Dartmouth students were given the opportunity to display their individual musical talents at this past Tuesday's Culley Concerto Competition in Spaulding auditorium.
Since the Baroque period of classical music, concertos "have always been major parts of programs," says Max Culpepper, Director of the Dartmouth Wind Symphony.
Concertos focus on the talent of the individual musician, and may be written for any instrument from a bassoon to a violin.
This, however, does not mean concertos are played by one musician alone. Rather, the soloist is accompanied by other musicians who lay the groundwork for the spotlighted musician. This accompaniment may range in size from a symphony orchestra to a piano.
In 1987, music major Maryly Culley set up the fund which finances the Culley Concerto Competition, a contest with cash prizes awarded to the students judged to have best played their instruments in their respective categories.
The categories this year were strings, woodwind and brass.
As players in these categories need not necessarily perform concertos specifically, the name "Culley Concerto Competition" is actually misleading. "We just use the word 'concerto' for the initials (CCC)," admits Culpepper.
Indeed, what is most important in the competition is the solo playing of each participant, and musicians may choose any piece that highlights their particular instrument.
Each year Culpepper hires professional outside musicians to judge the contest, "so there will be no biases." The judges this year were Mario Bernardo, a virtuoso saxophonist and professor of saxophone at Keene State University who performs in the Boston area, and Robert Babb, graduate of the New England Conservatory and conductor of the Granite State Symphony.
There were at most four contestants in each category with second and first place prizes for every division. Each competitor was limited to ten minutes of playing time to display their proficiency.
Pianist Greg Hayes accompanied all of the performers except for Beatrice Au '99, who accompanied bassoonist Karen Meteyer '99, and Bev Gaylord, who backed up trumpeter Katie LaForgia '97.
Hong Tae Kwon '97 and Grace Oh '98 won first place with a duet which was judged as one performance, for their energetic performance of Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins in C. The duo shared the first place spot with Karen Yen '99, who played a thoughtful rendition of the first movement of Kabalevsky's Concerto No. 1.
Second place in the strings category was awarded to Jeannine Murray-Roman '99, for her expressive performance of the first movement of Hayden's Concerto No. 1. As these four were the only people to participate in the strings competition, every musician ended up receiving an award.
In the woodwind competition, flutist Mary Grace Vendola '97 took first place playing Prokofiev's Sonata, first movement. Second place went to Karen Meteyer '99, who played the first movement of Vivaldi's A Minor concerto with a graceful modesty.
As in the strings competition, the winners were the only ones who competed. Both women truly deserved the prizes they received -- their performances were a fine indication of the musical talent of the undergraduate body at Dartmouth.
Last up were the brass players. Trombonist Fred Reiss '00 took a well deserved first for his hair raising performance of the Hutchinson Sonatina. Close behind him were Kevin Findland '99 and Katie LaForgia '97, who took a joint second place.
Prizes were awarded by Margaret Lawrence, Hopkins Center Programming Director.
The indecisiveness of the judges was something of an anticlimax to the competition. "You are all winners," Babb said to the contestants, and while this may be true, in an effort to please everyone it seemed that too many ties were awarded, regardless of whether or not they were actually deserved.
The competition was severely lacking in this facet -- it was not actually a competition, but rather an acknowledgment of the contestant's artistic abilities.
Perhaps the most upsetting thing about this was that there was but one person in the competition, a trombone player, who received absolutely nothing for his troubles.
While the brass section had four participants, as opposed to two or three in the other divisions, the judges, in a well-intentioned attempt to leave no one out, ended up leaving one person ostracized and dejected.
Competitions are, well, competitive, and more decisiveness on the judges' parts in other sections of the Culley Concerto Competition would have made things a little bit easier for the brass section, and a little bit more fair all around.
In the end, the purpose of the competition was fulfilled; it definitely promoted solo recitals on this campus.
Nonetheless, the CCC is a wonderful way to showcase Dartmouth's talented soloist performers. A stunning variety of music and talent was exhibited, and although the audience outnumbered the participants almost two to one, everyone was impressed by the musicianship of the competitors.
