Lunchtime concert transcends cultural barriers

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Jaclyn Scarborough

Ayea Cetin (left) and Katsuya Yuasa perform at Guzzetta Tuesday, Nov. 24.

By Jaclyn Scarborough, Writer

Music filled Guzzetta Recital Hall on Nov. 24 as the UA School of Music hosted a lunchtime concert for UA students and community members called “Duo Esplanade,” a flute and clarinet recital featuring performers Ayca Cetin, Katsuya Yuasa, and Krystal Thomas.

Cetin is a flutist and doctoral student at Florida State University. Originally from Turkey, she has traveled extensively as a performer, and also studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music.

Yuasa is a clarinetist from California who has performed pieces solo as well as collaboratively with Cetin, demonstrating the universality of music across cultural lines.

Yuasa expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to perform at UA, telling the audience he was very excited to perform some music for them.

Yuasa is not only a musician, but he also changed the arrangement of a musical piece called Andante and Rondo, Op. 25, originally composed by Franz Doppler.

The piece was originally composed for two flutes and a piano. However, Yuasa rearranged it to incorporate a clarinet. Thomas accompanied some of the pieces on piano, creating an interesting depth and complexity to pieces like Andante and Rondo, Op. 25.

During the performance, Cetin commented on one of the performance pieces called “Weepers,” saying it was “written by our dear friend Kevin Wilson,” and the piece “connects to ethnic and traditional styles of music.”

The show featured another musical piece called “Unbroken Streams,” composed by Matthew Weaver.

Cetin explained that the piece was written by Weaver, who now lives abroad, and the piece is intended to address the questions “who am I?” and “where am I going?” According to Cetin, “Unbroken Streams” is “attached to a poem written by him [Weaver],” and “reflects his new life.”

Overall the concert was a creative collaboration of flute and clarinet, which exhibited the versatility and intricate nature of two often overlooked instruments.