String Ensemble draws crowd with Classical recital
DANIEL TORRES, Correspondent
Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Entertainment
Tuesday night the Cal Poly String Ensemble performed to a packed house in the Music Recital Hall.
Conducted by Alan Mautner, a music professor who also played cello during the performance and has been conducting the ensemble for the past three years, the Ensemble performed pieces by Bohemian-Austrian composer Heinrich Biber, Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, German composer Johannes Brahms, and American composer George Frederick McKay.
The performers kept a serious look on their faces throughout the show and only after finishing their sets would a smile emerge.
During Vivaldi's "Concerto in D Major", Cal Poly's very own Dr. Peter Yates joined the String Ensemble by adding a guitar sound to the concerto.
But what seemed to entertain the audience the most was Beiber's "La Batalla," or the battle, where they were exposed to colleño. Colleño is when the instruments bow is tapped on the strings; during "Sonata" there was plenty of tapping.
"[It was] really nice and cool. I played the violin and I didn't think it was so versatile," said Gretel Ochoa, a first-year mathematics student.
First violin Lonnie Yu, a third-year computer science and mathematics student, has been playing the violin for 13 years. He started playing when he was four.
"It was just one of those instruments that they let you experiment on," said Yu.
Before the beginning of each concerto, all the performers eyes were on Mautner, anxiously waiting to move their bows, but none dared to until the conductor gave the word.
According to Dr. Mautner, the ensemble was started because a number of string playing students "wanted somewhere to play."
Mautner stated that the ensemble's average 12 students per quarter and that the ensemble tries to put on a show every quarter.
Henryka Maslowski, a mathematics professor and second violinist, has been with the ensemble for 10 years.
"I do not know when the ensemble began. Through the seventies there used to be a full orchestra, which was disbanded for numerous reasons. When I joined, the ensemble was led by Kay Pech, a violinist-violist from Cerritos," said Maslowski.
The only problem that the ensemble faces is continuity.
"As students stay a few years and then [they] move on. In the last two years, two outstanding string players (one a cellist) have graduated, leaving a big hole," said Maslowski.
This was the reason for Mautner both conducting and playing. As the recital came to an end, the ensemble still had some energy to get rid of. Playing "Rocky Harbour and Sandy Cove," a piece by McKay, the bass players were able to let out a bit of their immaturity by plucking the string on the bass in unison.
Nicholas Meade, a senior recording student, has been playing bass since high school.
"It's fun. Tiger Army and Brian Setzer use the same type of bass. An upright bass takes a while to get used to. It took me two quarters to learn how to hold the bass properly," said Meade.
The ensemble is open to all faculty, staff, and students who play a string instrument.
Conducted by Alan Mautner, a music professor who also played cello during the performance and has been conducting the ensemble for the past three years, the Ensemble performed pieces by Bohemian-Austrian composer Heinrich Biber, Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, German composer Johannes Brahms, and American composer George Frederick McKay.
The performers kept a serious look on their faces throughout the show and only after finishing their sets would a smile emerge.
During Vivaldi's "Concerto in D Major", Cal Poly's very own Dr. Peter Yates joined the String Ensemble by adding a guitar sound to the concerto.
But what seemed to entertain the audience the most was Beiber's "La Batalla," or the battle, where they were exposed to colleño. Colleño is when the instruments bow is tapped on the strings; during "Sonata" there was plenty of tapping.
"[It was] really nice and cool. I played the violin and I didn't think it was so versatile," said Gretel Ochoa, a first-year mathematics student.
First violin Lonnie Yu, a third-year computer science and mathematics student, has been playing the violin for 13 years. He started playing when he was four.
"It was just one of those instruments that they let you experiment on," said Yu.
Before the beginning of each concerto, all the performers eyes were on Mautner, anxiously waiting to move their bows, but none dared to until the conductor gave the word.
According to Dr. Mautner, the ensemble was started because a number of string playing students "wanted somewhere to play."
Mautner stated that the ensemble's average 12 students per quarter and that the ensemble tries to put on a show every quarter.
Henryka Maslowski, a mathematics professor and second violinist, has been with the ensemble for 10 years.
"I do not know when the ensemble began. Through the seventies there used to be a full orchestra, which was disbanded for numerous reasons. When I joined, the ensemble was led by Kay Pech, a violinist-violist from Cerritos," said Maslowski.
The only problem that the ensemble faces is continuity.
"As students stay a few years and then [they] move on. In the last two years, two outstanding string players (one a cellist) have graduated, leaving a big hole," said Maslowski.
This was the reason for Mautner both conducting and playing. As the recital came to an end, the ensemble still had some energy to get rid of. Playing "Rocky Harbour and Sandy Cove," a piece by McKay, the bass players were able to let out a bit of their immaturity by plucking the string on the bass in unison.
Nicholas Meade, a senior recording student, has been playing bass since high school.
"It's fun. Tiger Army and Brian Setzer use the same type of bass. An upright bass takes a while to get used to. It took me two quarters to learn how to hold the bass properly," said Meade.
The ensemble is open to all faculty, staff, and students who play a string instrument.
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