MUS130B

I knew from the beginning of this class that we were going to witness a premiere. It was one of the first things that we were told when we started this journey in MUS130B. I believe most of us in the class were curious. Curiosity into who would be playing or what kind of piece it would be. I was one of them.

In this pandemic, students faced many difficulties. At the end of first semester, many of us in the flute studio left campus after we were not allowed back into Centennial Hall due to COVID restrictions. This resulted in a semester that was spent in front of a computer. We students lost much of the experiences usually experienced in the first year of studying at an university such as the Fred Fox School of music. This premiere falls into this category.

Online education is tiring and busy. A class that would already be busy enough in person becomes terribly hard to keep up with. With a learning disability it gets even worse. I had the option to go see the premiere in person, but having too much to do, it was impossible to pick myself up and drive the two hours it takes to get from my town to Tucson. Therefore, I watched the premiere alone, in my room on a computer screen.

In these times of COVID, staying home is always a good idea to stop the spread of the infection and to keep yourself from getting infected. This in the sense of the pandemic is great, helping protect yourself and others. But with witnessing a premiere, it could not have been worse.

Having performed in a premiere before, I know how it feels to be in the auditorium during such a performance. The air is charged, the audience holds its breath as the note and the vibrations of the music hits them. The music has a physical way of interacting with us. Through its vibrations, it connects us with the performers, the emotions of the music, and the other audience members. But just like how Zoom cannot pick up certain pitches or articulations, the online premiere lacks there physical pulls. The result is that there is a duller the experience is. There is no doubt that this music is creatively and beautifully crafted. There is lots of though and love that has been poured into its composing and its performance.

Quite simply, the feel was unfairly taken by COVID.