An Evening of Latin Music (Holy crap the accordian is awesome)

The 40th Anniversary celebration concert was a pleasant experience in music, to be certain. I did enjoy all of the pieces, but the last of the evening was my favorite, Tango Di Tango. Being that it was the last piece, the audience knew the performance was drawing to a close, and the nature of the piece seemed like a drawn out tease. It literally made me anxious. In triple meter, the violin and accordion seemed to create a foreboding atmosphere, alternately attacking and retreating ground to the other. They would always play the same motive, but with slight variations at each transfer between the two instruments.

The performers, UTD faculty members, gave the impression of a great understanding of the intent of the piece. The composer, Robert Xavier Rodriguez, also gave a short introduction to Tango Di Tango, in which he explained why exactly the tango was previously declared a 'sin' by the Roman Catholic Church, and outlawed in practice in parts of North America. I think that really added a lot to the audience's understanding of the performance, and maybe even added to it. I had only wished that more students saw this performance, given that a sizable number did not bother to stay past the intermission. Also undoubtedly interrupting from the audience's experience of the performance was the number of illuminated iPhones that were in attendance, as guests of the students.