Author: Tsukumo

Senior interested in performing arts of all kinds, and practically anything that interests YOU.

REVIEW: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

Tsukumo
Looks like they’re all giving us magical spells! Courtesy of UMS

The first thing that I could say is “Wow.” I was so pleased with their playing that I did not want the concert to end. Each and every note was performed with so many different colors, with tones that we often cannot find in American-based orchestras. I was especially drawn by the extremely wide range of dynamics that the orchestra was able to produce, and the conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s ability to convey all of his artistic visions with just his body language.

I was most inspired by their performance of Ravel’s Concerto for Piano in G Major (1931), with Hélène Grimaud on piano. Ms. Grimaud’s technique was beyond words — her fingers flew everywhere but knew exactly where to land, and produced the right kind of sounds for particular parts of the pieces. I absolutely love this concerto, and I was looking forward to hearing it live — soloist Hélène Grimaud and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin all exceeded my expectations, and captured so many characters that this piece contains. They left me loving this concerto even more.

I also loved watching Maestro’s conducting style. A little bit of background story here: I am part of the conductor search for the orchestra I play in right now, and thus I’ve observed so many conductors in the past month. Through this search, I’ve realized that I really love it when conductors focus more on conveying the artistry rather than showing a steady tempo all the time. Mr. Nézet-Séguin’s conducting had just that — hand gestures that got the most out of the orchestra. How I wished he could conduct our ensemble! (Haha, right.) I had a lot to learn from the musicians in the orchestra as well, especially those in the woodwind section, who moved with the music to invite other players to play with them. It was beautifully done.

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra was visiting Ann Arbor as a part of their U.S. tour, with the other stops at North Ridge, San Diego, Costa Mesa, Palm Desert, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. They performed the same program — Ravel’s Ma Mere l’Oye and Piano Concerto in G Major as well as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 — right before they left for the United States, in their hometown of Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is such an honor that an orchestra of this high caliber has visited Ann Arbor to share their art.

PREVIEW: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

Tsukumo
Photo by Marco Borggreve
Photo by Marco Borggreve

The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from the Netherlands is coming back to Ann Arbor for the first time in almost 40 years. Led by a 39-year-old conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra is bringing into life some excellent works from the late Romantic period by Maurice Ravel and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The orchestra is known for the energy in their performances, colorful variety of their sound, and their unique and bold choices in interpretations.

This is one of the rare chances to experience an internationally renowned orchestra performing top-notch repertoire — FOR FREE! Students, pick up the Passport to the Arts and redeem them at the League Ticket Office to get your free ticket. Can it get any better?

For more information about this performance, check out the UMS page here.

WHEN: Thursday, February 19, 2015 — 7:30pm

WHERE: Hill Auditorium

HOW MUCH: Student half-price tickets starting at $12, OR get the tickets for FREE using the Passport to the Arts or Bert’s Tickets program!

REVIEW: Currents and Crossings

Tsukumo
Photo: School of Music, Theater, and Dance

The annual dance concert by the Department of Dance, Currents and Crossings made me realize that dance is such an interdisciplinary genre of art. While many aspects of dance are associated with performing arts, dance is a form of visual art at the same time because dancers constantly use their bodies, props, and costumes to “paint” the scenes on stage. Dance can also incorporate many other types of arts to stimulate audiences’ senses, such as music, visual arts, and engineering.

Out of the four dance pieces performed that night, I found the first one — “Into the Wind” — most intriguing. In addition to the eight skillful dancers, this piece incorporated flute and percussion improvisers, two paintings, a poem, interviews with the factory workers, and a “wind data sonification” system to present its unique atmosphere. This seemingly random combination of arts reflects its unique background — “Into the Wind” was premiered near the grounds of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center, the groundin which renewable energy initiatives replaced the Continental Motors engine factory. As such, the dancers represented both natural and industrial sides of this story, by depicting the factory workers in one scene and the wind moving freely in another. While the props such as draping fabric and beautiful soundtracks helped create these scenes, the dancers’ artistry really made these scenes happen vividly.

This concert was a testament to how dance can serve as the bridge between all art forms. Although the School of Music, Theater, and Dance tries to encourage collaboration between these art forms, it’s a shame that the Department of Dance tends to be underrepresented in the SMTD community. (Case in point: there was only one act that featured in the Collage Concert last month, whereas there were many music acts and some theater acts.) I can’t wait to see what other shows they have in store for us, and what collaborations they are thinking of doing.

PREVIEW: Currents and Crossings

Tsukumo
Image courtesy of SMTD

Currents and Crossings is a concert of modern dance by the School of Music, Theater, and Dance. The main piece in this performance is going to be Brisk Singing (1997), a lyrical and energetic dance set to excerpts of the opera Les Boréades by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The choreographer for Brisk Singing, Richard Alston, is acclaimed for his ability to respond to musical materials and to explore pure dance aesthetic. Other pieces in this concert are choreographed by the professors here at Michigan, and feature various aspects of nature — such as the African tradition of bottle trees and the elemental forces of wind. There are four chances to watch this performance this weekend. Even better, Currents and Crossings is on the Passport to the Arts so you can watch it for free! Don’t miss out! (Watch a trailer video here.)

WHEN: Thursday, February 5 at 7:30pm; Friday and Saturday, February 6-7 at 8pm; Sunday, February 8 at 2pm

WHERE: Power Center

TICKETS: FREE with the Passport to the Arts, or $10 with student ID. Get the tickets at the Michigan League Ticket Office!

REVIEW: Detroit Symphony Orchestra plays “Firebird”

Tsukumo

On Saturday night, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra delivered an energetic program consisting of Strauss’s Don Juan, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Connession’s Cosmic Trilogy, and Stavinsky’s “Firebird” suite. Maestro Robert Treviño led the orchestra with much enthusiasm, and the audience was able to absorb that energy quite well.

Special shoutout goes to the violinist and concertmaster Yoonshin Song and the entire wind section. Ms. Song brought life to each and every phrase of Prokofiev’s tricky solo line. The orchestra supported her by accompanying her expressively and applauding after the performance, which attested to her leadership ability and trust she gains from the orchestra for her personality.

In addition to the concertmaster, this program highlighted the strength of the DSO’s wind section as a whole. As a wind player myself, I always experience the difficulty of working with such a large section to make one cohesive sound. Stravinsky’s “Firebird” Suite (1919) is a perfect piece to showcase their unity. “Firebird” features each principal player’s virtuosity as a solo player, but it also requires everyone in the section to create the “winds” sound — which they did very well.

But today, I also want to comment on something else that was on my mind during this performance.

I headed over to this concert after an entire day spent at the SphinxCon, the conference intended to spark conversations about inclusion and diversity in arts. For three days, participants like myself were able to listen to many empowering speakers and panelists that worked actively to disturb the dominant narratives and let the minorities’ voices be heard — whether it be race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, indigenous affiliation, (dis)ability status, or otherwise. Then, I looked at the stage in the Orchestra Hall. The majority of the orchestra is white, and the largest racial minority group represented is Asian. There are a couple of Black musicians on stage, but this makeup surely does not represent the population of Detroit.

I have heard of DSO’s efforts to actively include the Detroit community, through frequent live streaming, ticket promotions, and local, more affordable performances. As “a community-supported orchestra,” DSO puts a lot of work into inclusion. However, the reality is rough. Classical music, or any art for that matter, is very expensive to maintain and present, yet making the tickets more expensive would exclude many, many populations. Pursuing arts as a career often takes economic stability, which is not something that everyone has. How do you disrupt that? …That’s the question that looms over the minds of many artists, arts organizations, stakeholders, and leaders.

By coming to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s concert to conclude my busy Saturday, I was able to synthesize a lot of information that I absorbed from the SphinxCon. These thoughts are always work in progress. Maybe one day, we can see the same program performed with an orchestra and an audience that represents the population makeup of the community…

REVIEW: Selma

Tsukumo

Selma (2014) is a very powerful movie that reminded me how deep-rooted the issues of racism is in the United States, and how brave leaders have emerged to tackle it. By focusing on one key event in civil rights movement among many others, the movie was able to give a very detailed picture for better historical accuracy.

In the movie, Martin Luther King. Jr., leads a demonstration with thousands of people — only Black locals at first, but adding in white allies after then — who marched from Selma to Montgomery in search for equal voting rights. It depicts Dr. King as he evaluates benefits and risks associated with the march, gets incarcerated, gets condemned for his inability to continue the march, makes a uniting speech, and finally makes worthwhile changes happen. As I study about community action and social change, I am inspired by his ability to evaluate the situation and decide what is the best, unafraid of attacks he may receive for his opinions or actions. Although Dr. King is not an easy character to be acted out, David Oyelowo played this role with much-needed dignity and determination. Other actors actors, including Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Keith Stanfield, E. Roger Mitchell, and many others as well as the hundreds of extras in the march scenes, really made the movie impactful.

There was a lot of depictions of violence, from people getting beaten up to police spraying tear gas all over. While these images can be triggering to some audience (I was surprised that it wasn’t rated R), I think it was necessary to include these. It is difficult, if not impossible, to talk about Black rights movement without mentioning multitudes of violence done on them.

Overall, I was very glad I watched this movie. Many friends of mine went as well, and I appreciated that we were able to spark a conversation on civil rights movement and racism based on the movie. If you have not been to Selma yet, I highly recommend it. You can find the showtimes at the State Theater here.