Students and faculty from all disciplines combined Saturday, Feb. 6 to create a show that demonstrated the vast musical variety and deeply-superb talent of the Kennesaw State University music department.
The packed stage held more than 280 musicians participating in the 10th Annual Collage Concert at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Conductor Doug Lindsey opened the evening with the finale from Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite,” performed by the powerful brass ensemble. As the horns and trumpets rang out dynamically, pianist Robert Henry and violinist Helen Kim snuck quietly into place just off stage. Before the audience finished applauding the brass, Henry and Kim dove into a sophisticated and playful excerpt from Pablo De Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy.”
Helen Kim, an associate professor of music and soloist, masterfully displayed the beauty and uniqueness of the violin. Kim and Henry demonstrated the high level of musical professionalism they are able to pass onto students through their performance experience.
Vocalist were also a large portion of the performance beginning with the Women’s Choir singing “No Time,” a muted piece that transitions into a full, flowing harmony. Later, the men’s ensemble tackled the Estonian “Ühte Laula Tahaks Laulda.” Veljo Tormis’s work was well captured by the men, who resonated brilliantly in Morgan Hall.
Students Emily Crisp and Camille Hathaway seemed to have the most fun of all the perfomers. Both sopranos were in costume for their duet from “Hotel Casablanca,” in which the characters devise a plot to catch one of their wayward husbands in the act of adultery. Through subtle musical cues and the skillfully deliberate presentation of the two young ladies, the comic nature of Pasatieri’s opera became laughably apparent.
Crisp and Hathaway were accompanied by pianist Judy Cole, who according to founding the Artistic Director of the Atlanta Lyric Opera “is one of those rare artists who can move effortlessly between styles ranging from opera to… rock and roll. She is a… dream of a pianist.”
Cole gave evidence of her versatility by accompanying in two other, very stylistically different performances that evening. First she performed with John Warren, clarinetist, and Leah Partridge, soprano, in a Schubert trio. After intermission, Cole performed again in a duet with trumpeter, Dr. Doug Lindsey.
The musicians seamlessly transitioned on and off the stage under colorful and well-orchestrated lighting. One thing must be said of the notorious senior lecturer and director of percussion studies, Mr. John Lawless. His Percussion Ensemble’s performance of Kete Abofo/Ohene De Hene, a traditional African song, stole the show. Lawless, another prime example of the genius that KSU musicians are privileged to work with, is a delight to see perform.
