I have quite an unique concert experience last night at the performance of Musica Intima. This is a small group of armature singers singing in a carol choir unlike any choir you heard in the church or in school. Although the musical piece is arranged in SATB parts, their style is contemporary instead of traditional. In last night’s concert, they are singing poems from 19-20th century famous poets with newly composed melodies. The concert is at the Anglican cathedral in downtown and the venue is not very full. I guess this type of music is not really main stream.

I found the music very soothing. The vocal variety is great and undoubtedly the choir is very talented and able to preform very technical pieces. My only complain is the songs transform sound of the words in lyrics to an extreme to suit the melodies, as a result I could not understand most words in the lyrics. Luckily, before each pieces, a choir member will introduce the poem they are about to sing, or I will be totally lost. My favorite song is titled “sleep”, the choir even ask the audience to close their eyes to imagine the song and the poem as a dream. The concert is quite interesting, something worth to see at least once. But I might probably get bored seeing it the second time.

This is my first time hearing a live a orchestra. Orchestra is much better than ballet, which is really boring. I found Orchestra is quite enjoyable, I only fall asleep once during the paino solo. Today’s performance is targeted for beginners. The conductor explains each piece of music before it starts. That helps me get a picture of what is going on in the music, so I won’t feel bored for totally lost in the context. Although it is the same piece of music, listening a live orchestra is very different experience than listening a CD. The sound of all the instruments in harmony is very rich and full of depth, no Hi-Fi system can ever beat the real surround sound. I may not know much about music, but I do enjoy the audio sensation of the orchestra. Moreover, I feel going to orchestra also raised my sense in art appreciation. I can say I am a more artistic person now.