Yan,

I completely agree with you and your opinion of the show. The way Hill is constructed allowed for all the voices of the choir and the music from the orchestra to be blended together so well. In addition in my opinion it takes a lot of practice and concentration to be able to pull off the German pronunciations especially if one is only fluent in English and the choir performed it wonderfully. I also agree how well Nadine sang. She sounded like an angel to me. Overall I appreciated the hard work everyone in the performance went through to put on a successful show!

Out of all the performances I have attended through UMS, the Brahms’ Requiem performance was my favorite for several different reasons. First, I truly appreciated Nadine’s voice and thought of it to be nothing short of an angel. There were many times throughout the show where her voice gave me chills because it was so incredible. I believe that since our class was given the opportunity to meet Nadine and hear her stories the day before the performance it allowed me to be more engaged in the performance because I felt connect to her in a way. It was almost the same feeling one gets when going to support a friend in a show, performance, or game. In addition, I enjoyed listening to the music and incorporating it with the discussion of the history of Brahms’ Requiem. Lastly I really appreciate being able to experience a performance in Hill Auditorium, such a beautifully constructed building that has so much history behind it.

Halie,

I completely agree with you about how impressive it was to see Rodriguez play the piano like that. It takes a lot of concentration and talent to do that. I also agree with how you said Rodriguez drowned out Slavov and Cole with his playing which is a little disappointing because as a group they should play together and not try to compete with sounds. Lastly I also agree with how you said that with the Martinez group it was a little difficult to understand the rhythm that was trying to be playing because so many sounds were being played at once (i.e. clashing of sounds).

Brysan Porterfield

I was excited to see the Rodriguez/Martinez Concert last Friday since I enjoy and listen to jazz on my own personal time. However, during the concert I had a hard time connecting to the music. In my opinion, the lost of connection might have been due to the fact that I went into the performance with the expectation of jazz music but instead got an avant-garde type of jazz. Each performance was little too long for my liking and sounded very repetitive. There were also many times where the music only sounded like a bunch of notes all being played at once with no sense of flow or rhythm. Nonetheless, I truly appreciated the talent of Alfredo Rodriguez with the piano and Pedro Martinez group with the drums. In addition I liked how Rodriguez came onto the stage to perform along with the Martinez group. The talent of the concert was their but unfortunately overall it did not peak my interest.

Karishma I am not sure if you ever attended a contemporary dance performance but that is what the first half of the Compagnie Kafig reminded me of. In my opinion I don’t think there was a story behind the performance but instead I think that the focus was to showcase all types of movements. In addition I completely agree with you about how there was a comedy element in the second half of the show that got the audience engaged. Lastly I also LOVED the effect of the cups and the back flips done through them! It was my favorite part of the show!

With five simple words the Compagnie Kafig performance can be described as an illusion built off positive and exciting energy. Have you ever attended a performance where each precise movement of the performers had you on the edge of your seat curious of what was to come? If not, then Compagnie Kafig is definitely the performance to see to get such an experience. The elements of lighting, spacing, music, props, and movement played a huge role in demonstrating an illusion effect. For example, during one part of the performance the performers used wooden feet to create an illusion of making it look like there was more people on the stage than there actually were. Another example, is how the performers danced in a particular way to portray the sounds of the music. I was thoroughly impressed of how put together and eye catching the performance was, even though it was hard to know what to look at since different members of the group were moving one type of way while the others were moving another type of way. My favorite part of the performance was during the second half of the show when the performers used the cups because it was very interactive and really made me pay attention to how they were going to dance and do tricks with a large amount of cups. Overall I believe that the energy from the performers and whole production of the show allowed myself along with the audience to really enjoy themselves.

Attending the Kronos Quartet was a unique experience for me because it was unlike any other performance I have seen before. The show began with a song composed of a upbeat tempo which in my opinion was a great way to begin the concert. Throughout the entire show I was thoroughly impressed of how engaged and interactive the performers were with the audience. It was as if the performers were not solely playing for pure enjoyment but played in a way that got everyone to pay attention and enjoy the show. There aren’t that many shows like this that can keep my attention and the fact that the passion, fun, and excitement expressed through the performers, through the music then finally to the auidence allowed me to enjoy the concert more than I expected. I also appreciated the creative twists incorporated into the music. For example, for “Sing, Sing, J Edgar Hoover” I enjoyed the unexpected twist of the audio recordings playing in the background while the performers played their instruments. Even though it took a little bit of time to adjust to, I thought it was a very innovative way of creating a new sound. Another creative twist I thought was strange but very intriguing was how during one of the songs the violin strings were being tapped upon rather than what was expected. I never thought a violin could be played in such a way. Overall it brought a new type of sound to the piece and allowed me to think of other ways instruments could be played differently than from how they are expected to be played. Although I started to lose attention towards the end of the show I enjoyed and appreciated it as a whole for its originality and would recommend it those who are looking to see and hear something different.