Ping Chong + Company is a New York-based theater company that is putting on an interview-based theater production centering around Muslim-American identities in our post-9/11 world.
Below is a preview of the one-day event coming up this Saturday:
“Participants come from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and include young men and women who reflect a range of Muslim identities…Beyond Sacred illuminates the daily lives of Muslim Americans in an effort to work toward greater communication and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities.”
Ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro (photo taken from http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/photos/)
On Wednesday night, the University Musical Society (UMS) had ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro at Hill Auditorium. Shimabukuro wowed the crowd as he strummed so fast that his hands were a blur. Him and his bass player Nolan Verner played original songs off of his new album titled Nashville Sessions such as “F Minor”, “Celtic Tune”, and “Blue Haiku”. They also played popular songs such as the Beatles song “Come Together” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Shimabukuro took the stage alone as he paid tribute to Leonard Cohen by playing “Hallelujah”.
Bass player Nolan Verner and ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro (taken from http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/photos/)
My friend and I ended up getting the opportunity to meet Jake after the concert and get a picture and autograph. He was so sweet and extremely down to earth, even thanking us for coming to his concert! I told him about how I started playing the ukulele a year ago and as I was leaving he said, “Good luck on the uke!” Definitely an experience that I’ll never forget!
Upcoming performances through UMS can be found at http://ums.org/season/.
It is a rare event when you get to see some of the world’s best musicians all on a stage together, directed by the very famous Simon Rattle. What was almost as special as this was the mere fact of how many people showed up to Hill Auditorium both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon to see the Berlin Phil. I know that classical music can sometimes be a tad old-fashioned or out of the interests of millennials, but it was incredibly encouraging to see the masses of people, all different ages and backgrounds, coming out to see the concert.
The performance started with a more contemporary piece called Éclat by Boulez. The piece contrasted a variety of instruments on stage, from mandolin to harpsichord. Every musician had to be incredibly attentive to one another, as their entrances came randomly and spaced out by an arbitrary number of rests. Additionally, the combination of instruments kept changing to showcase different mixtures voices. Though it was not my personal favorite, the piece offered a fascinating contrast to the following part of the program.
The next piece they played was Mahler’s 7th Symphony. I have long been biased towards Mahler’s work, always feeling incredibly in tune with his melodies and emotionally connected to the solos. One of the most impressive aspects of the Philharmonic’s performance was the woodwind solis, which usually consisted of the flute, oboe, and clarinet principals, as well as the second principals at times. These few musicians were perfectly connected in their musicality and phrasing, to the extent that their separate instrument timbres would melt into one another at the end of a phrase. This was such a treat to hear, being a clarinetist myself and always enjoying the beautiful bell tones of a leading clarinet player.
But of course, I have to also mention the conductor. Rattle was a very enthusiastic conductor, but not to the extent like some others such as Dudamel. His exuberance was more subtle and concentrated into his communication with the musicians. Most of all, you could tell how close the director and symphony had come, when at the end Rattle traveled through the orchestra and shook the hand of every principal musician. It was a very touching moment, and I believe the entire audience felt its impact.
This Wednesday, November 16, the University Musical Society is bringing ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro to the University of Michigan! The concert will take place in Hill Auditorium at 7:30pm.
Photo taken from http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/photos/
Shimabukuro started playing ukulele at the age of four, and now he is doing concerts around the world! With a four-stringed instrument, he is able to play anything from classical music to popular songs such as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. More information on Jake Shimabukuro can be found at his website: http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/
Photo taken from http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/photos/
Tickets are on sale for $16.00-$60.00 (depending on the location of the seats) at http://ums.org/performance/jake-shimabukuro/.
When? Saturday, Nov 12 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, Nov 13 at 4:00 pm
Where? Hill Auditorium
How Much? Students: $20, General Admission: $50 – $185
Why? It has been 7 years since the Berlin Philharmonic last came to Ann Arbor, and it is the final US tour of the orchestra with their director Simon Rattle. They are performing some of the most spectacular pieces ever composed, including Mahler’s 7th Symphony and Brahms’ 2nd Symphony. It will be a couple days you do not want to miss.
The Mark Morris Dance Group performance was certainly a new experience for me. I have never been to such a mixed arts event in the past. Walking in, before the first people came on stage, before even the lights began to dim, you are immediately aware of the art of the performance because of the backdrop of the stage. There is this brilliant painting that sets the background for the entire performance, consisting of what appears to be large brush strokes sweeping across the canvas. The entire painting consists of only 3 colors, but as the lighting changes on stage, the painting changes colors as well. This sets the mood for the performance, as the rest of the dancers come out dressed in similarly bright colors.
At the beginning of the performance, a group of 4 musicians come on stage and perform a short piece that also begins immersing the audience into the world of Layla and Majnun. The music is accompanied by English captions above the stage, translating the story being told by the two singers in the group. Immediately, from the key of the music and the poetic quotations being presented in the captions, the audience gets a feeling for the tragic nature of this story.
Then, the entire music ensemble walks on stage. As the musicians begin playing, the dancers start to walk out two at a time. All of the female dancers are dressed in these brilliant pink flowing dresses, and the men are dressed in bright blue. This choice of colors perfectly contrasted the men from the women, as well as made the aesthetic of the stage come together beautifully with the painting in the backdrop. This can be seen in the image below, taken by Susana Miller.
Photo by Susana Miller
Throughout the performance, one is entranced by the beautiful singing of Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova, seated directly in the middle of the stage and surrounded by the music ensemble. They demonstrated an incredible control over their vocal range and ability to express such deep emotion in their voices. I do have to say I was biased towards focusing on the musicians more than the dancers, since my training is in music, not dance. This also meant I was new to the style of dance the Mark Morris group utilized. It was predominantly lyrical, trying to showcase the tragedy of this love story through the movements of the body. However, this also meant there was not a focus on showcasing skill, so the performance was much more centered on telling the story of Layla and Majnun rather than exhibiting the dancers.In this way, the choreography often included simple physical movements that demonstrated love and loss, repeated by each male/female pair in the dance group.
Overall, I fell in love with the beautiful colors of the stage and the voices of the singers and the talents of the musicians, but I found myself unable to stay focused on the dancers. My eyes kept drifting back to watch Alim and Fargana perform extraordinary cadenzas effortlessly. I would love to see the Mark Morris Dance Group perform in a more dance-central piece, but I was not able to experience the character and skill of the group in this performance.
