Chamber Winds Recital

On March 5th, 2012 at 8:00 PM, the first Chamber Winds Recital of the spring semester was held at Kemp Recital Hall.  The admission was free and the seats were roughly one-third full.  I particularly enjoyed it because it showcased many genres, styles, and instrumentations.  Also, musicians from freshmen to graduate students performed, including myself.  I performed the 1st movement of the Wilhelm Ramsoe Brass Quartet No. 4 towards the end of the recital.  However, I was able to be in the audience for most of the performances.  Generally, most of the groups that were involved in Chamber Winds last semester stuck with it this semester.  It was really cool to see how everybody has improved over the course of just a few months.  I was especially impressed with the very last performance of the night; The Wind Symphony Saxophone Quartet.  Hands down, they demonstrated the most improvement and the highest caliber of musicianship.  The piece they performed was modern, but it wasn't atonal by any means.  It was filled with complex rhythm and compound meters-- most of which was very fast.  I thought it was exciting and was executed very well.  Differentiating between this style and the styles of other groups is actually pretty easy.  This was modern and extremely intense music whereas the piece that my brass quartet performed was from the Romantic Era.  It was less 'in your face' (which isn't necessarily a good or bad thing.)  In my opinion, the part writing was more conventional than the saxophone piece.  The chord progressions and non-chord tones used were more common, but it didn't take away from the quality of the piece.  It had a fairly obvious resemblance of a Beethoven string quartet though.  This made the piece very challenging since this style is so uncommon for brass ensembles.  Anyway, it was a great experience to perform since brass players seldom get opportunities to play in this style.  If you enjoy instrumental music, I think this would be a wise event to attend.  The audience is not expected to stay for the entire duration because the recital lasts longer than two hours.  In general, it is a casual setting, there's no need to dress up, and everybody is welcome.  The second recital will take place on Monday, the 23rd of April.  I suggest stopping by for at least a portion of the event.  You could use it as a fine opportunity to take a break from homework and such to simply relax and enjoy the music.