The American University of Florence held a Battle of the Bands event on October 2 to kick off the new semester. AUF students attending the event at the Palazzi Community Center were serenaded by the dueling sounds of the Hecate string quartet and Daniele Cantafio’s trumpet quintet. The ecstatic progression of the horn section contrasted with the soulful ballad produced by the strings, as both harmonies echoed off of the walls surrounding the open-air concert. The two groups assembled on a rainy Wednesday evening, for a Battle of the Bands-style competition, but, truthfully, the event was meant as a celebration of the intricacies and connecting power of music.

Up first was the string quartet, consisting of violins, violas, and a cello. The four young musicians warmed up and tuned their sound, before giving the audience a brief overview of their instruments. They outlined the different sounds their instruments contribute to the ensemble; the large cello provides the deep baritone quality, while the violins and violas work in the upper registers to construct the melody. The group also showed the different ways to play their instruments: pizzicato, using their fingers to pluck the strings, or arco, using their bows.

“The ultimate goal is that of moving towards a common objective, which is finding a unique and cohesive sound,” said Edoardo Rosadini, the conductor for the string quartet. “Quartet is a lot like society because you learn how to have sociability with others, you learn how to stay with others.”

After their demonstration, the strings began their arranged piece, String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor by Beethoven. The connectivity that Rosadini described is evident when observing the quartet perform together. Although they had sheet music, they spent just as much time watching each other as they did the notes written in front of them. They knew the music forwards and backwards, and now they could perform it as one cohesive unit. The group played for around ten minutes as the piece from the legendary German composer could be heard all around Via Ricasoli.

A hearty applause break followed their performance, and soon after it was the trumpets’ turn. The quintet followed suit with the strings before them and detailed the variety of instruments they brought for the event. Each of the trumpets varied slightly in size and shape, allowing them to produce different sounds. The largest one, colloquially referred to as the trombino, produced sounds in the lowest register, like the cello before it.

The quintet selected Three Renaissance Madrigals for their performance piece, a fitting song for Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance. The joyous tones produced by the five brass instruments evoked classical motifs and sparked an energy level that differed from the more serene string quartet that preceded them. Daniele Cantafio, one of the musicians and the group’s conductor, likened the trumpet to the human voice.

“Trumpet has a very peculiar sound,” said Cantafio. “You have the possibility of creating a variety of different sound qualities… the instrument has this amazing sound and is very versatile.”

The quintet felt it was thematically appropriate to perform a famous Renaissance piece in the city where it was created. Palazzi Community Center events are meant to highlight local Florentines and their city, and music as an art form has a way of connecting listeners to their surroundings on an emotional level.

“To be in this very city makes it easy (to play) because there is a lot that your mind can draw back to, to understand how to hinge to this inspiration,” said Cantafio.

Despite the competitive setup of the event, determining a “winner” was never the purpose of the evening. Rather, contrasting the two different styles of music was meant to highlight a diversity of genres and unite the audience in an artistically engaging manner. The true goal of the event was to bring the community together, which is what the Palazzi Community Center always strives for.