On April 20, 2015 at the Suffolk County Community College Eastern campus, an event was being held in the cafeteria. I had no idea there was any event happening that day. The tables that normally crowd the wooden space were removed and a stage was added, allowing the space to be converted to a performance area and still allowing the flow of students and performers to move freely. My friends Courtney, Simon, Maggie, and I had no clue what was to come. A small sign stated something about an International Festival and a professor walked around the stage announcing to the whole cafe about the small festival and who was coming up first.
The first set of performers was a jazz group. They were dressed in somewhat of a business casual clothing style, to move freely but also look professional. There were three people within the group to play a small drum set, a flute and a big cello. The flute player would solo a song or two until he would stop for a break, but also to interact with us. He asked us mainly jazz-related questions. Who was the first jazz player around for example. He would wait and play the flute or have either the cello or drummer play a little tune until the question was answered. After the answer, they would play another song. Not thinking much of how loud the music would be, I was surprised by the combination of the cello, flute and the drum set. The cello provided a bass that shook the ground and up the chair legs where my friends and I were perched to enjoy our food and the music. Combining that bass sound with the flute made the best combination for jazz.
Once the jazz performers were done with their time on the stage, the flutist introduced us to a group of dancers from the Irish Dance Company. The girls that danced were about 12 to 15 by their looks. There was a women that had the mic, who described where the songs came from. I am personally a fan of folk music, especially Irish folk, which is what the girls were dancing to. The woman had the girls take a quick break because the folk dancing can take a lot out of them, and she described their dresses, which were traditional Irish folk dresses. It was very informative and fun to watch these girls be happy and look amazing and confident in their dancing ability.
The music of the International Festival is something I am not used to hearing and seeing. Since jazz is something I don't usually listen to, I am really happy that I got to hear a genre of music that's been fading away slowly. I'm more into the new era of techno music, but the combination of the jazz and the Irish folk is something that brought out joy from my soul. The jazz vibrated through my body as silly as it sounds, and the beat that jazz produces is a beat I will now welcome over and over again into my ear buds. Irish folk music is something that has always been played within my home and I welcome it with wide open arms.
In general, the International Festival was an amazing event that the College planned, not to just fill in space, but to entertain and inform the audience on music that a lot of us from this era would most likely not know or would not have listened to unless our parents were into to that kind of music. I was happy to hear the bass of the cello and see the dancing from the folk dancers. They still play in my mind and that is an experience I am grateful for. This concert is something that I will gladly go to again and again: keep on dancing and making that sweet music!
-Kassandra Welz
