A harmony of strings, brass and woodwinds echoed off the walls and danced through the ears of those who attended the Keene State Orchestra’s concert in the Redfern Arts Center’s Main Theatre on October 29.
The orchestra, led by Director Devaseelan Manickam, performed Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, “Winter Dreams,” to an attentive audience, lush with fellow KSC music students and local community members.
The concert featured a limited number of paper programs, with a digital program being offered to attendees. Prior to the orchestra’s performance, Manickam introduced David Gruender, who gave a speech to the audience detailing Tchaikovsky’s background as a composer and the history of “Winter Dreams”.
Gruender is an experienced musician, having played in the Baltimore Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and the Boston Symphony/Boston Pops. He is now an active member and musician in the Keene community and played double bass in the cello section of the performance.
Graduate Student Benjamin Ott, a composition major at Keene State, attended the performance as he loves strings and had a connection in the violin section.
“I had listened to Tchaikovsky before and there’s a lot of stuff going on at once within the music,” Ott said. “I’ve attended many large ensembles and always enjoy seeing a lot of different instruments.”
When asked what his favorite part of the performance was, Ott noted that he was particularly impressed with the French Horn section. “There’s lots of slow parts in Tchaikovsky that are really beautiful,” Ott added.
Alannah Bloom, a junior and music education instrumental major at Keene State, performed in the flute section of the performance for the first time.
“The most challenging part is playing alongside the strings section,” Bloom said. “I’m typically in the concert band, so that’s new for me.”
Bloom said her favorite part of the performance was a movement in Part III. “There’s a really pretty slow part that the strings do there. I prefer slow music, almost waltzes. I really enjoyed movement two as well.” Bloom also played in the concert band’s performance the evening following the orchestra’s performance, switching her instrument from flute to piccolo.
Manickam gave his favorite part of the performance. “I would say the second movement was a highlight for me,” Manickam said. “It is so beautiful and the players executed it so well. Overall, this was an incredible challenge for our orchestra and the musicians did a really amazing job.”
“The Tchaik is a very challenging work to pull off. With smaller numbers, that makes it even more difficult,” Manickam added. “The length of the work was a challenge as well. It is hard to concentrate for 40 minutes straight on one work with no break.”
Manickam extended an invitation to Keene State community members who play orchestral instruments to consider joining the orchestra. Interested parties can contact Manickam at devaseelan.manickam@keene.edu.
Serena Taylor can be contacted at
staylor@kscequinox.com
