On March 28th, 2014 I attended the Grand Valley State University New Ensemble Concert at the beautiful Detroit Institute of Arts. The concert was strictly new music, so the ensemble were experimenting with new styles of music. The Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble is a greatly new ensemble as they have only been in operation since 2006. The founder and director of this ensemble, Bill Ryan, is an educator upon the Grand Valley State University music program, and has been studying music for essentially his whole lifetime. The pieces in which Mr. Ryan composed have been written within the last twenty years, including some music written by musicians within the ensemble themselves. The age of the composers ranged from forty-six years of age to twenty-two years of age, however all of the performers were within college. The new music ensemble featured only seven young college musicians and their performance was extremely impressive, as each musician played with such ease as if these college students have been playing these pieces for years. The ensemble only used a minimal amount of instruments: piano, cello, percussion, clarinet, saxophone, flute, and violin. Although there were minimal amounts of instruments the ensemble played with nice dynamics and tone. All together the performers achieved greatness in my eyes.
The concert was comprised of six new music songs, and each piece ranged about five minutes long. The first song was “Tight Sweater” which was composed by Marc Mellits, and in addition to the odd name of this song, the music was not something I have ever heard. To me the song almost sounded electronic and was tremendously repetitive. This piece include four excerpt and the first was similar to the last at leas...
... middle of paper ...
... country with the music of our time. In his efforts of engaging audiences he won the Michigan Governor’s Award in Arts and Education in 2008, in addition to that he won the American Composers Forum’s Champion of New Music Award. This man is a true expert when it comes to music of this time frame, and his song “Sparkle” shows just that.
The Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble has definitely torn me on what to actually thing about contemporary music. I like the sounds of the instruments, however I do not enjoy the electronic feel to the stylistics of the music. In order to get my true opinion about contemporary music that would include listening to additional pieces written by different composers. However the ensemble performance was great and the venue was just as amazing. I applaud the members and Bill Ryan for putting upon an interesting performance.
On November 16th, 2013, I attended a concert choir, fall choral concert. This event took place on the Wheaton College Campus, in the Edman Chapel at 7:30 pm. The chapel was well-lit, with long pews for the audience to be seated. The concert began with the audience looking up into a balcony, where the ensemble stood in neat rows. They watched the conductor, who stood on a stage in front of the audience, waiting for their cue.
Thursdays at Cal State L.A. seemed like any other typical day- warm, busy, and tiring. However, on December 2, 2015, something was particularly different; not only was it the last day of class before finals, but there was also a Mariachi concert directed by Cynthia Reifler Flores. As I was walking towards the State Playhouse, I thought about how the music would be composed. The first thing that I expected was the music to have a quick, upbeat tempo, something that would be played at a festival or a party. I walked through the screen door and was given a pamphlet. In it contained detailed information about their programs, musicians, Flores’ biography, and the prodigious mariachi group. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the doors
The band played together in such harmony and joy, and they exchanged looks as if they're talking to each other and understood by looks. As it turns out the guest go the nigh George Gazone was the professor who taught the band members music. Garzone Played the Saxophone like no other, he’s solos were magical it was fascinating watching him and the admiration his student have for him. The music sounded beautiful, yet seems the band are not well prepared for the evening. There was a lot of improvisation and as if every band member wanted to show off his skills which was really good. Improvisation is an element of jazz I was looking for, also, there were a lot of call and response between the band members different ones at each piece they played.
Richard Colwell, Carol Richardson. The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning: A Project of the Music Educators National Conference. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
...duction that I attended on the night of February 17th was not my first experience with classical music, it was however the first symphony production greatly enriched by the knowledge that I have picked up as a result of the class Music 100. Although my family has a deep appreciation for classical music, and mine is just beginning, the Seattle Symphony production certainly brought many of the musical ideas and terms such as texture and clarity to life. The three works featured February 17th, Johannes Brahms' Tragic Overture, Edward Elgar's cello in E-minor, and Sergey Prokofiev's Symphony Number 6 in E-flat minor were new music that I have not been exposed to. Also the treat of hearing the work of world renounced guest cellist, Antonio Meneses was without doubt a treat. I much enjoyed this Seattle Symphony production and would like to attend another in the future.
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
The history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
On February 17th, I attended the “UIC Jazz Ensemble” at 7 in the evening. The concert was located at the Illinois room in Student Center East. The concert director was Mr. Andy Baker, and he is one of the music professors at UIC. Besides, he is a lead trombonist of the Chicago Jaz Ensemble, co-leader of the sextet BakerzMillion. He is also a first-call theatre and studio musician. The lights in the room were pretty dim, and the room was filled with audiences. I noticed that there were a total of nineteen musicians performing that evening, and a lady jazz singer accompanied the musicians throughout the concert. There were sixteen members playing the wind instruments, including the trumpet, trombone, saxophone, flute, and French horn. Some of them were standing, and some were sitting. Besides wind instrument, the concert also included a guitar, drum and piano into the performance. They were played by Edwin Garcia, Aaron Gorden, James Wenzel and Will Gingrich respectively.
...ked throughout the concert. The pacing of the selections seemed appropriate. No piece sounded like the one before it. There was a great variety of songs played. There were songs played that were written by famous jazz composers and songs played that were written by some of the performers themselves. This added to the excitement of the show.
On Wednesday, May 23rd, I attended the College Choir concert in the Reamer Campus Center. The choir performed a variety of songs, ranging from pieces in Latin to traditional American folksongs. Two of the pieces featured solos, and one even featured percussion instruments. Mrs. Elinore Farnum provided piano accompaniment for each of the songs, and performed beautifully. I was extremely impressed by the talented choir members and their ability to sing such a varied range of songs.
In conclusion, the concert was really interesting and I enjoyed myself. In my opinion the two pieces that I really like in this concert, are Sounden Horn and Polonaise from Engine Onegin, the shift between the melodic lines and the element of beauty is what made me like it. In the future I would recommend it to my friends and I will not mind to go with them at all. This kind of music is the best to me by far.
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...
Smith, Jane Stuart and Betty Carlson. “The Gift of Music: Great Composures and Their Influence.” Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books Publishing. 1987. Print. April 2014.
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 student composers.
Mannes Music School Orchestra is great. You don’t need a penny in your pocket to see them perform at the famous Lincoln Center. Well, not so fast I was lucky to get a free ticket ten minutes before the show start. I was surprised to see that the theater was filled with people. Everyone seems to be excited to see the show. The audience was very diverse from older generation to younger generation. The students are talented; they all play well especially the bass players. I was shocked to see that they had to stand and hold such a large instrument and play at the same time. Theme was classical music. They play for different type of music and there was a piece for everyone to enjoy.