I wanted to write a few words about this past weekend at the School of Music and Dance. I attended three very different concerts that really exemplified the broad range of musical events we put on here at the SOMD and the different ways that students can get involved.
Yes, being a college music student means playing in orchestra, band, singing in the choir, studying music history and practicing, A LOT. But, there are also tons of opportunities for young musicians to broaden their skills set, expand their creativity and put on concerts that stretch the imagination and invigorate the mind.
Friday, April 29th 7pm. Jazz café. Friday night found the audience giddy and excited. Jazz Café occurs every month in one of the modern jewels of our building, Aasen-Hull Hall. Our jazz combos performed standards as well as their own arrangements and compositions. What a fantastic way to ease young musicians into the real world of performing, gigs and a captivated audience who’s comfortable and happy to be there!
 |
| UO Opera in an exhilarating performance! |
Friday, April 29th 8pm in Eugene and Saturday, April 30th in Portland. UO Opera program presented “Senile Madness”- two madrigal comedies by 20th century Italian composer Luciano Berio and a Renaissance composer Adriano Banchieri. This was no ordinary opera performance; the bawdy and hilarious madrigal comedies were simply enchanting! The performance was an ingenious collaboration between the dance department, music department and theater department. Click here for a full review of the Portland production.
 |
| traditional madrigal masks |
Saturday, April 30th 4-9pm [m] concert. An annual modern music “concert” where the audience was invited to move from room to room and sample the electronic instrument petting zoo, live looping jam, new music concert and public improv session among other things. [m]3 also featured some really neat ways of interacting with multimedia. A live blogging lounge was set up for those who wanted to post in real time. Entries, tweets, photos and videos were all uploaded onto a live feed through a common online conversation tag. QR codes were also featured throughout the building, these could then be scanned using a camera phone to reveal more information about any given event.
 |
| electronic instrument petting zoo! |
 |
| jazz combo in the courtyard |
 |
| live improv session in Beall |
 |
| new music concert in Aasen-Hull |
Stimulating all my senses, this was a classical music concert for the 21st century. I came away challenged and invigorated. What was most impressive about it was the fact that it was entirely student run, student formed and marketed. These young musicians are on their way to becoming the creative leaders of tomorrow!
If your cup of tea is somewhere along the more traditional lines, this coming Sunday, all of our top ensembles (symphony orchestra, band and choir) will be performing at the Hult Center in downtown Eugene. I’m hoping to record a video of the concert and put it on our YouTube channel, so stay tuned…
No comments:
Post a Comment