Trombonist and multi-instrumentalist Weston Olencki specializes in performance and production of new music. 
The Lion's Roar/Tiffany Nesbit

A new style of music took place on campus for the music program in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts.

The Department of Fine and Performing Arts presented a new age musician that performed some of his experimental pieces on the stage of Pottle Auditorium on Thursday Apr. 7 at 7:30 p.m. His music is part of the modern movement of music that consists of taking noise to the next level. Trombonist and multi-instrumentalist Weston Olencki specializes in performance and production of new music. Based out of San Francisco, Olencki has collaborated with several different artists such as Katherine Young, Evan Johnson and Andrew Greenwald to create styles of music based off of its pure sound and an instrument's capability rather than just following ordinary sheet notes.

 “I love noise music; I love experimenting with instrument’s and taking the noises they make and give them a new meaning,” said Olencki. “I love making noise that ‘normal musicians’ are trying to suppress.” 

This performance consisted of seven pieces collaborated by Olencki and various artists; Puddles and Crumbs, A Thing Is A Hole In A Thing It Is Not, A General Interrupter to Ongoing Activity, Low Speech, Pendula, Abbess and Heavy Matter.

Along with the music, this event was held rather differently than most music events. At the beginning of the show, composer Ray Evanoff included a pre-concert discussion with Olencki to create a question and answer conversation about how Olencki created his style and music.

“I’ve played the trombone since I have been in the fifth grade, so it’s been about 12 years since I have started playing after learning sheet music and learning past musicians works,” said Olencki. “It was about time I began to create my own. Once you learn regular sheet notes, after a while playing them gets boring and it’s time to experiment.”

Weston Olencki is not the only one who appreciates new styles of noise music, his audience was quite pleased with the performance.

“It was very interesting in an ominous way,” said freshman music piano performance major Alfred Harper. “The dimming of the lights during the performance was a great addition. It gave much for the imagination and the music was left for interpretation.”

To find out about more events like this visit selu.edu/fpa or facebook.com/slumusic. To learn more about Weston Olencki, visit westonolencki.com.

Trombonist and multi-instrumentalist Weston Olencki specializes in performance and production of new music. 
The Lion's Roar/Tiffany Nesbit