Concert

This concert consisted of solo performances by Ivano Ascari, as well as pieces with guest musicians in a number of songs. The artist opened with Suite for I.A. which was composed by Stephen Dunn. The suite consisted of 3 separate pieces; the introduction, songs, and ended with dance. This piece was performed with Stephen Dunn along with backing tracks played through an onstage computer run through a P.A. system. The two trumpets played harmony and melody, the backing trumpets also played the harmony for the two performers. This song was in common time and was played in major key. This song had a classical sound to it and had many different trumpets layered on top of one another to harmonize the piece. The second piece was Music from received letters, Op. 257; Letters first and second which was composed by Dimitri Nicolau. This piece was a solo trumpet performance in Minor key. The meter was very difficult to pick up because it was just one trumpet playing at many different speeds. It was almost like watching someone practice or warm up, there did not seem to be any definite time signature and the performer was not reading from any sheet music. The third piece was trumpet accompanied by piano, which was played by Brian Lockhard. This piece was Fleeting Memories by Robert Garwell. This piece was definitely in minor key, easily identifiable by its sadder tone. This piece was also in common time; the piano was playing the rhythm. This was my favorite piece as it sounded very classical and was truly enjoyable to watch. I found the piano to be more impressive than the trumpet, which seemed to just hit long single notes for quite a while before going into a lead part. The fourth piece was also a Suite, this one by Constantine A. Lignos. The suite consisted of 4 pieces; Preludio, La melodia ritrovata, Like a blues, Like a tango. This solo trumpet piece was in major key and was very interesting as Ivano Ascari used several different techniques that I have never seen before....