b-town music scene

Bloomington, or b-town as it's sometime referred to, is famous for its rich and lively music scene anchored by the world-renowned IU Jacobs School of Music, http://music.indiana.edu/. Since the fall semester began, there has not been an evening, so it seems to me, without some musical events happening in one of its several performance venues, recitals or concerts by students, faculty, or guest artists, most of which are free and open to the public.  The music school attracts aspiring musicians of all ages and nationalities to this quiet little town, not in tangent with any major interstate freeways.  One notable instance is that there seems to be a big South Korean student population at IU and people attribute it without hesitation to the fame of the music school.  Why Korean students are particularly drawn to famous US music schools in this case is a mystery to me.  

The major musical performance space at IU is the Musical Arts Center (MAC), an understated concrete building, completed in 1972.  As one of the IU new faculty orientation activities hosted by the Vice Provost's office, we were given free tickets to their most recent opera performance, Die Fledermaus, last Friday with a pre-show reception and backstage tour of the facility.  We were told that its 90 ft x 60 ft stage space rivals that of the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center and that its red interior color scheme is 'copy-righted'.  We have been to the MAC for six musical performances so far, of which three were operas - Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Little Women, and Die Fledermaus, all of which were credibly staged and performed by students with a full orchestra in accompaniment.  I am still in search of the best seat in the house for operatic performances as the height of the supertitles often conflicts with the optimum viewing of the stage proper.  The connection between the singing and the libretto is too difficult to establish when one constantly has to shift attention from the stage to the supertitles; one loses the sense of immediacy and one's attention lags as a result.  I plan to try the center Balcony seat when I attend the next opera performance there, as the height of the balcony might minimize the difficulty mentioned above.   


As a side note, I believe that the Met Opera HD Live at the movie theatre provides an invaluable service to people all over the world not fortunate enough to be in New York attending one of its live performances.  The sound and the immediacy, though miles removed, of live performances are captured; additionally, the theatre audience is treated to close-ups of the singers' faces in the throes of rendering dramatic arias and privileged views of the orchestra pit, the interviews with the principals and backstage activities during intermissions.  Hearing the stage manager's voice of "Maestro to the Pit" always gives me the goosebumps. I went to see the Met Opera HD Live performance of "Don Pasquale" yesterday and I must say that it was one of my most thoroughly enjoyed opera experiences ever!

As a contrast to the g-town, the home of the mighty Gators, where we came from, the football craze here is of a much smaller scale but with equal pride and frustrated enthusiasm.  Instead of the gator chomps, the de rigueur thing to do after each 'first down' at the football games is the curious 'cow-milking' hand movement, as described by Kirk, and the rather conductor-ish gesture, unfortunately not captured in my video, in sync with the abrupt cutting off of the tune played by the marching band.