Concert Review: Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras of Strathmore

The name of the group that performed is Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras of Strathmore. The MCYO Chamber Ensemble performs without a conductor, entirely led by the students themselves. The MYCO Harp Ensemble's director Monika Vasey stood in front of the girls and acted as a conductor but it does not specify that she is a conductor, so I am not sure if she in fact was conducting the harp players. The concert was April 10, 2018 at 6:00pm. The concert took place at The Kennedy Center and was a free concert.

It was the first time I have been inside The Kennedy Center, and I must say that it is a very beautiful place all around. The staff was friendly and very helpful with information and giving me the best seat in the house which was all the way on the front row.

This was the first time that I have ever been to such a concert and it was a nice treat due to my affinity to music, I always enjoy listening to good music without having a preference when it comes to the genre. The concert area was narrow but with a lot of space where there where seats going all the way close to the stage where the musicians where playing. The players where standing in a U form. All the cello players the bass player where sitting on the front right side of the stage while following them in a U form to the front left side of the stage you had all the viola and violin players. The audience was excited for the concert, you could hear some of the parents bragging that their son or daughter was performing in the group.

When it was clapping time, you could hear that the audience was happy with the performance that the performers where bringing. At one point the audience started clapping and I don’t think they had to clap, I could read some of the performers saying no. Two mothers sitting right next to me where talking about leaving after the MYCO Chamber Ensemble finished playing because they only came to see their kid perform, but the next ensemble was going to start so they were saying that they were little too late to do so and decided to stay. The MYCO Harp Ensemble gave a very beautiful performance too, but the music felt a little bit plain after the orchestra had performed. I think it would be better if the Harps played before the orchestra.

The title of my favorite composition was Capriol Suite IV. Bransles. Presto. The composer is Peter Warlock (1894-1930). This melody is now stuck in my head, it is a very powerful piece of music in my opinion. It sounds like there is a ball trying to roll over this ramp but over and over trying different ways to go over, without realizing that staying positive is the only way to overcome all the obstacles that are hindering its success, but then the ball finally becomes positive and finds the strength to go over the ramp. There was homophonic and polyphonic texture in most of the pieces played. You could hear how the melody was being repeated in different sections. The Capriol Suite is a set of dances composed in October 1926 by Peter Warlock. 'Peter Warlock' was in fact the pseudonym under which the multi-talented Philip Heseltine released his compositions to the world. Heseltine was a gifted writer and music journalist, an editor of early music at a time when it was generally neglected, and a generous encourager of the efforts of other composers.

But most importantly of all, he was a spontaneous and original composer (as Peter Warlock), chiefly of a large corpus of over 100 songs, written between the end of the first World War and his death in 1930. Heseltine was born in London. although he had no musical training as a child, his inclinations were obvious at school, and early meeting with Delius, while on holiday in France, helped direct Heseltine's musical enthusiasms/. He became a devoted champion and friend of Delius and was to produce piano arrangements of many of his works. I have to say that when I left The Kennedy Center I felt sad and wanted to stay to see more concerts. It was a very beautiful experience and I would recommend anyone to go see a concert of this kind. I will be looking forward to the next concert I will schedule to attend. It is a relaxing moment where the room is totally quit where you can hear each and every note that the musicians are playing.

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