On Friday and Saturday I had two solo performances on violin. There’s nothing like a performance to raise my stress level a notch or two!
Friday night was an open mic night at the Art Factory in Kandern. They hope to have one of these evenings once a month, although this was only their second one. Knowing that the Staff Recital would be the following evening, I decided to take the opportunity to perform my Bach as a practice performance. The open mic setting didn’t mean we used a microphone at all – in fact, the room was small enough that we didn’t need it. Several people performed on a small stage in a small-ish room with cozy little tables, candles, snacks, and drinks.
In addition to playing Bach, I also did some improv with a couple guitarists. There was a good deal of variety in the music – guitar, singing, accordion, and some electronic “noise core” experimental music.
On Saturday evening we had our annual Staff Recital. It’s a good reminder for us as teachers of all the effort, nerves, and joys that goes into a good performance. We also take the opportunity to demonstrate and model what a good recital should look like for all our private lesson students.
Our first Staff Recital 3 years ago, I was the last performer on the program. This year, my last Staff Recital, I was the first performer. With shaking knees but steady hands, I performed the final two movements of Bach’s C Major Sonata, which I had also performed in my senior recital at Wheaton. It seemed a fitting closure to my time at BFA.
BFA Staff Recital 2013: Jill Musick from Emily Kelly.
(Emily’s memory card ran out before the last 5 seconds of my performance!)
We also invited the Music Festival adjudicators to perform, so we had an excellent spread of instruments and genres. Here’s the rest of the program:
- Brahms’ “Intermezzo,” performed by our piano teacher Karen Rempel
- “Someone Else’s Story” by T. Rice, performed by our choir and drama teacher Allison Stroud
- “Capriccio Arabe” by R. Tarrega, and “Tango en Skai” by R. Dyens – two Spanish-flavor pieces for classical guitar performed by our guitar judge, Wolfgang Hillemann
- Poulenc’s “Sonata for Flute and Piano” performed by our flute adjudicator Kirsten Lin
- “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from Sound of Music, performed by our director’s wife Cammy Jones, accompanied by her husband Scott
- Chopin’s “Etude Tableaux” and Rachmaninoff’s “Etude, Op. 25 No. 12;” Sonne RA Lauren Holland’s performance evoked oceans and mountainous scenery
- Brahms’ “Sonata No. 1, Mvt. II. Adagio,” performed by my fellow strings teacher Marit Swanson
- “Oh, ma isegi ei tea” by Estonian composer C. Kreek, and “Bezumnaya” by Russian composer A. Dargomyzhsky, performed by our voice teacher Jane Tijk
- “Concertino, Op. 107” by C. Chaminade, performed by our department head Katie Roberts.
