On Sunday, March 26, the Keene State College Music Department hosted a junior/senior recital in the Alumni Recital Hall.
The event featured junior music performance major Eric Dill and junior music performance and music technology major Matthew Marzola on various percussion instruments.
For Marzola, playing the drums began in middle school.
Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff
“I have an older brother who had a drumset and it was kind of a monkey-see-monkey-do thing. My brother used to just play drums for fun and I just wanted to be like him, so I started playing drumset.”
He mentioned that he was fascinated by his high school’s drumline and ended up joining the marching band.
Dill has been playing music since ninth grade and was also involved in the marching band.
“My sister asked me to join the marching band. I had no prior experience to music and had no interest in going into really any field. I didn’t know what I was good at yet, so I went to my marching band’s first rehearsal, learned how to read music and went from there– [it] kind of took my heart,” he said.
Prior to the recital, both Dill and Marzola said they were not nervous.
The event started at 3:00 p.m..
The lights dimmed and Dill walked onto the stage. He began the performance with a number on the snare drum. “The Pine Cone Forest,” by John S. Pratt, lasted only a few moments.
Following Dill’s first number, Marzola walked on stage and approached the timpani. He played “Master Study No. 2,” originally written by Al Lepak.
Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff
After giving the audience a chuckle, Marzola walked to the snare drum while people applauded. Anders Lynghoj’s “Styx” was played and, at one point, involved the tapping of the snare’s rim.
Marzola then headed off stage. Giving Marzola a pat on the back, Dill walked up on to the stage, and took his place in front of the marimba. Using four mallets, he played “Caritas II. Solemn,” by Michael Burritt.
For the next number, Marzola, again, played the timpani. This time, the song, Mitchell Peter’s “Suite for Timpani,” involved two sets: “I. Lament” and “II. Blues Sketch.”
Following “Suite for Timpani,” Marzola played “Nancy,” by Emmanuel Sejourne on the marimba.
Dill performed “Raga No. 2,” by Bill Cahn, on the timpani after Marzola’s number.
According to the event’s program, “Raga No. 2 is loosely derived from the musical idiom of North Indian tabla…the real emphasis in this piece is on the ‘tala’ or rhythm, derived from the rupaktala (beat subdivisions of 3+2+2).”
Marzola played the next two pieces, “Marimba Dances for Solo Marimba II” and “Diddles” before Dill took the stage to play a song written by KSC professor Christopher Swist.
“[Etude No. 1] ‘Layers’ is the first of three etudes written by Professor Swist in 1997 and published in 2009,” according to the program.
After Dill’s last solo performance of the recital, Marzola performed his. He played “Suite for Drumset IV” and “IX” on the drumset.
For the final number, Dill and Marzola joined together to play “Ghanaia for Marimba Solo,” by Matthias Schmitt. Dill was on the marimba while Marzola remained on the drumset.
The two took bows at the end of the performance, which lasted a little over an hour, and received a standing ovation from some members of the audience.
Junior biology major Collin Coviello was one of the over 60 audience members at the show. “I thought it was really interesting,” he said.
“There were a lot of different kinds of textures going on and I had a good time watching it. It seems like something that wouldn’t be like captivating, but they used all kinds of different instruments, different styles, so I thought it was really good.”
Marzola’s roommate, junior criminal justice major Grant Frohock, said,“I thought it was fantastic.”
Alex Salter is a friend of both Dill and Marzola. “They were great, I know they’ve been playing for a long time, but they’ve improved a lot recently and Matt and Eric both did a great job,” he said.
Swist, who is the percussion instructor, also commented on the event. “They did absolutely fantastic…I thought they played great. It was a good mix and exceeded our expectations.”
Alexandria Saurman can be contacted at asaurman@kscequinox.com
