On Monday, March 31st at 7:30 pm in the Rhea Miller Concert Hall, the SVSU Flute Studio held a recital for its Winter Semester students.
Over the course of the semester, all students who performed had worked on their respective pieces in anticipation for the recital. Those students included: Audrey Weiss, Andrea Heaton, Sophia Moskal, Ruth Lehr, Jordan Rose, and Alicia Coronado. All but one of these students were accompanied by Dr. Chia-Ying Chan on the piano for their performances.
Originally, Eliza Shaw was also going to be performing at the recital, but she had an unfortunate conflict with the recital date and had to back out.
Audrey Weiss started the show accompanied by Dr. Chia-Ying Chan as she played Serenade by Joseph Haydn. It was a welcoming and joyful piece to start the show with, and Audrey seemed to play it almost effortlessly.
Next to play was Andrea Heaton, also along with Dr. Chan, playing Mozart’s Andante in C, which continued the slow, happy feeling of the recital and with a confident precision.
Sophia Moskal played next without Dr. Chan and performed Danse de la Chèvre by Arthur Honnegar. This piece introduced a faster, more suspenseful feeling to the recital and was played expertly by the single performer.
Another Mozart piece, Concerto in G Major, was played by Ruth Lehr afterwards and despite the piece being in a major chord, it somehow continued the previous piece’s sense of bittersweetness. Plus, the accompaniment of piano added to the tone.
Second to last was Jordan Rose, who played Sonata by Otar Taktakishvili with distinct strong emotion in her playing style.
To end the concert, Alicia Coronado performed Suite Modal by Ernest Bloch. The piece is separated into four movements: Moderato, L’istesso tempo, Allegro giocoso, and Adagio-Allegro deciso. The four movements each have a different tempo (or speed) and set a unique ending to a beautiful recital.
Dr. Townes Osborn Miller, the Director of the Flute Studio, comments on how the students were guided and chose their pieces. “It’s more or less a collaboration, but they do have certain standards that they have to play. So, with guidance, they can choose which pieces to play.”
She also tells of their performances, “They all played so well, and I was very, very proud of how they performed and carried themselves this evening. All of them have done exceptionally well. They care and that’s what any student in education that cares is going to have a great experience, no matter what they choose to do. I’ve had a great experience teaching them, so I think they’ve had a great experience learning, for sure.”
Lastly, Dr. Townes explains, “This is why we do this. It’s entertainment, a passion for us, and so anytime we get to perform in front of people, and be able to share our passion and our art, it always makes for a great day.”
