On March 18, 2019 I attended the UBC School of Music’s Composers’ Concert at Roy Barnett Recital Hall. UBC music students were the stars of the performance and their talent blew me away. This is the first student production I have seen throughout all my years at UBC and I regret not coming to see others before hand. All of the music performed was performed by students and composed by students who went above and beyond what I had been expecting. Some of the pieces were conducted by the student who composed it, as was “Avdiutt” by Isaac Zee. Some of the pieces were performed directly by the student and an accompanist, as was “Chance Encounter” by Tze Liew who also sang. The last variation of performance was that the composer simply wrote the song and another student performed their work.
There were five songs that were performed during this concert. Two songs, “29thAvenue Station” and “Second Beach” by Eugene Shen, were performed by soloists: a baritone saxophone player and a flutist. What stuck out for me during “29thAvenue Station”, which was being played on the baritone saxophone, was that the song appeared to be the skytrain itself (which I am assuming what the song was about, according to its’ title). There was no fixed meter but there were moments of steadiness – two characteristics of a typical skytrain commute. At the very end of the song, the last note was prolonged and a bit abrupt which reminded me of the abrupt stop which occurs occasionally on a skytrain. I found this to be a very creative way of portraying a skytrain ride and the music was able to portray the characteristics of this specific mode of transportation very accurately. This reminded me of what we learned in class on March 22 about how the song was shaped by another musical association – in this case, the skytrain. There were no words being sung yet there was some purpose behind the music that was driving it. Because there was no textual purpose behind it however, this wold not be considered “Program Music”. “Second Beach” was more of a melodic tune, it had almost a jazzy feel to it which perhaps was inspired by the street performers that are present, especially during the summer days, at Second Beach. This song did not have a story as much as “29thAvenue Station” did per se, but did capture the essence of a sort of busker/jazz performer that is characteristic of a summer day at the beach.
“Night Piece” was performed by a soprano singer and accompanied by a guitar player. This song had no meter. It was almost an abstract piece of music, as the guitar accompaniment seemed to echo tones of obscurity yet tranquility. The singer mimicked these sometimes acute and quick accents throughout the piece. “Chance Encounter” was originally a Chinese poem and the composer put it to music The composer sang and was accompanied by a harp. In contrast to “Night Piece”, this song was a lot more relaxed and had a melodious and calming tone. This song though had no meter as well. This piece reminded me of how there was no way to fit a “formula” but it was a through composition that was determined by the text, similar to the work of Schiller and Beethoven.
Finally, “Avidutt” had the largest ensemble of all the songs performed and this song also told a story. There were three singers and they were all interacting with one another through song and laughter. They were making loud siren noises and would repeat one another, which reminded me of imitative polyphonic texture. This also had elements observed in “Night Piece” such as the abstraction and acute accents in which the singers mimicked with their voices. This was a fantastic way to end off the show.
All in all, I enjoyed this concert very much and highly encourage you, if you have not yet fulfilled your five concerts, to go see a student production. It is very inspiring to see the art that is being created and performed by our peers which we do not always have the opportunity to observe.