The second weekend in May proved to be a big one for the Department of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College as a series of six student recitals and one orchestra concert filled the weekend and Björling Recital Hall with music. Included in the schedule was the final performance of the Gustavus Philharmonic Orchestra and recitals by vocalists Benjamin Mordecai, Larissa Bregenzer, Kathryn Casey, Zachary Coles, Alyssa Hansen and clarinetist Elliott Crouch.
Conductor Brian Buckstead and the Gustavus Philharmonic Orchestra opened the weekend on Friday evening with a performance of works by Penderecki, Vivaldi, Jenkins and Bach and featured solo performances by harpist Kimmy Hinman, violinist Taylor Frey and flutists Antonio Herbert and Laura Mahowald.
Baritone Benjamin Mordecai opened the recital weekend with a Saturday morning recital accompanied by pianist Beth Winterfeldt. Mordecai, a student of Michael Jorgensen, is a 2006 graduate of Lindsborg High School in Lindsborg, Kansas. His recital included works by Mozart, Lully and Martini, along with selections from Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company.
Theatre and music major Larissa Bregenzer brought her senior voice showcase to the Bjorling stage with the assistance of eleven fellow students from the Departments of Music and Theatre/Dance. Her showcase program featured musical theatre works from composers Sondheim, Gershwin, Finn, Menken, Larson, Kander & Ebb, Guettel and Shaiman.
The afternoon of vocal music continued with mezzo soprano Kathryn Casey and pianist Ashley Tibbetts. Casey, a senior from Waseca performed works by de Dia, Granados, Thomas and a set of seasonal poems set to music by Clarke, Ives, Schubert and Berlioz. She concluded her senior recital with selection from the musical The Color Purple and Carousel.
Saturday’s final performance was presented by clarinetist Elliott Crouch, senior music major from Houston, Texas. Accompanied by Beth Winterfeldt, Crouch opened with Osborne’s Rhapsody for Clarinet and continued with Robert Schumann’s Romances for Clarinet, works by Hyacinth Klose, Mozart and the Concerto for Clarinet by Johann Stamitz.
North Dakota native and senior music education major Zachary Coles opened Sunday afternoon with his senior voice recital, accompanied by Julie Sweet. Coles’ recital was a weaving of the poetry of Lord Byron, read by Ben Batz, and the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Manuel de Falla and Gabriel Faure.
Senior music major and Minneapolis native Alyssa Hansen, soprano, concluded the weeekend of senior recitals with her performance at 3:30 Sunday afternoon. Accompanied by pianist Julie Sweet, Hansen presented two works by Richard Strauss and selections from Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief and Andersson and Ulvaeus’ Mama Mia.