The New Paradigm Trio specializes in performing classical music, which features the piano, viola, and the violin. This ethnographic report explored the New Paradigm Trio concert held on the 24th of April 2019 between 7:30 pm and 9:00 pm at the Gallivan Center, Salt Lake City, along 239 South Main Street ( New Paradigm Trio, 2019) . Excellence in the Community was the principal organizer of the event, and just like other events the organization sponsors, the concert was open to the public and free. Excellence in the Community is an organization that emanated from the experiences of Jeff Whiteley, who began his musical career in Paris as a street musician. The organization was started in 2005 as a non-profit organization founded on the principle that the dancers and musicians of Utah represent a crucial resource for uniting people and improving the welfare of the surrounding communities.
The organization works to establish better and more performance opportunities for artists in Utah. Since the organization’s first event held in 2005, it has presented more than 640 concerts ( Excellence in the Community, 2019) . Additionally, since the organization moved to the Gallivan Center in 2011, December, it has consistently offered their concerts to the public for free. Primarily, the organization focuses on the great diversity of music styles and the quality of musicianship, factors that make its shows attractive or appealing to a diverse audience across different age groups ( Excellence in the Community, 2019) . The organization is particularly pleased with seeing many families accompanied by children in the viewers. Moreover, the organization’s mission is to support each and community irrespective of their prevailing economic situation. The organization is guided by the belief that everyone wishing to listen to music should be in a position to access high-quality music; hence, their resolve to present all concerts for free.
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Music plays a vital role in the event; first, it is meant for entertainment for individuals who value good music and wish to access it affordable since the concert is free. Secondly, music played in the show plays a vital role in promoting local talent, mainly that presented by musicians in Utah. Specifically, the New Paradigm Trio’s concert sought to celebrate jazz music, jazz musicians, and entertain lovers of the music genre ( Excellence in the Community, 2019) . Apart from entertainment, music, which is the key feature that attracts people to such events, plays a central role in enhancing interaction between people of different backgrounds who converge at the event with different motivations. Moreover, music provides an ideal platform for bonding among families and children, who get to spend time away from home to have fun dancing to their favorite jazz music and listening to their favorite musicians, as they also get to learn about emerging musicians.
The concert was held at the Gallivan Center, which is located in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City. The center is an urban plaza found in Utah, United States, and its key features include an ice rink, an indoor reception or meeting space, and outdoor amphitheater ( Excellence in the Community, 2019) . Commonly, the center is renowned for hosting festivals and concerts. The facility provides audiences with chairs during the shows; however, the center offers adequate space to allow people to dance to their favorite tunes. The concert is mainly held in an open space, where participants can carry their lawn chairs to enjoy the music, sit on the grass, or stand as they dance to the music. The facility is perfect for such concerts, and it consists of acoustics and glass lining on both sides of the room, which gives the audience a spectacular view of the mountains and the city. The center is also unique due to its impressive and outstanding architecture and extensive outdoor space. The bricks around the center have names on them, and the facility consists of a kiosk, where one can access vital information. Apart from those visiting for the concert, the center offers ideal spaces for conversation, contemplation, and meditation.
The participants are from diverse cultural backgrounds and ethnicities as the event is open to anyone willing to attend. The age groups of the participants are also various, as they range from children to the elderly. The participants also express their diversity through their dressing, whereby everyone dresses in their preferred outfit as the concert does not dictate what the audiences should wear. One can easily observe the participants joy and satisfaction through their dancing and the smiles on their faces, which are the key elements that one can use to determine whether the audiences are happy or not.
The concert involves approximately two hours of entertainment by the New Paradigm Trio. During the performance, the audiences participate through dancing, while some sit still and carefully follow the performance through listening. The attendees demonstrate different reasons for attending and participating in the event. One of the reasons is entertainment, whereby the more significant proportion of the audience agrees that they are mainly motivated by the concert’s capacity to entertain in attending the event ( New Paradigm Trio, 2019) . Secondly, other viewers note that the critical factor driving them to participate in the event is to support local artists. The event presents an ideal platform for local and upcoming artists; hence, their supporters take advantage of the platform to support their favorite artists. On the other hand, others note that they attended the event since it provides an ideal environment for interacting and bonding with their families and friends in a space that is full of fun and entertainment. Additionally, some individuals are motivated to attend the event by the fact that it seeks to support local talents and it is free to attend.
It is common for participants to provide information or non-verbal cues about the event. One of the participants noted that any person considering visiting the Gallivan Center should always carry their dancing shoes. The person indicates that irrespective of the event, the Center always presents great music that acts as a great source of fun and entertainment by listening and dancing and to it. However, for most people attending the event, they have their mid-set to listening to music and dancing; hence, whenever there are unreasonably lengthy introductions, the audiences’ dissatisfaction can be felt through their making noise, booing, or some start making comments demanding for music.
Although the New Paradigm Trio concert is similar to other concerts sponsored by the Excellence in the Community organization, it is unique in that it mainly focuses on jazz music. Compared to other music genres, jazz music has not received much support, hence, the need to educate more people about the music to influence more significant support for the musicians ( Dromey & Haferkorn, 2018) . Such support would not only be essential in uplifting the musicians but also the society since music is one of the ways through which economies grow, embrace cultural diversity, and promote the social wellbeing of different populations.
References
Dromey, C. & Haferkorn, J. (2018). The classical music industry . New York, NY: Routledge.
Excellence in the Community. (2019). New Home. Retrieved from http://excellenceconcerts.org/
New Paradigm Trio. (2019). New Paradigm Trio. Retrieved from https://allevents.in/salt%20lake%20city/new-paradigm-trio/200016919520736
