Southern Utah University’s Vanguard Ensemble performed their concert of nearly all original works on Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Thorley Recital Hall. The Vanguard Ensemble focuses on new, unconventional music techniques.
The concert began with the first movement of “Pizza Pizza,” an original work by William Holloway, one of the students in the ensemble. The movement consists of a single performer ordering a pizza over the phone.
“Piano Phase” by Steve Reich was next on the program. It was the only piece performed that was not composed by a student in the ensemble. The piece uses the musical technique of phasing, which consists of two or more performers playing the same music, but one plays slightly faster than the other, creating an off-center effect that results in unique melodies and patterns.
“If you’ve ever sat in your car, and you’re listening to the radio and you turn on your blinker, every once in a while, the blinker will line up with what’s happening on the radio, and then it will go out of sync. That’s a phase,” said Joseph Howe, the director of the Vanguard Ensemble.
Several of the students in the group took inspiration from the concept of phasing and created their own compositions using the technique. “…,… (Elongated Silence)” by William Holloway and “Cow Choir” by Andrew Blaney were two such pieces.
Following the pieces structured around phasing, the concert shifted toward music composed with graphic notation, which is a modern form of musical notation that uses shapes and icons to depict music rather than written notes. “Connection” by Wesley Miller began this portion of the concert. The piece was followed by “Cards” by Bailey-Jo Watts and “Passing Glass” by Zach Allred.
After a few more compositions, the Vanguard ensemble concluded their performance with the second movement of “Pizza Pizza.” At this point in the concert, the pizza that had been ordered at the beginning of the performance had arrived. The ensemble members used the pizza as a form of graphic notation, interpreting the shape, toppings and delivery time into a piece of music.
At the conclusion of the performance, audience members were invited to view the compositions, as the sheet music was displayed in the recital hall. The concert was live streamed and can be viewed here. For more information about the Vanguard Ensemble, contact Joseph Howe at howe@suu.edu or visit the music department website.
Author: Gracie Butterfield
Photos courtesy of SUU Music Department
Editor: Tessa Cheshire
accent@suunews.net
