Visit to Merced High School

On March 01, Concinnity Quartet made its first high school visit to Merced High School in Merced, CA. We absolutely loved getting to meet the students and sharing our love of music with them. Sean was also able to reconnect with his high school band teacher, Mr. Manuel Costa. We played interactive concert programs for the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble, and we discussed rehearsal technique and teamwork in a master class style with the Guard & Percussion class.

Concinnity Quartet with Mr. Costa of Merced High School

The main point in our program notes was the idea that music is made not by pushing the right buttons at the right time, but by the intention and emotion of the performer. We talked about the importance of music as a personal experience for the listener, and we asked the student for images and feelings they had for each piece we played. We also discussed the importance of a common group story or image in a chamber group.

To do this, we opened with three movements from Asymmetric Miniatures by Alexis Ciesla, followed by the first two movements of Elliott Carter's Canonic Suite. Here, we also talked about the structure of the canon and how that requires an entirely different kind of playing and listening, both as a performer and an audience. We then moved into heavy-hitting emotional content with the second and third movements of the Divertimento by Alfred Uhl, and finished with the beautiful impressionist image of Debussy's Clair de Lune.

We are looking forward to future concerts (and evening recitals!) at Tracy High School in Tracy, CA and Buchanan High School in Clovis, CA