Written by Mattie Powers // Photo by Macy Cox
Harding University had its first Arts and Life Performance Series event of the semester by hosting the Ted Ludwig Jazz Trio in the Anthony and Wright Administration Building auditorium Jan. 19. The event was open to both students, faculty and staff and the Searcy community.
The Ted Ludwig Trio consisted of Brian Brown on percussion, Joe Vick on the upright bass and Ted Ludwig himself on the guitar. The event started in the evening and allowed students into the concert for free with their student ID. One of the students who went to the concert was senior Zach Bishop, who is a jazz musician himself.
“I’m here to support that art,” Bishop said. “It’s not necessarily the most popular thing, but it still has a lot of value. In just music in general today in my opinion, I think people should give it a shot.”
The concert was filled with a wide range of different jazz songs from famous composers. Senior Erin Fouss, who worked at the event, said the trio not only played their planned pieces of music but also had many moments of improvisation throughout the songs. Each musician had their moments to shine throughout the concert and showed off their skills.
“It’s all improvised, so they’re making it up, which is a talent in and of itself,” Fouss said. “Of course they have a main melody that they play, but this is the basic structure, basic thing they’re going to work, but they make it up, which is incredible to me.”
Another student who attended the concert with her friends was senior Lara Jean Harper.
“I love that they do jazz,” Harper said. “I know they have classical string quartets and stuff, and I love that they call it ‘Arts and Life’ too, like they’re really reaching into different genres and kind of encouraging the students to get out there and try new things. I don’t know, on a Thursday night, I didn’t expect myself to end up at a jazz concert, but it was so fun, and I was like, ‘Wait, maybe I should listen to jazz music more.’”
The next Arts and Life event will be a Valentine’s Day special on Feb. 14. People can purchase tickets at hardingtickets.com.
