The tragic story of three Swedish explorers was converted into a piece of music written by Dominick Argento and performed at Pierce College’s Performing Arts Building on Thursday, May 5.
The concert was the fourth-to-last performance scheduled in the current performing arts building for this semester’s series.
The theater department is scheduled to close for renovations late June.
Ellie Schwartz, Theatre Department office assistant, discussed alternative methods the department will explore after the theatre closes.
“There will be a meeting next week to iron out the details, but the plan is to set up an air conditioned tent near the Mason entrance [by the Child Development Department] for future performances,” said Schwartz.
Singer Christian Nova and pianist Frank Garvey performed May 5 under the direction of Tony Gatto.
The explorers were three men who unsuccessfully attempted to travel to the North Pole in a hot air balloon.
The performance was segmented into two parts. The first told the story of how the balloon rose and later encountered unforeseen problems, concluding with a song called, “The Flight Aborted.”
“One of my favorite pieces is ‘Anna’s Birthday’,” said Nova. “I focus on telling the story; I feel the composer’s pain because you know it’s going to have a very bad ending.”
With no hesitation, Garvey also shared his favorite.
” ‘Hallucination’ is my favorite one just because the story is easy to express to everyone,” said Garvey. “It combines so many emotions together.”
Jaime Mitchell, a 20-year-old psychology major, enjoyed the story behind the music.
“The words themselves were hard to follow, but it really helped that they had a visual slideshow,” said Mitchell.
Annalise Schmidt, a 20-year-old film major, loved the performance as well.
“It was interesting; the thing I enjoyed most was the story,” said Schmidt.
The series will conclude Thursday, May 26, with the Pierce Student Concert.
