When a tornado came close to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater the evening of April 2, people rushed to their basements, hoping the tornado wouldn’t form. Sirens were wailing, people were huddling and phones were buzzing with all sorts of messages. Relief came when the ringing of the sirens softened and students received word that the threat had passed.
Meanwhile, performers in the Sonict Ensemble were unsure if their recital would continue. No indication of cancellation was confirmed as they got into their concert black attire, warmed their instruments and headed on stage to perform what would be dubbed by saxophone professor Matthew Sintchak as the “tornado concert.”
“There’s no theme of the concert other than new music,” Sintchak said. “There will be a combination of faculty and students playing.”
The piece he performed, “Second Wind” by Joan Tower, is a sequel to the first piece, “Wings.” Just as the title says, this piece explores the motion of flying by using extended techniques on the saxophone, such as growling. It was an unaccompanied piece that left some indication on what’s to come.
“Velvet Sink” was a piece performed by music professor Jeff Herriott, and he clarified that this piece should be performed on a new piano, not the way that he created it.
“I wrote this piece twenty-five years ago when I was an undergrad,” Herriott said. “I went to a music store, took an old piano, got the harp of the piano and formulated this piece.”
It was filled with plucking the piano strings, along with the use of electronics, which created the unique sound that reverberated throughout the recital hall.
“I created this piece for Matthew Sintchak, as he wanted me to premiere it at a saxophone conference,” clarinet professor Christian Ellenwood said. “It’s supposed to mimic a conversation between the saxophone and the clarinet.”
The piece did in fact mimic a conversation between the two instruments, as while one held a note, the other flowed its melodic melody over, making the conversation sing in harmony.
“Waveform” was performed twice by the BM saxophone quartet, once on March 31 and the second time for this concert. Both times were directed by Sintchak and explored the unique sounds that saxophones produce.
“Episodes for Brass Quintet” by Katahj Copley showcases what the days of the week can feel like, using the brass quintet to emulate the pieces. Each voicing can be heard as the harmonies dance together in unison, blending into the melodic line for the audience to hear while resonating the tonality of the ranges.
“‘Episodes’ is a good combination of the days of the week,” euphonium performer Mel Prince said. “It shows the chaos that occurs in a week’s time using musical form.”
The concert concluded with “Watercolor Sun” by Ivan Trevino, played by four marimba players using one marimba with eight mallets simultaneously hitting the harmonic line alongside the melody. This created a beautiful sound that danced in everyone’s ears at the Light Recital Hall, helping the audience forget about the terrors of the tornado as they made their way out of the building into the drizzling weather.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalpurplenews.com ’
