The Gustavus Adolphus College Department of Music will present its Senior Honors Recital in Jussi Björling Recital Hall on Saturday, May 3, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Honors Recital is an annual event held on Honors Day and features the finest musicians studying in the department. The Senior Honors Recital is free and open to the public.
The 2014 Senior Honors Recital will feature performances by 8 students, one of the largest honors recitals in recent history. As Dr. Scott Moore, chair of the Department of Music, wrote when the honors recitalists were announced, each of these students reflects the very highest standards and expectations of the Department. Saturday’s recital will include performances of solo piano, voice, trumpet and trombone.
Bass Gabriel Hanson, a native of Stillwater who studies voice with Dr. Michael Jorgensen, will open the recital with vocal performances of the Russian Folk Song, Song of the Volga Boatmen, and Modest Mussorgsky’s Song of the Flea. Gabe is a vocal music performance with honors and psychology double major and will be accompanied by pianist Leah Rodmyre. He will be followed on the program by pianist Erik Blomquist, a senior chemistry major from Onalaska, Wisconsin, who studies piano with Dr. Yumiko Oshima-Ryan and Kevin Hobbs. Erik will be performing the first movement, Allegro Marcato, from Alberto Ginastera’s Sonata No. 1, Op. 22.
The recital will continue with two vocal works by mezzo-soprano Kaylena Greenwell, accompanied by Michael Asmus, piano. Kaylena is a political science major and music minor from Crystal, Minnesota, and studies voice with Dr. Patricia Snapp. For the honors recital, Kaylena will be singing L’amour est un oiseau rebelle from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet and Your Daddy’s Son from the musical Ragtime by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. Mezzo-soprano Madeline Cacciatore and pianist Michael Asmus with then take the Bjorling stage to perform Faites-lui mes aveux from the opera Faust by Charles Gounod. Madeline is a senior vocal music education major from Windsor Heights, Iowa. She studies voice at Gustavus with Dr. Patricia Snapp.
Pianist Karl Grant’s performance of the Prelude & Fugue in B flat minor, BWV 867 by Johann Sebastian Bach will be next on the program. Karl is a music and classics double major from Stillwater, and studies piano with Dr. Esther Wang. Karl will be followed by music education major Daniel J. Leifermann and his performance of Henry Purcell’s Trumpet Sonata in D Major. Dan is a senior from Waconia, Minnesota and studies trumpet with Dr. Steve Wright. He will be accompanied by pianist Banchinda Laothai.
Saturday’s recital will continue with bass trombonist Chris Allen, a music major in performance from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Chris will be accompanied by pianist Banchinda Laothai in his performance of Eugéne Bozza’s New Orleans. Chris studies bass trombone at Gustavus with Dr. Scott Moore. The Senior Honors Recital will conclude with Eric Ewazen’s Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, performed by Nick Mason. Nick, another native of White Bear Lake, is a music education major with honors in performance. He studies trumpet at Gustavus with Dr. Steve Wright and will be accompanied by pianist Banchinda Laothai.
The 2014 Senior Honors Recital is free and open to the public. The recital will begin on Saturday, May 3, at 1:30 p.m. in Jussi Björling Recital Hall.