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The Stern Concert Essay

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The enriching experience of listening to live music has been a pleasurable pastime for many individuals since the creation of music itself. The ability for musicians to provoke profound emotions in others is a form of social communication that is unmatched by any other type of human connection which allowed music to retain its popularity throughout history. Without an artistic mode of expression for humans to communicate what can’t be directly spoken, life becomes dull and devoid of emotion where the only clear method left of expression is through verbal and linguistic communication. Music, in general, acts as a unifying intermediate where both the historical tales of the era coincide with the rhythmic stylings of the composers to evoke compelling …show more content…

The entire program included 240 qualified instrumentalists from a wide variety of backgrounds as well as vocalists who performed contemporary music as well as indigenous music not commonly performed in the U.S. The Stern auditorium was adorned with multiple rows of red velvet seats, gold painted art decor and walls that lined the foyer, and three enormous monitors placed at center stage to display picturesque imagery to represent the overarching themes of the performance. The architecture of the Stern auditorium was based on an Italian renaissance revival where the utilization of absorptive material in key focused areas above the stage; reduce the levels of focused sound and allowed for the legendary acoustics that Carnegie Hall is known for. Each one of the pieces performed throughout the concert reflected various cultural backgrounds as the main theme of the show highlighting the diversity and social unity throughout the world. The program included an assortment of pieces ranging from Korean and Chinese folk music to Russian Opera Arias followed by more contemporary pieces including music from Coldplay and David Bowie in varying arrangements compared to their original sound to fit in a more concert-esque style. The 25 performers of the traditional East Asian pieces brought from their countries original folk instruments such as the Gayageum, a Korean zither-like string instrument and the guzheng, a Chinese plucked string instrument with 21 string which added to the authenticity of the performance. Only those who performed traditional folk songs were wearing customary Hanboks which are colorful, long dresses primarily used during formal events while the rest of the performers wore formal black tie. From the opera Rusalka, the piece Song to the Moon was performed in a Russian Opera Arias style were a single main vocalist took center stage accompanied by a

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