The Faculty Artist Concert Series concert “An American Story” was held in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The performance featured soprano and University of Indianapolis professor of Music Kathleen Hacker and Indiana Symphony Orchestra pianist Sylvia Patterson Scott.
The performance consisted of five sets of songs. The first set included Emily Dickinson’s “Heart! We will forget him!” and E.E. Cummings’ “Until and I Heard.” After the first set, Hacker introduced herself and the concert, and Scott familiarized the audience with some facts about Emily Dickinson.
The second set contained three art songs including “Lean Away,” by Gene Scheer, a friend of Hacker’s.
UIndy alumna Elizabeth Wright attended the concert and was not disappointed.
“It was every bit of the performance I was expecting,” Wright said. “The accompaniment was amazing.”
The third set was entitled “Minicabs,” by poet Arnold Weinstein. The fourth song had only five words: “Are You Antipasto or Provolone?” in which the “anti” and the “pro” were emphasized with a thumbs up and a thumbs down from Hacker.
Kathleen Hacker and Sylvia Patterson Scott perform a piece in Ruth Lilly Performance Hall on Feb. 2. Photo by Josie Clark
Junior music theory and composition major Joseph Jones enjoyed the audience’s reactions.
“I was impressed by how Dr. Hacker was able to really draw the audience in through such a strong presence,“ he said. “I think art music is really underappreciated as a whole, and this was above and beyond the cut of a weekly faculty artist recital.”
The fourth set featured songs and poems by African-American composers and poets. “For you there is no song” written by Edna St. Vincent Millay, was the inspiration for several of the other songs in the fourth set.
The final set included the popular Gwendolyn Brooks poem “We Real Cool” and ended with Bob Dylan’s song “Forever Young.” After telling her American story, Hacker ended the evening by saying, “Thank you all for coming out and sharing your evening with us. It was lovely singing for you.”
The next Faculty Artist Concert Series “Echoing Air” will be held in the Ruth Lily Performance Hall Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
