< Back | Home

Peter Kaminsky and other performers began von der Mehden's season with a wide range of music. Donations collected at the performance went to the 'No Freeze Project, Inc.'

Kaminsky kicks off year at VDM

By: Eric Nigosanti

Posted: 9/15/08

Although the lyrics were in German, the entire audience felt moved by their haunting delivery at von der Mehden Recital Hall Friday night. Accompanied by UConn music professor Peter Kaminsky on piano, singer Christina Castilla de la Gala perfectly captured the sadness in the selections from Franz Schubert's song cycle Die Winterreise with her mezzo-soprano voice.

Luckily for the audience, this was just one of many great performances of the evening. The program was put together by Kaminsky and acted as the kickoff performance of the year for von der Mehden.

The songs played had a variety of performers ranging from UConn graduate and undergraduate students, to friends of Kaminsky, who served as the anchor performer in each piece.

In a few pieces by Schubert, Kaminsky even went solo on the piano.

Even though some of the evening's selections had morbid overtones in minor keys, the performance had a happier purpose. In the lobby of the recital hall, donations were being collected to help support the Windham Region "No Freeze Project, Inc.," which provides shelter for the homeless in the winter months. In theme with the charity, Kaminsky gave a short pass on the classical music and performed Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm" providing a unique arrangement. In addition to him playing guitar, Kaminsky added a flute, clarinet, viola and cello with Erika Beckwith, a 6th-semester vocal performance major, on vocals to what originally was a very minimalist piece. About halfway through the song, when each instrument started playing at the same time, the clash of sound between the strings and woodwinds produced a sort of 'storm' effect.

Another folk song performed on the evening was Joni Mitchell's famous "Woodstock," which kept things simple with just Kaminsky on piano and Beckwith again on vocals. These two pieces proved to be a hit with the audience.

"I thought it was all great and really enjoyed myself. My favorite parts were the solo piano pieces and the folk music, said," Yan Xu, a graduate student studying electrical engineering.

Hongwei Shang, statistics graduate student said, "I loved the piano and vocal performances, but not a fan of the louder pieces."

One theme throughout the evening was Kaminsky's taking chances on somewhat unusual song selections and unconventional arrangements. By doing this he may have alienated some of the crowd, but it does show Kaminsky's love of all music whether it be strictly classical, morbidly sad or just plain strange.

Starting out the evening Kaminsky sat alone at the piano playing an excerpt from Morton Feldman's "Triadic Memories" which sounded like a collection of creepy chords, but what kept the audience's fascination was their wondering of why a screen shot of the orange, purple and green cross hairs of a Jasper John painting was in the background. The program was concluded a bit more typically with a violin, cello and piano trio playing Mozart, which is guaranteed to please some people in the audience.

"As a string player I liked the Mozart pieces," said John Biatowas a graduate student in music. "But I also thought the Bob Dylan piece had a good arrangement."