Slee Hall was filled with applause and cheers Friday night after the UB Symphony Orchestra performed its last piece under conductor Magnus Martensson.
The Department of Music presented the UB Symphony's performance with Christian Baldini as a guest conductor, Richard English on piano and Charles Smith as the narrator for the finale act, "Peter and the Wolf."
Baldini was notably energetic during the first part of the night's program, which began with "Carmen Suite no. 1," and led the orchestra to a flawless routine. The 50-plus members of the orchestra flowed neatly from one piece to the next, displaying hard work while still having fun.
Benjamin Verplanke, sophomore biology major, had been playing under Martensson for two years and remembered the most important quality he had learned from the conductor.
"He always focused on hard work, but also emphasized on having fun as well," Verplanke said. "He told us to go out and play only if we really wanted to, but it would take hard work to play well. He always had a light-hearted mood in the classroom."
Martensson's teachings held fast as the brilliant performance continued through the night.
Richard English gave an outstanding performance on piano while playing alongside the symphony in the piece entitled "Piano Concert no.1 in E flat Major." Though the title from Liszt's concert seemed intimidating, the show was nothing short of breathtaking when performed by UB's own.
English's impressive talent glowed as he pounded on the piano with precision produced by only the most dedicated musicians. The audience gave thunderous applause after the vigorously intense duet between English and the orchestra.
After a brief intermission Smith and Martensson took the stage and Smith explained that he would be telling the tale of "Peter and the Wolf" accompanied by the orchestra.
Different instruments representing characters played out the story of a boy capturing a wolf. The strings held Peter's theme while the flute represented his bird companion. Along with the wolf, hunters and ducks also took part in the story.
Students in the orchestra painted a colorful picture in the audience's mind without even saying a word. While the story was a folk tale, each student played it out professionally and truly deserved respect for their hard work and talent.
After the last act, the standing ovation and loud cheers were all that could be heard for nearly five minutes straight.
Martensson's finale was a great success and his students were proud of the performance. Martensson now looks forward to his future outside of Buffalo.
"I'm going to live in New York City and I'm going to do freelance conducting," Martensson said. "That is that."
Martensson's friendly nature, yet sturdy teachings, is what most likely led to his success here at UB. He was "highly favored by students" as one spectator put it.
"I have learned a lot from the people I met here, from my colleagues and students alike," Martensson said. "It was a great experience working with the students and music here, yes I will miss them (and) maybe, just maybe, I will work with some of them again."
