Electric Light Orchestra

When I was growing up and my brother attended high school, I always enjoyed going to Friday night football games and watching the best part of the game: the halftime show. While I sat in the stands, my brother would be marching sets, creating intricate formations and blasting his trumpet at fortissimo. I dreamed to be a part of the sets of formations and play difficult music at rapid tempos. Once I entered middle school, I immediately signed up for band and assigned to play the oboe, a woodwind…

My life has basically revolved around music. Ever since I was a baby, I was singing along to the songs my mom would put on or banging on pots and pans making "music". I finally learned to play and actual instrument in third grade, the violin, although I wasn't as enthusiastic about that as I should have been. In fourth grade, I undertook flute lessons, sticking with that ever since. Most of my time was spent practicing, and I was even able to join my middle school's advanced band in sixth grade…

Our first piece, the Bernstein “Warm-Up” was definitely our most difficult song. During the unison sections, we blended well because we were all singing the same thing which is what we are used to doing. In the round sections, you could hear individuals sticking out. I think the balance between voice parts should be worked on next time. When we sang the word “bong” you could hear a lot of the “ng” sound as opposed to hearing the “o” sound. Our diction was done nicely, we were very percussive…

become more flexible “in order to accommodate the myriad shapes of music of the past thousand years.” I’ve only been to a single concert in my life and that was when I was young during an elementary music class school trip to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a viewing of “Peter and the Wolf.” As such I cannot say that I remember having experienced any rigidness and formality that Alex Ross speaks about in his article. However, it is my opinion that the protocol found in concerts has an…

Wednesday, September 23, 2015, the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra was having their 63rd annual noon concert at hertz hall. I was nervous when I had arrived because I had previously come from another class and I was not sure if I was wearing the proper attire. Once I walked inside, I felt a huge relief because I noticed that most of the people inside were students who just got out of class or where going to class. UC Berkeley’s Symphony Orchestra played symphony NO. 4 in F minor, Op.36, a musical…

University Symphony Orchestra The University Symphony Orchestra is one of the foremost orchestra present in the University of Michigan, it contains many of the best student musicians in the university. The orchestra played at renowned Hill auditorium, which has been a part of the university for more than 100 years and is very well known for it’s impeccable acoustics. University Symphony orchestra was conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, who is a highly decorated conductor. His illustrious career…

The artist that was performing was named Luther Enloe. He is an active concert, artist, adjudicator and clinician. He performed Five Preludes based on Spain and Latin America. He had a theme of Mozart, with a lot of variations. The time period was from the 1500s-1959. His guitar has temperature adjustment as well. He had passion and an emotional connection to the pieces that were played. In addition, the last two pieces were his favorite. The first piece played was “Homage to the Brazilian…

quality of ensemble and solo playing is professional, featuring the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra under the direction of the soloist. This choice for the soloist to conduct the orchestra aids in the interpretation of the piece since at the time of the piece’s composition there was likely no one conducting separately, just the soloist leading the music through their playing. Also, it must be noted that the orchestra is not one of a massive 20th century size, but of a smaller…

Brook Roots Ensemble. This was my first experience witnessing traditional American music played live. The venue and the ambiance were completely different from my time at the orchestra at the Staller Center. The performance took place in the Wang Center Chapel, which had surprisingly great acoustics than expected. At the orchestra there was very strict etiquette when in attendance, where one must be incredibly quiet in order to not disturb anyone else. However, for this performance there was an…

In that moment Nigel Hess puts to use his main theme as a basis, changes it though into a minor key. He adapts it to a virtuoso performance, with several double-stops and difficult passages. This gives the music quite a dramatic character, of a diegetic music category, whereas it is taking part in the story. The advanced level of the piece, allows the observer to clearly witness Andrea’s violin skills and musical talent. Another example of diegetic music can be seen at the party scene in the…