“What Music is”– now there’s an odd title for a concert. Or an odd way to pose a question I wouldn’t usually ask of a performance.
It made me stop and wonder.
Well, the San Juan Symphony took a packed Community Concert Hall on a nonstop, 90-minute journey of soaring music fused with a riveting theater/lecture/multimedia experience to answer the implied question.
I can’t imagine an evening lecture titled, “How harmonic theory, ethnomusicology, astronomy, cosmology and physics explain music,” pulling a full crowd to the hall or creating the enthusiastic ovation that followed.
How fortunate Durango is to have such an infectious, and eloquent orchestra and music director present the world premiere of Bill Barclay’s program.
The next day, the concert showed harmonic echoes of its own when our 15-year-old grandson visited to raid our fridge (his current obsessions: soccer and making an electric guitar pedal board). When we mentioned the concert, he was intrigued enough to pass our reaction on to his folks – another one hooked.
And, thank you, Katherine Burgess, for the tickets that prompted Peg and me to join the experience. Indeed, as Barclay said, “Music is the sound of the universe seeking consonance.”
Jim Kimple
Durango
