Tut Tut, it looks like Rain...

Characteristic of New England weather, last week's heat wave was quickly traded for gray days filled with scattered thunder storms and lightning-filled skies. Luckily the storms never became too severe, however, and the rain certainly didn't keep the BUTI campus quiet! The students of the String Quartet Workshop gave their first recital on Saturday afternoon at Trinity Church. The five quartets, composed of students who had known each other for only one week, beautifully performed works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schubert.

Saturday evening, Mike Roylance, Director of the Tuba/Euphonium Workshop, gave a fabulous Faculty Recital featuring himself as well as fellow tubists Robert Carpenter, Zachary deVries, and Claude Kashnig, with Ling Leng accompanying on piano. They performed works by Telemann, Aron Romhanyi, Bernstein, Edward J. Madden, Hindemith, and John Williams, ending the recital with a rousing low brass version of the Bayerische Polka!

On Sunday afternoon a group of students took a 2.5 mile hike up Mount October in Lee, MA. That evening the BUTI students also attended their first concert at the Tanglewood Maingrounds- a performance by Yo-Yo Ma and Silk Road Ensemble at Seiji Ozawa Hall where we heard everything from Chinese folk songs to Turkish dances to traditional Indian tunes. Called "a cornucopia of musical ideas...featuring instrumental and vocal artists of almost unimaginable virtuosity" (Seattle Times), the Silk Road Ensemble put on an absolutely wonderful performance. Yo-Yo Ma spoke to the audience about the magnificent collaboration, both instrumentally and culturally, that the ensemble exhibited and how the Silk Road Ensemble was actually "born" on the stage of Seiji Ozawa Hall twelve years earlier.

Yesterday's wonderful Faculty Assistant Recital featured Danby Cho, Assistant Director of the Clarinet Workshop, as well as Thomas Weston, clarinet; Ona Jonaityte, flute; Ben Fox, oboe; Kaitlin Fry, bassoon; Samantha Benson, horn; Lauren Woo, soprano; and Heeyeon Chi, piano. The performance took place in the West Street Theatre on the BUTI campus and featured works by Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert, and a sextet by Francis Poulenc.

Tonight's Faculty Recital featured Director of the Saxophone Workshop Kenneth Radnofsky. Professor Radnofsky separated his recital into three parts: "Music and Myth"; "Music and Grief"; and "Music and Dance". He spoke about the power of musical expression and its ability to convey emotion even without the use of text. He performed works by Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britton, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Maurice Ravel, Paul Bonneau, and a commissioned piece by Goran Daskalov. Jessie Lo accompanied on piano.


Click the link below to view photos from the weekend events!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/buti2012/