On March 28, 2014, I attended Grand Valley State University's new ensemble concert at the beautiful Detroit Institute of Arts. The concert was strictly new music, so the ensemble was experimenting with new styles of music. The New Music Ensemble at Grand Valley State University is a very new ensemble having only been in operation since 2006. The founder and director of this ensemble, Bill Ryan, is an educator in the Grand Valley Music Program State University and has studied music virtually his entire life. The pieces in which Mr. Ryan composed were written over the past twenty years, including some music written by musicians within the ensemble themselves. The ages of the composers varied between forty-six and twenty-two, but all the performers were academics. The new musical ensemble included only seven young university musicians and their performance was extremely impressive, as each musician played with such ease as if these students had been playing these pieces for years. The ensemble used only a minimal number of instruments: piano, cello, percussion, clarinet, saxophone, flute and violin. Even though there were a minimal number of instruments, the ensemble played with great dynamics and tone. All together, the performers achieved greatness in my eyes. The concert consisted of six new musical songs, and each piece lasted approximately five minutes. The first song was "Tight Sweater" which was composed by Marc Mellits, and besides the strange name of this song, the music was not something I have ever heard. To me the song sounded almost electronic and was extremely repetitive. This piece includes four excerpts and the first was similar to the last at least...... middle of paper ...... country with the music of our time. In his efforts to engage audiences, he won the Michigan Governor's Award in Arts and Education in 2008, in addition to this, he won the Champion of New Music award from the American Composers Forum. This man is a true expert on music from this era, and his song “Sparkle” shows it well. The New Music Ensemble at Grand Valley State University definitely tore me apart on what to really think about contemporary music. I like the sounds of the instruments, but I don't enjoy the electronic feel of the music style. In order to get my true opinion on contemporary music, this would include listening to additional pieces written by different composers. However, the ensemble performance was excellent and the venue was equally amazing. I congratulate the members and Bill Ryan for their interesting performance..

Essay / On March 28, 2014, I attended Grand Valley State University's new ensemble concert at the beautiful Detroit Institute of Arts. The concert was strictly new music, so the ensemble was experimenting with new styles of music. The New Music Ensemble at Grand Valley State University is a very new ensemble having only been in operation since 2006. The founder and director of this ensemble, Bill Ryan, is an educator in the Grand Valley Music Program State University and has studied music virtually his entire life. The pieces in which Mr. Ryan composed were written over the past twenty years, including some music written by musicians within the ensemble themselves. The ages of the composers varied between forty-six and twenty-two, but all the performers were academics. The new musical ensemble included only seven young university musicians and their performance was extremely impressive, as each musician played with such ease as if these students had been playing these pieces for years. The ensemble used only a minimal number of instruments: piano, cello, percussion, clarinet, saxophone, flute and violin. Even though there were a minimal number of instruments, the ensemble played with great dynamics and tone. All together, the performers achieved greatness in my eyes. The concert consisted of six new musical songs, and each piece lasted approximately five minutes. The first song was "Tight Sweater" which was composed by Marc Mellits, and besides the strange name of this song, the music was not something I have ever heard. To me the song sounded almost electronic and was extremely repetitive. This piece includes four excerpts and the first was similar to the last at least...... middle of paper ...... country with the music of our time. In his efforts to engage audiences, he won the Michigan Governor's Award in Arts and Education in 2008, in addition to this, he won the Champion of New Music award from the American Composers Forum. This man is a true expert on music from this era, and his song “Sparkle” shows it well. The New Music Ensemble at Grand Valley State University definitely tore me apart on what to really think about contemporary music. I like the sounds of the instruments, but I don't enjoy the electronic feel of the music style. In order to get my true opinion on contemporary music, this would include listening to additional pieces written by different composers. However, the ensemble performance was excellent and the venue was equally amazing. I congratulate the members and Bill Ryan for their interesting performance..

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