Musicians, dancers and thespians combined their unique skillsets for a magical night of performances at Kennesaw State’s Composition Recital on Wednesday, April 10.
Pieces composed by six students were performed for the first time publicly by student and staff musicians at the recital.
Senior electrical engineer major Martin Asante said he enjoyed the performances of each composition.
“The two performances that I loved the most were ‘Triumph’ and the play,” Asante said. “The instruments and how it all meshed together was amazing.”
The night began with “Triumph,” which was composed by sophomore music major Brianna Spotsville. The composition was a classical piece performed by a brass quintet.
“This is the first brass quintet [piece] I ever wrote,” Spotsville said. “I actually made edits to the original piece to fit the players better.”
During the recital, senior music major Nicholas Felder presented a musical theatre piece titled “Rick and Josie: The Musical.”
The musical featured a narrator, choreography and dialogue between characters Rick and Josie.
“I always wanted to write a musical, and my professor encouraged me to write a love story,” Felder said.
Parker Ossmann, a junior theatre and performance studies major, played Rick. He said the musical was different from other musical theatre styles of music he has performed.
“I think it was interesting working with a piece from the musical world rather than the theatrical world,” Ossmann said.
Junior music major Xandria Edwards played Josie. She said performing in the musical has developed her skills as a voice performer.
“It was really neat, and I got to create the character on my own,” Edwards said. “I learned the music in a quick amount of time.”
KSU professor of music Laurence Sherr said music composition recitals teach students about working professionally as composers.
“They not only need to know how to write music, but also know how to get their music produced,” Sherr said. “We try to help them understand the various aspects of producing work for a public performance.”
Sherr said the Composition Recital was also a National Undergraduate Research Conference special event, having occurred during the NCUR conference week at KSU.
For more information on upcoming school of music events, please visit arts.kennesaw.edu/music.
