KSO "From Russia with Love"

    Last night I had the opportunity to usher the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (KSO) and their performance "From Russia with Love."  The show featured pieces by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Shostakovic, all Russian composers with very different composition styles.  Overall the performance was a wonderful experience and left me entranced in the haunting melodies of Tchaikovsky and inspired by the almost satirical styles of Shostakovic.
     Though all of the pieces were performed extremely well, the mixture of back-story and execution of the Shostakovic made it stand out from the other numbers.  Raised in in Russia directly following World War II, Dimitri Shostakovic wrote musical numbers for the government and the Communist Party.  After expressing strong feelings of dissent towards the Communist Party, most of Shostakovic's music was banned from Russia.  In response to this ban, Shostakovic began to compose musical pieces that would start with strong, militaristic movements shortly followed by weak, almost cartoon-esque endings.  This was emphasized in the KSO by having the brass section play loud, oppressive notes (representing military oppression) and following these sections with high, quickly resolved chords by the strings and high wind instruments. 
   Though all of the movements were performed well, I feel the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra did an especially fantastic job on the Shostakovic movement.  I look forward to seeing more performances by the KSO, and would recommend the shows to anyone who appreciates good orchestral music or is interested in them.  If interested, you can get tickets with your experience tech fee with no cost if you pick the tickets up early.  Hope to see you there!
-Charlie