Admission will be free, but since performances will take place in the 250-seat Kresge Theatre, ticket reservations are required. Small halls are better for chamber music, anyway.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Carnegie Mellon kicks off new, free chamber music series
Admission will be free, but since performances will take place in the 250-seat Kresge Theatre, ticket reservations are required. Small halls are better for chamber music, anyway.
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6 comments:
I think this is a great opportunity for the community at large and for the School of Music students. It does represent an interesting challenge though because the hall is so small, and School of Music concerts typically sell over 400 tickets. This concert was sold out two weeks in advance and had a waitlist miles long; this did not include the amount of students that typically walk-up for the concert day-of.
While I understand that chamber music is better heard in a smaller hall, if the demand for tickets is this high, I wonder if the events should move to a larger venue. I also wonder if because the tickets are free, that a lot of people are reserving seats that will not attend the concert. I know I would be less committed to attending a concert if I had not paid for tickets in advance. This would open up the waitlist, but people on the waitlist might not show up to the event because they were unable to secure tickets.
I think it is really awesome that Carnegie Mellon is offering a free chamber music series. The only problem with this is I am not sure how many students they are going to get to be able to attend these free chamber music concerts. In general, there is a problem at Carnegie Mellon with students being stressed out, overwhelmed, and overcommitted. As a result of this students will probably not attend these concerts because they feel that there is too much on their plate thus not giving them time to attend the concert. This all being said, I would truly love to go to one of these concerts, but because I have so many projects that I don’t feel I have time to attend. I do not think that I am alone in feeling this, but many other students across the university feel this way. It is great that they are offering free concerts, but it would be truly a shame if none of the students can attend it.
This is so fabulous. Chamber music is such a stunning art form, and is constantly struggling, along with mediums such as opera and ballet, to find a young audience. Making concerts cheap (or event better, free) and easily accessible on college campuses is the best possible way to let young people become exposed to what could be considered an obscure art form. The problem is, however, that even these tactics may not be effective if a student is genuinely not interested. There are many exciting lectures and events that happen all year, but either students don't know about them, are too busy to attend, or they simply don't care. Making it easier for students to attend is fine and noble, but little can be done to open doors to students if the student has no desire to pass through them. I hope for the best with this program, but I fear they will struggle to find an audience.
This is great news. I love chamber music and I hope I’m able to attend one of these concerts. I also hope the future concerts aren’t held on Monday evenings. Still, this is a great initiative to expose students and the Pittsburgh community to a great form of art. The concert is already sold out, which is very promising. It’s important that college students (especially those studying music) have a good exposure to chamber music. It’s reliance on teamwork and situational awareness fosters a great sense of musicianship within a person. I’d like to return to the fact that this first concert is on a Monday evening. I can’t imagine that all 250 sold-out seats for tomorrow’s concert will be held by students. If I’m wrong, that’s great, but why isn’t this concert during a weekend? Again, it’s hard to make a solid conclusion without knowing the breakdown of ticket holders, but I hope the majority of attendees are students. Chamber music is something that is worth taking the time to see.
What is really beautiful about programs like this is that not only do they increase the accessibility and availability of fine art for students, but they also strengthen ties between the university and the community. In addition to being an excellent educational resource in and of itself, it is also important to educate the students studying music here on the importance music and art within a community.
This sort-of partnership with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is another wonderful aspect to this program. Undoubtedly, the exposure to such performers is great for the students here, but the real value of this partnership is the proximity that will occur between the music students and these established performers. I believe this is a prime example and wonderful use of funding, time and effort on the part of the School of Music. I look forward to hearing how this program effects the community, in terms of the larger, external public as well as in terms of the student body, both within and outside the School of Music.
I think this is a nice idea to reach out to young audiences as opposed to setting up as something elite. Which is something that we have to admit it has been rooted down for so long in many countries outside Europe. While in Europe, all my musician friends who now living and working in Germany, France, and Austria always tells me of how classical music is something that can be seen and heard everywhere across the street, just like you walk along the street and subway stations in NYC and hear all those people with guitar and saxophone.
Back to the this article, I like the program and I like the idea. The only thing I hope it can be better is the choice of the venue. I performed at Kresge theatre once and it’s so old and the sound resonance is not as satisfies as it should be. It’s okay for a solo performance but I doubt when you put it up for chamber music. But it would be interested to check out sometimes.
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