By Zoe DeFazio, Asst Arts and Entertainment Editor
Manhattan College’s album class strikes again. This year Andrew Bauer, director of performing arts, has chosen Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album, “Rumors,” to end the semester with a performance for all.
The album class first began in 2017 in hopes to create a fun creative atmosphere for students interested in music. Bauer explains his thought process on what album is chosen. The album must consist of certain aspects in order to be enjoyed thoroughly by all students.
“We’ve established certain criteria for what would constitute a worthy album to approach for the class,” said Bauer. “The first album that we did was “Abbey Road” by the Beatles. And “Abbey Road” is really the perfect album to study and perform, because it contains a standard rock band. But it also has lots of ancillary orchestrations, such as strings, horns. And what we want to do and lots of vocal harmony. So what we want to do is we want to involve the whole performing arts department.”
The music chosen must be timeless and classic. Songs that can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. Bauer explains the importance of finding classic pieces. The music is more than sounds, but enraptures the audience and musicians into a nostalgic frenzy.
“If something is still listened to and vital, and has energy and vitality, you know, that was made 40 years ago, then that’s saying something and we want to find out also in the class, why is this music great music, let’s analyze this and find out what makes it so great. So far, we’ve done rock albums. But I also have an idea of doing a classical album class. And what I’d like to do is I’d like to study a requiem,” Bauer said.
Calista Baker, a liberal arts student, is currently enrolled in this class. Baker is one of the lead singers for the performance. The singers take turns throughout the album. Some singers may sing lead and some may sing to the harmonies and they alternate as the album continues.
“This class is so much fun. Everyone is super talented. So it’s really, like, easy for us to all just come together and put together the songs. And this album is such an amazing album. Like it’s so iconic and classic. So all the songs are amazing. And they’re really fun to perform. It’s been really fun,” said Baker
Baker encourages students to join the class in the upcoming semesters, and shares her past experiences and her memories.
“I’ve really, I’ve been looking forward to taking this class since maybe my sophomore year when I heard about it,” Baker said. “Because I do singers at MC with Bauer and I’ve just heard from people that were older than me that had taken the class in the past and just seemed like it was gonna be so much fun. I’ve been looking forward to doing it for a really long time. And then having this be the album that we’re working on is really exciting. So it’s definitely been one of my favorite classes I’ve taken.”
Stamatis Gaglias, a civil engineering senior, recommends the audience to take a closer look into the music when it’s being performed.
“One thing I would say is that when performing live, it sounds very different from recording in the studio. Not saying that. Performing live may or may not stop the recording. It just depends on the song and people finding it. But when listening to the song live, just try to keep in mind that it’s a different experience than listening to it like on your headphones.”
Performances will be held Thursday, May 5 at 8pm,Friday, May 6 at 8pm, Saturday, May 7 at 8pm and Sunday, May 8 at 2pm in the Blackbox Theater in Thomas Hall.