Our weekly date night was moved from its regularly scheduled Thursday night to Friday in order to attend the third concert in a series held by Scissortail Productions. Led by cellist Robert Bradshaw, expectations are always high, even for an event where attendance is held merely at the request of a donation.
Watching this young man grow up in the church playing cello at special occasions, such as Christmas Eve and Palm Sunday, his talent is both well rehearsed and God given. Listeners should expect nothing less from his musical ensembles.
The evening started with a young violinist still wearing tights and an adorable red dress as part of the ScissortailNEXT endeavor, which is made up of orchestral players from the community’s youth. One can only imagine how nerve-racking it must be to open a performance with a memorized solo. Kudos to this bright little star.
The second piece was played by a slender young man who’s strong start is to be expected as those tend to be the measures most often practiced. However, it quickly became apparent that his shy nature was most likely merely a response to the stereotypes in a society where the arts don’t bring in a dollar the way a sports team will. His passion spilled over in a way which would inspire envy from an individual decades older. His pronunciation of each note was on point and the emotion coming out of his bow was beautiful. Each phrasing had the perfect amount of crescendo or decrescendo. Every stroke of his bow showed his attention to detail and the drama of the piece. We can expect spectacular things from this young man.
After a brief break, the third piece, which happened to be the Scissortail quartet’s first, featured a guest baritone, who has been featured in previous concerts. While it showed a strong selection of talent, it unfortunately paled in comparison to the other pieces simply because the other’s were so great.
For their final selection, the quartet was joined by a second viola, bringing each movement to life, full of rich melodies. Beautiful harmonies encompassed the sanctuary with floral tones. The talent of each individual musician was apparent, speaking of their love for the arts, but the composer knew for the story to be accurately told, not a single instrument could be missed. The music swirled and swam through the air, filling the room with a voluptuous sound, making me curious about what each musician saw in their mind as they played. It was by far their strongest piece, resulting in a standing ovation from the audience.
You can catch more information about their upcoming performances at Scissortail Productions.
*** Unfortunately my program listing musicians, composers, and music titles fell into the hands of a recycling bin prior to the writing of this review. Efforts to acquire a copy of the listings have been fruitless to date.
The White Hat Journal 