Sun rays and sound waves culminated within the ideal Thursday evening for Muncie locals, art lovers and Ball State students alike. 

The marble-enclosed Marjorie Petty Harper Sculptor Court gave way to the 21st century as the floors were lined with filled chairs to commemorate the history embedded in the walls of the David Owsley Museum of Art’s Baroque Exhibit. 

The event honored a collaboration between Ball State’s School of Music, Honors College and English Department, featuring performers from surrounding Delaware County schools. 

The collaboration was formed to help build a sense of community over the admiration for various art forms and expressive outlets among different age groups.

Festivities began at 5:30 p.m. with an oboe performance by the university’s oboe studio. Treble clef trills filled the sky-lit room and doors to the exhibit remained open throughout the event’s entirety, luring curious listeners who filled the staircase as piano notes cascaded down the scale.

The event featured performers from all age groups, the average age being 10 years old.

Dr. Galit Gertsenzon, assistant teaching professor at Ball State’s Honors College, was an accompanying pianist for several of the night’s younger performers.

She said her secret for music memorization was to rehearse a lot, a practice she instills in the students she instructs.

Gertsenzon’s sense of rhythm and technical skill were largely responsible for the transportive qualities of the night’s atmosphere. Although she enjoyed all of her pieces from the night, her favorite was George Frideric Handel’s Passacaglia, which she played alongside her second-grade daughter, Shira Fromm.

“The community benefits just from having [the] opportunity to come to a beautiful venue with so many works of art. It’s a wonderful way for them to get immersed in culture,” Gertsenzon said.

She added that the chance to learn pieces from the Baroque era while surrounded by artwork of that time period was a privilege for her students.

Community connection was a common thread amongst those in attendance. 

“Music is all about bringing people together. Events like [this] help build one better community,” audience member and Ball State Master’s student, Ethan Atterson said. 

Atterson studies musical composition and said he’s likely to return to similar events, as he said events like tonight help honor his artistic expression and expand his love for his major.

For Dr. Lisa Kozenko from Ball State’s School of Music said the frontal message of the event seemed to come through. 

“We wanted to bring together different parts of the community. Art and music are the communicative things that bring us together,” Kozenko said.

Highlighting the fact that the opportunity would not otherwise be possible without the common ground found in the arts, she said allowing different age groups to participate in the event helped centralize that goal.

“It’s an opportunity for my students to see younger students perform,” Kozenko said.

The concert closed with a violin piece by 12-year-old Caroline Song, a 7th-grader at Yorktown Middle School. Each pluck of the strings and flex of her elbow evoked movement from audience members — bringing life to the sculptures in the background.

The next collaborative performance at the museum will be hosted Thursday, April 11 and will feature poetry readings from students of Ball State’s English Department. Those who wish to be involved in the upcoming event are encouraged to attend a writer’s workshop inside Ball State’s writing center Saturday, March 23.

Contact Katherine Hill with comments at katherine.hill@bsu.edu.

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