The Wires performed during the Heartland Chamber Festival to a full atrium of students, parents, and music lovers Friday night outside the Nerman Museum of Art.
The Wires, made up of Kansas City musicians violinist Laurel Morgan and cellist Sascha Groschang, performed for a standing-room only atrium full of students, parents, and music lovers Friday night during the Heartland Chamber Festival. Originally scheduled for 8:00 p.m. outside and then moved inside to the atrium, there was some discrepancy as to the start time of the event as some sources listed 8 p.m. and others said 7:45 p.m. This time discrepancy and venue change caused the casual concert venue to have commotion as people came in and out with the tacos from the Taco Republic food truck stationed just outside.
Despite this, the duo dazzled the audience with original and cover pieces that incorporated elements of tango, gypsy, jazz, and rock. The musicians played quite a few pieces from their self-titled first album. A crowd favorite was “Argentine.” It had a heavy Latin tango influence, which fit perfectly with the setting sun outside the atrium. Another crowd favorite was a yet-to-be-named song from the album, which Morgan asked the audience to help them name.
Both Morgan and Groshang performed with amplification on their instruments. This helped not only with being heard over the crunch of chips and tacos, but with a signature addition of a percussion element consisting of tapping on different places on the body of the instrument. The percussive element was incorporated successfully in multiple pieces.
This concert is one of the first in the Heartland Chamber Festival’s Concert series. Today’s concert features the Miami String Quartet, while other nights are filled with student concerts. I definitely recommend checking out The Wires when the group is performing in town and purchasing the album when it comes out.
REVIEW:
Heartland Chamber Festival Concert Series
The Wires
Friday, July 24, 2015
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, JCCC Campus
12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS
For more information, visit http://www.thewires.info and http://www.heartlandchambermusic.org
Top photo: The Wires