Guitar Chamber Music 5/4/11 Sprague Hall

I always look forward to Benjamin Verdeery's direction of classical and guitar work that he showcases at the beautiful Sprague Hall. Ben teaches modern classical composition and this program was a series of duets, trio, then an ensemble piece. The duet pieces included works by Bartok, Joan Tower, and Toru Takemitsu. The violin-guitar duets of short Bartok works were great. A trio of drums, electric guitar, and electronics performed Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman Suite. The final piece was Terry Riley's In C. Twenty-four musicians played 52 "modules" of the note C. Only at Yale could one view this production. Oboe, bass clarinet, flutes, piccolo, national steel slide guitar, guitars, bass, violin, viola, percussion all played the note C at various speeds and octaves for 40 minutes! Riley would have been proud of that performance. Verdeery cracked up when one audience member yelled "encore". What's next In D?