A not quite classical Open Mic Night and a failed pizza delivery

On Thursday, the 26th of March, SG Erasmus hosted another edition of its popular Open Mic Nights. Originally an evening only for classical performers, the theme was dropped last minute.

“We originally wanted to make it an Open Mic Night under the motto of classical music. But we simply did not have enough people, who were willing and able to perform in such a way. That’s the reason we switched the topic back to a normal Open Mic Night in the last minute” explains organizer and event host Astrid van Driel.

Indeed, many performers were familiar faces to those who attended the previous Open Mic Nights. Amongst them winner of the singer/songwriter contest Henry Sung (4th year IBCoM) and guitar virtuoso Patrick Sondak (Business Administration).

Right on time at 19:00, the show started with a guitar performance by Machiel Scholten. The stage, which was located in the couch corner of the Paviljoen’s restaurant instead of the theater, proved to be a rather fitting location for the event. The atmosphere was definitely more intimate as on the grand stage.

Foto: Arie Kers.

Still classical

Despite the event’s name change, the classical element was not lost completely. Composers such as Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin proved popular, especially amongst the performers who pleased the audience on the provided piano. This does not imply that these students ignored the opus of contemporary composers, though:

“I played Nuvole Bianche, by Ludovico Einaudi. He is one of my favorite living composers!” exclaimed Moldavian IBA student Christian Cerneanu. Dhruv Bhan, who is a constant guest at the music performances of SG Erasmus events saw it similar, although his approach to contemporary composers was somewhat different: “I played a song by Swedish House Mafia together with Patrick Sondak.”

The visiting crowd, which did not show any signs of significantly thinning out over the course of the evening, paid their respect to the performers in the forms of applause and in some cases even through singing along.

Pizza delivery

The evening’s only interruption: A failed pizza delivery attempt. Despite calling for the unknown purchaser in a volume easily rivalling that of the singers, the orderer could not be located. The audience did not care too much and left the venue at around 22:00, as this pleasant evening came to a close. ET

Foto: Arie Kers.