There was more music to hear on campus than Third Eye Blind last semester, yet some of the most talented acts came and went unnoticed by much of the student body. There were classical Brazilian guitarists and representatives of the Washington National Orchestra, Grammy-winning horn combos and Obama-approved gospel choirs. And, unlike T-Pain and Coolio and the slew of other lackluster artists who have graced the McDonough Gymnasium in the past few years, all of these shows were entirely free.
Next Friday will see the return of the Friday Music Series. Designed to bring a wide range of artists from both D.C. and abroad to Georgetown, Friday Music is probably the most consistent musical event on campus. The series regularly brings top-tier talent, and they aren’t just there to entertain—often, the artists will take the time to explain the cultural context of the work they are presenting, making presentations that are as edifying as they are entertaining.
And you don’t have to be a future composer to get something out of the event, either.
“We try and keep in mind the entire student body at Georgetown,” program director Anthony DelDonna said. “We try to go beyond the immediate core audience of people within the [music] major … to appeal to the University at large.”
However, it is unclear whether or not this effort to engage the student body is really working. Go to any Friday Music Series event and you’ll find twice as many adult attendees who come from the surrounding neighborhood as students. Many of the students who do attend are probably there to fulfill a course requirement, which hardly qualifies as active engagement.
There are a number of possible reasons for the low student attendance. The time of day, 1:15 p.m., conflicts with class schedules and is generally inconvenient for students with internships and jobs. (Plus, everybody knows that asking a business school student to get up before 2 p.m. on a Friday is hopeless.)
There may also be an issue of advertisement. While professors in the music department inform their classes of upcoming events, and there is modest flyering around campus, if you ask most students about Friday Music you will get a lot of blank stares.
DelDonna hopes that this year’s programming will appeal to a greater number of students.
“You have to keep in mind that Friday afternoon we’re competing with a lot of different things happening on campus,” he said. “I think that we’ve certainly established a presence at the University and we’re continuing to build our audience. I think this year’s program is one of the most diverse.”
To be sure, the programming this year does provide a lot of different styles to sample. Some of the highlights include virtuoso violinist Riad Abdel-Gawad’s Egyptian-inspired violin improvisations, Francesc de Paula Soler’s classic Spanish guitar, and the swinging sounds of Joe Falero & D.C. Latin Jazz All Stars.
For those more interested in the nitty-gritty details of music history, this year’s inaugural concert is a particular treat. Done in collaboration with Lauinger Library, professor Rufus Jones will be presenting the Kemper Road String Quartet’s interpretations of the works of American composer William Grant Still. In addition to the concert, there will be an exhibit of original manuscripts and documents from Still’s lifetime on display in the fifth floor of Lauinger.
School is stressful, and everyone knows how Georgetown students like to unwind at the end of the week—by knocking back a few too many at Rhino or playing flip cup in Village A. But before you go out grinding to Lady Gaga this semester, why not take some time to relax with some world-renowned musicians? They put on a hell of a show and, if nothing else, it won’t cost you a thing.
