The student composers recital opened with a piano playing itself and a musician reflecting. On Sunday, May 4, student composers debuted their compositions to an audience, said Dr. Heather Gilligan, professor of music and composition coordinator.
The spring composers’ recital was to perform the works of students in the Composition II course, said Gilligan. She added that she views this as a “year-long course” as all the students who take Composition I in the fall semester follow through to the spring.
Students were excited before the performance as the audience began to file in.
Peter Earley, sophomore music major, debuted his piece titled “eden,” which was a brass chamber piece featuring trumpet, tuba and euphonium focusing on the biblical Book of Genesis.
“My piece is an exploration of my complicated relationship with faith,” said Earley. “I use a lot of dissonance to represent sin and the resolution to represent God’s forgiveness and mercy.”
Liz Borelli, a senior double majoring in music performance and music technology, said this was not her first performance in the composition recital, but it was her first time composing for it.
“I’m a little nervous,” said Borelli. “It’s different being the writer, the conductor and the performer, all at the same time.”
She said she was very pleased with the group of students she worked with as well. “I’ve just seen so much growth with all of their works and I’m so honored to be singing in their pieces,” said Borelli. “I’m very excited to be able to perform with my colleagues, with my peers.”
Daniel Scanlon, a senior, performed in the recital and said, “This is my first time, [but] I’m very honored to be [performing] in one of my fellow colleagues’ composition pieces.”
Students came out to support their friends as well.
Myles Osterhout, an education major, said he thought the performance was “excellent.”
“I thought there was a lot of creativity displayed by the students,” said Osterhout. “It’s really inspiring as a student from a major that is completely different [and] it was really cool seeing all my friends and what they had come up with [over] the past semester.”
Scanlon and Borelli were pleased with their performance after the recital with Scanlon saying, “I think we performed exceptionally.”
“I’m very proud of every composer that was able to present their pieces today. It was an honor to be able to perform Luke’s piece and to witness and experience the growth, the musicality and the knowledge that so many of these musicians have acquired,” added Scanlon.
Borelli said she was pleased to hear the different styles and approaches by the composers and was appreciative of the connections she made.
“Everybody here, I have built such great connections with, that I feel like it is going to outlast when I leave [Keene State College],” said Borelli. “It has given a springboard to us musicians to develop networks.”
Gilligan said she was pleased with the students’ performance as well.
“There were a lot of well-written pieces,” said Gilligan. “I think that when the pieces come from a personal place, from a story about their lives … the music has more meaning for them.”
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
tfitzpatrick@kscequinox.com
