The University of Indianapolis held the Faculty Artist Concert Series: “Classics to Moderns” in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center on Monday, Nov. 17.
The performers were a collaboration of faculty from UIndy’s music department and influential musicians in the Indianapolis area.
The concert included two parts with a short intermission in between. The first piece was performed by the New Century String Quartet, including Dean Franke and Lisa Scott both playing the violin, Susan Chan playing the viola and Dennis McCafferty playing the cello.
The string quartet played “Op. 23 No. 2,” nicknamed “The Joke.”
Freshman music education major Carissa Catlin, thought the quartet was “incredible.”
“I thought it was funny…they kept faking it [the piece] out, and we were waiting to clap,” Catlin said.
The following piece was performed by soloist Mitzi Westra and Nemanja Ostojic on guitar. “Songs from the Chinese Op. 58,” includes six short Chinese poems translated into English. Both performers are a part of UIndys’ music faculty.
Senior music composition major Darren Isaac was beyond impressed by his professor’s performances.
“Mitzi Westra is an amazing teacher and performer,” Isaac said.
Isaac is impressed by Westra’s ability to teach in such an inspiring manner.
“The fact the she [Westra] can get up there and demonstrate exactly everything that she teaches, in such a beautiful and expressive way, is really inspiring to us as students,” Isaac said.
Ostojic was a recent addition to the UIndy music department.
“He [Ostojic] has been an incredible addition to our staff because he has played some incredibly challenging and modern music and pulled it off amazingly well,” Issac said.
The final piece, “Music of Amber,” came in two parts, played by Anne Reynolds on flute, Carthryn Gross on both clarinet and bass clarinet, Robert Simonds on violin, Kurt Fowler on cello, Gregory Martin on piano, Mackenzie LaMont on percussion and Paul Krasnovsky as the conductor.
The Faculty Artist Concert Series proved to be an impressive display of talent of the UIndy music department faculty.
By the end of the concert, the audience did not hesitate to express their delight about the performance.
The next concert in the Faculty Artist Concert, entitled “Molto Piano (Words with Music),” will be held on Monday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall.
