concert review

I hadn't even heard of the Silicon Valley Music Festival until I was asked to review it. Nor did I know any of the performers, though I have heard of some of their teachers. As for the eight modern composers on this program, I already knew of four, which is not a bad ratio. Looking the rest up beforehand yielded some information, but I was dampened to discover that I wasn't going to get anything additional about the music out of the program book. This called for emergency backup work. It being a small and informal festival, I was able to meet and briefly interview the music director half an hour before the concert started, and then I did a little more investigation on getting home.

One real masterpiece, I'd say; several more either clever or charming; one ignorable; one would have been agreeable at a third the length. What's rare for me in reviewing music this odd and unfamiliar is for the extremely high quality of the performers to be so immediately clear.