By Veronica Y. Gonzalez
On February 1, 2020 at 7:30pm, the Krannert Center for Performing Arts welcomed the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra and guest violinist, Rachel Pine. (Make-up event)
As I took my seat in the Foellinger Great Hall, the nice lady next to me asked, “Are you a student here?” I answered “Yes,” to which she replied, “You must be the only one not at Kam’s right now.” I found her comment extremely funny so I was already in the best mood when the performance began. I’ve never seen a live orchestra perform, only in cartoons if I’m being honest here, so I didn’t know what to expect. The conductor gave a speech before they started. He was a joyful and lively man contrary to the serious and mean conductors I had seen on television. He put a smile on all of our faces.
Watching the orchestra perform made me feel relaxed. The music was beautiful and it was an amazing experience to be there. So many emotions were shown in the form of music and sometimes the range of emotions created a story in my mind. The first piece, Overture to The Magic Flute by Mozart, encompassed a joyful emotion. It sounded like a piece we would hear in Disney’s Bambi. In my head I imagined animals in the woods enjoying the morning sun. Then, the music increased tempo. I imagined the animals playing tag. As the piece progressed, the dynamics would go between medium and high so that made me visualize the animals changing running speed. The piece ended with a climax in which I visualized the chase ending and an animal getting tagged. Listening to music can show you what your imagination can create!
My favorite piece has to be the second one, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Samuel Barber. Rachel Pine joined the orchestra for this piece. She was an amazing performer! She managed to play so emotionally that I actually felt the emotions myself. When she played a sad part, her facial expressions and her body movements enhanced the emotion to the point where I was starting to feel like crying. I am an extremely emotional person so I usually cry when something is sad but this was different. I felt like there was a connection between the music and me. After the performance, I was reading the event program and it turns out that I am not the only one who got emotional when Rachel played. The program says that she has an “innate gift for emotional communication”. I wanted to meet her when she was signing her CDs during intermission but you had to buy a CD to talk to her and get her autograph. I don’t have a CD player but I can assure you that after this experience, I will definitely be listening to more orchestra music on Spotify!