Dublin Guitar Quartet performed on March 29 at Riverside Recital Hall. Audience members had this feedback:
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We felt that it was more of a curiosity than anything else. It wasn’t clear what the case for a guitar quartet really is (other than the curiosity/oddity factor). My two cents.
Downing Thomas
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My husband, Ron, and I feel it is always necessary to attend cutting edge musical presentations because you don't hear this music "live" very often.
It was great to hear the Philip Glass, Arvo Part and Steve Reich compositions. We were pleasantly surprised by the jolt within "Cuban Landscape with Rain" by Leo Brower which we'd never heard before. The David Flynn and The Redneck Manifesto pieces were new to our ears, too.
We were also delighted at the intermission to hear Chuck Swanson's announcement of the Miriam and Arthur Canter Rare Books Room in the music library of the new School of Music. This is a fitting tribute and honor for two of Hancher's longtime volunteers and supporters!
Our travel from Solon to "town" to Riverside Recital Hall in Iowa City Saturday evening was a wonderful experience. The music made you forget the hard, wooden seating. (Could padded seats be a special project in Riverside Recital Hall's future?)
Sincerely,
Pat Ikan
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Only so so. They are talented. BUT many of us do not enjoy Glass and especially Reich. The Hancher brochure gave no indication that they only did contemporary music. There was a lot of space to indicate their general program. Had we known, we would not have bought tickets.
Mel Sunshine
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Wonderful concert!
Venue was not worthy of this talent, especially on a Saturday night. The old St. Thomas Church should not be used for any professional groups.....the acoustics were not good and the church has not been made into a worthy recital hall. The center of the "stage" was offset from the center of the viewing area. The Englert, or the Coralville Performance center would have been more appropriate. I was embarrassed to have them hosted in this fashion!
Also, publicity needs improvement. Few to no young people were present in the audience. Why? These are the benefactors of tomorrow and they need to be engaged.
Please bring the Dublin Quartet back, but in a nicer venue!
Helene Donta
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The performance of the Dublin Guitar Quartet was very well received by the usual Hancher-attending age-audience as it deserved to be. What bothers me is the prominent lack of student-age persons in the audience. This was music, contemporary and in a percussive-gripping mode that would have appealed to them, had they been more informed in advance about its nature and sound. Merely listing the names of the composers would not tell someone what to expect in a live performance, and in fact, mislead. I did not anticipate what it would be like other than my expectation it be "minimal" in the style of Glass and Reich, which has a low appeal to me generally, but I was curious about how it would sound from a guitar quartet!
The advertising, listings, etc. provided by Hancher did not have the hook to grab their interest or the challenge to risk attending. Not stimulating in all the senses enough compared to their usual fare? Perhaps more effort should be made, and earlier, to get some key student group or DI persons to encourage them to listen to samples of the music in advance and tell others or write about it in their own language. Aren't they here at a university to learn about the arts?
Arthur Canter