KoriSoron delivers impressive performance in BTC

Jenny Caulfield, 

Instrumental acoustic trifecta KoriSoron hit the BTC auditorium with their blend of Eastern and Western music and an improvisational jazz flair last Friday, Nov. 6. “The important thing is reaching people,” said KoriSoron’s lead guitarist Scott Collins.

Some of the first things that stood out while watching their performance was the musical capabilities of each member of the band. Based on the band’s background experience, it was clear to me that their talents surpass those of the typical musician. Both Collins and Farzad Golpayegani, violinist, have backgrounds in musical composition for various video games. Percussionist Dean Mirabito has a background in recording and international touring.

The majority of their instrumentals are polyphonic (having two or more parts each with independent melodies that harmonize), which can be incredibly difficult to produce cleanly. “You always think of things that you could improve,” said Collins on their musical development. “As a musician, you’re always self-critical.”

It was great to see the genuine enjoyment on all of the band member’s faces. Watching KoriSoron, I sensed that they were three men who truly felt what they were playing, and that they knew how to perform for an audience. Collins, who had a look of passion and emotion on his face the during the entire performance, drew my eyes in his direction while strumming his bright red acoustic guitar.

KoriSoron were musically dynamic in their performance, adding an extra element of anticipation and intrigue to their music. Watching them perform, I felt the band members communicate without words.

Aside from the difficulty of their polyphonic instrumentals, they also follow complex time signatures. The typical time signature is 4/4, but the band performed a minute long instrumental, “Cadineasca,” in 9/16.

“It’s flexible”, said Collins. “A lot of the stuff we play is in odd time signatures. The whole goal for me is to not make it sound like it’s in ‘9,’” he said. In order to reduce the complexity of some atypical time signatures, Collins tries to feel the signatures as quarter note beats, especially at higher tempos.

The elegant melodic movements with influences from places such as Bulgaria, India, and Iran, had some students clapping along to the music, some students even dancing along.

“Everyone’s been really great, the audience was really receptive to what we we’re doing, and the facility is great,” said Collins.