A young Vermonter gave the audience some groove in the Alumni Recital Hall with a recital featuring Afro-Cuban music, classical music and a piece she composed. Tori Young, a senior, said she was ready for her final student recital performance, which was held on Saturday, April 18.
“I’m a little nervous, but more so ready to do it. I’ve been practicing it all for so long and it’s tomorrow now, so I just want to do it,” said Young. “It’s one of those things where I’m like, ‘Let’s just rip the band-aid off instead of waiting.’ The waiting is worse [more nerve-wracking] than the actual thing.”
As she reminisced about her time at KSC before the recital, Young said she was especially thankful for working with James Walker, lecturer and percussionist.
“He’s just lovely. He is the most humble and genuine person,” said Young. She added, “I’m going to miss him a lot. It’s really sad thinking about it being over.”
With regard to building the program with Walker, Young said, “It was really a very collaborative process.”
She added he was very helpful in working with her on selecting pieces to add to the program and supportive of ones she wanted to incorporate.
“It’s been really nice because I can bring him [a piece] and he can help me learn it and help with technique,” said Young.
Students said they were excited to come and support Young for her senior recital as well. Classmate and senior James Slipp came out to support Young, saying, “Tori is a really great friend.”
Slipp said he was also interested in hearing one piece in particular, Sonata number one in G minor.
“We actually studied it in a class Tori and I had together. I’m excited to hear it on marimba because it was originally written for violin,” Slipp said. “I know it’s really hard and she’s been working really hard on it.”
After her performance, Young said she was excited about the outcome.
“It was super fun. I’m really happy with how everything went and everybody played really well,” said Young.
Slipp said he was proud of her performance. “It was so awesome. I was proud to watch her on stage.” He added that he really enjoyed her composition, “From Nothing.”
“I really liked hearing ‘From Nothing.’ Tori and I are in the same major, so we took classes together and took composition together,” said Slipp. “Hearing her progress is crazy and I told her that was one of my favorite percussion ensemble pieces I’ve ever heard.”
Walker has been working with Young since she arrived at Keene State.
“Tori and I arrived on the KSC campus at the same time, in the Fall 2021 semester – she as a first-year student, and I as a new faculty hire. At the recent Percussion Ensemble concert, I joked that I’ve spent the past four years trying to keep up with her, but there is a lot of truth in that statement,” stated Walker in an email.
“In the time leading up to that switch, we discussed whether she was suited to a performance degree – a common discussion among students considering that change of major. I pointed out that one great factor in her favor was (and still is) that she is a ‘self-starter,’ showing the drive and initiative to create musical opportunities for herself – something that is critical for anyone seeking a career in music, and doubly so for anyone pursuing a performance degree,” added Walker.
He added in his statement regarding her performance on Saturday, “I thought she did very well, capably handling a very difficult program. The choice of compositions for the recital, and the level at which she performed, both reflect just how much she has improved from the time she arrived on campus as a first-year student.”
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
tfitzpatrick@kscequinox.com
