University of Akron Guitar Trio plays for 2,000 people

At this year's University of Akron Collage concert, the guitar trio made up of graduate students Philip Logan, Sarah Boyson and Jeremy Avalos were one of the featured performing ensembles.

Collage is an annual showcase concert the School of Music puts on in the award-winning E. J. Thomas Performing Arts Center hall, home of the Akron Symphony. Each major ensemble, many of the smaller ensembles, selected soloists and occasionally a faculty member or two, are all featured, playing a single selection each. The music is presented theatrically, such that audience applause is withheld each half until the end, and lighting and attention switches suddenly to a new place in the hall as each new ensemble begins its piece. So, the program moves suddenly from the Drum Line to the Concert Band, to the Guitar Trio, to the Concert Choir, to a jazz piano soloist, to a wind quintet, to the Symphony Orchestra, and so on. It is pretty amazing to watch and hear, as some of the music wafts from the upper balcony, behind (or interspersed with) the audience, alternating with different sides of the main stage. This is a very popular event and is well attended by the community at large; in addition, a (same-day) daytime performance is presented for school children, with nearly 1,000 arriving by bus and many staying afterwards for campus tours.

The guitarists were a hit, performing the work "Carnaval" by Québécois composer, Patrick Roux.