It’s finally senior year! How’re you feeling about that?
"I have mixed feelings, because I’m so excited about many of the projects that I’m working on, and don’t want them to end! But I am also ready to be out of school, haha." Besides your recital, what are you most excited about this year? "Our opera workshop is doing an opera in French this year, and I am helping coach the language! It has been really fun combining my passion for French language and culture with opera." What’s been your favorite experience studying music in college? "I have interned with the choral department for two semesters now, and by far my favorite experience has been conducting our upper-voice ensemble, Audeamus. I have really enjoyed seeing them grow vocally and musically!" Okay, so, recital time. Let’s start with the easy question. When and where is your recital? "It will be February 29th (yeah that’s leap day!) at 7 pm, in Schmucker Hall at Gettysburg College." What’s your favorite piece on your recital? Why? "My opener! I don’t want to give too much away, because it’s a bit of performance art, but it’s not like anything I’ve ever sung before. It’s also by a composer who graduated from my school last year, so I’ve been able to coach it with him and really get into the nuance and expression of the piece." How has the recital process been for you? What did you have to do to prepare, and how do you feel about it all? "I have been working on some of this music since last semester, but there is also a significant portion that I have learned in the last few weeks. So getting it all together at the same time was really a journey! But I’m really excited about my program, and can’t wait to share it with my audience!" If there’s only one thing you want audience members to get out of your recital, what would it be? "My overall concept is probably the most important part. I begin with three pieces by student-composers, followed with a piece by their composition teacher here at Gettysburg. The next set was composed by his graduate professor, followed by his teacher, and so on. Finishing in the early baroque, I hope to take the audience on a journey back through the evolution of compositional styles!"
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It’s finally senior year! How’re you feeling about that?
It’s gone by so fast! I’m excited to be done paying for school, but I am definitely going to miss the friends I’ve made while I’ve been at UMD. Besides your recital, what are you most excited about this year? Finishing up coursework and putting down my last tuition payment are definitely at the top of my list. What’s been your favorite experience studying music in college? Gaining a more broad view of the music world has been the best for me. I appreciate all different types of music a lot more than I did before entering, and I’ve really enjoyed playing music in groups with my friends. Okay, so, recital time. Let’s start with the easy question. When and where is your recital? This Sunday (November 17) in Ulrich Recital Hall, at 2PM! What’s your favorite piece on your recital? Why? The Fripperies by Lowell Shaw. We’re playing four of the eight quartets, and it’s a chance for me and my friends to goof off at an otherwise serious event. The best times I’ve had performing on horn have been times I’ve been doing something a little on the nose and less serious; I get to do this with some of my best friends that I’ve been playing with for a long time now. How has the recital process been for you? What did you have to do to prepare, and how do you feel about it all? The recital process for me has just been about enjoying playing the music. I have fun playing horn, and I want to have fun on my recital. I obviously had to practice a good amount to get everything up to speed, but overall I’d say it’s been a comfortable process. I’m excited to share it with everyone! If there’s only one thing you want audience members to get out of your recital, what would it be? I want everyone to have a good time! That’s all I really care about.
It’s almost senior year! How’re you feeling about that?
"Pretty excited! And also nervous. Lots of exciting things coming!" Besides your recital, what are you most excited about this year? "I will be presenting some research I did last summer at a theory conference later this month with my mentor! Stay posted for more details on that later." What’s been your favorite experience studying music in college? "At school, we have a recital hour called “Now Hear This!” which is an hour on Fridays when students can sign up to perform things they’re working on, pieces for their recitals or juries, or just for fun. I’m usually in the last category, and I have performed on more than I can count, because I love the environment of getting up and practicing my art in front of my peers." Okay, so, recital time. Let’s start with the easy question. When and where is your recital? "My recital is on March 1st at 3:30pm, in Schmucker Memorial Hall." What’s your favorite piece on your recital? Why? "It’s so hard to choose just one, I’ve lived with and researched this music for so long! But of course, French music is near and dear to my heart, so I would choose my Germaine Tailleferre set. This music was composed just following her divorce and miscarriage, and is widely considered as a reaction and way to process the immense grief and trauma she had just endured. So much of that emotion is obvious in the music, and portraying it on stage is definitely going to be a challenge." How has the recital process been for you? What did you have to do to prepare, and how do you feel about it all? "All of the music I am singing is brand new for this semester, so I’ve really been learning and perfecting at the same time. It’s a lot of music to learn in such a short period of time, but I’m not sick of any of it yet, so that’s a good sign!" If there’s only one thing you want audience members to get out of your recital, what would it be? "My recital is all music by female composers, a largely and historically underrepresented group in the compositional world. I hope to bring exposure and excitement to their work, and encourage other musicians to seek out the music of less-performed composers and demographics."
It's the end of senior year! How're you feeling about that?
"Excited and nervous, which I imagine is how most people feel..." Besides your recital, what are you most excited about this year? "I'm really excited to be performing in Street Scene by Kurt Weill as part of UMD Weill Festival! I think it's an amazing show and I'm so excited to be a part of it." What's been your favorite experience studying music in college? "I've loved getting to make other musician friends. It's so special to be able to make music with people close to you, and the best part is that I know I will run into these people after I graduate because the music world is so small. I'm so excited to continue to make music with my friends as we all mature as musicians." Okay, so, recital time. Let's start with the easy question. When and where is your recital? "February 27 at 8pm in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall, which is in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center." What's your favorite piece on your recital? "I'm doing a set by Louis Beydts called Chansons pour les oiseaux. I think the music is so beautiful and harmonically interesting, and it's by a composer that not many people know. I love having the opportunity to introduce people to music that isn't widely known." How has the recital process been for you? What did you have to do to prepare, and how do you feel about it all? "It usually involves me changing my repertoire about 17 times... There's just so much I want to sing! But once I settle on the repertoire, I translate and IPA the text, learn the notes, and listen to the music as much as possible. I find that listening to the music helps me memorize quickly and it’s definitely a painless way to memorize." If there's only one thing you want audience members to get out of your recital, what would it be? There’s so much wonderful music out there that isn’t widely performed! The set on my recital I’m most excited to share with the audience is my set of Indonesian art songs. Not only is it cool to share my culture with the audience, but it also shows them that there is a lot of cool music that comes from non-western countries. I would encourage everyone to explore music that is written by composers other than those we typically perform like Mozart, Schubert, etc. |
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