By Isabella Darcy
Staff Writer
Six students showcased their piano and violin skills during a recital in Mayo Concert Hall on Tuesday, April 25, as a part of the College’s 26th annual Celebration of Student Achievement (COSA).
The recital included four solos and one duet, which were performed by five biology majors and one music performance major. Tomoko Kanamaru and Uli Speth, both music professors, were COSA faculty mentors for the recital.
“It was beautiful; it was great,” said freshman music education major Violeta Perez-Espinosa who was in the audience during the show.
Solo performances featured music by Bach, Beethoven and Chopin. During the only duet of the recital, sophomore biology major Navya Sinha played Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 on violin with senior music performance major Sungryung Kim on piano.
The students, many of whom have been playing instruments for years, began preparing for the recital at the beginning of the spring semester.
Rehearsal time flew by for freshman biology major Darren Leopold as he got ready for his first ever live piano performance.
“It’s a big step up for me,” Leopold said. “I got really into piano this semester and am doing a lot more music.”
From the beginning of the show until the end, Leopold and his peers delivered polished musical performances.
“I thought it was amazing,” said freshman biology major and piano player Deeya Doshi. “Everyone did really great, and it’s super exciting to see all of these biology majors performing music.”
Junior biology major and piano player Minh Tran believes that so many biology majors are involved with music because lessons learned while playing music are often applicable to biology.
“When we are creating art, we develop creativity when we add new interpretations,” Tran said. “We develop empathy in being aware of the context in which this art is being created, and we develop collaboration skills being able to work with other performers.”
Creativity, empathy and collaboration are all transferable from music to biology, according to Tran.
“We use them when we diagnose, treat and listen to our patients,” Tran said. “The values that are cultivated by the arts help us cultivate our primary disciplines.”
Biology is a notoriously demanding major, so it was surprising to some audience members that the performers found a way to juggle their major with their music.
“It was nice to see so many people who are heavily involved in music, and doing that while pursuing a very rigorous seven-year medical or biology major,” Perez-Espinosa said.
The COSA recital was just one of many for the performers. Some even said that they are ready to take the stage again in the near future.
