This year’s guitar concert took place on January 30 in Mattison Auditorium. The event took off on a good note; that is, with an attentive and enthusiastic audience. Students were ready to enjoy the performance, applauding at the familiar faces of their classmates, roommates, and friends. Faculty members were even more impressed at the students’ talents that were not revealed in classrooms.

The show, though directed by Mr. Joseph Bouchard and Ms. Kathleen Kruze, had a crucial student-driven element in it, particularly in two purely student-composed songs of Summertime and Ukraine Girl which were performed towards the end and finale of the recital.

The recital opened with the song Ashokan Farewell, a harmony of the classical guitar, violin, and bass. Much like this opening song, most of the performance was a collaboration of different string instruments, keyboard, and percussion.

The audience especially enjoyed the percussion because it gave life and beat to the music. The lively beats of the tambourine in Ho Hey, along with one of the performer’s exceptional humor, even made the audience shout “ho” and “hey” along with the performers.

Joni Leung ‘15, who played the drums and the djembe, says, “it was the first time I played the drum on stage, and I had a lot of fun.”

The charms of the concert, however, weren’t purely instrumental. Many songs were accompanied with vocalists, and Meimi Zhu ’15 was especially noted for her outstanding voice.

All in all, the performers, as well as the audience, enjoyed themselves thoroughly.