By Julia Duggan
Staff Writer
Even with the remote start to the semester, the music department’s Senior Recitals took place on Saturday, Jan 22 as scheduled. Audience members sat, masked, in Mayo Concert Hall to be treated to three recitals: Ryan Barry, Gaia Hutcheson and Melanie Katz, and Ryan Haupt, all senior music education majors.
“A Senior Recital is the culmination of four years of study on your instrument at the college,” said Haupt. “It's really a celebration of all that you have achieved and the progress you have made with your private lessons and performing ensembles.”
Barry decided for his Senior Recital to showcase both multiple musical skills. The first half of the recital featured Barry on three different trumpets playing with collaborative pianist Kathy Shanklin. During the second half of the recital, Barry conducted a brass ensemble that also had percussion and piano.
“He is a phenomenal trumpet player and his recital really showed how much musicality he has when he plays and the different emotions he puts into his playing,” said Sarah Sardoni, a senior double major in Music and Language and Linguistics.
For the first piece of the recital, Barry performed “Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major, Allegro con Spirito” by Johann Nepomuk, on an Eb trumpet. An Eb trumpet is very similar to the Bb trumpet, which is the type of trumpet that is most used in concerts. The main difference is that an Eb trumpet sounds higher than the Bb trumpet and is smaller in size.
Barry next performed “Badinage” by Eugene Bozza on a C trumpet. A C trumpet is very similar to a Bb trumpet. Both are the same size, but the C trumpet has a softer, sweeter sound to it than the Bb trumpet.
The last piece Barry performed on trumpet is “Morceau de Concert” by Jules G. Pennequin on a Bb trumpet.
Barry’s brass ensemble featured three trumpets, two trombones, one bass trombone, four French horns, one euphonium, one tuba, one pianist and three percussionists. The first piece the group played is “Tip of the Spear” by Martin O’ Donnell and arranged by Barry. The second piece the group performed is “I Believe” by Mark Miller and arranged by Barry. The last piece of the recital was dedicated to a music student who suddenly passed away last semester, Ben Watkins. The group performed “Star Trek Into Darkness for Brass Ensemble,” by Michael Giacchino and arranged by Barry.
Katz and Hutcheson took turns being onstage for their recital. The two also dedicated their recital to Watkins. Hutcheson performed with collaborative pianist Stefanie Watson and Katz performed with collaborative pianist Shanklin. The last song of the recital is a brass quintet plus percussion where both Katz and Hutcheson performed together. All the members of the quintet with percussion are college music major seniors and the group performed “Megalovania” by Toby Fox, arranged by Katz, and edited by Hutcheson.
Hutcheson performed “Imaginings” by Dorothy Gates, “Parable for Solo Horn” by Vincent Persichetti and “Horn Concerto in E-flat Major” by Richard Strauss. In each piece, Hutcheson showcased the range and tone textures of the French Horn.
“The solo horn piece that Gaia played really showed how beautiful her tone is and the technique that she has on her instrument,” said Sardoni. “I really loved that her piece showed her full range on the instrument and employed stop horn as well so everyone could see how much she enjoys playing her instrument and the talent she has.”
Katz performed “Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major, Andante Cantabile” by Joseph Hayden, “Prélude et Ballade'' by Guillaume Balay and “Fantasie and Variations on the Carnival of Venice, Introduction, Theme, and Variations I-IV'' by J.B. Arban. While Barry performed the “Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major '' on an Eb trumpet, Katz chose to perform the piece on a Bb trumpet.
She also played a different movement than Barry and showcased the lyrical side of the trumpet. Katz performed beautifully all of the pieces and clearly showcased the different styles of the trumpet.
“Melanie’s Carnival of Venice performance was mind blowing and showed her true dedication to technique and articulation with the double and triple tonguing,” Sardoni said. “I really enjoyed watching them perform; it was wonderful.”
Haupt opted to design his recital a little differently than the first two. Instead of placing an emphasis on collaboration, Haupt wanted to tell larger stories through the music presented.
“I really wanted to include a couple complete works for trombone in their entirety,” Haupt explained. “I like to be able to share the entire story of a work rather than just introducing the audience to snippets or isolated movements. I also wanted to include a piece to show off my love for playing jazz and was able to include a brief solo jazz-inspired work on my program.”
In his recital, Haupt performed “Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, Moderato assai ma molto maestoso,” by Launy Grondahl, “Concertino for Trombone and String Orchestra, Preludium, Aria, and Finale” by Lars-Erik Larsson, Elegy for Mippy II, Slow and Easy” by Leonard Bernstein, and “Sonata for Trombone and Piano, Allegro Moderato Maestoso, Allegretto Grazioso, Allegro Pesante, and movement IV Allegro Moderato Maestoso” by Paul Hindermith.
The collaborative pianist that performed with Haupt was Shanklin. She performed with Haupt on all the pieces except for “Elegy for Mippy II” since the piece is designed for solo trombone.
“I like to think of performances as an opportunity to share the work that I've done rather than something to be nervous for,” Haupt said. “I also hope that the audience is able to have fun and be entertained by my pieces.”
Audience members expressed enthusiasm about seeing the performers on stage.
“Senior recitals really are so nice to watch because it’s the culmination of someone’s music career at the college.” said Keith So, a senior music education major. “It always feels like people are ending off on a high note.”
