The University Activities Board sponsored an event Wednesday night that brought renowned hip-hop violinist Josh Vietti to Cody Commons to perform.
Vietti “combines hip-hop style music with the classical sound of violin,” according to information provided by the University Activities Board. To perform, Vietti used his computer to play the background music while he played the tune with his violin. He then performed covers of various songs.
Vietti admitted to the crowd that he was quick to learn songs. While playing a cover of Phillip Phillips’ “Home,” Vietti said that he had just learned the song. He added that it was only the second time that he had performed it. Nonetheless, Vietti proved that he could learn quick, wowing the crowd with his cover.
The violist got the crowd going, playing other familiar songs such as “Billie Jean,” “A Thousand Miles,” “Hallelujah,” “Empire State of Mind,” “Single Ladies” and “Black and Yellow.” Vietti encouraged the crowd to clap and sing along to songs while he performed, which most were happy to do.
Vietti wowed the crowd when he stepped off the stage to perform a number of songs within the crowd. This allowed Vietti to further interact with the audience. Many audience members took the opportunity to take pictures and videos on their phone of Vietti.
Vietti gave the audience a chance to be involved with his show by dancing and singing. sophomore Enrique Escobar was one that was selected by Vietti to help him in leading the crowd in song.
“It was amazing. I love attention,” Escobar said. “It was really exhilarating.” Vietti awarded Escobar with a free CD for his participation.
Others were given a chance to win free CDs by guessing the name of the song Vietti played. Vietti performed the theme songs of television shows “Cheers,” “Sesame Street” and “The Simpsons” for the audience to guess. The first person to shout out the name of the TV show was awarded with a complimentary CD.
Whether they won a CD or not, Vietti’s performance was well received. For Escobar, Vietti did well at interacting with his audience.
“He tried to interact with the crowd,” Escobar said. “That’s amazing. I like performers that do that.”
For those that did not win a CD, audience members were able to purchase a CD from Vietti. He also opened up the opportunity for pictures and he accepted Twitter requests.
The University Activities Board plans to follow-up Vietti’s performance with a few events in the next month. The Board will sponsor Speed Dating on Feb. 13 and Electronic Bingo on Mar. 6.
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