![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Excellent in parts
Jul. 2nd, 2011 11:05 pmLast night we were at the Town Hall for the opening concert of the annual Brass Festival. It was billed as "Winter North Atlantic premiere new commission 'Drifts and Panels' featuring Emily Portman - and here's the pitch for the event (from the brochure, but no longer online):
( And how was it? )
So it was an evening with some really good music in it, but it wasn't a really good evening. Some of that is because the mix of musical styles gave us something we really liked, something we were prepared to give a hearing and something we really didn't like. Someone else might have enjoyed all of it, and found the sheer variety an added pleasure. But the sheer disorganisation - the amount of time we spent just waiting for something to happen, and the absence of any information about who we were hearing and who we would hear next - lost a lot of our goodwill.
As far as I'm concerned, that first song made the evening worthwhile. But it'll take more than 'could be good' to get me to a Brass Festival concert in the future.
Following on from last year's superb performance with Pittington Brass, WNA have joined forces with some of the North East's leading brass musicians in a collaboration that draws on a beautiful range of traditional and contemporary influences.WNA's 'duvet-snug, elegaic melodies' (The Wire) will be enhanced by the contributions of incredible folk songstress Emily Portman, who features on two of the new compositions created during the project.
The performance will also include WNA songs from their forthcoming album, with specially written brass arrangements. This work highlights the spirit of experimentation that BRASS supports. Supported by Culture Lab and Northern Regional Brass Band Trust.
( And how was it? )
So it was an evening with some really good music in it, but it wasn't a really good evening. Some of that is because the mix of musical styles gave us something we really liked, something we were prepared to give a hearing and something we really didn't like. Someone else might have enjoyed all of it, and found the sheer variety an added pleasure. But the sheer disorganisation - the amount of time we spent just waiting for something to happen, and the absence of any information about who we were hearing and who we would hear next - lost a lot of our goodwill.
As far as I'm concerned, that first song made the evening worthwhile. But it'll take more than 'could be good' to get me to a Brass Festival concert in the future.
