By Caitlyn Morral
Staff Writer
Last weekend, The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts was filled with the sound of music. The university’s chamber singers, voice studio and piano studio came together to deliver a recital. Sponsored by the St. Bonaventure music department, the event was free and open to the public.
The recital kicked off with a series of classical piano numbers and opera selections showcasing the talents of Bonaventure singers and pianists. For example, Sean Connor, Jory Olsen, Hannah Robinson and Julie Curran performed pieces composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt and Erroll Garner, respectively.
After a brief intermission, the concert took a modern turn with performances of contemporary ballads, such as “Still Hurting” by Jason Robert Brown performed by vocalist Alexandra Allan, a junior journalism and mass communication major. Chernice Miller, a junior journalism and mass communication and theater major sang “I Am Woman” by Claude-Michael Schonberg and Alan Boubil. To the delight of the audience, Michael Poisson took contemporary to a new level by belting out the lyrics to a popular country song, “What We Ain’t Got” by Travis Jerome Goff and Travis Meadows.
Like the vocalists, Bonaventure’s pianists served up a diverse mix of musical styles, with songs ranging from soothing, melodic pieces, such as “Primavera” by Ludovico Einaudi and performed by pianist Cassandra Fearing, a senior English and psychology major, to upbeat and energizing numbers designed to amuse and entertain the audience, such as “Hungarian Rhapsody #6: Allegro” by Franz Liszt and performed by senior music and chemistry major and pianist Griffin Kramer.
“I felt that the level of music-making was excellent, and the choices of repertoire were very diverse and interesting,” a professor of music, Laura Peterson, said. “It was exciting to be able to present such a robust concert, because that means that we have a lot of students involved in our program. It’s a great example of how the arts affect and involve students here on campus.”
All that performed at The Quick Center received rounds of applause from the audience.
“The audience seemed very impressed with our group piece and the solos,” freshman education major Lena Young said. “This, for me, was very rewarding as we have been working on the pieces for quite some time.”
All in all, the show demonstrated the work that students put in this semester, Peterson said.
“There is a strong commitment from the students to learning music and performing in the public,” Peterson said. “I was very proud of all of them–it takes courage to get up on stage and share your talent with the world.”
morralce14@bonaventure.edu
