On March 20th 2019, I had a chance to join concert held by UBC school of music every Wednesday at the Barnet Hall. The name of the event was called the “Toward the Sea- Celebrating Pacific Rim Connections”. The program featured two artist named Mark Takeshi McGregor who is a Canadian flutist with a rich and diverse career as a leading performer and classical avant garde music and Adrian Verdejo on Guitar who is a Canadian classical guitarist living in Vancouver.
The first piece was “Toward the Sea” by Takemitsu. After bit of research I found out that this piece was composed as a contribution to the “Save the Whales” campaign of Greenpeace. Historically, Japan is a whale-hunting nation, this contribution was a political statement. I believe in this piece the composer desires to represent natural sounds such as wind and water by musical instruments. Mark Takeshi Adrian verdejo did a great job on the flute and guitar respectively and portrayed an aural image of ebb and flow of sea waves. The calm and meditative tone of the piece creates a very peaceful atmosphere around the concert hall.
The second piece was Duo I by Ignacio Baca Lobera. I was fascinated to learn that the piece was created in 1992 and that it is meant to be played on flute and guitar and two performers as the name suggests. The performers played the tune in alto. It was soothing and it raised the audience’s spirits. One would think that the piece portrayed the happy moments of a couple in love based on the emotions it evoked.
The third piece was Verdigris by Jocelyn Morlock. It started with a fast rhythm that mostly made us somber and pensive. The melody and rhythm came out so well and it was clear that the performers had lots of skills and experience based on how they maneuvered with the flute and the guitar. I cannot emphasize enough on the tune’s peaceful ending that reminded me of a calm sunset in the beaches of the tropics marked by the calmness of the sea.
Histoire Du Tango was the fourth piece. The musical tune was created by Astor Piazolla and it contained four parts that were all compiled in 1986. The parts include: Bordel 1900, Café 1930, Nightclub 1960, and Concert d’adjourd’hui. The Bordel 1900 began slowly rising in tempo to a fast-paced tune reminding me of the beginning of a storm and ending in a calm and somber like the whispers of an ending storm.
The fifth piece was the Nightclub 1960 was playful and flirty literally evoking the mood of a night club. It had a rippling melody that had a mixture of rising and falling tempo that makes the song danceable and seductive (Charron 2017). Most importantly, the piece inspires happiness and freedom to meet the demands of night life