Mounsanti” By Gisela Bramonte • 10th grade

“Mounsanti”

By Gisela Bramonte 10th grade, Trenton Central High School

As my friends and I entered the dimly lit room, I looked up at the lights and intricate architecture that flooded Alexander Hall. As I scanned the room, I saw a man who seemed to be tuning the piano, while a woman to the side of him was testing lighting cues. As we walked on, we sprawled out like a diverging school of fish finding our way towards our seats. I skimmed through the first row, finally settling for the row behind the piano. Throughout the entirety of the performance, I was lucky to have a view of Ms. Montero’s hands.

Up until her rendition of both sonatas, I had never realized the amount of delicacy, skill, flexibility, and emotion that went behind the art of such effortlessly conducted musicality. As the music went on, the fascination and shared connection between the audience and the performer steadily intensified. The passion and vividness ingrained in Ms. Montero’s playing as well as the music itself made for a vulnerable yet confident representation of the impact that the performer’s emotions have on the performance itself. As I felt myself becoming more and more immersed in the music, I felt lightweight, almost nostalgic. I thought and felt nothing but the music. I interpreted the composition almost like a story.

I pictured a mental battle between oneself. The slow, gentle parts contrasting the darker, more complex passages created textured layers of harmonies and melodies that I had never heard before. I viewed the music as a subliminal representation of the beauty, uniqueness, and multiplexity that lives amongst our own human nature. One of the most impactful things I experienced during Ms. Montero’s performance was watching the barrier between audience and performer dissolve. As a young musician myself, it was refreshing and inspiring to see a talented and successful woman be real and emotional. Most people view music, more specifically classical music, as being elitist or “Out of touch with the real world.” Musicians like Ms. Montero allow for such notions to be put to rest.

Her openness towards the audience created a sense of comfort and human connection, something you don’t see very much in the musical arena. When she spoke of the horrible things occurring in Venezuela, it reminded me of how lucky I am to live where I do. I couldn’t imagine being in her position. Being unable to go back home and visit loved ones must be heart-wrenching. I admired her strength and the way in which she used her platform both online and offline to educate and inform others around the world who may be clueless to situations such as those occurring in her home country. I walked away from this concert with a definite shift in mindset. I walked away a more dedicated musician with a newly found appreciation of music. Most importantly, I learned how crucial it is to be aware of world issues and how music is one of the biggest ways in which we can represent how we feel and what message we want to convey.