Senior vocalist Logan Phillips was originally supposed to perform his senior recital last semester, but a vocal injury led to postponement and a semester of recovery,
On April 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center, Phillips finally had his chance to take the stage.
“I was unable to sing for a couple months, and I was in the process of seeing doctors and getting everything all figured out for that,” Phillips said. “It’s been a long work in progress, but it’s delayed because I wasn’t able to sing.”
Phillips, a dual music performance and music education major, has been balancing preparing for the recital with student teaching.
“It’s just been really tough,” Phillips said. “I’m teaching all day and I use my voice so much when I teach, between just talking to the students and teaching them or singing with the students, and then having to come home and have enough of my voice left to be able to practice and prepare for my recital has been a very big challenge.”
Phillips’ recital featured a mix of classical pieces and musical theatre numbers, including “Santa Fe” from Newsies and “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin.
Phillips said he is extremely grateful for his time at Keene State.
“Just in every way possible, I’ve gotten so much better at everything,” he said. “I’ve really learned so much about everything musical-wise.”
Phillips credited Professor of Music Dan Carberg and Staff Pianist Vladimir Odinokikh as his mentors throughout the process.
“They’ve both been with me every step of the way and really doing the best [they can] to make me create the best kind of product I can with this recital,” he said.
Phillips said preparing for his recital has been a long process.
“I’ve been able to have a lot of time to work on the music because of my injury last semester,” he said. “It gave me more time to really work with the music even though I couldn’t actually sing any of it.”
Phillips said any student preparing for their senior recital should find connections.
“Practice, connect with your music,” he said. “Find the message you’re trying to portray, find the emotion you’re trying to make your audience feel, have a very clear goal of what you want.”
Logan’s father, Brian Phillips, who attended the event, said he was very impressed with his son’s performance.
“It was amazing,” he said. “That was a vocal endurance event, it was an hour long.”
“As his father, I’m shocked still [to] hear him singing in German, in French, in Italian,” he added.
Senior Liz Borelli said they have worked with Phillips in a number of ensembles, and came to support him.
“I’ve known him throughout the course of being a performer, so it’s really awesome to be here and see how much he’s progressed,” Borelli said. “I’ve been so excited to see him.”
“It’s awesome to see his solo repertoire because he’s just so good, especially at ensembles,” they later said.
After graduation, Phillips said he plans to become a music teacher.
Emily Sloane can be contacted at
esloane@kscequinox.com
