Musica Angelica Concert
Can You Say 'Baroque'?
Meeting Orchestral Musicians In Person
Chorus students from Hamilton Middle School, along with many students and parents from Jordan High School, recently attended a special performance of the Musica Angelica ‘Baroque’ orchestra at The Center Theatre in Long Beach.
The professional musicians in Musica Angelica play traditional instruments from the Baroque period. Baroque, pronounced "ba-roke", is the style of art, building, and music that was popular in Europe from the 1580s until around 1750. The instruments played during this period include the Baroque guitar "theorbo", harpsichord, and string instruments using gut strings and Baroque style bows. A few unusual wind instruments, such as crumhorns, recorders, and the oboe d'amore, were played during this period as well.
Musica Angelica is newly based in Long Beach, yet have toured the US, Mexico, Europe, and South America, and have also recorded several albums (read more about them in Wikipedia). On Saturday, September 26th, Hamilton students were the first in Long Beach Unified School District to be invited to attend a Musica Angelica concert for free. Musica Angelica plans to invite other middle schools and high schools to attend soon.
Hamilton kids met and talked personally with artists such as first chair violinist Ilia Korol, a musician from Vienna, Italy. Hamilton concertgoer Alexis Salazar, 6th grade, said, "My favorite part was when they were talking about the instruments." Sixth grader Lydia Graciano added, "I especially liked when they were dancing with the music, as if they were telling stories!"
Gissele Campos, 6th grade, said "This was a really great way to show kids how music was in the past!" And 8th-grader Noemi Jimenez said, “It truly was an exciting performance. I hope more Hamilton students choose to attend a concert like this in the future.”
For her part, Hamilton chorus teacher Mrs. Ibarra said, “I think the Musica Angelica concert was great and fantastic. It was an amazing experience.” Musica Angelica has a number of videos on YouTube, she said. "Just search for Musica Angelica and enjoy!"
