Concert Report

Though my ears are not exceptionally honed nor trained to point out musical mistakes, I would like to add that mistakes, if any, were not thoroughly noticeable. The musicians blended well and produced the right effect based on the musical context. However, when the vocal soloists sang in the final movement of the Ninth Symphony, their voices were drowned out by the loudness of the orchestra and large chorus. It did not help that the soloists were located lower than chorus, which made the perception of hearing the soloists more difficult.

Jokes aside the band did do a terrific job with this piece as Mitchell introduced it with something that teenagers could relate to; television. The song was commonly played in many TV shows that the target audience are known to have seen before. However, I never knew much about this composer or his music. The bizarre, but an expectation from a percussion based performance was that the xylophone took the lead. This was actually wonderful to hear because of how unusual it was to hear. The melodic line was also supported by the upper woodwinds which went together significantly well. The timpani player brings out the beat and the base line. It was almost as if there was a great presence as soon as the piece began because of the timpani because it establishes the quarter-note pulse. I’m not used to hearing a whole section of a string family play together with the brass family and the woodwind family, but they did quite the job together. The string family played the off-beat eighth-notes which totally coincide with the timpani’s pulsing quarter-notes. Then there was the famous glissando in the trumpets and trombones. This glissando reacted to the melody that came from the woodwinds and the xylophone, and according to my research this “reaction” to the melody is a compositional technique known as “call and response”. Hearing this piece live was absolutely magnificent, and I felt like I was in some sort of adventure

Although I enjoyed the concert, it was very different than how I normally think of jazz. It sounded as if they're playing could've been improvisatory. Although I know that's not the case, at many parts it felt like there were three musicians playing separate pieces that didn't go together. It felt very free, and possibly purposely made to be unique. As they announced titles, they would indicate where the song comes from. Sometimes, they would indicate one of their band members and sometimes it would their version of someone else's song, such as their song “The Robots.” You can see the personalities of the musicians as they play and in their songs. The drummer, Dave King, wrote one of their songs “Keep the Bugs Off Your Glass and The Bears Off Your Ass” and was the most freestyle player. He seemed to have fun, and looked like he was completely free as he played. After relistening to the songs at a later point, I can confirm that not just his playing, but the entire song wasn’t exactly the same, which leads me to believe they do a lot of freestyle typical in jazz. Specifically, Dave King was very humorous throughout the concert. He would tell jokes the entire time between songs, and told a story about his big dream to give out ice cream at their concerts one day. Out of all of them, his personality and playing shined out the most. The performance showed clear elements of jazz and popular music as they played, using syncopation, freestyle, and melodies to musically communicate with the

First, the overall tone in all three pieces was phenomenal, but there were a couple spots during the performance that were not as amazing as the rest of the performance. In the first song, Hamilton by Jerry Brubaker, it was hard to hear certain sections

When the concert first began, the three instrumentalists walked with energy despite their age. The first song, “Sonata I in G-Major Op. 2, Nr. 1” by Michel Blavet, was a Baroque Sonata. There were five movements and was played by the harpsichord, flute, and cello. All movements of the song were polyphonic because of the three instruments that had different parts and equal importance. In the first movement, I noticed that the flute tended to rise in pitch. In the second movement, I noticed that the melodies often repeated. Throughout the rest of the song the tempo changed from fast to slow and the flute would usually take the lead. On the last movement, the cello and the harpsichord

Even though my makeshift cardboard violin didn’t make any sound, I still carried it with me everywhere, always eager to show people mow much I had learned.I have been playing for twelve years now and even though I have enjoyed most of it, it has not always been so easy. There have been more late nights, crying in frustration over something I just could not get, but I made it through. Playing the violin has given me the nations determined attitude to set my mind on something and to not stop until I reach my goals. Being a musician also has also made me hyper-aware in relation to anything musical.I tend to pick up things that the average person doesn’t. You can hear the subtle nuances that might blow over many people. Most people might only hear the different emotions, but I can tell you what made it so sad and what instruments were used at what time to convey such emotion. I love playing the violin, I look at it as an opportunity to express my true emotions. Each piece of music that I play is an uncolored painting that I paint with emotions. I have to take every piece of music, interpreted it and make it my

The concert I attended was called the Faculty and Student Recital, which took place in the Cisco Auditorium on April 11, 2017. The music that was on the program was mostly what is called “classical” music, as well as a Chinese Folk Song, an electronic composition, and variations on an Indian Tala. In the classical pieces, the instruments that were used were the violin, the piano, the cello, and the oboe. In the electronic composition, the computer was used to make music. In the Chinese Folk Song, the piccolo was used to imitate the unique timbre of a Chinese flute. In the Indian tala, drums from Ghana were used to imitate the rhythm and sound of Indian drums. The piano, the violin, the cello, and the piccolo all originate

At 7:00pm on the 30th of March, I had the opportunity to attend Ms. Harrison 's 5th graders perform, “The Snow Queen” at McGraw Elementary School. This performance was classified as an original musical. However, I would categorize this type of program as a story-based program. The majority of each scene consisted of spoken dialogue, acting and dance scenes. There was beautiful scenery and costumes that were presented during this program as well. Since there were only two scenes that involved singing, it was difficult to gage the level of musicianship the students had. In addition, the two scenes that involved singing, were done by the same two girls. However, the students were able to show their musicianship in other ways like dancing.

With the cellos in the background, the violins were the forefront of the piece. They created a sound similar to festival music. Then, the cellos and the violins alternated playing in a sort of call-and-response. The cellos began to play, then the violas, and finally the violins. The movement ended with all the musicians plucking the strings of their instruments.

The concert started with Tim Sanchez playing the Oxycotten on the Marimba. Not only was this instrument a first time experience for me but the dynamics

I feel that the fourteen members of chamber orchestra and the two vocalists did an outstanding job. This piece was well put together. I loved the harmony that was brought forth between the orchestra and the vocalists. The two vocalists a tenor known as Paul Groves and a soprano known as Anna Larson, did a beautiful job staying in tune. The way that their voices went back and forth in harmony was just beautiful.

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.

Violins are one of a kind. Did you know that a man named Bronislav Huberman helped saves jews in the holocaust just by playing the violin. That's amazing that a small instrument could do that.The history of the violin is very special. The parts are all important and unique. How it has grown and used today is amazing! Next time you are listening to a song see if you can hear a violin or two in the

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.

The instrument I chose was the Cornu. The reason why I chose this one was because I thought it would be similar to the cornet, which is just a smaller version of the trumpet, and I know how to play the trumpet. But, it is actually similar to a tuba; it’s just very skinny and doesn’t have any keys. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded like a very bad french horn, but when it’s played by someone who actually knows how to play it very well it sounds like a brassy, harsh - but clear, horn sound.