Classical music with a modern touch flowed through the Performing Arts Building with the help of the musicians playing the cello, clarinet and electric guitar, also giving audiences the opportunity to listen to three different artists in one concert.
Three musicians—Brian Walsh, Michael Jon Fink and Derek Stein—performed as part of a series of ASO concerts. Walsh played the woodwinds, Stein played the cello and Fink played the guitar and bass.
This chamber group is called Through the Looking Glass and is inspired by the chamber jazz trio of Jimmy Giuffre, Bob Brookmeyer and Jim Hall.
There were eight pieces that Fink wrote and one piece that Walsh wrote.The musicians started out with the piece called “For Sonny Sharrock,” and closed with a piece called “Tar.”
Guitar & bass player Fink mentioned his favorite piece played at the concert.
“It’s always fun to play the piece ‘Tar’ at the end. It’s a good closure so I enjoy that,” Fink said.
Fink explained how he got into music.
“Way back I got interested in music to take guitar lessons when I was about 11 or 12 years old, so I studied with a folk singer that’s also a guitarist and I came back later in college to study guitar and composition,” Fink said. “All the band members work on music consistently and have the joy of the inspiration they take for their craft.”
Music major Izaiah Farmer attended the concert and discussed what he enjoyed about the performance.
“It was really interesting. I don’t often listen to classical music so it was a nice experience, especially because it’s more contemporary and it’s interesting to have an electric guitar moment,” Farmer said.
Farmer, also a musician, plays a variety of instruments.
“My main instrument is guitar, my secondary saxophone, but I also play piano, bass, drums and harmonica as well,” Farmer said.
Symphonic Band and Music Club adviser Ryan Espinosa shared his favorite part about the concert.
“I really enjoyed the chemistry of the performers and I think there’s something you can only get by observing concerts and not necessarily listening to them on a CD,” Espinosa said.
Espinosa explained what the band members’ chemistry was like on stage.
“You can see how performers communicate with each other and it’s really cool to witness that because you can see how they work through the piece in real time,” Espinosa said.
Upcoming LAPC Music events can be found on their Instagram and Facebook and concert recordings can be seen through their Youtube channel.
The next Thursday concert will be on March 7, and will feature Grammy Award winner John Schneider on the guitar in the Performing Arts Building from 1 to 2 p.m.
