There is one word that described Emens Auditorium Thursday night… ELECTRIC! The campers were already energetic from another full and exciting day of camp. Friends and memories that will last a lifetime were made. To add to the already electric energy from the campers, Music for All was more than excited to introduce Black Violin!
The lights dim, the campers cheer, and the preshow music starts. This is not your typical string or orchestra concert, but this concert is a mix of hip-hop, classical, and dubchestral. These two friends met in high school and went their separate ways in college. Yet, music brought them back together to create what we know now as, Black Violin. Both are classically trained string musicians who bring a twist to what we know as string or orchestral music.
That was the common theme flowing through the night… make it your own. Let it be on your violin, trumpet, clarinet, marimba, or voice, you need to burst out with that inner passion and embrace the pure euphoric energy into what you are doing. Fully immersing yourself into what you are producing only makes you a better musician, and not to mention you get to have a blast performing.
The campers never sat down during this concert. The music had them on their feet dancing around, cheering, and being in the moment. Then the auditorium erupted as our very own Music for All Summer Symposium Orchestra Division took the stage to perform with Black Violin. To be on stage performing with professionals, with this electric crowd, one can only imagine this will be the highlight of camp for them. If not, the highlight of their year!
The campers and Black Violin broke out into “Simple Gifts”, with a twist. Add in a drum set, a turntable, and some amps and we have a completely new vibe to the ever so familiar tune of “Simple Gifts”. You can see the passion in their eyes, their presence on the stage, and the smiles on their faces as this was it!
What I loved most about the concert is that we are building a bridge of two vastly different types of music into one. To merge classical and hip-hop together into one not only introduces the different genres to a new audience but now we have a new genre growing with influence from two distinct areas. The best part about music is that is will never die. It will always reinvent itself from past music. That is what Black Violin brought us tonight.
So to all the musicians out there let it be young or old, go out there and fully immerse yourself in your music. Make it your own!
