Kaleidoscope, a word that brings to mind vibrant colors and shifting patterns, is also a term associated with beautiful music here at Geneseo, especially after last Friday's stunning concert put on by the music department.
An annual tradition for the past 18 years, Kaleidoscope is a sampling of the incredible musical talent that exists within the School of the Arts. Featuring all major ensembles, clubs and a smattering of inspired soloists, the concert has greatly changed and expanded since its early days.
According to professor James Walker, the concert's creator, the first Kaleidoscope concert was a "potpourri of eight or nine things." The program, however, now includes an array of 23 different performers - both faculty and students - ranging in style from the soothing country fiddle tunes of the Geneseo String Band to the musical fun of a "Pirates of Penzance" sneak peek.
"It looks easier to put on than it is," Walker said. The difficulty was not apparent, though, as each group seamlessly slid into place and the audience observed as the short 90-minute period passed by in a flash of musicality and delight.
The concert began as a lone English horn (played by adjunct lecturer Elizabeth Spector) rang out welcomingly and liltingly through Wadsworth Auditorium. From there the concert unfolded to reveal an astounding variety of sounds and styles: a testament to the diversity and skill of Geneseo's music department.
The sheer number of instruments present at this concert was fascinating to see. From strings to brass, viola to trombone, each group received their time to shine, playing out with a precision that filled the entire auditorium with richly textured sounds.
No instrument was quite as fun to see, however, as those chosen by the Percussion Ensemble in their amazingly choreographed drumline routine, "Stinky Garbage." It's not every day, after all, that people start drumming on steel garbage cans.
Needless to say, Kaleidoscope provided the audience with the opportunity to see things they may have never come across before. Jevan Malaviya's marimba Prelude, a truly exotic treat, and the exquisite operatic styling of two different vocal soloists, senior Danielle Relyea and adjunct lecturer Pamela Kurau, are just a few examples of the assortment of sounds this concert brought forth.
Walker introduced the concert by saying that Kaleidoscope was just the "tip of the iceberg" as far as what the SOTA has to offer. The aforementioned performers, too, were just a brief glimpse of all the diversity and talent displayed that evening.
Kaleidoscope continued to impress and entice with its intricacy and beauty, showing all who were present the different colors and shapes of the music world.