Concert Series

Ever heard the saying “two’s company, three’s a crowd”? This was not the case in the Ford Atrium of McComsey Hall on Friday, Jan. 23. Millersville faculty put on a lovely performance entitled “Melange a Trois.” As the event’s name implies, the set was based around three instruments for each movement. The first including clarinet, violin and piano; the second changing only the violin for the horn and the third featuring all brass instruments.

The music featured many different movements ranging from soft and lullaby-like to extremely loud and frenzied sounding. All was done with great expression and the performers appeared to play flawlessly. Christy Banks, who played the clarinet, performed a particularly pretty solo in the show’s first number, “Verbunkos”, by the Austrian born composer, Bela Bartok.

“Melange a Trois” was performed as a preview for a concert given by Millersville University at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster City on Jan. 25.

“I played in the piece by Bartok called Contrasts, which I think went well.  We repeated it today at St. James in downtown Lancaster, in the Music from Millersville concert series they host and it went even better!” said Reuben Blundell.

The only glitch in the performance happened when Blundell’s violin would not tune properly. However, he used this opportunity to make a joke about the intricate nature of the instrument.

Dr. Maria Thompson Corley played beautifully, as always. She plays in many of the campus’ concerts and is an especially focused performer. Her piano accompaniment skills are brilliant and her effortless regal style is captivating. In the movement “Sebes,” both Banks and Reuben Blundell, who played the violin, alternated between two different instruments each, during the song. Both changed back and forth effortlessly.

“I was very glad for the opportunity to play in Friday’s performance at Ford Atrium, and I think these performances are a great opportunity to hear performances by some of my talented artist-faculty colleagues,” said Blundell.

Mr. Reuben Blundell, director of the Millersville University-Community Orchestra performs of the violin (left) with Dr. Christy Banks, Music Dept. Chair, plays the clarinet (right). Photo by Gordon Beecroft.

“I played in the piece by Bartok called Contrasts, which I think went well.  We repeated it today at St. James in downtown Lancaster, in the Music from Millersville concert series they host and it went even better!”

Keith Wiley, who played the trumpet, introduced the last set of trios. This featured all brass instruments; however, it was the lightest of the three movements. The songs were all very nice and mellow.