Music

Review: Potpourri of musical talents

What started on a sour note ended with a sweet pitch when the AURA Contemporary Ensemble held its “Set in Stone” concert, which featured compositions from world-renowned contemporary composers and up-and-coming UH musicians Monday at the Moores Opera House.

Directed by Michelle Blair and associate professor of composition Rob Smith, the concert opened with “Rock and Roll” by Eric Stokes, which featured four men entering from the corners of the stage and creating music with river stones and gravel. The audience didn’t seem to be entertained and several people were heckling the performance from the back of the room.

Anna Weesner’s piece “Light and Stone” made up for the rocky start as musical arts doctoral candidate Ingrid Gerling’s use of the violin highlighted the piece. Combined with her violin skills and her use of the piano and clarinet, the eerie 1950s Alfred Hitchcock sound brought the piece together.

Perhaps, the best performance of the night was by harp performance senior Hope Cowan as she played a unique fairytale-like tune on the harp in Paul Stanhope’s piece “The Arch Window.” Despite the near empty theater, Cowan’s performance received the most applause and a few standing ovations.

“Set in Stone” also premiered Houston Baptist University composition graduate Desmond Ikegwuonu’s energetic and fast-paced piece, “New Work.” Bryant Beauchamp energized the room with an amazing solo cello performance.

Special guest composer Brian Herrington, whose works have been previously performed by London’s Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra, premiered “A Circle of Stone” as cellist Daniel Saenz and percussionist music composition and music education senior Adam Beard blended their talents to create a melancholic atmosphere in their music.

The concert ended with Smith’s performance of David Dzubay’s “Kukulakan II”, named after the Mayan feathered-snake deity. The composition conjures images of ancient rituals. While a small hiccup occurred when a cello spring broke, the piece continued to a positive reception minutes after and closed the show.

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2 Comments

  • Please, check your data, spelling and content. This article is shoddy.

    Dr. Smith is the director of the group and should be listed before the Graduate Teaching Assistant. Although, it is good of you to include the GTA, reading your article gives the impression that she is the director of the group.

    Also, I’m pretty sure Desmond’s piece was not title “New Work.”

    Additionally, your article is insulting – how is it helpful to mention the small crowd or the hecklers in the back. This articles gives the reader little useful or enlightening information about the performance.

    Finally, the construction of a cello does not include a “spring.” I believe you meant to say that a “string” broke during the performance.

    shoddy

  • To the author,

    I am delighted you attended the AURA concert this past Monday. As a three-year member of the group, I have always been extraordinarily impressed by the quality and support of the audience at our performances, and Monday was no exception. Between the UH faculty and others from the Houston community that attend our concerts, our audience is made up of some of the most professional and educated minds in music. In light of that, what you have viewed as heckling is most likely an appropriate response to an evocative, yet not overly-serious, piece that asked performers to roll rocks across a stage in order to create sounds that are unable to be produced by a more traditional ensemble. I hope that you will continue to attend our and other Moores School performances in order to enhance your musical knowledge. I am personally available should you have any questions. We take our relationship with our audience very seriously.

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