Concert showcases student compositions

A woman dressed in black took her place on stage as silence filled the small auditorium. Slowly, she began to play her violin. Her performance was part of the Penn Composers Guild's "New Music" presentation Sunday night, the first in a series of three concerts for the 1995-96 school year. Musical compositions written by six guild members were performed by selected hired students of the Curtis Institute of Music. The students, each of whom will have a piece performed by the end of the year, began to prepare for the concert in September. The Guild, which held its concert downtown at the Curtis Institute under the direction of University faculty, includes 11 graduate students in the Music Department majoring in composition. Guild Co-President and Ph.D. candidate Z. Chesky Neceski referred to the music as being in the "modern classical style." "The style varies with the composer," he said. "There is no real way of classifying it, but it's a continuation of Western classical tradition in the modern language." According to Neceski, there is a standing agreement between the University and Curtis for the Guild members to use the Curtis Symphony Orchestra for two three-hour sessions each year. In exchange for this, Curtis students can take courses at the University for credit. The orchestra is generally used for dissertation pieces, which are required by the students in order to obtain doctorates. Guild members are also granted free use of Curtis Hall. "It's a very nice cooperation between Penn and Curtis," composer Tzyy-Sheng Lee said. "We really need to listen to our music. Otherwise, it's just something on paper." The guild members together select the works to be performed and then decide the order of performance. Faculty members, already familiar with the students' pieces, then review their decisions and advise them accordingly. The program is also submitted to the faculty of Curtis. "We try to keep the faculties of both schools advised," Neceski said. Among the approximately 70 people in attendance Sunday was College junior Sarah Guilian. "I appreciated the musicianship," she said. "But I didn't appreciate the music that much." College senior Lisa Kim expressed a more positive view of the performance. "It's really neat to be here in the midst of all of these composers," she said. "The music was powerful and captivating." College junior Libby Bachhuber, who attended the concert with two of her friends, said she was grateful for the exposure to a different type of music. "I though the musicianship was amazing," she said. "It's a totally different take on music."