UCLA students, professors to perform in ‘Woodwind World’

UCLA music professor Gary Gray said the instant people hear the words “classical chamber music,” most people instantly bow out of the conversation.

Yet, in its eighth year, the Woodwind World concert has continued to attract a crowd of interested music students, with students and faculty performing together in Schoenberg’s Jan Popper Theater on Thursday night. Gray said he hopes the audience will get a taste of how versatile the intimate music style is.

Gray, who originally helped establish the Woodwind World concert eight years ago, said the style of the concert is classical chamber music, meaning that all of the musicians must rely on listening to one another rather than looking to a conductor for guidance.

“No conductors are allowed. We use it to teach our students about independence,” Gray said. “If there’s one skill that’s important to playing chamber music, it’s listening to both yourself and to others. Plus, there’s learning how to balance leading and following. You have to listen for that.”

In addition to highlighting chamber music, the Woodwind World concert pieces aim to showcase woodwind instruments in various combinations. UCLA music professor John Steinmetz’s piece “Fits and Starts” will be performed by a woodwind quartet, but other pieces throughout the night will also feature non-woodwind instruments, such as cello and piano.

Graduate clarinet student Dawn Hamilton, who will also be performing in the show, said the variety in the ensembles really enhances the work.

“Each instrument has a unique sound and can each represent a different character, like in (composition) ‘Peter and the Wolf,’ and it’s cool to hear that. You aren’t really able to hear it in an orchestra,” said Hamilton.

The pieces selected for the performance each present a different style to show the diversity of the woodwind instruments. The ensembles will perform works by famous classical composers Johannes Brahms, Nikolai Kapustin, Bohuslav Martinu, Florent Schmitt and John Steinmetz.

Gray, who selected the pieces, said he wanted to show how versatile woodwinds are. While Kapustin’s work is a jazz piece from the 1920s, the work from Brahms is very romantic and classic German.

Steinmetz’s piece plays with improvisation. Titled “Fits and Starts,” it integrates four instruments through flurries of fast notes and sudden breaks. In the middle of the song, each of the instruments get the opportunity to improvise. Steinmetz said his piece mimics a social dialogue.

“Chamber music is like a conversation among friends,” Steinmetz said. “This piece is really about ways of getting along and ways of sharing a topic. It’s a social interaction.”

The woodwind quartet, which includes both Steinmetz and Gray, is completely comprised of faculty. However, mixtures of all-student and of student-faculty groups will perform other pieces. Hamilton said this is a special opportunity since all UCLA music professors are also professional performers.

Steinmetz and Gray, for example, recently participated in recording music for the popular TV show “Family Guy.” The professors were part of a large orchestra headed by composer Ron Jones, who has composed music for “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “DuckTales,” “The Fairly OddParents” and “American Dad!”

“We had never seen the music before, and we just had two hours to record it all,” said Steinmetz. “That’s why it’s so important to be able to listen to the other musicians, not only in chamber music, and get the job done fast.”

Steinmetz said while the concert is angled toward convincing students in the music program to consider woodwind performance programs, it will be a great experience for anyone who just loves musical experiences because each piece tells a story.

“All of this music takes you on a journey,” Steinmetz said. “It’s really fun to see, with people who are new to it, where they go, where the music takes them.”