PerformanceReport1

Introduction:
In this paper I, Michael Heise, shall attempt to convey the fundamental music principles regarding the performance “Shakespeare in Song” as well as I understand them. Keep in mind that as I write this report that I am not attempting to criticize the performance or the performers; but, I am attempting to most accurately convey to the reader what was perceived in regards to my limited knowledge of this type of performance. This event occurred on the Friday of March twenty-sixth year two-thousand and ten. Its location was the on the main campus of the University of Texas at Dallas in the Erik Jonsson Academic Center in room number 2.604 known as the Jonsson Performance Hall. As one can probably guess due to the location of the performance, the performance was not performed by a professional troupe of art music performer, but was performed by our universities own local talent primarily if not exclusively. The performance was sung and acted by the UT Dallas Chamber Singers, Directed by UTD's Associate Dean for the Arts Kathryn Evans, piano accompaniment performed by Michael McVay whom also has affiliation with UTD, and costumes were due to the help of Karen Mitchell. There were slides shown on a screen during the performance; however, I do not know whom all to credit as provider for them. As per usual, this style of music is a lyrical form of poetry sung with music accompanying it. To my knowledge, in this Art Music style there are commonly two performers. A pianist would normally be accompanying a single vocal soloist; however, as stated above there were multiple singers since it was done by a UTD choir. This makes it somewhat nontraditional, but gave more variety and made the music seem closer to the Shakespearian plays it had been based upon.

Music:
The music varied quite a bit from piece to piece. Some pieces would have the performers singing in sub groupings, such as males or females, at different points in the song and others would be sung with solos, and several were sung with the full participation of the choir. Obviously such variations would change the vocal timbre of the songs depending upon the participation or lack there of by members of the choir. The texture of the music changed dependant on who is supposed to be the dominant musician during a given piece. Some songs were happy and had a fast tempo while others were more sullen in theme and had slow tempos.

Performers:
The performers were primarily college students that perform for the UT Dallas Chamber Singers; however, as stated above some of the performers, such as conductor, were staff and thus the age of the performers was ranged. All of the musical performers including the conductor had been dressed in costumes one would expect to see at a Shakespearian theater performance or at a renaissance fair. The performer’s initial positions were such that the pianist was seated at the piano on the left side of the stage from the audience’s point of view, the choir was standing in four progressively elevated rows near center stage facing the crowd, and the conductor was center stage in front of the choir facing the choir members so as to give them direction during the performance. The choir members would move as needed to allow soloists to move to the front of the stage as arranged. Up to four soloists were standing on the right side of the conductor at any point and one soloist might stand to the left side of the conductor.

Audience:
The night that I attended the seats were approximately half full. This estimation along with the estimation on the total number of seats suggests that around one hundred members were seated in the audience. Due to the stage and performer setup, if one followed the Opera’s standard of appropriate times to applaud, the most appropriate time to clap would be after a solo had been performed; however, the audience, as one might expect, was not fully aware of when to clap and thus the timing of applause was somewhat awkward. The conductor did attempt to a lot certain times for applause such as to instruct the audience on when to clap; but, not all members of the audience were necessarily aware of this attempt. Some comedic elements from the plays were used and the audience, in large, understood the humor and laughed during these moments as should be expected.

Time and Space:
Since this was the first live showing of this performance to a crowd, perhaps some elements could have been better polished such as a few minor slips during solos; however, on average this was a very well done performance.

Conclusion:
To best summarize this performance, I would state that it was a night filled with well known Shakespearian themed Art Music performances. It contained well versed songs and enjoyable humor that entertained the crowd as the evening progressed.


*UPDATE*
I had used the Program notes from the concert to list some of the participants names. Unfortunately I cannot find the program guide anymore, but information regarding the performance can be found here.