On Monday, September 29 I went to the Faculty Artist Concert Series on campus. This particular concert was titled “Faculty Showcase”, obviously that means throughout the concert, the faculty at the University of Indianapolis would showcase their particular strengths. The concert was in fact free and open to the public and everyone on campus. I earned L/P credit from attending which meant there were several other students there. The concerts on Monday nights usually only provide four, five or six pieces. All of those pieces are centralized by a theme to govern the concert. Because this concert was a Showcase for the faculty, they got to choose the pieces despite a theme to observe. Therefore, there was a diverse spectrum in the age and genre of all the pieces. In this concert, there were four pieces each representing one or multiple members of the faculty. Each of the pieces were very different in tone, structure, instrumentation and style.
The faculty who represented the university was Nemanja Ostoich (guitar), Peter Hansen (double bass), Gregory Martin (piano), Kathleen Hacker (soprano), Tamara Thweatt (flute and alto flute), Larry Powell and Vu Nguyen (trumpet), Darin Sorely (French horn), Blake Schlabach (trombone), and finally Glen Dimick (tuba). Most of the performers were dressed in black. The men either did not wear a tie or wore a solid colored neutral tie. The two women involved in the concert were both wearing a long dark skirt and a dark professional top. Neither of their shirts were solid black but both looked professional. Each member of the faculty were poised and very professional on stage. It was easy to tell they were enjoying playing their instruments. No one on stage looked unpleasant, just happy to be there and happy to play. This behavior was easily transferred and represented in the music. These talented musicians prepared four works to present, Un Sueńo en la Floresta (Agustín Barrios), Variations a Theme from Rossini’s “Moses in Egypt” (Niccolò Paganini), Backyard Songs (Don Freund), from Suite Americana “Ragtime, Val Peruano, Son de Mexico” (Enrique Crespo) and Go!! (Anthony DiLorenzo). I will choose two of the pieces that I really enjoyed to describe.
The first piece was titled Un Sueño en la Floresta, written by Agustìn Barrios. This piece was written for solo guitar and performed by Nemanja Ostoich. My initial reaction to the piece was peaceful and clearly Latin. I mentioned to the person next to me that it felt like a Latin lullaby. Throughout most the piece Ostoich played towards the center of the neck, which suggests a medium range for the piece. There were several times where he went higher and lower but Ostoich mainly stayed towards the center. From listening I noticed Ostoich played the entire piece from memory, which only heightened his ability to express emotion throughout the piece. The melody was conjunct with chromatic scales moving up and down throughout the bar. Ostoich was very successful in expressing the dynamics of the pieces. Doing so he again was able to express emotion at a more successful rate. Once the harmony was added to the piece, Ostoich played both melody and harmony on the guitar. In this piece, the harmony was a rhythmic passage that was played in repetition to embellish the melody. I enjoyed this piece because Ostoich put so much emotion into it, it was impossible not the feel the music. I also enjoyed the restful lullaby tone throughout the entire piece. Similar to the next piece, Un Sueño en la Floresta was a crowd pleasure at this concert.
Go by Anthony DiLorenzo is a whirlwind of a piece. By the title, I can tell it is a whirl wind for any of the brass players. The piece was written and performed for brass quintet. The performers sat in a square type formation, similar to an upside down “U”. One the left sat trumpet II and horn. Then at the top of the “U” sat the tuba player. And finally on the right side from front to back was trumpet I and trombone. To start the very fast paced piece, trumpet I gave prep with his breathe and the horn and everyone came in appropriately. The initial impression of the work is very energetic. Go is mix metered, conjunct, and intense. Many of the accents throughout the piece are is miscellaneous places throughout the measure, this gives the piece a quick up beat pace. I noticed about halfway through the piece that the horn player has taken maybe one bar off to rest. The tonality of the work has a wide range and includes several sections of multiple tonguing. The trumpets and trombones have run after run after run of conjunct phrases that just keep leading towards the end of the piece. I really enjoyed the energy and depth the piece had. In several parts of the piece there were moments of polyphony and moments of monophony. Within those melodies there were lines of staccato mixed with marcato articulations, which emphasized the driving and intense feel.
I think my favorite part of this particular concert was the brass quintet. I may be biased as a horn player, but overall they were the most exciting to watch and listen to. Overall, I enjoyed the concert as a whole. Usually I am more interested in full orchestra performances, which play more classical works. However, I was pleased with the repertoire on this concert. At the end of the day, I always have a good time listening to music in concert halls.