|
The University of Idaho’s Student Chamber Music Concert was first created last fall and will be held once each semester.
Yet for UI student musicians, the concert is an example of a great opportunity to perform and showcase their talents for the community.
This semester’s concert, which took place Thursday night, is made up of several small groups of students playing instruments from the trombone to the flute.
Phil Morin, an instrumental performance major, said the show is an opportunity for student ensembles to show what they have accomplished and what they are doing for the rest of the music students.
“It’s also a way for the rest of the music students to support their fellow students who happen to be performing,” Morin said. “Since you have to audition to be a part of this concert, it’s also a healthy competition.”
Lee Hollingsworth, a senior studying music composition, said that there are many different kinds of recitals held every semester at the school of music, but for this genre there are sometimes recitals featuring only one chamber group that will play for the duration of the concert, and sometimes one split between two groups.
“As far as this kind of program where there are many different ensembles featured playing only one piece, there is this as well as the faculty chamber music series where the faculty put together a program,” he said.
Hollingsworth said groups that make up these concerts can be student run or part of a class.
“Some groups are completely student run during their free time,” he said. “Some are for credit, in which case they probably have a faculty coach.”
Hollingsworth said another reason concerts like this are held is because the School of Music and its students like to put together as many programs as possible throughout the semester as to perform as much great music as they can.
Hollingsworth also said that the Student Chamber Music Concert was held to give some of the chamber groups a venue to play.
“Some of these groups do not get too many performing opportunities to look forward to and prepare for,” Hollingsworth said.
Hollingsworth, who plays the saxophone and is part of the Silver Saxophone Quartet, said he started playing the saxophone in sixth grade, and for the past 11 years he’s kept up with it.
“It sounded like something fun to do at the time, but when it came time to do something with it, it was really one of the only things I was half decent at,” he said.
While Hollingsworth will graduate in May, he said that one of the things he’s liked about his music experience at UI is having the time and resources to practice something he enjoys doing.
“Mainly just having the time and resources to get better at something I love to do, as well as getting the chance to meet and learn from other great musicians, student, faculty and visiting alike,” he said.
Hollingsworth said that it’s better to catch a live music performance because they’re always different.
“Every performance is different and unique in and of itself, that’s why it’s always better to catch a live performance than to sit at home listening to your iPod,” Hollingsworth said.
Another student who was involved with the concert was Ben Wilson, a freshman mechanical engineering major who happens to play the bassoon.
Wilson said he hopes there will be more Student Chamber Music Concerts in the future because it’s a great thing to see student chamber groups perform.
“I think it’s kind of to show off their students and show how good the school is and how talented the students are,” he said.
Wilson said he got into music in the sixth grade “because music is cool, and cool is where it’s at.”
He said the best part about the School of Music is the openness between students and teachers.
“You can walk up to any professor without fear and ask a question,” Wilson said.
Wilson said that a Student Chamber Music Concert is unique because it’s composed of all student chamber groups, and because of this it is much more difficult to perform and sound good.
“This is due to the fact that everyone most likely has a different part. When everyone has a different part the harmony and melody, relation becomes very important because everyone will have one note of the chord and if someone misses the note or is out of tune then the whole chord is compromised,” he said.
Wilson said that the concert was a chance to see what the students in the School of Music are capable of, not only in regards to the difficulty of pieces, but also in regards to the difficulty of playing in such a small group.
Check out other opportunities to support UI music students coming up before the end of the semester.
For more information about any upcoming events, contact the Lionel Hampton School of Music at 885-6231.
 Add as favorites (36) | Views: 393
|
