On September 7th at 7:30pm, I attended the Chamber Music Trio Concert at Williams Hall. The three musicians were the cellist Dr. Martin Gueorguiev, the violinist David Harned Johnson, and the pianist Dr. Joanna Kim. In total, they performed four pieces, two duets and two trios, one of which was an original composition by David Johnson himself. Their pieces included a wide range of styles, from upbeat majors to dark, emotional minors and from standard classical to zesty tangos. Having played the piano since third grade and taken music theory, I felt that I was able to resonate better on an emotional and technical level. Before playing the first piece, David Johnson asked us, the audience, to imagine being in a gothic castle as we listened to the piece called Chaconne by Tomaso Vitali. Following his helpful suggestion, I found this piece even more luring and illustrative in my mind. When the violin first chimed in after the piano’s diminishing eight-chord introduction, I immediately recognized the melody because I played a bit of it back when I was still in middle school orchestra. Personally, I appreciated and enjoyed this piece the most not only because I knew it beforehand, but also because I generally prefer sad, emotional pieces …show more content…
Like in the first piece, the audience was given an introductory synopsis. For this tango, the pianist Joanna Kim described how it made her feel like she is dancing with a secret agent. While listening and watching their performance, I was able to understand what she meant. There was a lot of purposeful dissonance, syncopation, and alternating slurs and accents that gave the piece a hint of mysteriousness. However, as a tango, this piece still had the signature fast tempo and strong rhythm. In addition, during this whole performance, the cellist Dr. Martin Gueorguiev rocked back and forth with the beat as if he was dancing the tango with his
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 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.
For this assignment, I went to the Basically Beethoven Festival at the Dallas City Performance Hall. The recital was opened with a few pieces played by the rising stars Madera Wind Quintet. The main performance included Rachel McDonald on the viola, Joseph Kuipers on the cello, Grace Wollett on the violin, Scott Wollett on the oboe, and the great pianist Alex McDonald. They performed a compilation of famous composers’ masterpieces.
This week, on February 27, I visited the Latin Jazz Ensemble concert at Sacramento State University. It was my first time at a jazz concert in Sacramento. The jazz ensembles performed seven pieces during the concert with twelve different instruments. “Mama Cool Beans”, “Keeper for the Flame”, “Next Exit”, and “Plena Con Sabor” were four different and unique pieces which I liked and I think these compositions inspired the audience.
On October 13, I attended a concert by the UT Jazz orchestra at the Bates Recital Hall. This performance consisted of seven pieces and all were stylistically different, which allowed the audience to enjoy the various sounds of jazz music. Among the instrument groups, there are saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano and drums. Professor Jeff Hellmer served as director andJohn Mills appeared as guest conductor. The whole concert made a lasting impression on me.
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 September 9th I attended my first SWIC Music Faculty Preview Recital at the Schmidt Art Center. The venue for the afternoon recital was held in the gallery room, a room set up for an audience of about 50 music majors. In the front of the hall sat a white grand piano on parquet floors; the walls of the room were adorned with art of varying mediums. Having mucked around on the piano as a child, I sat enthusiastically as a musical amateur in great awe of anyone with talent of the keyboard or gift of music of any kind.
The concert I attended was performed by the Brooklyn College Wind Ensemble conducted by Jeff W. Ball on March 1, 2016. The Midwood High School Band, conducted by Melissa Williams, performed as special guests. Before going to the concert, I looked up Wind Ensemble so I’d know what to expect. A Wind Ensemble consists only of wind, brass, and percussion instruments. My concert experience was enjoyable as I went in knowing what the Wind Ensemble is, and went in with an open mind.
While watching the marching band perform at Kennedy Middle School for three years, I was always amazed by their talent, precision, and energetic spirit. I knew that the oboe was not a marching instrument, although that was the instrument I played in the middle school band. I was destined to find a way to be apart of the amazing experience that is, the Wall of Sound. I emailed as many friends that I knew in the marching band and talked with the directors to find out how I could become involved with marching band. They suggested doing the Color Guard Workshop, a training camp for eighth-graders interested in being apart of the color guard. I worked so hard during this camp to enhance my skills in hopes of one day being apart of the Wall of Sound
Overall, the production’s performances flowed ambitiously; there was never a moment of complete stillness. None of the pieces performed were exactly, traditional modern. The movement in each dance was very technical, but in a very unique way. Staging varied throughout the production. At times the lighting was dark, and gloomy, it created the fearful, isolated awareness. At other times the lighting glowed dimly, creating the feel of freedom and happiness. The production presented itself effectively, each dance connected to humanity in some relatable way.
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.
In mid-February I went to talk to the eighth grade band students about continuing their music careers in high school. I talked about the multiple ensembles you can be apart of, this includes jazz band, concert band (the ninth grade band that they will be apart of their first year in high school), marching band, and pep band. The reason I mentioned all the ensembles to them is to hopefully catch their interest in staying in band. Maybe it isn’t being apart of concert band, but playing in jazz band. No matter your level of involvement, being a part of music will enrich your experience in high school.
We went to see this last evening (opening night for this program) and were blown away. Never having seen anything on the program before, I didn't know what to expect, but each piece was magnificent. Stanton Welch's "Tu Tu" seems to me to be a kind of personal love song to ballet. The opening and overall structure reminded me of Ashton's "Sinfonietta" with a very energetic first movement followed by a stunningly beautiful slow movement and then a fast and again more lighthearted finale. It was the second movement that amazed me the most. A solo ballerina slowly emerges from darkness and seems to reflect on her career as a ballerina with tenderness and sadness. The mood of this piece was masterfully created. It was beautifully and
Like so many contemporary ballets Chiaroscuro contains sequences which seem strange or peculiar. Set to attractive Baroque music, it is nonetheless an appealing work. Seeing Ashley Laracey and Brittany Pollack (both looking positively gorgeous) in this piece alone was worth the price of admission to program No. 8 of the Festival. These two were well-complemented by Lauren King and the three men in the cast, particularly Andrew Veyette, who had an effective part. This is the sort of ballet with a vague narrative that intrigues you.
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.