Rhonda Edgington: A few of my favorite things

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What makes a concert memorable? I’ve been thinking about some of my favorite shows of the year.

We heard one act at Meijer Gardens last summer for rather unsentimental reasons — our top picks for the season were sold out, these tickets were cheaper than many, and it seemed from YouTube like they’d put on a good show. So it was that we ended up hearing War & Treaty, a soul/R&B duo from Michigan, backed by the Grand Rapids Symphony. 

Having sat through an entire outdoor concert the previous month in cold, hard rain, I was ready to swear off the venue, but the weather ended up being perfect, and the concert matched. The duo had just returned from a European tour, and many in the crowd were clearly excited for them to be back in Michigan. 

They called out family members in attendance, and we learned his dad, sitting in the back, makes a mean BBQ — the energy was high. Even orchestra conductor Duo Shen was clearly having a good time. I didn’t know their songs; it’s not my favorite genre, but none of that mattered, as I watched them working the crowd, joking together, and doing some serious singing. Hearing great music by folks having fun put me in a good mood.

I was at the October Great Performer’s Series concert at Hope College to hear a jazz quartet I’d never heard of before, lead by Miguel Zenón, because I was intrigued by a description that told of Zenón’s arrangements of Puerto Rican songs, and I trust Derrick Emerson, who’s picked the GPS artists for many years, and has really good taste. 

This wasn’t a concert that felt like a party. The band’s namesake is a reserved man on stage. He quietly chatted between pieces, telling about the music and his group, who have been playing together for 20 years. But the joy of hearing them was a more contemplative one — falling into a kind of flow state, listening as the musicians seemed to be doing the same. 

To be sure, there was complex music — crazy meters and rhythms, pulse-quickening arrangements of traditional songs and jaw-dropping virtuosic displays from each player. I bought a CD afterwards, partly for my jazz musician brother’s birthday, but also because it’s just fun to meet musicians after a show, tell them in person you enjoyed their music, and have a personal connection to the human beings who just offered such a gift. It’s a rare interaction that isn’t possible when we download files from the internet, click like on a YouTube video, or see a big arena act.  

Near the end of the year, we had tickets to see Chris Thiele at the St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids. We’ve heard the Punch Brothers, his superstar crossover bluegrass group, play at Meijer Gardens, and loved their onstage camaraderie, as well as their amazing music-making. 

Thiele won a MacArthur “Genius” grant (as has Zenón), and I’ve seen videos of him playing spell-boundingly on the mandolin, but I wondered what he would do for a solo show. Usually, his acts are very collaborative, and how interesting could an hour of solo mandolin and voice be? But Thiele easily captivated the room full of fans with just his voice and instrument. 

The program was a fascinating mash-up of solo Bach works, arranged by him for mandolin (both virtuosic and intimate), interspersed with storytelling about his life, family, and music-making, and rollicking or melancholy arrangements from his groups Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers, as well as original works. There was a fun “Fiddle Tune Request Time,” when he not only asked for tunes from the crowd, but what key he should play them in. 

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As a friend pointed out, when someone calls out “F-sharp major” and the room laughs, you know there are a lot of musicians present. Thiele is that rare musician who makes such 20th-century distinctions, such as bluegrass, folk, rock or classical seem outdated. Here was a musician who could and did do it all, and I wager that it was enjoyable to anyone in the room, regardless of their background or musical preferences. And how did such a collaborative musician hold a solo show? He made us part of the act. He interacted with the room in such a way that drew us in and involved the audience.  

I know I write a lot about how great live music is, and here is one reason why — the energy of people in a room together, experiencing something special. If you need a gift for someone and aren’t sure what to give, what about tickets to a concert, maybe a local artist or venue that could use your support? 

In an often-frightening world, with the future uncertain, people still get up on stages every night with their instrument or voice and share their souls with the crowd. Not everything is wrong when we can still be a part of that.

— Rhonda Sider Edgington is the Organist and Music Director at Hope Church in Holland, teaches organ at Calvin University and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, and as a soloist and with duo Thunder & Wind (with Carolyn Koebel, percussion) travels to play concerts around West Michigan and throughout the country. Find more of her writings on music at rhondasideredgington.substack.com.