powerFUL

This is one of those times I'm glad I chose to stay in the city. Macaulay had some tickets for a the Tune-In Festival, a series of contemporary classical concerts. The particular one I attended on Thursday was named "powerFUL", and it certainly lived up to its name. The concert took place at the Park Avenue Armory, something I didn't even know existed until that day. Apparently it is part palace and part industrial shed. Very cool.

Walking into the hall, I was amazed at the size of the venue. Instead of the traditional raised stage, the spectator seats were elevated. The stage was on "ground level" and had over twenty instruments placed there. I was particularly amazed by the size of the pianos. I've seen grand pianos before, but these seemed especially grand. One piano took up a whole corner of the stage. Three bands, about thirty musicians in total, sat on the sidelines and waited for their turn. As each band performed, I was blown away by the acoustics. There was a classical element to each band, mainly due to the instruments they used, such as the piano, violin, and oboe. But there were also unconventional instruments such as a buzzer, metal cans and xylophone. The different characters of each instrument blended together to create a truly unique hearing experience.

I especially liked "Newspeak", a band that aims to mix politics and art. Their singer has a rich and soulful voice that soared through space to instill very tender emotions, especially in their performance of "sweet light crude" that spoke to me as a very intense and passionate relationship that eventually fizzled and ended quite badly. Unlike current music with its constant beat and catchy melody, Newspeak's compositions changed dramatically and rapidly to convey different emotions. The music seemed to have a life of its own and tell a story that the audience could relate to. I think the singer really added to that with her voice, even though at times I couldn't tell if she was singing in English or a gaelic language.

The only thing I didn't enjoy was the last piece. Titled "Worker's Union", it was unnecessarily chaotic and repetitive. I suppose that reflects what the life of a worker is like, but it dragged on for over ten minutes. It started with one musician playing the piano, then one by one, the rest of the musicians join. But the instruments didn't work together because there was a lot of dissonance and it did not sound pretty at all. The only thing I can commend them on was following the rhythm, even when the whole piece sounded like one big mess.

All in all, I think listening to contemporary classic music is no doubt powerful, but sometimes less is more.