At 7:30 pm on April 24th，2019, the Alternate Currents Concert, which should have been held at the Heritage Center, was changed to the Thorley Recital Hall at Southern Utah University.
The concert originally had ten programs, plus three extra programs, a total of thirteen songs. This music was from well-known composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, Marck Applebaum and John Cage.
The concert also featured music from SUU students: Chris Kuhlemeier, Brendan Bennett and Brandon Pierce.
Force is a kind of creative program, it is played by four instruments, such as a trumpet and trombone. The performers circled around a pair of colorful canvases. The writing process was inspired by the forces of nature, including Gravity (Blue), Power (Red) and Life (Green). These three themes are repeated in variation throughout, compiled against the will of man (Brown).
The most special program is 4’33” by John Cage. This program is divided into three parts, respectably are 33”, 2’40” and 1’20”. There are many performers on the stage, including playing the viola, trumpet, and so on. But when the commander began to command, the stage was very quiet and no one played. After the three parts were over, the whole program was not a little sound. A total of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. There was an audience member in the crowd who couldn’t help but laugh, and all could hear that she was restraining herself, but she eventually lost control.
One audience member said that 4’33” was the song she had learned in the course of introduction to music. The professor told them that each audience is part of the performance, their laughter and whispering, are a unique aspect of every performance.
The three extra programs are played by the band. The theme is Festival City. Among them, My Home was written by the composer when he broke up with his girlfriend in high school, but as time went by, the song also lost its meaning to him. With the help of the band, they reworked the performance to give it an entirely different meaning.
Story by: Jie Fu
accent@suunews.net
Photo by: Jie Fu
