The KSC Music Department kicked off its 2026-2027 Faculty and Guest Artist Recital Series on Wednesday, Sept. 23, as Adjunct Clarinet Faculty Dr. Alexander Kollias presented “A Celebration of Jewish Music for Clarinet” in the Redfern’s Alumni Recital Hall.
With accompaniment from Collaborative Pianist Vladimir Odinokikh, Kollias performed a program of five pieces that were all created by Jewish composers.
Kollias said this was his first faculty recital of his own at KSC, after having previously been featured in the Woodwind Faculty Recital in April, and that he had begun preparing a program featuring Jewish composers in the spring.
“I started compiling literature and finding new pieces that I hadn’t done, because for so much of our career we rework pieces and are always learning from them, like the classics,” said Kollias. “I was looking for some different stuff I hadn’t done before, so that way the literature was fresh for me.”
Kollias said he was very excited to perform the meaningful program he put together for the concert.
“This is probably one of the programs I’m most excited about ever in my career, in terms of a solo recital,” said Kollias. “[I’m excited to] share the beauty of these Jewish composers, who all have ties to surviving the Holocaust…and the fact that their music lives on despite other people trying to silence it.”
First-years Olivia Ryan and McKenzie Barnes, who are both music majors, said they came to the concert because they enjoy live music and supporting the music department. “I just love to come and support the faculty because they do so much for us, it’s nice to just give back to them every now and then,” said Barnes.
Both students said they were amazed by Kollias and Odinokikh’s performances during the concert. “I think the concert was amazing,” said Ryan. “I have never seen someone so good at the clarinet or piano before. That was actually really insane to watch.”
“Just thinking about it now, I’m genuinely speechless because of how much I loved it,” Barnes said. “I wasn’t a big fan of the clarinet before I walked into the concert, but now I love the clarinet.”
“It was just amazing, virtuosic performance in the dialogue between the clarinet and the piano,” said Music Department Chair Dr. Sandra Howard of the concert. “We were so happy to have that on campus because there was also an event at the Cohen [Institute] [on Sept. 23], so I think there were people coming right over from the Holocaust and Genocide Studies area at the Cohen [Institute] for this event.”
Howard explained that the Faculty and Guest Artist Recital Series is intended to serve both students at KSC and community members of the Monadnock region. “We have about 30 music faculty at Keene State, and many of them specialize as performers on various instruments or voice, and they play internationally or they play regionally,” said Howard. “We think it’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to hear excellent quality of music and having it come from our faculty, who are modeling best practices in what a lot of our students experience in their private lessons.”
“It’s not only for our students of course,” she added. “Keene State is a gem in southwest New Hampshire, and in the music department we offer a conservatory-level experience of academics and musical quality, so it really does enrich the Monadnock region.”
Howard also expressed her gratitude for Scott and Christine Clarke and Douglas Cuddle Toys, who she said are sponsoring the full schedule of Faculty and Guest Artist Recital Series events throughout the 2026-2027 season. The next event in the series will feature a collaboration between KSC’s Concert Choir and professional choir CONCORA, who will present the New Hampshire premiere of ‘A Passion for the Planet’, an oratorio about climate change, on Sunday, Oct. 4.
“It’s interesting because people who may not necessarily be drawn to choral and orchestral music may find this concept really interesting because of the topic of climate change,” Howard said. “It is a true mix of science and art.”
As with all Redfern events, tickets to the performance will be free for KSC students.
Justin Dearborn can be contacted at
jdearborn@kscequinox.com
