String Pony Club: Concert Musicians Visit UB

By Elias Lopez

Anna Luebke, Dr. Wesley Hornpetrie, and Rachel Riese, visiting string musicians

The UB Music Department recently sponsored a visit to campus by three concert musicians.  Students in Dr. Justin Caithaml’s Music in America class were introduced to violinist Anna Luebke, violist Rachel Riese, and celloist Dr. Wesley Hornpetrie, who played some music and participated in a panel discussion. After starting the class with a cover of “Pink Pony Club” by Chapell Roan, they opened the floor to a discussion about pop music and about how it is consumed differently now than it was 100 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

Both students and musicians engaged in an open discussion about how we access current music through social media, describing their own experiences with music and apps such as Instagram and Tik Tok and their role in new trends and how that music gets pushed into these sites’ algorithms.

Students also described the ways they became introduced to new or different genres that they otherwise wouldn’t have listened to.  Rachel brought up AI and its influence on apps such as Spotify and described how they create curated playlists based on your most common songs played during certain hours of the day or suggest other artists like those you currently listen to already, and how that influences our way of consuming new music. Compare this to the pre-iPod era, when you had a lot of physical items such as vinyl and cassettes, whereas now everything is digital and, in some ways, generalized to fit into the algorithm in a way that aims to give artists a chance to be heard.

With the mention of AI, a new topic was raised about how it relates to music production. With more and more companies switching to AI to get work done, how does that affect music and how it’s created? Students were quick to group and talk, questioning the validity of AI songs and the use of AI in general. Many arguments were made, some talking about how AI can help create the perfect chord and how it can be a great tool for beginners, while others mentioned how music doesn’t need to always be perfect.  Sometimes, music incorporates dissonance, and one student suggested that “AI wouldn’t be able to understand a choice like that.” In reaching for perfection and harmony, AI loses what makes music unique: individuality. This line of inquiry continued when the topic on unfinished music came up, with the speculation that AI could be used to finish them. One student said “Some artists aren’t predictable” in mentioning how AI, or even we humans, can’t assume how the original composer would have finished their piece.

The next cover the trio played was “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter. After playing their arrangement of the song, all three discussed the difficulty of translating music from one genre to another, especially from pop to instrumental. Anna talked about how certain parts of a song might not follow the tempo or certain parts might sound “off,” and about how translating doesn’t always come out right in the final piece. However, with their experience, even when something sounds off, they practice again and again to find that right note.

The last question they asked was, “What is an experience at a live music event that made you feel special?” Students were encouraged to go around and mention their own experiences with live music.  This final question allowed students and guests alike to reflect on the power of music to bring people together.

About the author:

Hello, I’m Elias Lopez. I’m from Stratford, Connecticut, and I’m currently majoring in English at the University of Bridgeport. I plan to graduate in 2028 to go on to earn a degree in Civil Engineering. I’m a big fan of writing, especially fantasy and poetic pieces, as well having other hobbies such as roller skating, crocheting, drawing. Though I’m still beginning, I hope the work I do can eventually inspire others and show the joys that come with writing.