Polaris Project blasts off

Saturday at Auer Hall saw the commencement of a program dedicated to presenting an exciting new way of looking at music. It is called the Polaris Project. Its goal is to combine music with other forms of artistic expression to create opportunities for interaction between media. Even in concerts that do not employ media other than music (like this Saturday's), a relation between the pieces is presented. And the very first program consisted of two very different pieces put together in a very unique manner.\nThe first piece was J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, a very baroque piece following strict three-movement form and featuring a violin and two flutes. Although not the most familiar of the Brandenburg Concerti, this particular one has very nice melodies and interesting parts on the strings and flutes.\nDon Freund, professor of composition, then gave a very lengthy and detailed introduction to the second piece, Alban Berg's "Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with Thirteen Wind Instruments." The piece is about 180 degrees from the Bach composition. It was a contemporary work with a bizarre arrangement of instruments and an extremely complex tonal and harmonic pattern. The piece was not a bad one, but it certainly did not approach the degree of beauty that the Bach had. The best way to describe Berg's concerto is like a puzzle with the pieces put together the wrong way. There were many beautiful sounds on many of the parts, but when put together they made a confusing and rather boring piece. But a splendid performance was done by Ik-Hwan Bae on the violin and Edward Auer on the piano, as well as the other members of the ensemble.\nViolinist Benjamin Sung, creator of the Polaris Project, said the group aims to play a variety of music.\n"One of our goals is to perform music that is not in the standard repertoire," he said.\nAnd by the presentation of a lesser-known Bach and a work of the obscure Berg, the program reflected that attitude. Another thing the program explained was the evolution of the concerto form over time. It noted that although the time difference was only 200 years, the concerto had evolved from Bach's version to a grander orchestral form only to return to the smaller form during Berg's era. It also noted that although the form is similar in both the Bach and the Berg, the musical elements that compose each are very different.\nThe idea for the concert and the Polaris Project as a whole is an extremely intriguing and wonderful one. First of all, music is chosen that is not on everyone's ears. And instead of just throwing the music out and saying "here's Bach" and "here's Berg," the works were presented in terms of the grand scheme -- that is, the evolution of the concerto form between the two. An explanation of form and melody was given and both pieces made sense in terms of each other. And although the concert did not feature any mixed media forms, it certainly was a very educational and entertaining event.\nThe Project's first performance was a definite success. It will offer listeners a great opportunity to hear non-standard works, see media combinations, and gain a new perspective of music all in one concert.