Once a semester, Cal State Long Beach piano major students of the Bob Cole Conservatory put together a showcase of talent under the direction of Dr. Chou. Normally there is a hype that comes with the show that draws a larger audience but unfortunately last Saturday was terribly underplayed.
The concert, which consisted of a mixture of underclassmen and upperclassmen of various piano majors, had potential to be as exciting as the large performance groups. However, there was an abnormally large amount of empty seats in the house. Fortunately for those in the audience, the performers were talented and the repertoire was quite interesting. Most of the repertoire of the night was taken from the traditional musical canon and was typically classical with some modern pieces integrated into the program.
Saturday’s showcase consisted of four underclassmen, four upperclassmen and a grad student. The well-learned pieces ranged from the lulling rolled chords of early composers to the power of an impressive Lieberman gem toward the end of the concert.
Yoori Choi, graduate student, played a beautiful opening number. Choi is a collaborative piano major, meaning she specializes in playing for larger groups and choirs. However, she can definitely hold her own on solo piano pieces demonstrated with Haydn’s “Andante and Variations in F minor.”
Taylor Chan, piano major, performed “La Cathedrale Engloutie,” a Debussy Prelude with intense emotion and technical prowess. Debussy Preludes are difficult to play mainly because of the very specific dynamics and layered parts. Chan worked the piece and made it something quite enjoyable to listen to, rather than the usually dull droll that his pieces can elicit from the audience.
The true showstopper was late addition, Chris Maldonaldo, who played the Allegro Moderato and Presto feroce movements from Lowell Lieberman’s 1989 composition “Gargoyles Op. 29.” The piece consisted of an offbeat technical movement that put the listener on edge. It was followed by a powerful yet playful and firey movement. Maldonaldo pulled of the piece well by being one of the few performers who added emotion with body movements and facial expressions that did not detract from the music.
Overall, the experience was enjoyable, the students knew their music and they all were at a performance level. It was enlightening to see the music majors’ hard work pay off.
Also, it is important to note the sense of community that is in the music department. During the intermission and after the performance, the students got together and critiqued each other and offered suggestions about other performances. Compared to many of the other departments at CSULB, the Bob Cole Conservatory is one of the only ones that offers itself to self-improvement and revitalization.
Although this showcase was smaller than the other concerts and previous performances, a small audience is an outlier when compared to almost every other event there. Prospective concert-goers should not shy away from the instrumental concerts, mainly because they will be surprised with what they get from it.
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