Audience Comments

The Nile Project

Photo by Miriam Alarcon Avila

The Nile Project, a collective of musicians from the eleven countries that share the Nile River, performed at The Englert Theatre on March 11, 2015. The performance capped a weeklong residency at the University of Iowa and in the community.

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The Nile Project:  SUBLIME!!  Percussion Heaven! Fabulous evening that got Iowa City up and rockin’ in the aisles! I loved seeing so many Sudanese kids having such a wonderful time. I hope they were amongst the ones who met the musicians at West High! My daughter experienced The Nile Project last summer in Zanzibar at the Busara Festival, so I knew I was in for a glorious evening. Thank you!!

Evalyn Van Allen-Shalash

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I had been looking forward to this show since the season was announced. Everything I thought it would be.  I liked the opportunity to hear the director talk in a pre-performance presentation.  I liked the diversity of the audience.  What a concept -- those who missed it, missed something they shouldn't have.

Patrick Muller

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Enjoyed, gave great thoughts the Nile and water problems, similar to us.

Doris Marchael

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They beat the hell out of the beat!

Sherwood Wolfson

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My whole family loved it. The Nile Project presented East African music which is rarely heard in the USA. The rhythms were wonderful, the dress of the band was beautiful, and the crowd involvement was thrilling. All-in-all a great show.

Dave, Denise and Mike Tiffany

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On Wednesday, my family and I attended a concert by The Nile Project.  We were deeply impressed with the show and the obvious talent and enthusiasm of the performers for their art.  I would like to share a few observations we made during the show.
 
So often, women in musical groups are relegated to vocals - primary or back-up - or to an instrument.  I was so pleased to see such a wonderfully talented and showy percussionist on the stage.  The woman from Kenya, flashing a gorgeous smile, played her instruments like a dancer.  I was fascinated by the ways she united the movements with the rhythmic pulse of her instruments, as if she and the drums were one creature.  She was mesmerizing.  When the audience applauded the group, she received the most wholehearted cheers of all the performers, and she acknowledged them with a gracious and brilliant smile.  Such a wonderful performer.
 
All the performers were masters of their art, and so very passionate about their music.  That was such a wonderful thing to see, in an era when popular American music depends more on synthesizers and samples, autotune and performers who dance to pre-recorded tapes.  These voices were very real, very human, and so lovely to hear.  I can't tell the difference between music that comes from the Sudan vs. music from Egypt, but all of it was gorgeous.  Thank you to all the performers - you gave us all such a gift.
 
The audience for this performance was fantastic.  In the second act, a number of women started to send ululations back to the performers.  During some of the upbeat songs, those calls moved from the stage to the audience and back again, reinforcing the passion and pleasure of the music for everyone.  It was such a testimony to the beauty of the performance, and I've never seen the like before.  I would love to thank those people who responded so powerfully and joyfully to the music.  
 
Many of the audience members also came forward to dance, something that should happen more often than it does.  I noticed, among the dancers, one little girl of no more than 9 or 10.  She had worn a beautiful dress reminiscent of an Egyptian costume - all white, with a metallic belt than hangs low.  For the evening, someone had put a white flower in her hair, and she was so utterly charming and lovely.  When she danced, her belt would fly out around her.  She was grace and beauty and pride in herself all in one, and I'm so glad her family brought her to the show.  Even though she was not a performer, she reminded us all of the power of music to make a very diverse group of people into one.  Her smile lit the room.
 
My son, also, got up to dance.  He's 14 now, and this hasn't happened since he was 3 or 4.  It was his idea to go to the show - the group gave a small performance at his high school that week.  He and a friend got up and moved to the music.  Sure, they were doing exaggerated mock-dances, but they were dancing.  The rhythm and melody lines were so powerful that they overcame the basic self-consciousness of these teen boys.  I'm just so glad to see that.
 
So thank you to Hancher for inviting this amazing group to Iowa City.  Thank you so much to all the performers - you were riveting.  Your message about water use, about the necessity of coming together as human beings to address water issues, and the beauty of the cultures you all represent, all these things were heard.  I hope to see you again.
 
Thank you.
 
Renee Goethe

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This was a great event and they even managed the cell phone/ipad issues very effectively. It was a nice change from some of our previous experiences this year. Thank you.

Karen Drake

The Joffrey Ballet

Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili of The Joffrey Ballet. Photo by Christopher Duggan.

The Joffrey Ballet performed two intimate performances at Space Place Theater on March 7-8, 2015. Joffrey Artistic Director Ashley Wheater personally introduced the pieces, which included modern works by Christopher Wheeldon, Stanton Welch, James Kudelka, and Yuri Possokhov.

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It was wonderful. I had expected to be disappointed because it was such a small performance space. Instead is was so nice to be able to be close to the dancers and also above them. In Hancher I would have been at foot or knee level if I were close and therefore unable to get a holistic view of the pieces.

Carolyn Dyer

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I’ve attended every Joffrey performance since joining the faculty here 22 years ago, beginning with “Billboards” in 1993. This past weekend’s was one of my very favorites.

Mark Osiel

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So marvelous to see the company again. They are better than ever.

Mel Sunshine

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The Joffrey was spetacular. Too bad the heat in the room made it terribly uncomfortable for the spectators as well as the artists.

Anonymous

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Wonderful performance!  Nice length and combination of dances.  I thoroughly enjoy the collaboration Iowa has with the Joffery Ballet and get to every performance I can.

Just wish the fans could have been on slowly during the performances - it was very warm.

Barb Rakel

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Absolutely sensational!!!!   

Rudy Schulz 

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Pacifica and Joffrey were superb.

Kenn Hubel

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Even the Johnny Cash was good.

Sherwood Wolfson

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We loved the performances. We especially loved meeting and talking to them. Great group of young people and very talented. 

Bob and Judy Boyd

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Well worth the 7-plus year wait! The company's attachment to Hancher and the Iowa City community palpably radiated throughout their performance and it was apparent that they were giving us their best at this "homecoming" performance. I always thoroughly enjoy seeing the excitement Joffrey engenders in young dancers in the audience, too. Can't wait to see them onstage in the new Hancher Auditorium!

Liz Newbury

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The Joffrey Ballet was wonderful.  We didn't mind the venue except for the heat. Loved the new seats and the closeness to the performance.

Nancy Granner

Pacifica Quartet

Pacifica Quartet performed at Riverside Recital Hall on March 6, 2014.

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One of the most exhilarating concerts I have attended--ever. I would like to have had some biographical information about the members of the quartet in the program--and less about the two very familiar composers.

Carolyn Dyer

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Take your pick from a list of superlatives and any and all would describe the Pacifica Quartet.

Mel Sunshine

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Superb! And replaying the second movement of the Shulamit Ran piece as an encore was a great way for the audience to better understand and appreciate the music. Bring them back!

Richard E. Kerber

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As usual!

Sherwood Wolfson

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Pacifica and Joffrey were superb.

Kenn Hubel

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We both think that the Pacifica Quartet on March 6 was wonderful. The four players interacted with each other all the time while they were playing these quartets, and as a result they were superbly coordinated. With regard to their performance, they were our ideal of what a string quartet ought to be.

Their program was also outstanding. The Shulamit Ran quartet is excellent, and it was a great idea to repeat perhaps its most accessible movement as an encore.  In addition, the flanking “classical" pieces fit in superbly with the modern piece in the middle - in particular the unbalanced final movement of the Beethoven quartet, and all of the last Mendelssohn Quartet, which is as fiercely intense and emotional as the Ran quartet.

It was a great experience. We hope that the Pacifica Quartet  returns.

Anne and Joe Frankel 

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The group's performance was outstanding.  We are learning to come early, sit near the front and bring some padded seats.  Have them back again.

Nancy Granner

Terell Stafford Quintet

Photo by Miriam Alarcon Avila

Jazz Trumpeter Terell Stafford performed two shows with his five-piece combo at Club Hancher at The Mill on Friday, February 13.

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Wow. That was a great show. Terell can really blow the beans out of that horn!

Joe Brennan

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This Quintet was outstanding!  Very imaginative jazz and great playing.  We need more jazz of this caliber!!!

Sally Sinclair

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Outstanding!!

Sherwood Wolfson

Kronos Quartet, Beyond Zero: 1914-1918

Photo by Miriam Alarcon Avila

Kronos Quartet performed at The Englert Theatre on February 7, 2015, marking the 19th time that Hancher has brought the group to Iowa City. The concert also marked the 23rd time that Hancher has commissioned or co-commissioned a work for Kronos, with Bombs of Beirut by Mary Kouyoumdjian.

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The war film and music associated with it was good. The rest was OK.

Resmiye Oral

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First rate performance.  What I expect from Kronos.  Cerebral, refined, powerful.   Excellent facilities, acoustics were superb! Thank you!

Tom Getta

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It was great! It was a little frustrating not to be able to hear all of the words during bombs from beruit but the music was fabulous and the film was amazing!

Angie Hayes

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Loved the performance! The film layer integrated well with the music. The film texture was very biological and heart wrenching, given the scenes of war. The single parachutist brought to mind my father's experience, different War (II, not I) but the loneliness of descending figure was moving and thought-provoking. How isolating is the experience of war! Look forward to more great performances.

Janice Frey

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I can’t say it was an enjoyable concert, though I appreciate the effort that went into the message: war is hell!  I prefer classical chamber music, less elevated, more formal, and without visual effects.

Ruth Dawson

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There was a sameness about this program. A few pieces I found lovely to listen to, but many were dissonant and unappealing to me. I truly liked the encore and wish there had been more of that kind of music.

The musicians in this quartet are obviously competent, seem to enjoy playing, and have a nice rapport with the audience.

Should the Kronos Quartet come to Iowa City again, I'll likely not attend.

J. Kenneth Kuntz

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First time I'd heard strings used as percussion instruments!

Sherwood Wolfson

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Last year’s performance by Kronos at The Englert was divine…a sublime mixture of sentiment, sensuality, and subtlety.  The encore, A Thousand Thoughts, was the capstone to one of the most memorable performances I have ever attended.

This season’s Beyond Zero was, for me, unbalanced…the end result being a cacophonous journey that left me unsettled in a way that I do not believe was intended.  While I enjoy the mind expanding technique of putting opposites in close proximity…scraping away the calloused exterior to allow subtle quietness to find its way into the exposed soul where it might have otherwise been rebuffed…Beyond Zero failed.

Both Bombs of Beirut and Beyond Zero were honorable attempts to take the listener on a forced walk through fields of battle.  But it seemed to be all about the noise of battle…the phallic shootings and bombings that attract movie goers, without any of the reflection that inevitably comes with sleep, the peacefulness of the dead, and the million milliseconds after the trigger is pulled to reflect on common humanity.

The Thousand Thoughts encore found itself again at the end of the program Saturday night.  As beautiful and reverent as it was, it became a contextual orphan, alone on the stage, its parents walking off for another show.

Please bring Kronos back.  Expectations for this extraordinary quartet grow over time and reality rarely reaches perfection.

Rich Clewell

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The musicians were superb. The music less so. The most enjoyable pieces were the first two. I would have enjoyed at least one Beethoven string quartet.

I noticed that there was a lot of technology involved, particularly during “Flow.” I observed that each musician had a console on the music stand that controlled, in part, the tonality of the instrument. Also, I saw that each musician had an ear bud at times during the performance. I would have appreciated some explanation of how this technology enhanced the performance.

Frank Scamman

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We have been going to see the Kronos Quartet since they started to come to Iowa City and enjoyed both their concerts and their open practice sessions. We look forward to their return. 

The music on Saturday was, at times, beautiful. We loved Beatitudes, Flow, and the encore. Groung was strange and very much worth experiencing.

The Bombs of Beirut obscured the testimony of victims and the integrity of the music. Technology can dominate. Demanding to run its course (I suppose like war), however, art means that the humans get a chance to respond.  

The exposed and disintegrating film was beautiful, mysterious, and, after awhile, equally as dominate in Beyond Zero. I had to close my eyes as the film ran through its spoil and continued to uncoil.

Mark Isham

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A Kronos concert is always an adventure. We liked the first four pieces. It was difficult to hear the words in the “Bombs” piece. The film in the last piece was fascinating but difficult to look at because of the degradation of the film quality. We found that the music had a depressing effect—maybe that was the point. Nothing to lift the gloom. We needed a walk after the concert.

Gene Savin

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We both found the first half of the program (including the Beirut part) interesting, but felt that the tattered movie shown in the second half was not worth showing and also headache-inducing. It distracted from the quartet’s simultaneous playing, much more than the indistinct voices and artillery noises did from the Beirut composition.

Joe and Anne Frankel