The sounds of strings and wind quartets will fill the halls of the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Saturday night, reverberating off pews and adobe walls with music written not only for places like this, but in the same era as well.
Cal Poly Music Ensembles’ annual benefit concert, Night at the Mission, will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday. The hall, built to carry sound long before the advent of electronics, is one of the top locations to experience chamber music in the state.
Music minor and senior aerospace engineer Rebecca Henning has played clarinet in the concert for the last three years and said the mission really adds to the experience.
“It’s a beautiful location,” Henning said. “The acoustics there are incredible. It’s just a warm sound, and beautiful atmosphere to be listening to music in. And if people are looking for a more low-key concert, it’s a great performance.”
While this performance may be low-key, proceeds from the concert will help the wind ensemble perform in a world-renowned concert hall this June. The 60-member group was chosen to be the showcase college ensemble at the 2010 Los Angeles International Music Festival in Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The festival features college and high school bands from around the world.
Every year, Night at the Mission raises money for Cal Poly Music Ensembles to perform in world-class settings such as Karlskirche Cathedral in Vienna, Smetana Hall in Prague and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Tuba section leader Gary Pheister played with the ensemble at their 2003 Carnegie Hall debut, and will be playing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall as well.
“There are a few great concert halls in the world,” Pheister said. “Carnegie Hall is among them, and now the Walt Disney Hall as well.”
He compared playing at one of these halls, where so many great musicians have gone before, to an architect getting to show their drawings to Frank Lloyd Wright, or a sports team making it to the world series.
“There’s a reason these halls are lauded as world-famous,” Pheister said. “It’s exciting to go there as an audience member to listen to some great ensemble, but to be able to perform there as a student is exceptional.”
In fact, Night at the Mission started with a Carnegie Hall performance. Cal Poly’s chamber orchestra was scheduled to play at Carnegie Hall, but lacked the funding to get there. The music department’s main performing hall was booked, so they played with smaller ensembles at the mission instead.
The combination of the music and the mission was so well-received by the community that the ensembles have held the event there ever since.
One of the reasons the concert became popular is that the construction of the mission affects the tone quality of the music itself. William Johnson, professor of music at Cal Poly since 1966, is the conductor of the wind orchestra and wind ensembles, some of which will be performing Saturday.
“Much of that music was written, not necessarily for that building, but for buildings just like it,” Johnson said. “To have that 18th century experience is just wonderful.”
Unlike many modern performing halls, the mission was built to project sound before the invention of speakers and microphones. The construction of the wooden altar, the angles of the walls and even the height of the platform contribute to the overall sound experience.
Graphic communication instructor Brian Lawler has performed and recorded choral work in the mission for over 25 years.
“The mission fathers built it to be acoustically live,” Lawler said.
Although Lawler said the mission has lost some of its live-sound potential over the course of decades of restorations and the addition of a second wing, “It’s still a really cool place to perform, and the concert Saturday should be breath-taking,” he said.
The concert will include both traditional and contemporary music, played by Cal Poly’s wind quintets, string quintet, saxophone quartet, trombone choir and other small chamber groups.
Music sophomore Gurveer Deol, who played at Night at the Mission last year, explained the concept of a chamber group.
“A chamber ensemble is more intimate than other ensembles,” Deol said. “It’s a small group of people and you really play off each other a lot.”
The combination of all-trombone or all-saxophone ensembles creates an unusual effect. For example, Johnson said the saxophone quartet sounds like harmonizing singers.
“Saxophone is so close to the human voice — and the trombone’s sound just like a men’s choir,” he said.
They will close with an all-brass version of Bach’s “Fantasia in G major,” “which in the mission will sound like a huge pipe organ,” Johnson said.
There will be fresh-baked goods and hot chocolate for sale during the intermission.
Tickets are $8 for children, students and seniors and $10 for adults. They can be purchased at the door, in advance at the Performing Arts Center, or by phone at 805-756-2787. For more information about the concert, contact the Cal Poly music department at 805-756-2406 or visit www.music.calpoly.edu.