Walker Recital Hall Performance Review Essay

On April 26th of this year I attended a faculty recital in the Walker Recital Hall. The recital featured the Presque Isle Saxophone Quartet with Allen Zurcher, Bethany Dressler, Rebecca Wunch, and Scott Meier. The hall was not fully filled with spectators, however, attendees were very supportive and enthusiastic about the artists. The performance consisted of the 20th and 21st century music pieces, which was something I did not expect. To surprise this performance did not take long time and was over in about hour and 15 minutes. Despite that, artists were able to nicely perform their music. The four of them set in a small semi circle which allowed to make eye contact as well as sense of rhythmic balance. All of them expressed great passion and …show more content…
The audience was very diverse, representing people from different walks of life. I noticed many university students and some older people as well. I believe that quartet's familiarity in Erie contributed to these outside he school spectators. People seemed engaged and interested in artists and their musical art form. Some students were not so attentive, but that did not spoil this great performance. Surprisingly the intermission arrived quiet soon and we were allowed to stretch our legs. Personally, the second half of their performance was more appealing to me. Mainly because the last piece they played was fairly recent (2005), and I was able to associate to something I have heard before. To me, it had a beat and a rhythm, which I greatly enjoyed. Also, it had a nice upbeat tempo, that most definitely made me clap along it. I had no prior knowledge or experience with saxophones or these kind of performances, but I was nicely surprised when I heard the whole thing. Artists were very engaged in their, so was the audience. There were some solo parts as well, and to me, that gave an extra boost to this whole experience. I usually do not listen to this music, and probably