Concert Review: The Fifth House Ensemble Concert

The concert I attended, with my sister and friend, was held at FAU’s beautifully quaint University Theater. The room was only half full with student, professors, and various other adults. The Fifth House Ensemble performed three different “acts”. The first was a few different comedic opera songs about “Employees Wash Hands”, “Cascading Water”, and “Lipstick”. These songs were comicial with a refreshing twist. Megan Ihnen was the solo singer throughout the pieces. The second act was a concerto featuring three soloists. A Pianist, Cello player, and flutist. before they began the cellist introduced herself and told a little about the song. As she told us about the songs, she related it to her eighteen-month year old son, who is curiously learning

Not only were the props used to enhance their music they used it to made it comical and interactive. First the flutist blew up a balloon and released it in rhythm, this was comical because of how much it annoyed the cellist. Next the pianist took pencils and began playing along on the cellists cello. This made a unique sound and an interesting “musical theater esque” show. Lastly they pored ping pong balls on the piano string. this caused the ball to move as the pianist played giving it a different sound. These changes were exciting and intriguing, I loved this twist. The last act was an Opera Buffa, a comic opera, called Prix Fixe, composed by Kevin Wilt. This opera was beautiful and simple with one mezzo-soprano soloist and a concerto accompaniment. The opera was interactive with the audience and commedical. The setting was a dinner party involving the musicians and the audience. The hostess told many stories about food and then began telling about her childhood she went to six different vocal coaches but none would have her. Then one day an almost delf, almost blind, ninety-four year old