ECM concert

Last night I attended the ECM concert. I wasn't expecting the ensemble to look as it did, especially with the electric guitar and only one of each instrument, but it made a lot more sense as the concert went on and you got to know more of what they were about. The writing styles of the composers were certainly a shock as well. I think my lack of familiarization to contemporary music definitely led me to be ignorant to what type of compositions to expect. Once I heard them I immediately wanted to go back to my piece and rewrite it to make it more suited to their style.

I enjoyed seeing the use of electric guitar in three of the pieces. Once again, I never knew how to approach such an instrument in an ensemble such as this. It was interesting to see the guitarist use effects, which was something I never considered outside of 'pop' music. I think I would definitely want to write for an ensemble and incorporate an electric guitar.

I think my favourite piece of the night was 'Binding the Quiet', by Christopher Mayo. I thought all of the pieces were great, but this is the one that stood out to me the most. I really liked particular how the instruments interacted in this piece. It was great that they had the composers come up and talk before they began the piece because then you were much more aware of what to listen for and certainly gave me ideas for future pieces. An overall great experience.