On Friday March seventh at eight pm the William C. Henderson library was transformed into a radiant music hall for the Honors Voice Recital. The recital was a night filled with beautiful renditions of music from multiple eras as well as other languages. Directed by Dr. Bethany Reeves, the evening featured five of her students who were accompanied by Stephanie Safko on the piano. These students get lessons from Bethany as well as participate in the President’s Ensemble for events here at Stevens. First to sing was Declan Candela. Declan started the night off with two nineteenth century Italian songs; “La Serenata” and “Vaga Luna”. After taking us through a relaxing evening in Italy, he changed pace with a piece from the 70 musical Company called “Being Alive”. The sweet Italian music continued as Kathy Nevola took her place by the piano and captured the audience with “Intorono all’idol mio”, “La rondinella amante”, and “Selve amiche”, classic works from early Italian opera. Next Brian Voyer brought us songs of love, life, and despair from Shakespeare inspired Let Us Garlands Bring by Gerald Finzi. Following him was Rachel Watson, who in her performance took on the persona of a ten year old girl as she sang five songs from I Hate Music! These comedic songs showed the mentality and philosophy of a young girl trying to understand the confusion of the world. After her was the very talented Melissa Lugo who sang a combination of German songs by Johannes Brahms as well as several songs in Spanish.
The library was closed off with the main room by the stairwell lined with chairs and open space. Only the front lights were left on with the piano in main view of the audience. The event was monitored by the DeBaun staff who helped to create the atmosphere of the event. After the show, Bethany gave a congratulations to all the performers, as well as a special thank you for the hard work of those graduating who had been in the program for so long. The event concluded with refreshments which included assorted cookies, snacks, and drinks. The evening showed the talent and culture of Stevens students outside of the classroom, and the community’s strong and dedicated presence in the world of music and performing arts.
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