Each of the five acts at the Chinese Music Festival at Carnegie Hall was unique and entertaining. The first act, the man who played piano, set the tone for the rest of the concert. At first the music was simultaneously slow and upbeat. These two sounds seemed contradicting and at first I cringed, as the two sounds caused dissonance. But then I realized that the two opposing sounds kind of worked with each other and formed a type of music I was not used to hearing. His piece soon became light and fast and reminded me of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. At some points, the pianist made faces and gestures that made it seem like every time he touched the keys they burned his hands. The music portrayed this same idea. At another point in this piece, the music seemed like an introduction to a prince, king, or some other form of royalty. Right after the royal introduction was an introduction to an evil character’s mischievous plan. The music really seemed like a soundtrack for a show. However, if this show had no words, and only had music, the audience would still easily be able to tell what was going on. Towards the end of the piece the music got light and fluffy and reminded me of the third act of the Fall for Dance ballet. It was almost like a lullaby and made be a bit tired.

The second act started out like a garage band. The drums were loud and seemed to be hit at arbitrary moments. The flute (I think) sounded like shrieks of pain. The music, to me, sounded like noise. Then, all the sudden, the sounds came together in harmony and turned into music! When the drums were being played fast and the violinist was moving so fast I couldn’t follow her hands, I was overtaken with the feeling of stress and hurriedness.

The third act was the oldest piece on the program – composed in 1993. It was inspired by a folksong and folkdance. Throughout the piece the “folk” aspect was apparent. I enjoyed this piece, but I was not crazy about the sound that the violin made when the strings were plucked. This piece was comical in a way because the music would slow down and you would get ready to applaud, but then wait! There’s more, and the music would continue in an upbeat way.

The fourth act, which used the 6 opera gongs, I found very interesting. This Chinese instrument can make very different sounds depending on which mallets are used. There are rubber mallets, wooden mallets, and combinations of the two and others. When the performers were holding the mallets, it looked like they were holding a 6^th grade solar system science project in their hands. I found this comical. I didn’t like the abrupt stops because I felt that it took away from the flow of the music that came before them. I really loved when they all played at once because the sounds worked so well together. These performers really relied on each other and there was a sense of teamwork that was not as apparent in the other performances.

The final act was my favorite one. The drums were loud and roaring. I took a note that they were “large and in charge.” The violins were played fast and hard which was a little surprising, because I imagined violins to be soft instruments. The music made it seem like something exciting was happening and I was captivated. The piece had a strong ending which is important because it was also the last act of the night.

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