The Free Concert at Pierce, once again, had a packed venue in the music room on Thursday Oct. 17, this time with pianist Dr. Steven P. Niles performing masterworks of the romantic piano.
Known more colloquially as “Romanticism,” music from this era often takes a tone with gripping emotion, made for the listener to close their eyes and re-encounter somber feelings in life such as a first kiss or the passing of someone meant dear to them.
William Wordsworth, a famous English Romantic poet, described it as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”
This week’s Concert at Pierce, which is hosted by Adjunct Music Instructor James Bergman and sponsored by the Pierce ASO, appointed Dr. Steven P. Niles to play five musical pieces from the romantic era.
Niles performed pieces from well-known composers such as Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Béla Bartók, and Claude Debussy.
“I wanted to play a romantic recital because I believe that is when classic musical is at its best and most compelling,” Niles said after the concert.
Many people who attend the Concert at Pierce event are students in other music classes who go to the concert as a required assignment, but 20-year-old sound engineering major Fernando Hernandez was glad to partake in the musical festivities.
“I don’t attend many concerts, so this is interesting,” Hernandez said. “I’m just here to see what’s going on.”
When the concert was finished, Adjunct Instructor James Bergman said a word about the upcoming concert events.
“We’re going to display different classic music in every form,” Bergman said. “Different time eras, different tones, different styles.”
The Concert at Pierce event continues every Thursday until Dec. 15. Ji Young An is set to perform solo on the violin next Thursday, Oct.24.