Excelsior

Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Tine M. Jakobsen MUSIC @ BC: Lead by director Lars Frandsen, professor in Guitar history, the guitarists took the audience on a journey through world history.

With the end of the semester and finals rapidly approaching, most students will spend their time negotiating Adderall prices or desperately reading a semesters worth of literature last minute. Few will probably care to take a time out and enjoy the cultural offerings of our very own college, unless say you have a concert or play review due for one of your classes.

This is a real shame. If you just sacrifice one or two small hours of your time, you could take a short trip to your very own desolate Brazilian fisherman's town and join the locals for a round of slow, sexy samba, or maybe relive the glorious medieval times. How, you ask? Well, a good start is going to one of the Conservatory of Musics many concerts, which are even free for all BC students. The Conservatory offers performances in an array of musical genres, ranging from chamber choir and various orchestra ensembles, to more intimate jazz or even computer music ensembles. I recently had the pleasure of going to the Guitar Ensemble's intimate recital in Levenson Hall.

Lead by director Lars Frandsen, professor in Guitar studies, the guitarists elegantly took us on a journey through world history, stopping by medieval Britain, Germany during industrialization, Spain at war with Cuba and modern day Brazil. Impressively, the performers interpreted pieces from composers such as Felix Mendelssohn and Isaac Albéniz, in a program where roughly 90 per cent of the music was originally made for piano.

To start it off, a guest string quartet brilliantly showcased a students work; a harmonic and lovely fugue written for strings by guitar student, Joseph Pacilio, who also was a part of the performing guitar ensemble. Pacilio, accompanied by Ronnie Nissinboim proceeded with the medieval sounds of "The Flat Pavane and Galliarde" by John Johnson, showing off their remarkable plucking skills, moving from slow to fast tempo sections smoothly, in perfect harmony.

Following this, director Frandsen and student Carlos Cuestas took the audience away to a mediterranean island, with the relaxing and playful tunes from Isaac Albéniz's "Cantos de Espana", completely putting their souls into the music. Cuestas continued with a solo piece, also from Albéniz, working the guitar like it was simply an extension of himself. At certain points it sounded like multiple guitar were playing at once, in this extraordinary piece, with intense crescendos mixed with slower, more emotional sections. Cuestas fingers moved like wind up and down the bars and between strings. After his performance, Cuestas triumphantly thrust his fist in the air, while receiving vigorous applause from the nearly packed auditorium.

Continued...

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