Brooke Thames, A&E Writer
The Ohio-based Athenia Chamber Ensemble will visit Pacific Lutheran University to present a unique musical experience.
According to the Music Department website, the ensemble “strives to break down the traditional formalities of the concert experience” by creating an interactive environment. The group attempts to create a more “open and enriching experience” by opening up the communication between performer and viewer.
Included in the event program will be a quiz where audience members can guess which composers and music styles match up to different variations of a piece the ensemble will play.
Four pieces will be performed in the concert. “The Blind Men and the Elephant” and “Brush Strokes” were commissioned by the Athenia Chamber Ensemble. The first piece will be performed at the beginning of the concert and the latter at the end of the night.
According to the show program, “The Blind Men and the Elephant” is based on “an ancient parable taught as a warning for people that promote absolute truth or exclusive subjective claims.”
The piece “Brush Strokes” is a musical representation of specific forms of art and contains three sections that focus on three distinct and distinguished visual artists: Georges Seurat, Vincent Van Gough and Jackson Pollock.
The remaining three pieces that will be performed by the Athenia Chamber Ensemble are works by George Frederick Handel, Zoltan Gardonyl and Allan Stephenson.
The ensemble is composed of three professors of music from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Alison Brown Sincoff, Michele Fiala and Matthew Morris founded the ensemble in 2009 and have since performed and created chamber music using the flute, oboe and bassoon.
The Athenia Chamber Ensemble has traveled with these instruments all over the world to perform in countries such as Italy, France and Russia.
The ensemble will travel to PLU to share their interactive concert experience with the entire community Nov. 2.
