The Modern Americans Concert will be on Oct. 7 at 7:30p.m. in the Ley Theatre and will also be available on livestream for those unable to attend.
The concert, which has three parts, was created by three American Composers and will be performed by Sarah Farr on mezzo-soprano vocals, Karl Kolbeck on clarinet and Angela Miller-Davis on piano, who said it contained a contemporary classic sound and encouraged students to come see the concert for a unique experience.
“At one point I’m playing with pencils on two different strings,” Davis said about her role using the inside of the piano for a solo number written by Dawn Avery, a Native-American composer who took inspiration from her Mohawk heritage and included Mohawk language and culture within the piece. ‘
“That one is not too weird, it’s actually quite pretty,” Davis said about the preceding first act, which was commissioned from composer Kurt Knecht using grant money provided by Wayne State College and will be a trio performance between piano, vocals and clarinet.
Because the piece was written especially for the Modern Americans event, this concert will be the first ever performance it is played in.
“We’ve been rehearsing this piece because it’s brand new, so no one’s ever done it,” Davis said when asked about the practice that went into preparing it for the concert.
Davis gave special acknowledgement to Farr for this act who wrote the grant so they could get the commission.
The final act, which was written by recently deceased composer George Crumb in the early 2000s, is translated from Spanish and will be accompanied by text and vocal effects to leave a unique impression on listeners.
“It’s pretty weird and the text is kind of creepy,” Davis said.
Davis reiterated the obscure techniques within the performance and offered a look into contemporary classical music saying it sometimes gets a little out there when doing sound experiments such as a portion of Farr’s performance that has Sprechstimme, a vocal technique that uses both singing and speaking simultaneously.
The concert is free for students and can be livestreamed from the school’s website.
