In Winspear Hall of the Murchison Performing Arts Center on the University of North Texas campus, the winners of the 2016-2017 Concerto Competition and conducting students of David Itkin put on a concert. The concert began at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8, 2017. The concert was conducted by Clay Couturiaux and lasted roughly two hours. Some featured instruments in the concert orchestra included the piano, harp, euphonium, horn, alto saxophone, violin, and double bass. Winspear Hall in the Murchison Performing Arts Center is absolutely beautiful. This concert allowed me to see Winspear for the first time and everything about it captivated me upon walking in. It was warm in the hall, much warmer than I expected it to be when walking into the building. The way the seats were positioned so that the audience to see only the stage, allowing full focus on the performance. The audience seemed to range from well-dressed older adults and families to casually dressed younger adults and students. Some wore heels and nice dresses and others walked in wearing jeans and t-shirts. Between each performance, the audience would applaud politely, but there always seemed to be the …show more content…
This was the third piece performed, right before the intermission. The dynamics of the piece were interesting. The strings in the piece were soft and seemed to carry the piece from one section to another, while the euphonium’s dynamics were very intense throughout the piece. The tempo remained constant, changing slightly in the middle of the piece. The music flowed well from one movement to the next, the sound having a steady drive to the climactic middle and a lively ending. The pitch remained in a middle range, never going particularly high or low. The intense ending really held my attention, having a strong build and ending on a single
I thoroughly enjoyed this concert from beginning to end. The opening piece, “String Quartet in F Major, K 590”, was both soothing and moving with an engaging theme that followed through the piece. The sudden stops and starts with changes in theme built the suspense and pulled the listener in to a jaunty gallop through the second section. Also the bass tones in the back ground seem to be slightly off kilter with the violins, providing a complex texture and harmony that provides depth and poignancy to the music.
The concert I attended was a Junior piano recital held at The Florida State University College of Music in the Dohnanyi Recital Hall. The pianist was Kaisar Anvar. The pieces performed were:
The first piece of the evening was “Veni Creator Spiritus” by Anthony Bernarducci. Throughout the entirety of the piece, the University Chorale: Evening choir, did a nice job at following their conductor when he gestured for various dynamics to be performed. When their conductor would motion for a diminuendo, they were quick to follow. The choir could have improved by controlling their breath, and by scattering their breathing so to not disturb the musicality of the piece itself.
On Monday March 25, some members of the baseball team, my girlfriend, and I traveled to Murray State University to watch a concert performed by Nelly and the St. Lunatics. It was a terrible night to go anywhere because it was raining and storming the whole way, but there was nothing that was going to stop us from going to the concert. We where all so hyped up about it and couldn’t wait to head out. My brother, who attends Murray State, had gotten us excellent seats about seventy-five feet away from the stage.
In conclusion, it was a very unique experience for me to attend this concert. It was my first time listening to music in a church. The music was wonderful and played brilliantly. I now realize how talented some of the women composers were throughout the history of music. The experience of listening to such wonderful music firsthand was an honor. I hope to attend one in the near future.
The element that stood out the most to me was how effectively the music and the footwork corresponded. The best examples of this are seen through the dancers solos. Especially Albrecht's solo, his feet glide on the stage at the same tempo as the music. Similarly, Giselle's graceful footwork is truly amazing. I really like the similarities between the choreographed footwork and the music, it makes Giselle seem much more elegant and beautiful. This also seems to make the work look more put together and in sync because the dancers are dancing in harmony with the orchestra. The choreography by itself is amazing. The footwork is rapid and intricate, however, at the same time it is delicate and graceful. The ballerina (Giselle) made it look very easy to do the choreography, when it rea...
...xcited to have this experience. Part of the drama of the concert at first is felt when the musicians come in and sit down and begin tuning up their instruments. I would not be able to comment on the performance of the orchestra. During the performance, I seen the audience were moving with the music, but I felt like that everyone seems knows more music than what I learned throughout this semester. After I went home and did some of the research on these music I finally understand why these people like to attend the orchestra concerto, it was because that every piece of music has a history behind it. The Los Angeles audience seemed to me to be people who know music and who will listen to something new in a respectful way. All the same, when the more familiar sounds of the last piece were heard, I could feel a little sense of relaxation and fun coming into the room.
On Monday, October 3, 2016 I was privileged to attend the fabulous performance by the Pittsburg State University Jazz Band at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts in Pittsburg Kansas. It was a beautiful evening filled with fantastic music. The concert featured many well-rehearsed songs, talented solos, and enjoyable evening for everyone who attended.
The first song played was from a genre that I had previously taken a test on, Sonata. The musicians played the song by the book. There were three movements and polyphonic texture. It was even fast and jerky. Nonetheless, this is the part where my rollercoaster was going down. In my opinion it was boring. Although very well played, the song itself did not interest me. I did not like the roadrunner, coyote essence of the song. The piano accompaniment would sometimes play the melody and let the clarinet follow and then they would switch. This to me seemed force instead of like the Sonatas that I listened to in class. However, apart from the musical aspect of the first piece there was a certain intensity expressed by the performers. I had never seen a
Each individual player in this orchestra is a soloist of sorts, playing a completely different piece than the musician seated directly next to them or across the stage. Rather than being written as a concerto, this piece, written in three movements, allows for each of the accomplished musicians to display their skill individually though each solo is not brought to the forefront of the piece, creating a what sounds like a disgruntled compilation of individual pieces that come together. This piece both begins ends with the Funeral March of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony directly tied into the basses, at first it is quiet and difficult to recognize but as the third movement is introduced it becomes more pronounced and evident. Those who were present for this pieces introduction to society were able to see its emotional effect on its composer who had obvious emotional ties to the music. Strauss never showed up to see his work debut instead he attended the dress rehearsal, asked Sacher if he could conduct this work. Strauss was said to have given a beautiful reading of the score that many view as his most...
Rudder Theatre is a large venue for this Jazz Showcase. There are five sections with fifteen rows deep in each section. The theatre is decorated modestly with solid colors and nothing too spectacular or eye catching. The chairs were covered in a yellowish fabric. The initial backdrop behind the stage was a white backdrop with red and blue lighting. This backdrop would change colors throughout the concert. Located at the doors were ushers with programs detailing the Texas Music Festival. The seats inside were not assigned but on a first come first serve basis. Seated in the very front and centered to the audience were the performers. The stage was set up with five chairs lined up three rows back. Each row was more elevated than the previous. The piano was at the far left, the guitar and bass were next to the piano, and the drums were in the back. The first row of chairs included the saxophone players, the second row were the trombone players, and the trumpet players were in the third and last row.
The second piece, Paratum Cor Meum, was a much shorter piece with very few lyrics. It was interesting to hear a piece by Haydn, since we had discussed this composer in class. I was impressed by the choir members’ ability to remember words in another language, and I enjoyed the sounds of the piano accompaniment.
...re was very interesting transitions between the variation, for example, string section plays the variation from low to high, when they reach the highest note, the brass family takes over and continue with the scale and make it more higher. Tremolo style was used in this piece, which is a quick ups and downs stroke mode. The music were very soothing and attracted the audience. Lastly, they end the piece with the same variations that was played at the beginning.
The pianist and concert conductor, Christian Zacharias opened the Los Angeles Philharmonic Classical Music concert with a fascinating performance that left the audience in party mood and in happy f...
This piece was wonderful to listen to and I enjoyed the level of musicality with which the musicians approached this composition.