Bill

Angélique Kidjo

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KidjoA very dynamic and fun concert in a full Spaulding Auditorium.  A number of beautiful African songs, with great drum accompaniment.

There were 4 people in the band: guitar, bass guitar, percussion and drums.  The guitar and percussion had a very distinct sound and beat, very engaging.

Towards the end, she expressed disappointment that people weren’t dancing.  That was enough: the last few songs were a lot of fun, especially when she walked through the audience, and everyone sang the refrain that ended with “Africa”.  And the song after that, everyone joined her on stage, and one little girl sang at the mike.

Throughout the show, she danced very dynamically.   Hard to believe that she has a daughter just finishing at Yale!  No wonder there was no Q&A with the audience after the show – instead it is tomorrow afternoon.

Angelique Kidjo Program Notes

The Witch

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The WitchI went to this movie primarily as a fan of 1630 history, thinking of Malick’s The New World perhaps, as I am not a fan of horror movies in general. The movie didn’t disappoint, with an early scene that looked liked it was filmed at Plymouth Plantation (which was listed in the credits).

A Puritan family is kicked out of a community, and they go off to the woods in order to pursue their own biblical interpretation.  They do set up a small farm on the edge of ominous woods, with creepy music the whole time.  They have a grim existence in grey twilight.  In a blink of an eye, a new baby disappears: a wolf, or a witch?

The movie embeds you in an era where witchcraft was real, palpable and close by.  The language is all “thees”  and “thous”, taken largely from period documents and court records, and is sometimes quite difficult to understand.

The oldest daughter jokes to her siblings that she is a witch to scare them, but then her brother is possessed, or maybe the younger twins are?  Creepy, and scary with sudden shocks, and a consistent slow and moody atmosphere.

The film was filmed in Mattawa, Ontario, way up near North Bay, but it could easily have been Anywhere, New England.

 

Masterworks 2016

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The Hanover High School Music Department presented an ambitious program, opening with Finlandia.  The orchestra did a creditable job.  The group included a few community members, but also some middle school students, so they got a taste of high school.

The next piece was an Telemann concerto for two violas, which is an unusual combination. But there were two graduating seniors who play viola, Olivia Hinch and Felix Herron.  Both did a very good job, particularly Felix in the 4th movement.

The Footnotes and Chorus then did 4 vocal pieces.

The final piece was a Schubert Mass, with chorus and orchestra.  This was a very beautiful piece, and there were some nice vocal solos, particularly Lily, Marie and the Agnus Dei.

At the end, Chorus Director Jennifer Chambers thanked retired Jane Woods who had covered during maternity leave.  I have no doubt that she was able to step in and flawlessly fill in, even with such challenging pieces.  Well done!

Masterworks Program

Dartmouth Idol 2016

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A fun vocal extravaganza at the Hop, with a 20-piece band and backup singers and a sell-out crowd..  There were 6 finalists: Nikhil Arora, Grace Carney, Stephanie Everett, Sean Haughey, Chelsea Lim, and Jimmy Ragan.

They all did a really good job, but for me, the standout was Nikhil Arora with a smooth, flawless “I’m not the Only One”  by Sam Smith.  My second vote was Chelsea Lim, particularly for her duet in the second half.  Interestingly, all 3 in my party had the same votes.

It turns out that the winner was Grace Carney, a previous finalist, and a strong performer and singer.  The crowd loved her version of “Creep” by Radiohead, but I found her voice a bit too screechy in parts.

The concert was very professional, but sometimes Walt Cunningham seemed to take too much attention and time.  This was especially apparent for the last duet, where he made extensive thank you’s while Nikhil and Grace waited to perform “Stairway to Heaven”.

More details in The D

Judges:

  • Kaitlyn Sheehan Ramirez ’09 Tuck ’16 (idol contestant)
  • Jake Gaba ’16, last year’s winner but not particularly eloquent as a judge
  • Tara Joshi ’18

Hosts

  • Carina Conti ’16, just finishing from the lead in Dartmouth Theater’s “Chicago”
  • Aaron Cheese ’18
  • Nick Vernice ’18