Dartmouth's World Music Percussion Ensemble showcased an inspiring array of student talent and musicianship in a concert titled "Long Live Spirit and Inspiration: East Asian Music and Rhythms" at the Hopkins Center on Saturday. Over the past decades, ensemble director Hafiz Shabazz has selected a large range of music from different cultures, including music from Africa and South America. This is the first time, however, the group presented a concert entirely focused on Asian music, according to Shabazz.
"You get streams of knowledge from various places," Shabazz said. "I try to present it in a perspective so that the audience gets a sense of shared connection, history and musicality that Americans can relate to."
"Long Live Spirit" utilized the abilities of student musicians, community groups and professional musicians to complete their program, but the concert relied primarily on the prowess of two virtuosic Dartmouth seniors, Christina Chen '12 and Si Jie Loo '12, who have been part of the ensemble for four years. Chen plays piano and percussion while Loo performs vocals and percussion, including the Chinese drums and the Chinese string instrument known as yang qin.
"My musical tastes have been expanded tremendously," Loo said. "Every term, we have a new theme. We must learn to blend into a new direction."
The concert is a prelude to Chen and Loo's swan song performance before the two graduate in June.
"You're here seeing [Chen and Loo] present the music they've grown up with," Shabazz said during the show. "I'm in the back today."
Sadly, Spaulding Auditiorium was only a quarter full Saturday evening. Even with a disappointing turnout, however, the musicians performed eagerly. The show was introduced by Loo on the Chinese drums as she performed a rousing rendition of a piece titled "Miracle," featuring a flute solo and refrain repeated by the piano and erhu, a stringed instrument played by Loo's sister Si Xuan Loo. A fitting beginning, "Miracle" brought together Dartmouth undergraduates with professional musicians, playing instruments from multiple cultures.
Halfway through the show, the Northfield Mount Hermon World Music Percussion Ensemble a high school music group directed by Ron Smith and lead by Eunjung Katie Chang on the small gong performed two Korean pieces, "Youngnam Samulnori" and "Utdani Samulnori."
"This is the hope young people holding onto their culture and developing musicianship," Shabazz said of the high school group's young players.
Ironically, Chang was the only Korean native in the group. Perhaps the group showcases something transcendent about ethnicity, however the ability of young people to ignore differences in nation, culture and race and to establish commonalities through a shared appreciation of music.
In addition to the musical performance, three girls demonstrated a traditional East Asian dance to a contemporary Chinese pop song. Their movement was beautiful, and the contrast between the girls' white costumes and sleeves against the red curtain was striking, but the dancers unfortunately only appeared once in the show. Without a proper in-depth introduction, their presence seemed displaced in a show that was advertised as a concert for percussion. In the future at Loo and Chen's graudauation finale, perhaps the organization will hopefully better complement the student talent it presents.
Staff writer Lauren Sarner contributed reporting to this article.
