As the late hours approached on the night of Nov. 7, the BYU–Hawaii Chamber Orchestra, under the supervision of Maestro Ernest Taniguchi, performed selections from symphonies by Mozart and Johannes Brahms. Featuring an array of musicians composed of BYUH students, the orchestra was met with acclaim from the audience members for the deeper meaning behind its music.
One of the members of the audience, Abigail Harper, a junior from Utah majoring in psychology and peacebuilding, said although she came in late, she was blown away by the orchestra’s expert handling of the music, and the music felt otherworldly. “It felt like I was transported back to a grand opera house and evoked such a powerful feeling of timelessness and romance.”
The McKay Auditorium, frigid with air conditioning, filled up with people, many of them parents and friends of the students performing, though much of the front row remained empty. Their positions already predetermined by chairs and music stands. The musicians of the orchestra took their places, carrying woodwinds, cellos, violas and other instruments, with some percussion players taking their places in the back of the stage.
Clad in black with a razor-sharp focus on their faces, they assumed their positions with the string musicians holding their bows at the ready. Kristi Aurich, a junior from Arizona majoring in TESOL, took to the microphone to welcome all of the attendees.
The string and woodwind players warmed up, tuning their instruments for the performance. Maestro Taniguchi, clad in an evening tuxedo complete with coattails, made his entrance to the deafening applause of the audience. Taking a bow, and holding his conductor’s baton, he made his way to the microphone.
He regrettably informed the audience there were no printed programs, and so he would introduce the pieces to be performed. “The first piece we are doing are two movements from Symphony No. 9 in E flat major by Mozart.
“Traditionally, it’s four movements, played in order from one to four. But tonight, we’re only playing two, so we will reverse the order and play the third movement, which is called the ‘Minuetto,’ and the first movement, which starts with an adagio.”
According to Taniguchi, an adagio in music involves a “slow tempo to start it up, and picks up the tempo to more classical standards.”
Taking his place in front of the assembled students, Taniguchi surveyed them and with a baton in hand, he started them off, arching his hands gently through the air in the adagio he had just described. Slow, melodic sounds echoed from the stage throughout the auditorium, as the Minuetto’s slow tempo gradually became faster, until the melody kept repeating itself at the same speed.
The army of violas, violins, cellos, oboes and much more, under the command of their calculating captain, executed their notes with precision. Alternating between loud and soft, the orchestra continued the Minuetto for several minutes, before transitioning into the first movement. Heavier and louder in sound, it relied more on the percussion instrumentalists in the back.
The strings musicians kept their eyes glued to their sheets of music. Making bow and instrument as an extension of their bodies, the violin, viola and cello sections strummed in calculated unison like a well-oiled machine. With every low note, they would eventually rise back up to play a high note.
As the romantic melody of the first movement came to an end, the intensity in the scrunched faces of the musicians climaxed, with the final stirring notes echoing through the throng of a speechless audience. In the frantic finale of the movement, Taniguchi, commanding the orchestra with fast, robotic conducting, brought the movement to a rousing end.
Following a round of applause from the audience, Taniguchi and his orchestra took their bows, and he announced there would be a 10-minute intermission.
Harper exclaimed, “One of my friends up there on the cello, Beka Biladeau, looked like she was having the time of her life. She and the rest of the orchestra are doing so good.”
After the intermission concluded, Taniguchi took to the microphone, holding a box of Mauna Loa chocolates, which were a gift to one of the student musicians, Natalia Dutton, who was scheduled to serve a mission following the 2019 Fall Semester.
Introducing the orchestra’s second and final piece, Taniguchi stated they would be playing selections from the celebrated Hungarian composer Johannes Brahms. Brahms’ work, written for Hungarian dance, according to Taniguchi, “contains every human emotion in its short runtime. Happiness, anger, melancholy, it has everything,” he said as small tears formed in his eyes.
“Apparently, it was very much inspired by gypsy music, and his friends would play violin and introduce these wonderful melodies. This particular piece is very melancholy and has a feeling of sometimes longing, but within three-and-a-half minutes, there is every emotion.”
Thanking the audience for their time, Taniguchi turned to face his orchestra, and started them off on Hungarian Dance No. 1. Beginning with sweeping, romantic melodies that conveyed the feeling of melancholy he had previously mentioned, Taniguchi guided his orchestra into conveying emotions of joy, love and many others through their music.
Once again, the audience remained silent, glued into their seats. As Taniguchi and the orchestra guided the guests through a gentle progression of human emotions, the whimsical sounds derived from gypsy music began to enter. When the performance concluded, the auditorium exploded with applause for the players, as Maestro Taniguchi shook their hands one by one, before exiting the stage.
After the orchestra had departed, Harper, still excited to see her friend Biladeau onstage, remarked, “There were so many varied emotions in the music. I was aware I was just listening to it, but the tunes really were otherworldly, something which took me out of reality and into a fantasy world.”
Biladeau, a junior student from California majoring in peacebuilding, said she was relieved to perform the concert but deeply enjoyed the meaning behind the music she played.
“Music has the power of conveying emotions which words in the English language, or any language for that matter, have a hard time doing.
“Before performing, I went outside, where it was peaceful and meditated. It really helped, and no matter how stressful or chaotic it got, I always remembered I had a little moment of peace.”