Love, envy, life, and death, all in song form! Twelve students performed twelve incredible pieces of music under the direction of Dr. Bethany Reeves. The Fall Voice Recital took place on Saturday, November 8 at 2 p.m. in the Ondrick Music Room, located on the 4th floor of the Howe Center.
Featuring pieces from My Fair Lady, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Avenue Q, The Marriage of Figaro, and more, the voice recital was a success that filled the Ondrick room to its maximum capacity. The performers, Mike Marnell, Ian DiGuilio, Deanna Tyd, Rachel Watson, Brian Voyer, Liz Lamb, Jenifer Middleton, Lauren Harpst, Kathy Nevola, Bayandir Citak, Michael Paulauski and Colin Gliech, are all private students of Dr. Reeves, who has years of experience in the voice industry.
While all the vocalists were especially talented, it’s worth noting that Ms. Stephanie Safko on the piano was the unsung hero of the afternoon. It’s no easy feat to play 12 songs in a row, especially when all of them are in different keys with different time signatures. Ms. Safko was excellent and deserves such praise.
There was a relatively even balance between male and female vocalists. Most males are tenors or baritones, producing deep notes. Most females are sopranos or mezzo-sopranos, producing higher notes. On the final piece, from The Marriage of Figaro, soprano, tenor, and baritone combined to produce near-perfect notes that awed the audience. That whole final number was especially brilliant, and was, according to Dr. Reeves, “A preview of next semester’s honor recital, which will take place in early March.”
Dr. Reeves’ students meet once per week for 13 weeks over the semester, and most of them are quite busy, balancing major coursework with choir and other vocal groups.
For anyone interested in more performing arts at Stevens, the Stevens Dramatic Society will be presenting Twelve Angry Men November 13 and 14. There will also be a Jazz Band Concert, a Choir Concert, and a Concert Band Concert all before the end of the semester.
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