Personal Narrative-Night Concert

On Friday night, November 13, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. I attended the Manhattan School of Music for the Jazz Orchestra that performed by Jazz vocalists and MSM alumni Jane Monheit and many other musicians. That place is unlikely the ordinary place, people have appropriate dress on and have nicely etiquette toward the performers, unlike me, many of audiences seem like that they come to this concert with certain knowledge of Jazz orchestra. And its musical venue was the ideal spot for the concert, so I sat in a decent spot spot that located at midst of the concert hall where I can view all the performers and hear performers’ music clearly. And the conductor informally began the show was quite nicely and politely which made me feel really comfortable

On April 11th, 2017 in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, I attended the GVSU “University Band”. This up-beat ensemble lasted about 90 minutes; the talented students of GVSU’s university band joined together to perform multiple different songs ranging from a Waltz to a Dixieland Jamboree. All of the songs that the band played for the audience were all well-known, popular songs that they all enjoyed. Having the opportunity to attend this concert has opened new musical paths for myself and has allowed me to enjoy and kindly critique something that I perhaps would have never had the chance to otherwise.

The first few rehearsals, the girls stayed as far away as the boys as possible, but, as time went on, we began to mingle and make lasting friendships with people we would have otherwise never met.

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

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.

Around # of students came to play, one of them being Carter Kucier, the only mellophone in our Marching Band. He said that, “*Insert Quote*”, which shows just how amazing this opportunity was. Mr. Magaro, the band director in charge of the trip, was especially

We all sat around the dining table in Bob and Jay’s bed and breakfast, waiting for Ophelia to show up so we could get our meeting started. These weekly meetings had switched to twice per month now that we’re in the summer season and everybody has more guests to deal with. I was in a great mood and wanted to share some happy news with the group.

Our first song was Silver Creek Lullaby. In this song I feel like we started and ended together as a group very well. For my section, the second sopranos, measure 12 through 14 was hard for as we practiced because the altos and first sopranos were louder than our own sound, but as we sang in the concert, I was proud of us because we sang and our voices were loud enough to be heard, but soft enough to make a beautiful harmony. On the other hand, our note for the beginning of sail on measure 24, took us a moment to find the right note, and in the process of finding the note we slid up the E. We also took time to find our note the second time through on measure 8. One other thing I felt like we could have improved was our rhythmic accuracy and our diction especially on the word sleep. Overall for this song I felt like there was much room for improvement but we did very well for our first concert.

Of course, their entry was welcomed with cheering, but then suddenly, the signer asked us to be silent. He pulled out his classical guitar and started to play their most beautiful song as the other members of the group were adjusting to his music with little or no instrument. The moment he begun the signing part, the whole theater was hanging from his lips. In my whole life, I had never heard such a beautiful and light voice as his. It was like the most perfect sound in the world. Of course I recorded it on my cellphone but today, when I listen to it, it’s nothing compared to the live

On October 16th I attended the choral music concert in UNC Wilmington’s recital hall. The performance consisted of a concert choir and a chamber choir with Joe Hickman as the conductor. The concert, which was entirely performed by students, had a number of instruments, like the viola, trumpet, and timpani, playing during the concert choir. I had been to very few choral music concerts in the past, so this experience expanded of my understanding of music in a new and exciting way.

Our guitarist, Kyle, says, “I know right! That crowd was insane! Your voice was so great, Skye!”

This was your opportunity to make-up for your tardiness. As a fellow alto, I noticed you struggled with mid-range notes. Your stage presence and energy, or lack thereof, was low-level from the start and I think we all expected more from you. As for the choice of opening, we like "Perfect Peace," but we were all waiting for one of your songs that gave us that nostalgic feeling. We wanted Miseducation in motion. You gave it to us 2 songs later, but the music paced faster than we remember the lyrics moving, making it hard to recognize anything. We couldn't sing along. This was your chance to make us feel like family again. It didn't happen. Not helping matters, we couldn't see you well. The stage lighting was poor; we couldn't catch true glimpses of you and the creative power your dancers brought to your performance. Even the screens weren't very clear due to the dimness after 10pm. I'd do you a disservice by dismissing these things Lauryn, but in fairness, amidst the boo-ing from my peers, I should tell you what you got

It was performed by the CSU Graduate Brass Quintet, consisting of Nikolas Valinsky, Matthew Chanlynn, Emelie Pfaff, William Gamache, and Heather Ewer. While Valinsky and Chanlynn played the trumpet, Pfaff played the horn, Gamache the trombone and Ewer tuba. This quartet accomplished a wonderful work by the different melodies, pitches and dynamics. While the tuba was heard more in the background due to its low pitch, the most significant instruments were the trumpets. Not only did they provide the highest pitch but it was also heard as the main instrument because of their rhythm. Together, this group of brass instruments created a dense rhythm by providing the audience with several layers of music on top of each-other. Altogether, I enjoyed this piece the most. It made me feel happy, excited and joyful.

It wasn’t long after I decided to quit my job at the factories and began working at Sears around late 2014. I needed a fresh start and better hours. Things started to change a lot with me. I started having more responsibilities at my new job, met many new people and experience a very different work environment. It was refreshing... fascinating even. I met some good people, who help me get over my shyness of being up front on the registers. Twyla, who helped me get into Sears and guided me through and I met Mariana and Jill, who are wise beyond their years and offered good advice about life. This was an important time; it help set me on the path to open myself up a little more and discover more of the things I like. During this time, around my second month at Sears, I met Rocio, I didn’t know her back then, and didn’t notice her much. We talked now and then; we didn’t think much of it. But soon we talked during short breaks, and then we were taking lunch together, we became good

Everyone put in their very best in their individual roles and even helped each other out when and where necessary. We were determined to make the shoot a success. The long walk to the location had fostered a sense of oneness between us because we sang, made jokes and poked fun at one another while familiarizing with each other.