Annual music festival strikes interesting note

The School of Music hosted its ninth annual New Music Festival this weekend, a three-day event ending with a concert by the ECU Symphony Orchestra in Wright Auditorium.

The symphony orchestra was conducted by Jorge Richter and consisted of about 60 students. The group presented three heartfelt pieces to over 100 parents, students and faculty late Sunday afternoon.

The first piece, "Two Poems: Sough and Glowing Autumn" was the winner of the 2009 festival orchestra competition and was written by Yao Chen in 2005.

"The architectonic concept of this poem mirrors the way in which nature and human beings are represented in traditional Chinese landscape painting, where nature always dominates the scene and dwarfs the human inhabitants," said Chen.

He used the combination of mostly violins, cellos and violas in the first poem, but broadened his use of notes and bass for the second poem.

The second piece, "Folksongs of the Vikings" was written in 2003 by David Dahlgren and consisted of a tuba appearance by Tom McCaslin. Dahlgren's piece was written in memory of his cousin Margit Landberg, and consisted of many wind instruments, especially brass.

"The second piece was definitely my favorite, the music was so easy to listen to, and kept me wondering what instruments would be used next," said ECU student Jamie Harris.

Lastly, a piece composed in 2008 by ECU teaching assistant professor Marc Faris titled "Exorcisms," was performed in its world premiere and instantly become a crowd favorite. With a variety of sounds and instruments, the music kept the crowd wondering what was next.

"I really liked it, it was very different and very unpredictable," said Marie Paramore, whose daughter, Katie Paramore played the viola in the orchestra.

"It took about three weeks of practicing for us to learn the piece," said Katie Paramore.

"All in all, the whole performance was amazing, and the orchestra was great," said Mel Faris, whose son composed "Exorcisms."

The ECU School of Music will be holding its next show, the Spring Opera Performance, on March 4 at 7 p.m. in A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall.

This writer can be contacted at features@theeastcarolinian.com.