By Elise Roberts
BYU’s Folk Music Ensemble had their audience tapping their toes and clapping along last night in Provo to Traditional Irish, Scottish, French Canadian, and American tunes. Under the direction of Mark Geslison, BYU’s Folk Music program (started in 1964) consists of several small ensembles, two of which performed last night.
The Irish Session Ensemble (Alice Bailey, Sophie Dahl, Peter Despain, Ryan Echols, Olivia Knudsen, Casey McClellan, Brady Moon, Marcus Richardson, Erica Suggs, Ben Thomas) opened the concert with a lively Slip Jig set featuring three accordions. The ensemble’s ten band members played a variety of instruments (often switching from one to another mid-piece), including fiddle, piano, guitar, bass, accordion, concertina, mandolin, flute, penny whistle, melodica, and bodhrán (Irish drum). Irish music is made for dancing, and the band members tapped their toes and had the audience tapping along with them to the bright beat of the music. The pianist could have used an extra mic boost as it was hard to hear his part.
The Irish group continued with a brisk reel set, another fast jig set, and finally a slow, moving vocal number, “The Wind that Shakes the Barley,” where they were joined by the second ensemble of the night, Mountain Strings. The vocalist (Suggs) sang of Ireland’s struggle against England’s oppression as she told the story of the young Irish buried in mass graves with their pockets still full of that day’s barley rations. The barley eventually sprouted, marking the graves with golden patches of barley.
The show continued as Mountain Strings, the ensemble that tours with BYU’s International Folk Dancers, took the stage. The seven members (Joe Black on bass, Isaac Geslison on guitar/banjo/voice, Jake Goehring on percussion, Sam Higbee on banjo/guitar/voice, Aubrey Nielsen on piano/voice, Brielle Petrie on mandolin/voice, and Laura Waters on fiddle/voice) impressed the audience with not only their skills as musicians but as entertainers as they told jokes and teased each other throughout the program. Guest artists from previous years joined the band for several numbers with Sarah Johnson on flute and Sawyer Porter on fiddle.
Their opening solo number, “Traveler,” featured a great fiddle and banjo duet. One of the best elements of small ensembles is the ability to feature all the instruments, and this group showcased each of theirs exceptionally well. The solo parts hopped around to each instrument by turn, earning enthusiastic applause from the audience. One of the highlights of the night was the song, “God’s Pen of Love,” a jazzy bluegrass number popularized by Alison Krauss in the 90s. The vocalists (Waters, Petrie, and Nielsen) harmonized beautifully and had me wanting to sing along.
The show’s final number, “Dragonfly,” arranged by Geslison, had the audience leaping to their feet in a standing ovation and demanding an encore. Mountain Strings obliged and gave them a vigorous rendition of the ever-popular bluegrass classic, “The Orange Blossom Special.”
BYU’s Folk Music Ensemble’s performances are a fantastic way to enjoy and learn about the rich heritage of cultural music surrounding us that has been largely forgotten.
Mountain Strings will be traveling to China in May with the BYU International Folk Dancers. They will present concerts in major cities in China along with other BYU performing groups. To find out about future concerts in the area, visit https://pam.byu.edu/group/mountain-strings/.
Brigham Young University College of Fine Arts and Communications, School of Music presents Mountain Strings with Irish Session Ensemble
Brigham Young University Provo, Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo, UT 84602
March 1, 2019, 7:30 PM
BYU Mountain Strings Facebook Page
Mountain Strings and Irish Session Ensemble Facebook Ensemble
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