First annual Concordia Arts Festival draws crowd for an evening of artwork, poetry and music
Students mingle at the Nov. 8 Concordia Arts Festival.
Photo credit: Nora Betts
By Nora Betts
Managing Editor
The first annual Concordia Arts Festival drew around 40 people to the Borland Center for Music and Theatre on Friday night for a student-led celebration of Baroque artwork, poetry, and music. The event was hosted by Concordia’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education, led by club president Samuel Dunbar.
Senior Jackson Munter (left) talks about his organ piece by Dietrich Buxteheude and senior Samuel Dunbar (right) listens. Photo: Nora Betts.
Students gathered in the Borland lobby on Nov. 8 to mingle, eat snacks, and look at a collection of art prints representing the Baroque period from the early 1600s to the mid-1700s. Senior Art Club member Kayla Reece gave an art talk explaining the characteristics of the time period, including high-contrast highlights and shadows, intense movement, and theatrical staging. She summed up Baroque art with the word “grandeur.”
Art prints included Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s statue of David, Caravaggio’s “The Calling of St. Matthew,” and female artist Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting “Judith Beheading Holofernes.”
“Imagine yourself in these portraits. Maybe not in the beheading,” Reece said, prompting laughter from the crowd.
Students from NAfME and Sigma Tau Delta/Writing Club then led a recital of Baroque music and poetry in the Borland recital hall.
The first performance was a brass ensemble by Dunbar, junior Miriam Ganoung, sophomore Taylor Beal, and freshman David Eatherton. They played Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Menuet II” from French Suite No. 1.
Junior Miriam Ganoung looks at the Baroque art displayed in the Borland lobby on Nov. 8. Photo: Nora Betts.
“I Baroque’d so hard,” said Ganoung, who played trombone in the ensemble.
Two other music pieces were written by Bach for violin, but students played them on untraditional instruments. Senior Logan Walgate played Bach’s “Allemande” from Partita No. 2 on alto saxophone and junior Shasta Tonniges played his “Bourrée” from Partita No. 1 on marimba.
Walgate said he enjoyed learning the Baroque piece and playing it on a non-Baroque instrument.
“This was a cool event with some opportunities to play some Baroque music, which we don’t normally get to play, especially showcasing the versatility of Baroque music, being able to play it on saxophones and marimbas even if it was originally composed for violin,” he said.
The other musical performance was Dietrich Buxtehude’s “Passacaglia” played by senior Jackson Munter on the recital hall’s pipe organ.
Senior Logan Walgate performs a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach on the alto saxophone. Photo: Nora Betts.
Baroque poems were read by senior Anne Aschmann, junior Josiah Horvath, freshman Emma von Kampen, and freshman Samuel Olson. The poets represented were John Milton, John Donne, and Miguel de Cervantes.
Dunbar said the event “came to this final product very organically” thanks to students from NAfME, Art Club, and Sigma Tau Delta/Writing Club. He organized the event but said he let the clubs choose how they would be involved.
“It was very interesting to see what the clubs brought to the table because I left it to their discretion,” said Dunbar. “I said, ‘I don’t know what you guys can do, so do what you can do and incorporate that.’ I think it went well.”
Dunbar said he hopes the Concordia Arts Festival will continue every fall semester. The other major NAfME event is the UnRecital, which is held at the end of the spring semester as a fun showcase of skits and musical performances.
“I’m thinking it will be a yearly thing,” said Dunbar. “It balances out the UnRecital, being that the UnRecital is kind of a variety show with not a lot of work put into it, this will be the more thoughtful endeavor, fun for different reasons.”
