The Cooke Scholarship String Quartet and the Summit Piano Trio performed on the Campus Green at Kennesaw State’s main campus on Sept. 24.
While students studied on the Campus Green and walked from classes to grab lunch at noon, these performers played a set of classical compositions for a touch of elegance on an otherwise ordinary school day.
The Cooke Scholarship String Quartet was composed of KSU music students and the Summit Piano Trio was composed of their professors. The trio of music professors began with two pieces that flowed seamlessly from intense and high stakes to light hearted. They then paused for the students, who played an energetic piece of music composed in 1893 with multiple techniques such as violin plucking and instrumental solo moments.
There was no formal conductor for these musicians — rather, each group played by the tempo set by themselves and their group members, displaying extreme trust and reliance on their peers. The songs played had personality with variance in volume and tone, showcasing a rehearsed set from both orchestral groups.
The Cooke String Quartet is made up of two violinists, Melody Bearden and Scott Lozier, a viola player, Dajon Carter, and a cello player, Colin Gregoire. The Summit Piano Trio is made up of one violinist, Helen Kim, one cello player, Charae Krueger, and one pianist, Robert Henry.
The small bands allow for this more aligned way of performing. The concert lasted roughly half an hour.
Most Fridays for the rest of the year, an orchestra of a different compilation of the over two hundred Bailey music students and eighty professors will perform on the Campus Green for no personal gain other than to share their love of performance and talent for music with the rest of the student body.
There are no ticket sales or tip hats, only the opportunity to present songs learned and represent the program. Although these events are not heavily advertised, the spontaneity of this week’s event still drew a diverse crowd. Passersby became spectators from the mere allure of the music coming out of the shadowed area in the trees.
This event added ambience to many students’ daily academic activities that would typically only be found in an opera hall. The Bailey School of Music puts on performances of much larger scale, usually over 100 every year and many in large concert halls, but Fresh Air Friday is unique in the way it brings music to listeners rather than waiting for them to seek it out.