“Not only does she prepare the things I ask her to prepare, both in her lessons and playing in the Percussion Ensemble, but she is always bringing new material and asking about things beyond her studies,” Professor Jim Walker said about his student Tori Young.
Young performed her junior recital at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, April 6 for a crowd of her closest family and friends in the Redfern Arts Center Alumni Recital Hall.
The recital consisted of Young performing a wide variety of percussion instruments such as the snare drum, marimba and timpani drum in addition to singing during one of the pieces.
“[The] majority of the percussion equipment I have never played before because I only ever played mallets,” Young said.
Young opened the performance with “Yellow After The Rain,” composed by percussionist Mitchell Peters, on the marimba. The recital also consisted of pieces such as “Monograph IV” composed by percussionist Richard Gipson, which Young said was, “A very challenging piece and it’s a lot of fun to perform, but it’s very difficult.”
Before intermission, Young brought out her diversity as a musician by singing during the piece “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.” According to the program notes, “This piece is the perfect representation of the warm feelings of falling in love for the first time and dreaming of a life together.”
Following intermission, Young performed “Rain Dance” by Alice Gomez and Marilyn Rife. This piece was an, “Upbeat, syncopated and lively piece, the rhythmic groove keeps the piece driving forward while also engaging the listener,” according to the program notes.
The recital concluded with “A Little Prayer” composed by Evelyn Glennie, a standing ovation from the crowd and a gift of flowers on stage from Young’s father.
Sophomore Emma Hunter attended the recital and said the performance impressed her because of, “The fact [Young] choreographed all the different instruments because she was a percussionist and she could play all the different instruments.”
Young said she has improved a lot with her percussion skills since attending Keene State. “I’ve grown exponentially because I never had private lessons before Keene State,” Young said. “I think that just opened so many doors that I didn’t know existed until now.”
Walker said he has enjoyed working with Young because of her open-mindedness and versatility as a musician.
“She’s just always wanted to learn as many musical skills and talents as she possibly can,” Walker said. “There are other students where I feel like all I’m doing is either opening doors, or in some cases, just pointing to a door, and saying, ‘This is the next thing, let’s go here,’ and the student takes it and runs with it and Tori is definitely one of those.”
Walker said he admires Young’s dedication as she has only missed one private lesson in her time at Keene State so far.
“She’s consistently shown up for her lessons, the first one who shows up for rehearsals with the Percussion Ensemble, and it makes my job as a teacher extraordinarily easy,” Walker said.
He added, “It has been a pleasure, I’m looking forward to the next two semesters of working with her, but I definitely look forward to helping her move on to the next step in her education and career when the time comes.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
