breathtaking in my opinion. Each piece was harmonious to the ear that there was no room for dissonant sounds on stage. The selections were uplifting that they made me tap my hand away to the meter of each song. Out of the fourteen selections performed I had three that were my personal favorites which were James Horner: Hollywood Blockbusters, Bond, Explosive, and In His Eyes from Jekyll and Hyde which featured Megan Stapleton, guest soprano. The thing that they all had in common for sure is that they made me get goose bumps, but other than that what really captured my attention was the harmony and dynamics of each

Last tuesday was the Middle School’s chorus concert that was being held at the Burlington Township High School, where 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students performed. The concert started off with five students signing the “Star-Spangled Banner”, the performance was powerful, but only the girls could be heard. The boy at times could be heard but definitely were not as powerful as the girls singing. The crowd at first didn’t even realize that they were going to sing it so they had a delayed reaction standing up. But, it was an overall impressive performance, especially with the girls powerful vocals.

I went to the concert ‘Convocation.’ This concert would have had to be my favorite out of the three concerts I attended this semester. I liked how they included the cello into some of the songs. I really liked the ‘Two Old French Dances.’ Watching her play the cello was incredible. She did a really amazing job playing those two songs. The ‘Chanson de Neige’ was a really beautiful song. Along with ‘Tango Tragique.’ These songs had me smiling and almost wanting to dance to the music. ‘Sebben crudele’ was my least favorite song through the concert. I didn’t like the tone of the song and I just felt like I didn’t connect at all with it. ‘O del Mio amato ben’ was a good song to listen to and I am glad they picked that song to sing in this concert.

I think that the performer’s ability was appropriate for their location and for their audience because the tone quality of the musicians sounded very rich and clean. When I listened to the performance, I was able to hear all of the different parts of the piece clearly, which has made me much more conscious of the balance and dynamics of each phrase when I play. The texture of the pieces played was very rich and full because an orchestral piece is designed to have a good balance of instruments and good range of frequencies of sound that has lots of different things happening at the same time.

This was the second concert I had the opportunity to attend at Queens. Quite frankly, compared to the first Voice Recital that I attended, this one was slightly bizarre. As I walked towards the door, all I heard was loud banging. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but after the first concert, I realized that anything was possible. When I walked into the auditorium, there were four people standing in front of floor toms. There was no band, just four percussionists playing the written music. It was interesting and different because I am used to the percussionists playing along with a full band with the woodwinds and brass section. However, this is what made me enjoy the experience. There were instruments that the ensemble played that I have never

The difference in the sound of the choir between the back of the auditorium and on stage is night and day. The stage made their balance so much better, with the bass and tenor voices resonating better through the audience. I also noticed how much stronger the intonation of the choir was when they were closer to the piano accompaniment. The different voices in the choir also have strong blend individually. Rather than it sounding like I am listening to 11 sopranos as indicated on the program, it sounds like I am listening to just a few because of how well those 11 singers blended together. You can tell there is a lot of emphasis on the performance being a group effort rather than a bunch of individual efforts.