On Thursday, November 5, 2009, our BGSU 1000 class took a trip over to the Student Union to look at several research projects done by staff and students enrolled at Bowling Green. We had to choose one specific research topic and find its thesis and compare it to the rest of the information. We had to make sure it matched what the thesis said.
I chose the topic of exploring loss and desire through non-objective painting by Ross Roadruck. His thesis states:
“In my experience, circumstances of loss, both physical and emotional, immediately necessitate the desire to fill whatever it is that had been lost.”
Roadruck then continued he created paintings about the viewers desires and lust for information that had been withheld or lost. To show this, he used a variety of techniques that covered or erased previous painted layers. His hope was to use texture of previous pieces to suggest hidden information.
Roadruck planned to use emotional and physical experiences of loss using mood for the compositions of his work. He based them off of specific family experiences.
He continues explaining the process of his art and it completely follows his thesis.
This topic was a very interesting subject to look into and I feel it was prepared very nicely.
Becky Zydiak
Musical Mind
On November 10, 2009 we watched a movie called Musical Minds in class. This movie was amazing and I found myself in awe. There were so many different stories about people with very special gifts. The first story was about a man who is blind aswell as autistic. He has a very hard time with the things we find easy, but when it comes to piano, he is a genius. He can listen to a piece and play it back flawlessly aswell as improvise. This really impressed me! The second story was of a man who has a disorder where he has moments where he can’t control his movements. The only thing that seems to help is playing drums. When he plays drums his disorder totally leaves him and he doesn’t go into a rages. The third story was of a women who has a disorder called Amusia which is like colorblindness of the ears. She is completely tone-deaf. She doesn’t hear music, but instead she hears banging and think of it as noise. She also can’t tell one melody from another. This made me quite sad. I couldn’t imagine life without music. The last story was about a surgeon who was struck by lightening and seemed to have an out of body experience. He was revived and when he came home, all he could think about was music. He now composes music and recently wrote a piece called Lightening Sonata. All these stories are quite amazing.
Lauren Oberle
BGSU 1000
On Sunday, October 4th, I attended Dr. Penny Thompson Kruse’s violin recital in Bryan Recital Hall. Dr. Kruse chose the theme “Made in the USA,” where she showcased all American composers. Included in her program were Lukas Foss’ “Central Park Reel,” John Adams’ “Road Movies,” Heifetz’s “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” and Eric Ewazen’s “Trio for Violin, Trumpet, and Piano.” Before this recital I had not heard any violin pieces by American composers and I did not think I would like them, but I found the recital pleasantly surprising. My favorite piece was “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair.” It had a beautiful, rich melody that gave me the goosebumps. I also enjoyed the third movement of the trio. This recital opened a new door of musical opportunities in my violin playing. I am planning on playing “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” within the next few years. I am also going to ask Dr. Kruse to help me find more American composers. Overall, this recital was a great learning experience.
Caitlin Guenther
Musical Minds
On November 10 we watched the movie Musical Minds in class. I thought this movie was so amazing because of all the different stories of people who what some might call a disorder, but others might call a gift. One of the stories, that was told in the movie, was of an autistic, blind man. Even though he had all these problems he was very musical. He had such a hard time finding his way when he was walking, but when he sat down at a piano, it was like there was nothing wrong with him. He was so good at it! I think this was my favorite story. Another story was of a man who couldn’t really control what he was doing sometimes. There would be moments when he would just twitch for a couple minutes. He found that it was easy for him to control himself when he played the drums. Music helped him feel normal, and I thought that was really great. The last story was of a women who had Amusia. This is a disorder that causes someone to not hear music. Anything that she heard, whether it was her family playing in a band or music on the radio, it all just sounded like noise. I think this would just be awful. So many good things come from music, and by not being able to hear it makes you miss out on a lot of stuff. Overall, I thought this movie was really amazing, and it proved just how important music is to us.
Joey Fox
Handel’s Messiah is a popular event to see during the holiday season. Many of my friends told me how amazing and moving Handel’s Messiah was, and on Wednesday December 2, 2009 I experienced the Messiah for the first time. Both the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the University Choral Society performed together to give an excellent presentation of the Messiah. All of the soloists were spectacular, but I found that Carol Dusdieker gave the best performance. In all honestly, a performance such as this would normally have little appeal to me, but since the performers and the message of the messiah were magnificent, I had no problem staying awake. My favorite part about the concert was of course the Halleluiah Chorus. It was very powerful and I enjoyed hearing the piece played and sang live. Overall it was a great experience and a great way to start off the holiday season.
On Saturday December 5th I attended Katherine Wipperman’s recital. Wipperman is a soprano and sang a lovely variety of tunes. Her voice drew the audience in even when the song was in another language, we were swept away with every song. One song was especially comical. “Ah, quel diner!” by Jacques Offenbach. The song was written under the impression that the character is drunk from a terrible dinner. This song was the most entertaining because even though it was in French we all knew exaclty what was going on. Wipperman executed these ideas very well and was very funny. There were also more serious songs in which, the audience could feel the air around us stand still. Katherine Wipperman’s performance was a wonderful blend of different colors as well as it was extremely captivating to the audience.
The people talked about in the PBS special “Musical Minds” were truly inspirational to me. Each of them overcome their daily struggles with music. Whether it be Derrick Paravacini a blind and very autistic man that has used piano as almost a way to communicate his feelings since he was two, or Matt Giordono using drumming to calm his Tourette syndrome. Or, one could marvel at the amazing gift of playing, hearing and composing piano music Tony Cicoria has as a result of being struck by lightning. Each of these touching stories made me look at music in a different way. Music has always been my passion and I always knew that it could have an effect on people but I never knew that music could effect people in such drastic ways. How amazing is it that a person who is blind and has autism and is low functioning in everyday life can be a musical prodigy. Music has so much power and music has never ceased to amaze me.
On Tuesday September 22nd, 2009, the viola studio was lucky to host guest artist Misha Galaganov. Galaganov is Russian violist who is also the associate viola professor at Christian University. He is also a member of a trio called Trio Con Brio, which consists of a viola, clarinet, and piano. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Jerusalem Rubin Academy and his master’s and doctorate from Rice University. On the program her played three pieces, which were Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D major by J. S. Bach, Sonata for Viola and Piano in F Minor by Johannes Brahms, and Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
All three pieces contrasted with the others in different ways. The first piece was written in the baroque era. Galaganov stuck to this style, playing in a light manner with much staccato. The second piece by Brahms had a much different feel. It was more connected and legato, written during the romantic era. Galaganov was able to be much more expressive during this piece. The third and final piece written by Shostakovich was fierce and fiery. You could feel the sadness and pain eminating from the viola in Galaganov’s hands. An interesting fact that Galaganov shared with us was that this particular sonata was finished just days before Shostakovich died. It was his last work and you can tell because there is a melancholy feeling flowing throughout the piece. Galaganov really played up the emotions and really got into the music. I really liked the last piece just because it was so expressive. Overall Misha Galaganov performed marvelously. He shared information on the pieces he was playing and he seemed very able to express the emotions he was feeling.
When I attended the event of Presenting Praecepta it was one of my first experience to new music. The one thing that really got me is how unique each piece was. It was like I could find my own hidden meaning behind whatever the composer had written. Another thing about the concert was that I felt that there were those few pieces that made me wonder “How did they come up with that it just doesn’t make any sense what so ever?” But I now understand that music is not what you hear and what you think it is but it is something that has a set pattern. Even if the pattern is random it is still thought out and has been set in a pattern that makes since to someone even though it might not be you. So everything can be music. Even though one of the pieces that was performed only what seemed to be one note is still music and it all was very different.
On October 25, 2009, I attended “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” at BGSU. I was so excited to go see this show, as I had a connection to it, having performed in it as a child. From the very first number, I was impressed with the performance. I thought that each of the performers captured their character so well with their voices and body language. Each character has a distinct voice that has been standard for the show since the Original Broadway Cast. The BGSU cast was phenomenal. Their performance was incredibly convincing and musical while comical as well.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
On Thursday, November 5, 2009, our BGSU 1000 class took a trip over to the Student Union to look at several research projects done by staff and students enrolled at Bowling Green. We had to choose one specific research topic and find its thesis and compare it to the rest of the information. We had to make sure it matched what the thesis said.
I chose the topic of exploring loss and desire through non-objective painting by Ross Roadruck. His thesis states:
“In my experience, circumstances of loss, both physical and emotional, immediately necessitate the desire to fill whatever it is that had been lost.”
Roadruck then continued he created paintings about the viewers desires and lust for information that had been withheld or lost. To show this, he used a variety of techniques that covered or erased previous painted layers. His hope was to use texture of previous pieces to suggest hidden information.
Roadruck planned to use emotional and physical experiences of loss using mood for the compositions of his work. He based them off of specific family experiences.
He continues explaining the process of his art and it completely follows his thesis.
This topic was a very interesting subject to look into and I feel it was prepared very nicely.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Becky Zydiak
Musical Mind
On November 10, 2009 we watched a movie called Musical Minds in class. This movie was amazing and I found myself in awe. There were so many different stories about people with very special gifts. The first story was about a man who is blind aswell as autistic. He has a very hard time with the things we find easy, but when it comes to piano, he is a genius. He can listen to a piece and play it back flawlessly aswell as improvise. This really impressed me! The second story was of a man who has a disorder where he has moments where he can’t control his movements. The only thing that seems to help is playing drums. When he plays drums his disorder totally leaves him and he doesn’t go into a rages. The third story was of a women who has a disorder called Amusia which is like colorblindness of the ears. She is completely tone-deaf. She doesn’t hear music, but instead she hears banging and think of it as noise. She also can’t tell one melody from another. This made me quite sad. I couldn’t imagine life without music. The last story was about a surgeon who was struck by lightening and seemed to have an out of body experience. He was revived and when he came home, all he could think about was music. He now composes music and recently wrote a piece called Lightening Sonata. All these stories are quite amazing.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Lauren Oberle
BGSU 1000
On Sunday, October 4th, I attended Dr. Penny Thompson Kruse’s violin recital in Bryan Recital Hall. Dr. Kruse chose the theme “Made in the USA,” where she showcased all American composers. Included in her program were Lukas Foss’ “Central Park Reel,” John Adams’ “Road Movies,” Heifetz’s “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” and Eric Ewazen’s “Trio for Violin, Trumpet, and Piano.” Before this recital I had not heard any violin pieces by American composers and I did not think I would like them, but I found the recital pleasantly surprising. My favorite piece was “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair.” It had a beautiful, rich melody that gave me the goosebumps. I also enjoyed the third movement of the trio. This recital opened a new door of musical opportunities in my violin playing. I am planning on playing “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” within the next few years. I am also going to ask Dr. Kruse to help me find more American composers. Overall, this recital was a great learning experience.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Caitlin Guenther
Musical Minds
On November 10 we watched the movie Musical Minds in class. I thought this movie was so amazing because of all the different stories of people who what some might call a disorder, but others might call a gift. One of the stories, that was told in the movie, was of an autistic, blind man. Even though he had all these problems he was very musical. He had such a hard time finding his way when he was walking, but when he sat down at a piano, it was like there was nothing wrong with him. He was so good at it! I think this was my favorite story. Another story was of a man who couldn’t really control what he was doing sometimes. There would be moments when he would just twitch for a couple minutes. He found that it was easy for him to control himself when he played the drums. Music helped him feel normal, and I thought that was really great. The last story was of a women who had Amusia. This is a disorder that causes someone to not hear music. Anything that she heard, whether it was her family playing in a band or music on the radio, it all just sounded like noise. I think this would just be awful. So many good things come from music, and by not being able to hear it makes you miss out on a lot of stuff. Overall, I thought this movie was really amazing, and it proved just how important music is to us.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Joey Fox
Handel’s Messiah is a popular event to see during the holiday season. Many of my friends told me how amazing and moving Handel’s Messiah was, and on Wednesday December 2, 2009 I experienced the Messiah for the first time. Both the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the University Choral Society performed together to give an excellent presentation of the Messiah. All of the soloists were spectacular, but I found that Carol Dusdieker gave the best performance. In all honestly, a performance such as this would normally have little appeal to me, but since the performers and the message of the messiah were magnificent, I had no problem staying awake. My favorite part about the concert was of course the Halleluiah Chorus. It was very powerful and I enjoyed hearing the piece played and sang live. Overall it was a great experience and a great way to start off the holiday season.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:55 am
On Saturday December 5th I attended Katherine Wipperman’s recital. Wipperman is a soprano and sang a lovely variety of tunes. Her voice drew the audience in even when the song was in another language, we were swept away with every song. One song was especially comical. “Ah, quel diner!” by Jacques Offenbach. The song was written under the impression that the character is drunk from a terrible dinner. This song was the most entertaining because even though it was in French we all knew exaclty what was going on. Wipperman executed these ideas very well and was very funny. There were also more serious songs in which, the audience could feel the air around us stand still. Katherine Wipperman’s performance was a wonderful blend of different colors as well as it was extremely captivating to the audience.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Musical Minds
The people talked about in the PBS special “Musical Minds” were truly inspirational to me. Each of them overcome their daily struggles with music. Whether it be Derrick Paravacini a blind and very autistic man that has used piano as almost a way to communicate his feelings since he was two, or Matt Giordono using drumming to calm his Tourette syndrome. Or, one could marvel at the amazing gift of playing, hearing and composing piano music Tony Cicoria has as a result of being struck by lightning. Each of these touching stories made me look at music in a different way. Music has always been my passion and I always knew that it could have an effect on people but I never knew that music could effect people in such drastic ways. How amazing is it that a person who is blind and has autism and is low functioning in everyday life can be a musical prodigy. Music has so much power and music has never ceased to amaze me.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
On Tuesday September 22nd, 2009, the viola studio was lucky to host guest artist Misha Galaganov. Galaganov is Russian violist who is also the associate viola professor at Christian University. He is also a member of a trio called Trio Con Brio, which consists of a viola, clarinet, and piano. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Jerusalem Rubin Academy and his master’s and doctorate from Rice University. On the program her played three pieces, which were Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D major by J. S. Bach, Sonata for Viola and Piano in F Minor by Johannes Brahms, and Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
All three pieces contrasted with the others in different ways. The first piece was written in the baroque era. Galaganov stuck to this style, playing in a light manner with much staccato. The second piece by Brahms had a much different feel. It was more connected and legato, written during the romantic era. Galaganov was able to be much more expressive during this piece. The third and final piece written by Shostakovich was fierce and fiery. You could feel the sadness and pain eminating from the viola in Galaganov’s hands. An interesting fact that Galaganov shared with us was that this particular sonata was finished just days before Shostakovich died. It was his last work and you can tell because there is a melancholy feeling flowing throughout the piece. Galaganov really played up the emotions and really got into the music. I really liked the last piece just because it was so expressive. Overall Misha Galaganov performed marvelously. He shared information on the pieces he was playing and he seemed very able to express the emotions he was feeling.
December 8th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
When I attended the event of Presenting Praecepta it was one of my first experience to new music. The one thing that really got me is how unique each piece was. It was like I could find my own hidden meaning behind whatever the composer had written. Another thing about the concert was that I felt that there were those few pieces that made me wonder “How did they come up with that it just doesn’t make any sense what so ever?” But I now understand that music is not what you hear and what you think it is but it is something that has a set pattern. Even if the pattern is random it is still thought out and has been set in a pattern that makes since to someone even though it might not be you. So everything can be music. Even though one of the pieces that was performed only what seemed to be one note is still music and it all was very different.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
On October 25, 2009, I attended “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” at BGSU. I was so excited to go see this show, as I had a connection to it, having performed in it as a child. From the very first number, I was impressed with the performance. I thought that each of the performers captured their character so well with their voices and body language. Each character has a distinct voice that has been standard for the show since the Original Broadway Cast. The BGSU cast was phenomenal. Their performance was incredibly convincing and musical while comical as well.