By Sarah McMillin, Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor
Juniors Erin Markham and Dustin Dicely performed their joint student recital at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 24 in Stretansky Concert Hall.
The recital was split into two halves. Dicely, a cellist, took the first half, accompanied by senior Ali Hordeski.
Dicely performed four pieces, the first being Edward Elgar’s “Cello Concerto in E Minor,” a standard piece in any cellist’s repertoire. Next was Gabriel Fauré’s “Élégie,” written byFauré in 1880.
Following Fauré’s piece was Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Le cygne.” This piece, also known as it’s English translation, “The Swan” is the penultimate movement of Saint-Saëns’ “The Carnival of Animals” suite.
Dicely closed his set with Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Gigue from Cello Suite No. 1,” one of Bach’s most well known cello suites that is often featured in movies.
Markham, a soprano vocalist, performed her set in the second half of the recital, accompanied by lecturer in music Jamie Namminga.
Markham performed six shorter pieces She began with Leanna Kirchiff’s “Just Suppose” from “Five Soliloquies,” which came from a musical rendition of the book “Making the Team” that Kirchiff composed.
Markham’s next song took a step back in time with George Frideric Handel’s “Piangerò la sorte mia” from his opera seria “Guilo Cesare.”
Next, Markham performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Cantico de la Esposa” composed by Rodrigo in 1934. She followed this with two pieces from Jerry Block and Sheldon Harnick, a composer/lyricist duo popular in the mid to late 1900s. She perfomed both “Feelings” from “The Apple Tree” and “When Did I Fall in Love” from “Fiorello.”
Markham closed her set with Dolly Parton’s powerhouse song, “Get Out and Stay Out” from the popular Broadway musical “9 to 5.”
Hordeski, who has accompanied several music department recitals, was excited to work with both Dicely and Markham for their performances.
Hordeski was especially excited to revisit some pieces that she had accompanied before, such as Fauré’s “Élégie” which she accompanied during her GO trip to Japan.
“I have so many good memories of playing the piece in Japan,” Hordeski said, “Playing it again with another talented cellist was fun.”
Having Hordeski on piano and collaborating with another student for a full half recital is something that the music department is testing out.
The idea is that it is beneficial both for piano students to play more but also for other students to get more chances to work with their music peers.
The recital closed with a Leonard Bernstein duet of “Dream With Me,” performed by Dicely and Markham, accompanied by Namminga.
Markham and Dicely’s recital was the only student recital of this semester. Many more music students will perform their half and full recitals in the spring.
For most music majors, a half recital is required. For performance emphasis students, they perform a half recital their junior year followed by a full length recital during their senior year, which serves as their capstone requirement for the major.
