End of Term Concerts

It’s 9th week and almost the end of my first term! Three days of classes and several final exams/papers later I will be on my way for the 6-week long winter break! The end of term also means that there will be plenty of concerts for music nerds like me to enjoy (and perform in), so I am sharing the five that I have been to so far (I wish I could attend them more, but it’s the end of the term so papers and stuff are getting in the way).

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

The first concert to start it off in 7th week was the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO). This professional chamber orchestra performs at Carleton once every year, and their concerts always get a full house, with residents around Northfield all coming to appreciate their amazing performances. Like my friend said, it is very refreshing to have some great classical music, especially the impressive bass piece, Dark with Excessive Bright, on a stressful Thursday night struggling with homework.

Carleton Symphony Band

Performing the day after SPCO’s concert was Carleton’s own Symphony Band, directed by Ron Rodman. Their concert, No Brexits Here: British Band Classics, consisted of pieces from Knightsbridge March to Colonel Bogey.

Carleton Chinese Music Ensembles

On the same weekend, the Carleton Chinese Music Ensemble and Global Music Ensemble performed various pieces of fantastic Chinese and Global music. Along with breathtaking solo pieces by three freshmen, famous and classics songs including Bella Ciao (“Goodbye Beautiful”) and TianLu (“Heavenly Road”). The concert also featured an impressive additional Erhu and Pipa duet that was completely not planned, but was performed to fill out the blanks during some technical difficulties.

Date Knight Acapella

The following weekend was another Carleton tradition, Date Knight. I had a great time with my blind date on that day, and I am sure some other bloggers are writing something about it just because it was a lot of fun for many people… but anyways, focusing on the concerts, all six a capella groups on campus (The Accidentals, The Knightingales, The Carleton Singing Knights, Exit 69, Intertwining Melodies, and The Flashmobsters) each performed two songs, as a prelude to their individual concerts during 9th and 10th week.

Carleton Choirs

Right after Date Knight was the fall concert of the Carleton Choir (which I am a part of, yeah!!!) and Carleton Chamber Choir, directed by Matthew Olsen. Songs in four different languages (English, Latin, Spanish, and Korean) were sung at our concert, The Ways of Water. I think our performance was fantastic (with room for improvement, as always), and I am so happy and grateful to be part of the amazing Choir. It’s been such an amazing term rehearsing all those songs together and I can’t wait to do four more years of this!

More Concerts

I know I have missed many many recitals (voice, jazz, chamber music, Chinese music etc.), and I truly wish I had more free time to attend them all! They are all so great! But as we are approaching the end of 9th week (WHAT!!??), the individual concerts of all a capella groups are coming up, and I will definitely do my best to attend EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! (If you don’t know already, I am kinda a huge a capella fan so yeah.) Additionally, Carleton Orchestra is performing on 9th Friday (which should be “today” when this blog gets posted), and I am going to that as well! Anyways, this will be it for my (I think) second-last post of the term (and the calendar year). I hope you enjoyed it and have a good week!

Ethan is a first-year international student from Beijing, China, and is exited to embrace the environment and winter in Minnesota. Ethan is a huge soccer fan as he watches and plays it as often as he listens to music, especially a cappella music by Pentatonix and other artists. Although his passions in Environmental Studies and Chemistry flow through his veins, Ethan is thrilled to explore other areas like Music and Computer Science in his time at Carleton. Meet the Other Bloggers!