Music Concert Review

I really liked how all the musicians in the orchestra each had their own personal style in playing their instrument.

I cannot believe what my eyes have witnessed. On February 24, 2017, I had the opportunity to volunteer and to witness a Stax Music Academy concert. Every year in February, the Stax Music Academy pays tribute to legendary music artist by performing some of the most iconic songs that were sung during the late 50’s - early 90’s. This year, the Stax Music Academy did an R&B concert based on the Stax Volt tour, which included people like, Otis Redding, The Barkays, The Staple singers, and more. This concert was sold out, and the crowd really enjoyed themselves.

I thought the place would be more like the auditorium that I saw before from my high school, but in fact the lighting and the design had made the theatre looked more like a palace. It was divided into two levels, with the second level hanging over half of the first floor. The stage was covered with two red curtains that the outer curtain would be pulled open when the performance started. The theatre itself was surrounded by many window-like niches that appeared every few feets. We actually had met the musicians before the performance. Some of them were relaxing at the field in front of the building and talking to the audiences. The male musicians were dressed up in black suits uniformly while the female musicians had either dressed in black, long dresses or trousers. The similarities between all of the musicians were their friendly attitude and the sort of excitement that they shared on their

The event I choose to attend was the Concert featuring Maestro Soler in Taylor Auditorium. The event started out with Professor Jones giving the audience an introduction to what type of music we will be hearing also a bit of background information about Maestro Soler. Soler is a classical/popular Latin American guitar player. He was born in Spain. He is known all around the world and has won many awards. He travels around the world to do concerts around mostly Europe, and also once every few years comes to the United States to perform at colleges, like Campbell University. He is known to be the most notable artist in the guitar world.

In this virtuoso series concert, the style of music displayed was different pieces from 1756-1983. There are six groups who performed and the instruments range from horn, violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and a beautiful voice. This concert was full of new sounds, and I wasn’t very familiar with these different sounds and instruments that were being played.

There were many instruments playing during the performances. I noticed saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and several instruments such as the guitar and piano that kept the rhythm going. There was a conductor during the performance leading all the performers on when to play. It was apparent that he did a great job since all the instruments were in sync and played at all the right times. Overall the audience was extremely respectful. Everyone seemed to enjoy the performance and it set a great mood in the opera house.

For my first concert review, I attended the Music at the Marley event at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. The event featured the University of Tampa Faculty Ensemble with Barbara Prescott on flute, Meg Cassell on oboe, Theodore Decoroso on clarinet, and Grigorios Zamparas on piano. They played a selection of pieces from the Classical period to the twentieth century which were performed in the following order: Franz Danzi: Sinfonia Concertante Op. 41 Allegro Moderato; William Grant Still: Miniatures for flute, oboe, and piano; Malcolm Arnold: Divertimento for flute, oboe, and clarinet; Gabriel Faure: Dolly Suite Op. 56 for flute, clarinet, and piano; Jacques Ibert: Deux Interludes for flute, oboe, and piano; Madeleine Dring: Trio for flute, oboe, and piano: and Camille Saint-Saens: Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs Op. 79.

Within this short summer session we as a class have gone over a multitude of musical works from the early Middle Ages and Renaissance times to the 20th century and beyond. I was already familiar with some of the selections, but personally connected to specific ones. There is a four part selection that I would like to dive into for your enjoyment. Each selection is from different time periods. The artists that will be covered are Vivaldi, Mozart, Berlioz and McCartney.

As I was being led into the concert hall, the only thing that really stood out to me was how deep the stage was. The jazz ensemble was seated in the upper most level, but still needed an acoustic shell to really project their sound to the audience. The concert hall was a lot larger than expected, with the seating plan a lot steeper than I had imagined. The audience was mostly a mix of different ages, there were a lot of (what I could make out) parent there to see their sons and daughters on stage,

I attended the Concert “The Music Man” on January 22 2016 8:00-9:00 at Porter High School. This type of Concert was both Vocal and Instrumental. It had people playing various amounts of instruments including Violins, cellos, a piano and more. It also had people on stage dancing and singing along with the instruments. The first song Played in this concert was “Rock Island” It was followed by “Iowa Stubborn”, “(Ya Got) Trouble”, “Piano Lessons”, “Goodnight My, Someone”, “Seventy-six Trombones”, “Sincere”, “The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl”, “Pickalittle (Talk-a-little)”, “Goodnight, Ladies”, “Marian The Librarian”, “My White Knight”, and “The Wells Fargo wagon”. When We first got there there wasn’t a lot of people, but after a while the whole front

October 28th was the day of the Latin Music Recital in the Caine Performance Hall. This was only one of many performances that week. Latin is a genre of music that unless I have come across it at other such events I have not heard it otherwise. Thus it is a genre that I had to do some research on in order to better appreciate what I was hearing. This concert was basically split into two parts each part had a main soloist on guitar that was accompanied by other musicians.

On Wednesday July, 8 I attended a concert at the Mimoda Studio located in Los Angeles the concert started at eight o’clock. On that day there was a group of four Instrumentalists performing a cello concert. The performances consisted of acts of big composers such as David popper the cellist also Alexander Konstantinovich ,it last about an hour. The show did not include programs so I will have to go off my notes some of the pieces that were played for David popper were Serade, Ballet scene, Gavotte, and La Chanson villageoise. The pieces played from Alexander Konstantinovich were impatient, land of heroes. There were also some Armenian chants played from the medival times, that were either composed by Sahakdukht orkhosrovidukht.

Along with the singing from the chamber singers and the university singers, Ernest Cervantes played a few instruments such as the djembe, drum set, and the bongo. Even though I enjoyed the choir singing, my favorite part was when Kyle Ball and Ingrid Borja did their solos. From all the songs performed, one of my favorites was El Cumbanchero because the sound of the drums during the song. My reaction to the music was a bit overwhelming by choir. They did an amazing job but I feel that I enjoy music better without a big choir and with the use of more instruments. The part I enjoyed the most was when the two performers presented their solos. The one thing I did not like about this concert is the fact that there wasn’t an actual intermission other than the small segments in between songs.

Most everyone will agree that music is enjoyed by everyone. However, not everyone likes the same types of music. The good thing is, music has the ability to provide a vast variety of sounds that everyone can appreciate in some form or fashion. I attended the Festival Fanfare Classical Music Concert on June 14, 2016, in Hattiesburg, MS. This was the first time that I ever attended a classical music event. Not knowing if I particularly liked classical music, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to the three instruments being played: the trumpet, the piano, and the organ.

A quiet little house on a University campus that has 3 boys and 6 girls encompassing it. All three boys play guitar beautifully and attempt to sing as best they can. I have never heard them play before, but I was invited to go watch one of their jam sessions that took place in the past couple weeks for this project and to learn more about music from the musicians themselves.