Michael WinterFirst Music ReportPiano RecitalI went to a recital presented by the University of South Carolina School of Music. I watched a girl by the name of Ruby Wang play the piano. This was the first time I have ever been to a recital of any type, let alone a piano recital. I love to listen to music, but not at all the type of music being played at a piano recital. I thought that maybe it would be boring and repetitive. I was proved wrong; surprisingly this was an enjoyable experience that lasted for onlyaround an hour. As I walked into the recital, I really liked the design of the room. The organs all over the wall were incredible. They looked great behind the huge black piano. She had a black dress on that matched the black piano. It was cool how it was like a mini theater. The spot lights on her and the piano made me focus solely on her as she played. I only wish she didn’t have to get up and walk away and just start again after each section. It was strange that the hour or so I was there it went by so fast. Each piece she played really lasted a while. It was very interesting how different they all were. There was a pretty decent amount of people there to watch. I never knewthat so many people came to a piano recital. Everyone was silent throughout the performance which I am not used to. It is a lot different from a movie because you cannot talk at all. I felt loud when I was simply whispering to my friend beside me. I was so scared that my cell phone would vibrate and the entire place would hear my phone going off. It really made me understandthe respect musicians need while they are preforming. The prelude and fugue was in c-sharp, BWV 872. This started out upbeat and gave you asense of happiness. It had a cheery ring to it. She pressed on the keys very lightly when she would play songs with this tone. It was very high pitched as well. She seemed very relaxedwhen she would play these tones. As this song came on I soon realized that this piano recital would not be as bad as I thought. The rhythm kept changing. It sounded different almost every 20 seconds. I did enjoy that at first but I sometimes wish the rhythm did not change when I was enjoying that part. Most of the songs from the prelude to the one previous to the last section sounded all about the same. They all had parts of the piece where the tone would change a lot every about 30seconds. I really liked when she would play deep notes. She would get so into that part of the song. She would slam the keys and look down at them. She did it with a lot of passion and you could tell she loves what she does. She was entertaining to watch and did not just sit there motionless and emotionless while she plaid each piece. I found myself just looking at her firm movements of her fingers because she was so into each and every note that she played. Right when she sat down and was about to play, she would inhale and exhale very deeply preparing herself mentally to start. I thought that maybe this meant she was nervous at first, but I realized that maybe it was just much needed concentration.The last piece she played was my favorite by far. It had a tune that I was more interested in. It started to sound a little like a piano being played in a saloon in the Wild West. I really liked how it evoked my imagination while listening.Overall this was a great new experience for me. I can now say that I have been to a piano recital. It was a lot more entertaining than I anticipated and in the future when I go to one I will be more excited. Piano recitals have a lot more to them than I ever