AVANT DESERVES RECOGNITION
by Tina Forbes
UConn Daily Campus, CT
Issue date: 9/19/06
Last night at the von der Mehden Recital Hall, the Avant Brass
Quintet played an energetic show to a decent-sized crowd consisting
of students, alumni and other music lovers.
"It was very nice. It was a high quality of dynamics and contour of the
melody," said Janet Pohli, a 7th-semester music major, "I especially
liked the Mexican piece," Pohli added, referring to ‘Intermezzo’
by the Mexican musician Manuel Ponce, "it was fun to listen to."
Commenting on the turnout for the event, "A better showing would’ve
deserved this quality performance," said Pohli.
The group performed a geographically – diverse selection of pieces
ranging anywhere from Armenia to Argentina. The original instruments
intended for the work were also quite different from the brass quintet
performing them. For instance ‘Adios Nonino,’ by Astor Piazzolla,
was originally a tango performed with an accordion.
"I thought they were fun," said Jeffrey Motola, a 5th-semester
music performance major about the three Latin pieces performed,
which included ‘Adios Nonino.’
The two other Latin pieces were ‘San Petro en el Espinal,’ by Columbian
musician, Milciades Garavito, and ‘Intermezzo,’ by Manuel Ponce. Motola
heard about the Quintet performance from UConn assistant professor
of music, James Ackley; one of the Quintet’s trumpeters. Ackley
also arranged two of the pieces – ‘San Petro en el Espinal,’ and
‘Adios Nonino.’
The distinguished members of the Avant Brass Quintet included Ackley,
on trumpet, Peter Olson, also on trumpet, Lucy Colwell-Snyder on
horn, Topher Logan on trombone and Adam Crowe on tuba. Olson,
a UConn alumnus, has performed with a variety of local musical
groups including the Hartford Brass Quintet, the Hartford Pops Band,
the American Musical Theater, the Connecticut Repertory Theater and
the Manchester Symphony Orchestra. Colwell-Snyder currently teaches
instrumental music at a junior high school in Massachusetts, she has
also been the principal horn with the Thayer Symphony Orchestra. Logan,
also a UConn alumnus, is the director of the Community School of Arts
at UConn. Logan is the principal trombonist with the Thayer Symphony
Orchestra, the Connecticut Virtuosi Orchestra and the Connecticut
Lyric Opera.
Crowe is a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Band and performed with
the Connecticut Virtuosi Orchestra, Lighthouse Blues Quintet and the
Eastern Connecticut Symphony.
Students interested in catching a show at the von der Mehden,
located beside the music building across from Mirror Lake, should
check out the School of Fine Art’s web site. All concerts are free
for students unless specifically noted. Visiting von der Mehden is
one way for students to spend a weekday evening or Sunday afternoon
while also taking in a little culture. The next performance is a
saxophone recital by Tom Wise this Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
