Cardinal Points

Issue date: 10/27/06 Section: Life

Media Credit: Shumpei Kishi

Plattsburgh State University College is a place that prides itself in its music department.

On Friday, Oct. 20, the music department put on its 19th annual PRISM concert. Parents, alumni, staff and students piled into Hawkins Hall's Glitz Auditorium to see a night of music in celebration of Homecoming Weekend.

The concert's schedule offered 12 ensembles performing pieces they had been working on since the beginning of the semester. It began with a Sinfonia piece by Percy Aldridge Grainger.

Immediately after the sinfonia was complete, the stage went dark and the College Chorale started singing a Luca Marenzio piece from the lighted balcony.

There were no explanations on what was being heard and there was a complete focus on the musicians using spotlights.

Rebecca Noble, a freshmen alto in the College Chorale, performed at the event.

"After all the time we spent rehearsing and perfecting, it was nice to finally get the positive feedback we had been hoping for," she said.

Following the College Chorale was a jazz-salsa piece titled "Campamento de Rumba", composed by music professor Richard Davies. Later on, a Jazz Ensemble performed another one of Rick Davies' salsa pieces.

However, the show wasn't over yet.

There was a saxophone quartet that performed a Gordon Jacob piece, a brass ensemble that performed a Giovanni Gabrieli piece and a flute ensemble that performed a George Frederick McCay piece.

Toward the end of the show, the pieces performed were much better known. A clarinet choir flawlessly performed the popular John Lennon and Paul McCartney song "When I'm 64".

PSUC freshman Whitney LaShomb said she enjoyed her night at the PRISM concert.

"All the songs seemed to be well put together but my favorite had to be the clarinet choir," LaShomb said. "I felt compelled to sing along the whole entire time."

After the clarinet choir was a guitar ensemble that played another one of Lennon and McCartney's hit songs, "Because".

Next came the a capella group, Minor Adjustments, who performed one of the Dave Matthews Band's famous songs titled "Crash into Me".

To wrap up the show, a symphonic band performed a Bach Rondo Mucho Grando, which was originally composed by Bach.

All of the 12 ensembles that performed were squeezed into an hours span and seemed to go off without a hitch.

A lot of preparation went into this concert, because it was scheduled so early in the semester the groups were not left with a lot of time to learn and perfect their ensembles.

"I find that our students not only step up to the challenge, but frequently surpass expectations," Jo Ellen Miano, chair of the music department, said. "It's a lot of fun for us to sit back and hear all of the groups perform."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools