I was definitely feeling nostalgic too! The last major choir performance I was apart of was Carmina Burana at Hill. It is such a different experience being an audience member as opposed to a performer at Hill, the sound is really best when you get to step back and listen to all of the parts thanks to the amazing acoustics!

Hill has great acoustics, and although it’s not suited for all types of performances, as I’ve noticed with previous shows, it was the perfect setting for Brahms’ Requiem. All the different voice and instrumental sections were in perfect balance! I really appreciated the fact that the programs included German and English, as well as the hard work the choir put in on the diction, which was clearly indicated. The clear pronunciation of all those difficult to pronounce, let alone sing, German consonants, along with the guide provided in the program, easily distinguished the end of one movement and the beginning of another! It was a great performance! I especially loved Nadine’s soprano solo, her tone was crystal clear, and her high notes seemed to float flawlessly!

I felt the same way about the performance. It’s kind of a relief to know that I’m not the only one who wasn’t completely into the music like I saw many people were. I could clearly see the talent of the Alfredo Rodriguez Trio, but I just couldn’t get into their music because it all just seemed random to me. I also liked the Pedrito Martinez group better because I could hear and follow the melody of their music.

Innovative, yet confounding. The Alfredo Rodriguez Trio was undoubtedly talented as they exhibited their incredibly fast finger work. You could definitely tell they were all feeling the music through their body movements, which was nice to see as an audience member. The music itself, was hard to enjoy for me. There wasn’t any specific melody and I didn’t quite understand the way the different instruments were supposed to mix, but nevertheless they earned my respect for all their individual talents. I enjoyed the Pedrito Martinez Group more because there was a clearer tune and the close harmonizing was amazing. I felt like I was in the streets of Cuba!

I really liked how the music was versatile too, that is what I think makes it effective in reaching out to different audiences. I usually don’t go to shows like this but I actually really liked it, and was entertained the whole time! I was also confused by the laughing but to me it meant that people were connecting to the music in different ways, which I think makes their performance successful. Since there were so many people laughing, maybe they knew something of their performance that we did not.

Compagnie Käfig’s performance was engaging and exciting, and I was never bored. Their moves were so articulated and precise! I was really amazed by their ability to exert so much control, especially during the Agwa performance. There were so many cups of water and so many performers and they didn’t knock over a single cup! They made it look so easy, but I can’t even imagine how hard it actually was. Great performance, and very entertaining to watch!

The Kronos Quartet surprisingly had a good grasp on my interest. I don’t usually prefer to listen to orchestral music because all I heard before was classical orchestral music. I really enjoyed how they married the concept of classical string instruments and media because string instruments are usually associated with what is classical and old; while media is associated with current events, making it always modern.