Spring Break
Letters to the Editor
Classical music coverage should be more thorough
Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: Commentary
I was quite frankly offended, irritated, and embarrassed when I read the article on the Orion String Quartet concert (Orion String Quartet brings warmth to Jorgensen," Feb. 18). As a 6th-semester music education major, it's horrifying to read the lack of care or effort that goes into the articles about music concerts outside the pop genre.
In the future, I suggest you take the following to heart:
1. Go back to elementary school and learn how to form coherent, complete sentences. It isn't that hard.
2. When asking students their opinions on concerts, no one cares about Tang. Get people's opinions on the actual music.
3. Include relevant, interesting information about the concerts. Nowhere in the article did I see that both the guest artists (Ted Arm and Kangho Lee) are professors in the music department.
This is not the only concert review that I have been completely disgusted by. The coverage of student performing groups such as the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble is equally dismal and disappointing. Please, for the sanity of music lovers and students all over campus, start putting some effort into your articles.
- Jordan Gibson
6th-semester music education major
After reading Caitlin Mazzola's Feb. 24 piece "Jazz livens up von der Mehden," I felt compelled to write a response to both Mazzola and The Daily Campus on behalf of the students and faculty of the UConn Jazz program.
In this article, Mazzola reviews the Feb. 23 performance of the various jazz ensembles at the university. Although the tone of the article is generally positive, Mazzola displays an ignorance of jazz music and its history. The first example is her review of the first song performed that night: "Mopti" by John Cherry.
Mazzola says, "'Mopti' had a rough start and seemed like a product of the band's nerves rather than the hard work put into rehearsals for the past several weeks."
This statement belittles the fact that the song had a definite arrangement that was played perfectly by the band. Moreover, "Mopti" has a stretched-time feel that occasionally can make the beat somewhat ambiguous to an untrained ear. There was no "messy start;" the song was written that way and, in the opinion of many of the attendees, was one of the showcase's highlights.
In the future, I suggest you take the following to heart:
1. Go back to elementary school and learn how to form coherent, complete sentences. It isn't that hard.
2. When asking students their opinions on concerts, no one cares about Tang. Get people's opinions on the actual music.
3. Include relevant, interesting information about the concerts. Nowhere in the article did I see that both the guest artists (Ted Arm and Kangho Lee) are professors in the music department.
This is not the only concert review that I have been completely disgusted by. The coverage of student performing groups such as the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble is equally dismal and disappointing. Please, for the sanity of music lovers and students all over campus, start putting some effort into your articles.
- Jordan Gibson
6th-semester music education major
After reading Caitlin Mazzola's Feb. 24 piece "Jazz livens up von der Mehden," I felt compelled to write a response to both Mazzola and The Daily Campus on behalf of the students and faculty of the UConn Jazz program.
In this article, Mazzola reviews the Feb. 23 performance of the various jazz ensembles at the university. Although the tone of the article is generally positive, Mazzola displays an ignorance of jazz music and its history. The first example is her review of the first song performed that night: "Mopti" by John Cherry.
Mazzola says, "'Mopti' had a rough start and seemed like a product of the band's nerves rather than the hard work put into rehearsals for the past several weeks."
This statement belittles the fact that the song had a definite arrangement that was played perfectly by the band. Moreover, "Mopti" has a stretched-time feel that occasionally can make the beat somewhat ambiguous to an untrained ear. There was no "messy start;" the song was written that way and, in the opinion of many of the attendees, was one of the showcase's highlights.
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