Ashley Allen
Staff Writer

The UNCG symphonic group, Sinfonia, performed a professional and elegant display of talent on Feb. 26th. In the School of Music Recital Hall, the group performed pieces such as Antonia Vivaldi’s, “Il Teuzzone’ Sinfonia, RV 736,” and Howard Hanson’s Rhythmic Variations on Two Ancient Hymns.

Sinfonia is a strings performance group comprised of both music majors and non-music majors. The group is dedicated to performing a broad range of styles such as Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras.

The performance began with “Serenade for Strings,” composed by Norman Leyden. This piece was conducted by Graduate student, David Miller. Miller is a UNCG School of Music alumni and has returned to the Graduate school after years of teaching at Central Cabarrus High School. After conducting the first piece, he joined the group performing violin pieces for the rest of the performance.

The group played the next piece, “Andante molto,” without a conductor. This was impressive because without a conductor, each musician is left to rely on their own timing. However, this group remained perfectly in balance with one another despite the group lacking the guidance that a conductor that would normally provide.

The group was then joined by Rebecca Macleod, who conducted the remainder of the concert. Macleod is an Associate Professor of Music Education at UNCG. She directs the string education program, and is the head conductor of Sinfonia. She is also the author of Teaching Strings in Today’s Classroom and has been published in multiple research journals.

The group played three more pieces to finish the remainder of the concert. These pieces were riddled with solos by concertmaster, Stephen Osio, on Violin.

After the performance, an audience member and UNCG student, Dionna Becton, commented on the performance saying, “I was in awe of the amount of talent these students have. The performance was flawless and I will definitely be coming to more just like it!”

This performance was a perfect representation of the quality of professionalism that the UNCG School of Music presents. Every musician was prepared, focused and performing eloquently.

If you haven’t checked out Sinfonia out yet, be sure to catch them next time they perform!

Categories: Features