By Laura Zaks
The New Recital Hall embraced PAC’s Instrumental Sampler on Friday night, March 15, with warm lights and open arms. PAC has been excited to plan a night of celebrating music that many of us find a language we are fluent in— whether it be listening and appreciating the culture or actually being involved in speaking through playing an instrument. Either way, PAC sees this fluency and wanted the sampler to be all about the theme, “Sharing Our Universal Language.”It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from— the beat of the drums, the combination of piano and violin and the strumming of guitar speaks volumes and goes straight to the heart. Jason Schwartz, the Vice President of Production in PAC, began the night thanking everyone for coming out and supporting the arts scene here at Penn State.The acts for the night were as follows: PSUkele, Michael Divino and Carina Hui, Penn State Jazz Combo, the Guitar ensemble and Taiko.“I was overjoyed to see so many diverse groups showcase their talents for an extremely receptive audience,” Schwartz said. “The performances truly exemplified the power music has to reach people as a universal language.” Whether it was PSUkele playing the crowd favorite, “Falling in Love With You” or the Taiko drummers using technique and poise to deliver strong, powerful beats, the night was as special as it was invigorating. Each act ended in applause and whistles from the audience. Fiona Zhang sat in the third row and found the night to be one of a kind, a “true testimony to music,” she said.“I went into the event thinking I was just going to hear instrumental music — music without words or lyrics,” Fiona Zhang, an audience member said. “I realized quickly you don’t need words or lyrics for this music. There’s still very much a story there through the sounds.” Celeste Belknap, the Instrumental Ambassador of PAC, felt the night was very special. “Each act was unique,” Belknap said. “They all represented the diversity of instrumental music.”
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