Just recently I experienced the New Music and Arts Festival here at Bowling Green State University. I experienced all kinds of different 21st century music. Some I enjoyed, others were strange and unusual. I realized as I began listening to Deborah Norin-Kuehn sing “Time Was Usury” that I needed to throw everything I thought I knew about music out the window if I was going to gain any positive experiences from this weekend.
Later on in the weekend the time came to attend the concert featuring Erica Muhl, who was the topic of the poster constructed by myself, Ashley Shaffer, and Moira McNeil. We sat in eager anticipation as the orchestra began to play her piece. I could see the imagery that Erica had tried to explain to us via communicating with us with e-mail. The Erica Muhl trio caught up to her after the concert and thanked her for all her help with our board, answering all questions so thoroughly, and everything she did. She said that her goal in writing music is to affect someone in some small way, and she felt like she had done that with her piece “The Sea and All It’s Fullness.”
On Saturday October 24, I went to see the 2:30 concert during the New Music Festival. I was excited to hear my composer’s piece, “Still the Fire” because I had heard it already during a rehearsal and was interested to see the reactions of others. Out of all the pieces that were played that afternoon, John Anthony Lennon’s seemed to be most classical in the sense that it seemed to appeal to more people. Some very different pieces were played at the concert, including a world premiere of “Force of the Mind,” a piece by Steve Ricks. It featured Will Kimball and William Mathis playing trombones, and a strange assortment of prerecorded sounds. There was also a sculpture placed in the center which was topped with a brain and had different brass instruments sticking out at odd angles underneath. The piece was definitely something that I normally would not choose to listen to, and I did not particularly like it, but I enjoyed the different side of music it, and the other pieces, presented.
Around 2:30pm on Saturday, October 21st both Dr. Mathis and Dr. Kimball threw open the side doors to the stage and stormed onstage with frantic sounds that incited the picture of airplanes dropping bombs and emergency vehicles blaring their sirens. Force of the Mind was the first piece on this concert of five selections.
During Force of the Mind, Dr. Mathis and Dr. Kimball plugged themselves into a sculpture of instruments that were pieced together and topped with a brain. The headphones were connected to a stereo that had a track playing that was giving them instructions for the second half of the piece. The selection ended with the trombonists taking off the headphones and offering them to the audience.
The next four pieces varied quite drastically. There was a flute piece that sounded as if wind was blowing and making noises of nature. A piano, cello, saxophone trio played a fast beat piece entitled Still the Fire. The driving melody kept me interested the whole piece, even though the saxophone sounded as if it didn’t belong with the cello and piano.
This new music concert has been one of the ones that I have enjoyed the most. Though I am still not a big fan of new music, I am growing to appreciate it more.
At 8:00 on Thursday October 22, 2009 I attended the concert of the New Music and Arts festival. I was not really prepared as to what I would hear besides the piece that I had researched “Lost Gulch Lookout” by Kristin Kuster. The music that entailed the concert was interesting and unlike anything that I normally listen to. Their was a piano duet that was quite interesting, that only played tremolos constantly. Also 2 pieces by Steven Stucky that were very interesting and moving. The final piece “Tower Ascending” was 8 minutes long, split into two 4 minute sections, one section being slow and the second one being fast, loud and soft, It attempted to achieve an urban city life very successfully. “Lost Gulch Lookout” was right after intermission and was the piece I was most looking forward too, and was most pleased with. I thoroughly enjoyed the new music in this concert.
The New Music and Arts Festival was a very different experience for me. Before Friday October 24th, I had never seen new music being performed live. It was honestly very strange. Not to say I didn’t like it, I had just never experienced that type of music before. Per Bloland’s FeXIV was the only music I was familiar with due to the assignment for my BGeX class. The other pieces were easier to listen to due to their more melodic and harmonic sound. I especially enjoyed the piece Dr. Rosencrantz performed. The use of the towel to dampen the sound of the piano was very interesting to me. I didn’t know that could be done. It gave the piano a sort of electronic sound. Also, There was a piece based off a poem that was very nice. However, Bloland’s piece was my favorite of all. The composition wasn’t the easiest to listen to, but the research I did on the piece really made me enjoy it to it’s fullest. I understood almost everything about the piece. I knew how both the composer and performer felt about the piece. In the end, the New Music and Arts Festival was a very wonderful experience.
On Saturday, October 24th at 8:00, I attended the Bowling Green Philharmonia concert. The concert took place in Kobacker Hall as a part of the New Music and Arts Festival. The concert consisted of mainly Steven Stucky’s music as well as a piece by Witold Lutoslawski, Erika Muhl, and Marilyn Shrude. The music was very interesting and it was much different than what I’m used to listening to. However, I kept an open mind about it. All the performers played the pieces very well and I’m sure the composers were thrilled to hear their work being perform on stage. The ensembles that performed were the New Music Ensemble, the BG Philharmonia, and a baritone solo by Jesse Blumberg.
During this weekend I realized how much of big deal new music is to Bowling Green and I have been exposed to a lot new ideas and styles that have made me understand how different new music is compared to what I listen to everyday. It has been a good experience and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of the New Music Festival this year.
Adam
I attended the Wind Symphony concert on Thursday, October 22, 2009. I very much enjoyed the opening number of “Three Love Songs” by David Froom. A soprano and a pianist performed three numbers. They were beautiful. I was moved by the new age rhythms and the way both performers portrayed the piece. The next piece was “Orpheus Over and Under” by David Lang and this was performed by two extrodinary pianists. They were very talented yet the pieces seemed to droon on for a very long time. Finally, my favorite: The Wind Symphony, performed They performed captivating movements such as“Lost Gulch Lookout” by Kristin Kustner, “Music For the Funeral of Queen Mary, after Henry Purcell” by Steven Stucky, “Hue and Cry” by Steven Stucky, and “Tower Ascending” by Wayne Oquin.
These pieces were very eye opening to me for New Music. I especially liked the Wind Symphony because they had so many insturments and so many different mechanisms to create such beautiful music.
On Friday October 23, I attended ” A Concert of Electroacoustic Music” and two thirty P.M. It was the only concert I attended of The 30th Annual New Music Festival. Songs such as “Diaspora, Slumber, Nostalgic Visions and Out of Vivid Air”, were performed. This was all definetly ” New Music”. The use of electronical sound effects both scared and amazed me. The first piece, “Diaspora”, by Allan Schindler, really tested me ears, because of the constant blarring sound effects used to accompany the vocalist, Deborah Norin-Kuehen. I particularly enjoyed ” Nostalgic Visions”, by Elainie Lillios, preformed by Thomas Rosenkranz, on piano. He used the piano strings to create a very different and thrilling sound I had not heard before. I have a better appreciation for ” New Music” now, and I entend on attending this festival next year.
On October 24, I went to one of the concerts of the New Music and Arts Festival, featuring my composer Thomas Osborne. I really enjoyed his piece of music, “And the Waves Sing Because They are Moving”. I know that I researched it and understood the piece, but I feel like even if I had not, I would have enjoyed the piece. It was much more melodious and relaxed than many of the other pieces. One of the other pieces, a saxophone piece called FeXIV, had a video that went along with it as well. I did not enjoy this piece at all. It was loud and unsettling like most of the other pieces I heard throughout the festival. I was relieved when it was over. I think that the festival is a cool thing that the school does. I will probably continue to attend while I’m at BGSU. Even if I don’t have an assignment requiring me to go.
October 25th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Just recently I experienced the New Music and Arts Festival here at Bowling Green State University. I experienced all kinds of different 21st century music. Some I enjoyed, others were strange and unusual. I realized as I began listening to Deborah Norin-Kuehn sing “Time Was Usury” that I needed to throw everything I thought I knew about music out the window if I was going to gain any positive experiences from this weekend.
Later on in the weekend the time came to attend the concert featuring Erica Muhl, who was the topic of the poster constructed by myself, Ashley Shaffer, and Moira McNeil. We sat in eager anticipation as the orchestra began to play her piece. I could see the imagery that Erica had tried to explain to us via communicating with us with e-mail. The Erica Muhl trio caught up to her after the concert and thanked her for all her help with our board, answering all questions so thoroughly, and everything she did. She said that her goal in writing music is to affect someone in some small way, and she felt like she had done that with her piece “The Sea and All It’s Fullness.”
October 26th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Rachel Killoren
On Saturday October 24, I went to see the 2:30 concert during the New Music Festival. I was excited to hear my composer’s piece, “Still the Fire” because I had heard it already during a rehearsal and was interested to see the reactions of others. Out of all the pieces that were played that afternoon, John Anthony Lennon’s seemed to be most classical in the sense that it seemed to appeal to more people. Some very different pieces were played at the concert, including a world premiere of “Force of the Mind,” a piece by Steve Ricks. It featured Will Kimball and William Mathis playing trombones, and a strange assortment of prerecorded sounds. There was also a sculpture placed in the center which was topped with a brain and had different brass instruments sticking out at odd angles underneath. The piece was definitely something that I normally would not choose to listen to, and I did not particularly like it, but I enjoyed the different side of music it, and the other pieces, presented.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Joseph Boldt
Around 2:30pm on Saturday, October 21st both Dr. Mathis and Dr. Kimball threw open the side doors to the stage and stormed onstage with frantic sounds that incited the picture of airplanes dropping bombs and emergency vehicles blaring their sirens. Force of the Mind was the first piece on this concert of five selections.
During Force of the Mind, Dr. Mathis and Dr. Kimball plugged themselves into a sculpture of instruments that were pieced together and topped with a brain. The headphones were connected to a stereo that had a track playing that was giving them instructions for the second half of the piece. The selection ended with the trombonists taking off the headphones and offering them to the audience.
The next four pieces varied quite drastically. There was a flute piece that sounded as if wind was blowing and making noises of nature. A piano, cello, saxophone trio played a fast beat piece entitled Still the Fire. The driving melody kept me interested the whole piece, even though the saxophone sounded as if it didn’t belong with the cello and piano.
This new music concert has been one of the ones that I have enjoyed the most. Though I am still not a big fan of new music, I am growing to appreciate it more.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:28 am
At 8:00 on Thursday October 22, 2009 I attended the concert of the New Music and Arts festival. I was not really prepared as to what I would hear besides the piece that I had researched “Lost Gulch Lookout” by Kristin Kuster. The music that entailed the concert was interesting and unlike anything that I normally listen to. Their was a piano duet that was quite interesting, that only played tremolos constantly. Also 2 pieces by Steven Stucky that were very interesting and moving. The final piece “Tower Ascending” was 8 minutes long, split into two 4 minute sections, one section being slow and the second one being fast, loud and soft, It attempted to achieve an urban city life very successfully. “Lost Gulch Lookout” was right after intermission and was the piece I was most looking forward too, and was most pleased with. I thoroughly enjoyed the new music in this concert.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Giovanni Gomez
The New Music and Arts Festival was a very different experience for me. Before Friday October 24th, I had never seen new music being performed live. It was honestly very strange. Not to say I didn’t like it, I had just never experienced that type of music before. Per Bloland’s FeXIV was the only music I was familiar with due to the assignment for my BGeX class. The other pieces were easier to listen to due to their more melodic and harmonic sound. I especially enjoyed the piece Dr. Rosencrantz performed. The use of the towel to dampen the sound of the piano was very interesting to me. I didn’t know that could be done. It gave the piano a sort of electronic sound. Also, There was a piece based off a poem that was very nice. However, Bloland’s piece was my favorite of all. The composition wasn’t the easiest to listen to, but the research I did on the piece really made me enjoy it to it’s fullest. I understood almost everything about the piece. I knew how both the composer and performer felt about the piece. In the end, the New Music and Arts Festival was a very wonderful experience.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:43 am
On Saturday, October 24th at 8:00, I attended the Bowling Green Philharmonia concert. The concert took place in Kobacker Hall as a part of the New Music and Arts Festival. The concert consisted of mainly Steven Stucky’s music as well as a piece by Witold Lutoslawski, Erika Muhl, and Marilyn Shrude. The music was very interesting and it was much different than what I’m used to listening to. However, I kept an open mind about it. All the performers played the pieces very well and I’m sure the composers were thrilled to hear their work being perform on stage. The ensembles that performed were the New Music Ensemble, the BG Philharmonia, and a baritone solo by Jesse Blumberg.
During this weekend I realized how much of big deal new music is to Bowling Green and I have been exposed to a lot new ideas and styles that have made me understand how different new music is compared to what I listen to everyday. It has been a good experience and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of the New Music Festival this year.
Adam
October 27th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I attended the Wind Symphony concert on Thursday, October 22, 2009. I very much enjoyed the opening number of “Three Love Songs” by David Froom. A soprano and a pianist performed three numbers. They were beautiful. I was moved by the new age rhythms and the way both performers portrayed the piece. The next piece was “Orpheus Over and Under” by David Lang and this was performed by two extrodinary pianists. They were very talented yet the pieces seemed to droon on for a very long time. Finally, my favorite: The Wind Symphony, performed They performed captivating movements such as“Lost Gulch Lookout” by Kristin Kustner, “Music For the Funeral of Queen Mary, after Henry Purcell” by Steven Stucky, “Hue and Cry” by Steven Stucky, and “Tower Ascending” by Wayne Oquin.
These pieces were very eye opening to me for New Music. I especially liked the Wind Symphony because they had so many insturments and so many different mechanisms to create such beautiful music.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
On Friday October 23, I attended ” A Concert of Electroacoustic Music” and two thirty P.M. It was the only concert I attended of The 30th Annual New Music Festival. Songs such as “Diaspora, Slumber, Nostalgic Visions and Out of Vivid Air”, were performed. This was all definetly ” New Music”. The use of electronical sound effects both scared and amazed me. The first piece, “Diaspora”, by Allan Schindler, really tested me ears, because of the constant blarring sound effects used to accompany the vocalist, Deborah Norin-Kuehen. I particularly enjoyed ” Nostalgic Visions”, by Elainie Lillios, preformed by Thomas Rosenkranz, on piano. He used the piano strings to create a very different and thrilling sound I had not heard before. I have a better appreciation for ” New Music” now, and I entend on attending this festival next year.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
On October 24, I went to one of the concerts of the New Music and Arts Festival, featuring my composer Thomas Osborne. I really enjoyed his piece of music, “And the Waves Sing Because They are Moving”. I know that I researched it and understood the piece, but I feel like even if I had not, I would have enjoyed the piece. It was much more melodious and relaxed than many of the other pieces. One of the other pieces, a saxophone piece called FeXIV, had a video that went along with it as well. I did not enjoy this piece at all. It was loud and unsettling like most of the other pieces I heard throughout the festival. I was relieved when it was over. I think that the festival is a cool thing that the school does. I will probably continue to attend while I’m at BGSU. Even if I don’t have an assignment requiring me to go.
Grace Hirt