{"id":217735,"date":"2022-03-30T15:49:34","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T19:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=217735"},"modified":"2022-03-31T08:06:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T12:06:05","slug":"montclair-at-the-met","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2022\/03\/30\/montclair-at-the-met\/","title":{"rendered":"Montclair at The Met"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cali musicians won\u2019t soon forget their night at the museum. \u201cThere was something different about this performance,\u201d says Nick Scafuto, a lead tenor with the University Singers, who along with the Wind Symphony and Jazz Ensemble, performed on March 19 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. \u201cYou\u2019d have to be trying very hard to not feel the electricity in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMontclair at The Met\u201d featured a concert of fast-paced, diverse genres in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. \u201cEvery single artist on stage was in top form and playing and singing their hearts out,\u201d says Scafuto. \u201cIt was the kind of performance that said, \u2018Here we are, New York! Where do you want us to play next?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery<\/h2>\n
\"University
Heather J. Buchanan conducts \u201cPoor Wayfaring Stranger\u201d arranged by Alexander Lloyd Blake, featuring Lisa Bremer (mezzo-soprano soloist) and Thalia Suleymanov (soprano soloist). The a cappella<\/em> piece fuses two musical styles that are innately American \u2013 folk spiritual and jazz \u2013 to create a new perspective with this familiar melody.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The University\u2019s Wind Symphony, conducted by Thomas McCauley, performs the entire suite of Symphonic Dances<\/em> from West Side Story<\/em> by Leonard Bernstein. In remarks reflecting on the musicians\u2019 return to the world stage, Anthony Mazzocchi, director of the John J. Cali School of Music, thanked the leadership of the museum for collaborating on \u201ca model for how we will move beyond the multiple disruptions the pandemic has leveled on our profession.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lornaa
Lornaa Morales, a second-year transfer student in the Music Therapy program, accompanies the Jazz Ensemble. \u201cSharing our art form in a venue full of people who were there to appreciate the arts was one of the most rewarding feelings ever,\u201d says Morales, whose primary instrument is classical percussion. \u201cAt the height of the pandemic we rehearsed in a parking garage in hopes that we might soon return to normalcy, so this experience was an absolute gift.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
Montclair\u2019s Jazz Ensemble, directed by Oscar Perez, performed a swinging set, including \u201cJojo\u2019s Mojo\u201d by Marcus Printup, \u201cDing Dong Ding\u201d by Bob Brookmeyer and \u201cTrouble Man\u201d by Gaye & Mintzer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ethan
The University Singers\u2019 program opened with a traditional isiZulu song \u201cBayasibiza\u201d arranged by Michael Barrett and Mbuso Ndlovu. \u201cBayasibiza\u201d is a traditional greeting song and as is customary in Zulu culture, when entering a village, visitors need to announce themselves by calling out to the chief of the tribe. In this rendition, the University Singers acted as the \u201cvisitor\u201d and asked the audience if they may enter the stage in order to entertain them. Shown center are baritone Ethan Smith with arms spread wide and Tim Nuzzetti.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Gavin
Gavin Ard, a senior Music Performance major, plays his \u201cMambo\u201d solo from Symphonic Dances<\/em> from West Side Story<\/em> with the Wind Symphony. Thomas McCauley conducts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
University Singers perform Eric Whitacre\u2019s \u201cWater Night,\u201d an a cappella<\/em> choral work inspired by the work of Mexican poet Octavio Paz. The evocative imagery uses water as a metaphor for love with its power to transform. \u201cWater Night\u201d uses his characteristic tone clusters, with the choir split into 15 parts at the climactic moments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"University
The University Singers perform \u201cJanger,\u201d a Balinese traditional dance introduced to the island around 1925. This folk song is typically sung by Balinese youth while dancing the Janger together during evening parties. \u201cJanger\u201d (Balinese for \u2018humming\u2019) features the sequence of trancelike humming, dancing and singing from the girls participating in the dance, with boisterous physical and vocal outbursts from the boys.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"University
Swaying dancers waving fans in \u201cJanger,\u201d a Balinese traditional dance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Harrison
Montclair\u2019s arrangement of the traditional Balinese dance movements were staged and taught by Harrison Smith, a senior Musical Theatre and Linguistics double major (center, front row.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Alex
Alex Desrivieres, center, takes his solo on saxophone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nick
Nick Scafuto, a lead tenor with the University Singers: \u201cHere we are, New York! Where do you want us to play next?\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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