This weekend, three Iowa State University faculty members came together to perform for the first time in the Faculty Chamber Trio. Dr. Greg Oakes, Dr. Mei-Hsuan Huang and Borivoj Martinic-Jercic, more commonly known as Boro, are all distinguished musicians who performed two pieces of classical music Saturday evening, but don’t let the term classical music define what you think the performance was like.

 “When people think about classical music they sometimes have different ideas of what it sounds like and this music is much more rhythmic and bombastic and exciting than the stereotypical concert they might expect,” Oakes said.

Oakes is a clarinetist who has been a member of several orchestras including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Ballet, Central City Opera, Colorado Music Festival, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He is currently the principal clarinet of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra. The New York Times has praised Oakes for his “outstanding performance” in his Carnegie Hall as a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra with members of Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez.

The two pieces performed by the trio were L’Histoire du soldat, or The Soldiers Tale, by Igor Stravinsky and Contrasts by Béla Bartók. 

“Bartók wrote this trio for Benny Goodman to play. Bartók himself was on the piano and then there was a violinist named Joe Szigeti who was rounding out the trio and Bartók wrote this piece to be performed at Carnegie Hall and so it was kind of a big deal,” Oakes said.

Benny Goodman was well known in the 1940’s when swing and big band music was popular, and he himself was a bandleader. At that time, having someone as renowned as Benny Goodman playing a piece you wrote would have been equivalent to someone like Michael Jackson performing your song according to Oakes.

“The thing that’s interesting about both of these pieces is that they have roots in the popular music of the time. The Stravinsky piece was written in 1918 and the Bartók piece was written in 1938. The Stravinsky piece has a tango, ragtime, a waltz and all of these things in 1918 would have been popular music,” Oakes said.

Oakes also said that when people think of classical music, they tend to lump in any kind of instrumental music that has a piano and string instruments all into one category rather than subsets like other genres have like rock n roll with alternative and classic rock as examples.

“This music is much more rhythmic and bombastic and exciting than the stereotypical concert they might expect,” Oakes Said.

Dr. Huang who is the pianist in the trio has been a prizewinner at many music competitions over the years and is now a sponsored artist by Steinway & Sons Pianos which is a very prestigious landmark for her career. Huang is part of the Amara piano quartet that has is residence at Iowa State University and Boro is part of the quartet as well as a violinist. Boro has been the concertmaster of the Phoenix Symphony and the concertmaster of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra since 1995 which is a very prestigious title to hold.

All three distinguished musicians and faculty members performed together in the Faculty Chamber Trio 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall

This weekend, three Iowa State University faculty members came together to perform for the first time in the Faculty Chamber Trio. Dr. Greg Oakes, Dr. Mei-Hsuan Huang and Borivoj Martinic-Jercic, more commonly known as Boro, are all distinguished musicians who performed two pieces of classical music Saturday evening, but don’t let the term classical music define what you think the performance was like.

 “When people think about classical music they sometimes have different ideas of what it sounds like and this music is much more rhythmic and bombastic and exciting than the stereotypical concert they might expect,” Oakes said.

Oakes is a clarinetist who has been a member of several orchestras including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Ballet, Central City Opera, Colorado Music Festival, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He is currently the principal clarinet of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra. The New York Times has praised Oakes for his “outstanding performance” in his Carnegie Hall as a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra with members of Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez.

The two pieces performed by the trio were L’Histoire du soldat, or The Soldiers Tale, by Igor Stravinsky and Contrasts by Béla Bartók. 

“Bartók wrote this trio for Benny Goodman to play. Bartók himself was on the piano and then there was a violinist named Joe Szigeti who was rounding out the trio and Bartók wrote this piece to be performed at Carnegie Hall and so it was kind of a big deal,” Oakes said.

Benny Goodman was well known in the 1940’s when swing and big band music was popular, and he himself was a bandleader. At that time, having someone as renowned as Benny Goodman playing a piece you wrote would have been equivalent to someone like Michael Jackson performing your song according to Oakes.

“The thing that’s interesting about both of these pieces is that they have roots in the popular music of the time. The Stravinsky piece was written in 1918 and the Bartók piece was written in 1938. The Stravinsky piece has a tango, ragtime, a waltz and all of these things in 1918 would have been popular music,” Oakes said.

Oakes also said that when people think of classical music, they tend to lump in any kind of instrumental music that has a piano and string instruments all into one category rather than subsets like other genres have like rock n roll with alternative and classic rock as examples.

“This music is much more rhythmic and bombastic and exciting than the stereotypical concert they might expect,” Oakes Said.

Dr. Huang who is the pianist in the trio has been a prizewinner at many music competitions over the years and is now a sponsored artist by Steinway & Sons Pianos which is a very prestigious landmark for her career. Huang is part of the Amara piano quartet that has is residence at Iowa State University and Boro is part of the quartet as well as a violinist. Boro has been the concertmaster of the Phoenix Symphony and the concertmaster of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra since 1995 which is a very prestigious title to hold.

All three distinguished musicians and faculty members performed together in the Faculty Chamber Trio 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall.