Order 11861 - 2 Pages within 4 Hrs

Student Example

Virtual Concert Report

My Virtual Concert Report

1. For my Virtual Concert Report, I chose the performance of Rhiannon Giddens

from the virtual concert series called “Tiny Desk Concerts” hosted by the National Public

Radio in 2019. Rhiannon Giddens is an American musician raised in the North Carolina

by a biracial family. She is a founding member of the country, blues, and old-time music

band Carolina Chocolate Drops where she is the lead singer, fiddle and banjo player. On

her own and as a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Giddens has explored the

depths of folk music, specializing in how old - time songs and forms still have resonance

in the modern world. In addition to that, she has used her music to speak about shootings

in Charleston, South Carolina. The major influence of Giddens was North Carolina

native, the late Joe Thompson.

2. In this presentational performance, there were performed four different songs.

The first song, “Then Thousands Voices”, was inspired by Rhiannon reading about the

sub- Saharan slave trade. A very powerful song with extremely impactful lyrics. The

instruments in the first song are the bass played by Jason Sypher, the banjo played by

Francesco Turrisi, and vocals by Rhiannon Giddens. The second song, “At the

Purchaser’s Option”, was inspired by the American slave trade and a New England

newspaper ad in the late 1700s of a young woman for sale and her nine-month-old baby

who was at the purchaser’s option. Once again, a spectacular performance by Giddens in

which the piano played by Turrisi compliments her voice so beautifully. The presence of

the bass instrument is again in this song, as well as in the following two songs. In the

third song, “I’m On My Way”, Turrisi plays a large white circular instrument called

Frame drum and Rhiannon plays a replica of an 1858 banjo. The last song, “He Will See

You Through” was the performance I highly enjoyed the most and I got very emotional.

Giddens has the voice of an angel. She sounds like an angel in human form. The melody

reminds me of a hymn and itself is a heart wrecking piece of art.

At this point, I would like to add that even though this performance is

presentational, there are some elements that made it participatory. We see the three

amazing musicians performing separated from the audience. The audience remains

silently during the performance and only applauds at the end of every single song. The

music and melody were not repetitive and there is change in the rhythm and tempo. All

these are some of the characteristics of a presentational performance. However, the artist

Rhiannon Giddens uses a story telling type music that makes the interaction with the

audience more powerful without having as a primary goal to involve the audience in

some performance role.

3. Prior to choosing the video I wanted to include for my virtual concert report, I

first wanted to listen to all the songs listed on the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts and then

make my final decision. The performance of Rhiannon Giddens was the one that

immediately caught my attention and my interest at the same time and made me more

interested knowing more about her music, her band and herself in general. It was not

difficult to understand that I was not the only one who felt like this. Most of the reviews

that I have read were describing how amazing her talent is. It was the first time I had the

pleasure to listen to her and definitely will not be the last. I believe that Rhiannon

Giddens has the voice of an angel, as already stated above. However, I strongly believe

that Angels wish they sound like Rhiannon. She is a very talented woman and her songs

are truthful and honest and inspiring and need to be heard.