My work study job is working with a faculty music ensemble called Friends of Rain. The purpose of the ensemble is to play new classical music - definitely composed after 1900, and mostly after 1950. Last night was the fall concert, "The Web of Life."
The concert included pieces by Michael Johanson, Renee Favand, Peter Schickele, Duncan Neilson (an L&C alum), and several by Lou Harrison (featured composer) performed by the Venerable Showers of Beauty, Mitch Iimori, William Stalnaker, Miriam English Ward, Carol Biel, Anna Haageson, Elizabeth Harcombe, John Mery, Brett EE Paschal, Greg Ewer, Dorien de Leon, George Skipworth, Deborah Cleaver, Dunja Jennings, Nancy Teskey, Jennifer Ironside, and the Lewis & Clark Dancers.
My partner in crime, Catalina von Wrangell, and I put a LOT of work into this concert--just like every semester. By the night of the concert, we are exhausted. We've put together programs, rehearsals, put up posters, managed websites, send out emails, put together a reception, and we're working on last minute emergencies and what not. We've put in a 20-25 hours just the week of the performance in addition to classes and homework.
But this time, we got to actually SIT and LISTEN to almost the ENTIRE performance! (Aside from the first piece of the second half because we were setting up the reception.) It was awesome! I got to watch the concert (that I had been going insane over for the last 2+ weeks) unfold.
Working with Friends of Rain has been very helpful for me in understanding how groups put on shows and all of the work that is involved. (It will also look pretty good on a resume! Remember the section of my autobiography?)
felt like a conversation between friends with the metamorphosing theme that returned throughout the piece. The second movement, “Larghetto”, brought soothing, lulling melodies—like a consoling talk with a friend. The pairing of the strings and playful interactions with the piano made for a pleasant listen. Smith did a brilliant job at balancing beauty with technique and interacting with the violinist’s cues. The cello seemed to act as the metronome throughout bulk of the piece but had its fair share of melodic prominence. The quartet was fluid, but the cellist and violist did not seem as comfortable participating in the theatrical aspect of the performance.
by Gioacchino Rossini. It was refreshing as a Classical music listener to hear the contrabass being focus of a piece. “Allegro” easily showcased the skills and extremes of each instrument—range, bowings, and quick fingers. The second movement had many exchanges of the theme that were completely fluid, as well as the switches from two-part harmonies to three- or four-part harmonies. The technical change to double-stops was likely unnoticed by the non-string players in the audience. The third movement was extremely playful, but the performers demeanour did not reflect such. During this movement, a group behind me kept giggling—never did find out what was so amusing in the back of the auditorium.
seemed like it was played to help the students say goodbye to the scintillating summer sun and hello to the cool fall rain—a perfect close to the summer. The piece—composed for violin, viola, cello, bass and piano—rotated through the excitement and nonchalance of summer to the advancing autumn with its playful folk melodies, false endings, varying accompanying and melodic structures. However, the visual aspect at the beginning of the piece was imbalanced; the visible emotion was not coming everyone. By the last movement, the emotion and theatrics seemed to be flowing throughout the group—like a child getting accustom to a cool pool. 
