Luther College Orchestra

This evening the Inglemoor HS Orchestra opened for the Luther College Orchestra at the Northshore Performing Arts Center. Alan played in the Inglemoor French Horn section. Wow, what a show!

Both orchestras were very good. Inglemoor played Nimrod from the Enigma Variations and Dances. Luther had a full program that they reduced slightly. To try and fit it in without ending too late, they skipped the intermission. This was OK for me, but I see how an intermission aids not only the comfort of the body, but sustains the interest of the audience as well.

Luther played two major pieces: a Shostakovich cello concerto, and Dvorak's 8th symphony. Eric Kutz, a music professor at Luther, soloed the Shostakovich. As with most Shostakovich music, this one had lots of dissonance in it - and for that reason I am not a big Shostakovich fan. However, the music was amazing. And Mr. Kutz was amazing as well. Even though I play cello, he did some stuff in the piece that I didn't realize you could do on a cello. I liked the cadenza in the last movement the best. Wow!

Modern music (e.g. pop music) tends to have shorter pieces than classical compositions. Andrew was with us, and I could see that he had lost some interest in the middle of things. I don't listen to symphonies and such as much as when I was a child at home, so I noticed it in myself as well. Maybe it was the missing intermission.

Attention span is an interesting thing to me because as a child, my attention span in school was considered a problem. Now, I find that mine exceeds that of many people. What is attention span? Is it patience? Or is it interest?

However, the music was good. It was close to home (10 min). And at a nice price (free). A good evening.