Spring is in the air, and Eastern Michigan University’s music students have a lot in store for the campus community. The American String Teachers Association is holding a fundraiser concert in the Alexander Music Building Recital Hall Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The concert will feature music arranged in the pop and rock style for string instruments.
Entry is free, but donations to the ASTA are welcome. All donations will benefit the student chapter of ASTA, which works with the surrounding community, including a partnership with EMU’s Bright Futures program. ASTA and Bright Futures have joined to teach violin to at-risk students in Ypsilanti.
The more help these organizations can get, the more music can reach these students.
ASTA is hoping to appeal to those who don’t normally listen to classical music by giving them a taste of what stringed instruments are capable of, playing songs people may recognize. The event will include music by Nine Inch Nails, Queen, Journey, Metallica and Ke$ha.
“I have always been interested in alternative styles and the fusion of classical technique to current music, so the idea to mix the two into a fundraiser event seemed like a perfect match,” chapter Vice President Roy Binder said.
In addition to this classical pop fusion, ASTA will be hosting its first Piano Smash on Thursday from 3-6 p.m. outside of the Alexander Music Building. Piano Smash is exactly what it sounds like: Anyone with $1 can take a sledgehammer and literally smash an unsalvageable upright grand piano (with safety gear, of course) that was found in Jones Hall.
A baby grand piano will also be set up nearby so people can sit and play something if they wish.
The event is sponsored by Campus Life, the EMU Department of Public Safety, the Steinway Committee, Candace Chappell and Director of Environmental Health and Safety Kathryn Wilhoff.
For more event information, visit the ASTA Facebook page.
