Concert Review 1 (for Keyboard Skills 3)

Saturday, September 26th marked the annual Arts by George event at Mason. The purpose of Arts by George is to celebrate the arts at Mason to raise funds for scholarships and performances. Beginning at 5pm, guests were invited to enjoy a multitude of musical performances, including a vocal studies showcase, interactive jazz sessions with the GMU Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Professor Jim Carroll, and small chamber ensembles such as piano solos, flute trios, string quartets, and jazz combos. These musical performances were well complimented by dance, paintings, sculptures, and video, which were all on display throughout three floors of the performing arts building. One nifty feature which spanned the entire day was the use of a marimba and gong. A group of about four Mason percussion students took turns playing everything from Bach chorales to improvisation on the pentatonic scale on a Marimba that was positioned at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor. This served as background music as guests mingled and enjoyed hors d'œuvres and wine. Then, five minutes prior to each performance, a gong, positioned on the fourth floor, was struck to signal that a performance was about to begin and guests were directed to the various performance spaces.

The highlight of the festival, for me at least, was the inaugural performance of a new orchestra, the American Festival Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Mason’s own Professor Anthony Maiello. The orchestra, which included many Mason faculty members, and even some students, presented a fabulous display of musicianship and artistry. Following a brilliant opening overture-type piece composed by Mason graduate student Vincent Oppido, the orchestra accompanied the guest artist, Tony Award-winning Brian Stokes Mitchell. Mitchell’s Broadway credits include “Man of La Mancha,” “Kiss Me Kate,” and “Oh, Kay!” The audience, myself included, thoroughly enjoyed his full baritone voice on many Broadway and jazz favorites and standards such as George Gershwin’s "'S Wonderful,” “Take the A Train.” The evening closed with Mitchell’s second encore, “The Impossible Dream,” for which he is famous. His regular backing group also played with him and the orchestra and included a pianist, bassist, and a drummer. The pianist, in particular, impressed me with the way he altered his accompaniment style to fit with the orchestra. He also arranged one of the songs himself, which was performed without the orchestra. This gave the talented pianist a chance to show off more of his well-developed solo style. According to Mitchell’s on-stage commentary, he often plays with just these three musicians, and sometimes with just the pianist, whose name I unfortunately did not get. Watching Brian Stokes Mitchell in one of these different settings (without a full orchestra) is something I would like to see in the future.