Natasha Aliabadi / Roundup
Concerts are rarely free for admission but for the classical concerts held every week in the Performing Arts Building at Pierce College on Thursdays, it’s true.
Every Thursday at 12:45 p.m., the music department hosts free classical music concerts that vary in performers each week.
The auditorium was flawed from the beginning. Large and dark; a dim light enveloped the stage which was cluttered with dozens of chairs and folding tables.
A large white screen that hung from the ceiling half-way-down the stage was lit with hues of red and was the only decoration on the dusty stage.
Nonetheless, the moment the doors opened, the seats were flooded with people.
This week’s concert featured the Barefoot Trio; an unusual trio that consisted of Keiko Cadby on the violin, Russell Veirs on the saxophone, and Cynthia Yeh on the piano.
The trio, who has been playing together for nearly a year, opened with an engaging introduction.
“We played with our shoes off one day and it just kind of stuck,” said Cadby. “After that concert our professor said ‘What are you the Barefoot Trio?'” The audience quietly laughed.
The Barefoot Trio played five pieces that varied in composers as well as the featured performer and gave a quick introduction about its origins before each piece.
After a solo performance by saxophonist Russell Veirs, he emphasized to the audience, “A lot of people associate the saxophone with jazz. Jazz didn’t come along until the early 1900s. It had to do something before then and it was classical.”
Audience members clapped loudly after every piece while some members whistled and yelled at the very end of the performance.
Many students attending the concert were fulfilling a requirement for a music class.
And while remembering that classical music is an acquired taste the question then becomes if students were not required to attend these concerts how many would attend for pleasure or even for just the experience?
Pierce student Songhai Smith enjoys classical music and attends most of the concerts; for pleasure. “I really appreciate it. It was so expressive,” said Smith. Smith plays violin and thinks about possibly building a violin one day.
Jeleen Ejercito is also a Pierce student but attends the concerts as a class requirement and must write a report/journal entry after each show. “I liked it. It was very unusual. I’ve never seen a trio like this before,” said Ejercito.
Music Instructor Jim Bergman organizes the concerts that take place every Thursday and said that he had made 120 fliers for the concert and every last one was gone.
The fliers are handed out to spectators when entering the auditorium; a helpful element to guide one through the show.
“I’d love it if the place was filled,” said Bergman. “But I always said you can’t just judge anything from one time.”
The classical concerts are already an overlooked treasure at Pierce College. Some décor and a stage to balance the environment was all this concert was lacking.
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The Barefoot Trio (left to right) Cynthia Yeh, Keiko Cadby and Russell Veirs between performance pieces at the Performing Arts Building last Thursday. (Louie Heredia / Roundup)