First Symphonic Concert

The music concert this review covers is the Plano Symphony’s rendition of the Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in C minor and Symphony No. 9, The Choral, in D minor. The concert was held at a church in April 16, 2016, and it was a sold out performance. Since it was a night simply dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven, the symphony titled the concert as “Best of Beethoven.”

For this concert report I chose to go to a performance of student composers held at the Kimball Recital Hall. I chose this one because I wanted to see some of the talent that my peers have in the music realm, and also it was one of the only concerts I have been able to attend because I usually work at night. It was impressive to hear pieces composed by students. I cannot imagine creating something as complex as a musical composition, much less actually performing it, so this aspect of the concert was particularly awe-inspiring. There was a large attendance, and I think that much of the audience consisted of friends of the composers and/or performers. I went with three friends, who I convinced by telling it would be interesting to see

The name of this work is Act One: Youtube Symphony Orchestra @ Carnegie Hall. It lasts for about one hour. This is the first symphony orchestra of its kind. Many things set it apart from all others. Approximately three thousand people from all corners of the globe sent in video tape auditions of their musical talents. From this a total of ninety six people were chosen by " Youtubers". The orchestra consists of both male and female musicians. The attire is all black and formal, such as dresses, suits, etcetera. From certain angles, one can see that the music hall is packed with people. The dim lighting gave great and appropriate ambiance.

East Carolina’s Concert band and Symphonic band performed on Tuesday, February 16, at seven thirty in the evening in Wright Auditorium. Being a duel performance it included over a hundred of my talented East Carolina peers led by outstanding band Directors Dr. Juchniewicz and Dr. Staub. Along with great students and Directors, the show incorporated a beautiful trombone solo performed by a fellow colleague. Although I have never attended a concert where such style of music was being performed, I did enjoy the music being played and most of them sounded as if I heard them before. The professionalism the students portrayed and maintain to the audience was breathtaking and made me honored to be their peers.

The symphonies performed were constructed by well-renowned composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Olivier Messiaen, Igor Stravinsky and other compelling composers as well. Many of these composers led overwhelming lives that clearly influenced their works. The symphonies drew the listeners closer and closer to their rich and bold sounds. For instance, Schoenberg’s famous “emancipation of dissonance” was reflective in his “Five Pieces for Orchestra”. He derived the intriguing concept of dissonance and presented this as it was his first atonal piece. The colors and sharp sounds were very dynamic. The first four pieces I would say are programmatic and Stravinsky’s pieces are absolute; he made a clear reference to classical music. However it is important to note how Schoenberg intended his piece to be non-programmatic in order to focus more on the evolved music he had created. On the other hand his titles

On February 25, 2016, I was able to see the Mid-Year Band Concert in the PAC. The pieces I have chosen to review were performed by the Varsity, Symphonic II and Symphonic I Bands and conducted by Mr. Bailey and Mr. Hillhouse. “King Cotton,” “Amparito Roca,” and “Valdres” were among my favorites in the program and are all coincidentally, marches.

On Saturday, December 12th, the High School Philharmonic All-Region Orchestra performed a variety of fascinating pieces. They were directed by Professor Edward Kawakami from Carthage College. The region orchestra began the concert with “Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 op. 39” by Edward Elgar. The next piece that the orchestras performed was “Clair de Lune” by Claude Debussy. The last piece that the High School Philharmonic All-Region Orchestra performed was “Samson and Dalila Dance Bacchanale op. 47” by Camille Saint-Saens.

For my second concert I attended the Central Methodist University Concert Band at Swinney Conservatory of music. The first piece that they played was titled Cyrus the Great, this piece was composed by Karl King and arrangement by Andrew Glover. Cyrus was a band member in King Fort Dodge Municipal Band from Iowa. This piece is a march. This piece contains low brass lines with minor key tonalities with some interesting harmonic changes. The great thing about this piece is that it gives all sections of the band a chance to shine and show their skills. Mr. King published this piece in 1912 after he finished playing in circus bands.

I attended Western Kentucky University 's symphony concert. It was on Friday, October 30th at 7:30pm. It was held in Van Meter Hall. Their event was named “It 's time for a treat.” The symphony was conducted by Dr. Brain St. John. Before it began, I read over the program that was handed out to find out basic information. The history of the pieces helped in understanding them. The concert featured many well-known works by famous composers such as Camille Saint-Saens, Modest Mussorgsky, and Berlioz. The three pieces that are the most memorable in my mind are “Overture to La Cenerentola”, “Là ci darem la mano”, and March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique.

On Saturday, October 1st, 2016, I attended a performance by The DVC Symphonic Band at the Performing Arts Center at Diablo Valley College. The symphony was composed of wind, brass, and percussions sections as well as a string bass and a piano. The musicians were all dressed in black with a blue haired clarinetist and a pink haired French horn player.

The Cosumnes River College Orchestra and Band presented their performance at Recital Hall last Wednesday. The event was presented by Jim Mazzaferro and Grant Parker. The Concert Orchestra portion, conducted by Jim Mazzaferro, consisted of collection of pieces composed by notable composers such as: Johann David Heinichen, Antonin Devorak, Antonio Vivaldi, Martin Grayson, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Concert Orchestra started with “Sonata for Violin, Flute, Oboe Viola and Bassoon” by Johann David Heinichen and continued with “Slavonic Dance No.3” by Antonin Dvorak. “Slavonic Dance No. 8” was the last composition in Orchestra’s program. After the intermission event continued with the Concert Band performance directed by Grant Parker. The program

For my first concert report of this semester, I attended the Chamber Music Concert put on by the Bronx Arts Ensemble. The performance consisted of three chamber pieces from the classical and early romantic periods; “String Trio in B Flat Major, D. 471” by Franz Schubert, “Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 2 No. 1” by Bernhard Henrik Crusell, and “Divertimento in E Flat Major, K. 563” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Each song was played in true historic fashion (although we only heard four of the six movements from Mozart’s composition), and it was very stimulating to be able to see the music we have been listening to in class being played live.

On November twenty-ninth, I attended APSU Student Recital at the George and Sharon Mabry Concert Hall. The performance consisted of only three pieces, yet both were met with enthusiastic applause and praise. When I attended the performance I hear and seen exactly what I expected which were student performing amongst their peers. This particular performance was different because I never experience a student recital. I was very pleased by the performance I thought it was very entertaining and interesting.

I saw a Beethoven concert online which took place on May 7th, 2015 in Chicago, to celebrate the anniversary of Beethoven’s glorious masterpiece Symphony 9. The concert was a classical concert which was conducted by Ricardo Muti who has remained a conductor for Philharmonica orchestra (London), and Philadelphia Orchestra. The concert was directed by Duain Wolfe who is and Americal Chorale conductor as well as the founder Colorado Symphony and the Colorado Children’s chorale. . Some of the artists who participated in the Orchestra were Camilla Nylund (played soprano), Ekaterina Gubanova (played mezzo-soprano), Matthew Polenzani (played tenor), Eric Owens (played bass-baritone), and the rest of the artists were from Chicago Symphony Orchestra. All the musicians were dressed formally in black suits with white shirts, or black dresses. The symphony was played in four movements: Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso, Scherzo: Molto vivace, Adagio molto e cantabile, Finale: Ode to Joy.

On Friday, February 23rd 2018, I attended a music concert at Chabot college at building 1300. The concert was tithe “wind symphony”. The name of the performers was Chamber Ensemble, The Orchestra, The Wind Band and Jazz Ensembles. During the concert Timothy Harris was the conductor, Gray Hill the guest conductor while Joe Bonfiglio, the soloist. The instrument of the ensembles were Horns, Trumpet, Trombones, bass trombone, Harp, percussion, Clarinets and Bass Clarinet, Bassoons and contrabassoon, 1st violins, 2nd violins , flutes and piccolo, Oboe and English Horn, viola, Bass, cello, double bass, wind, saxophone, tuba, marimba , Xylophone, timpani, Piano, Bass Drum, cymbals and Snare Drum.