Students of Professor of Music Kathleen Hacker, Music Lessons Adjunct Daniel Narducci and Assistant Professor of Music Mitzi Westra performed in “Evening of Song” on Oct. 27 in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall. The students were accompanied by Gregory Martin on the piano.
Junior music technology and recording, and communication major Sarah Smith began the night by singing “O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion” from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.”
Sophomore music education major, Samantha Anderson, who sang “Into the Night,” by Clara Edwards, was next after Smith.
Anderson explained that “Into the Night” is the story of the speaker searching for someone, but no one is certain for whom the speaker is searching.
“The speaker concludes the song by saying that it doesn’t matter where she goes, or what happens, as long as she finds it [the person],” Anderson said to the audience.
Next was junior music education major Kyleigh Randolph, who sang “Sure on this Shining Night.”
Randoph told the audience that “Sure on this Shining Night” was one of Samuel Barber’s most popular compositions.
Following Randoph was senior music education major Katie LeAnn Myers. Myers sang “Amor,” by William Bolcom.
“Amor” was junior psychology, pre-occupational therapy major Alexis LeCount’s favorite song of the night.
“She seemed like she had a lot of fun with it, so that was exciting,” LeCount said.
Myers was followed by junior general music major Ron Dukes, who sang “If Ever I Would Leave You,” from the musical “Camelot,” which was composed by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe.
Dukes told the audience that the character in the song is a newly promoted knight who has fallen in love with Guinevere.
“This song is saying to her [Guinevere] how he would love her in all the circumstances,” Dukes said.
Junior music education major Natalie Covert was next after Dukes, performing “Minicabs” by William Bolcom.
“They are a collection of very, very short songs that go over a range of human emotions. But in reality, they’re like stories, as the speaker starts [to] wonder why she’s feeling the way she’s feeling,” Covert said.
Next was sophomore music education major Ivy Bott performing “I Don’t Need a Roof,” from the musical “Big Fish.”
Bott said that in this song, the character Sandra is trying to comfort her husband, who has just awoken from a nightmare with the realization that his life is coming to an end.
“In this song, Sandra attempts to comfort him in this hard time. However, as the song progresses, you will note that she becomes more and more desperate,” Bott said.
Following that performance was sophomore music technology and recording major Luke Garrigus singing “O Del Mio Amato Ben,” by Stefano Donaudy. He was followed by freshman music and journalism major Morgan Ellis, who performed “Dolente Imagine di Fille Mia,” which was written by Italian opera composed Vincenzo Bellini.
After Ellis, freshman vocal performance major Brenden Everett, performed “Lydia,” composed by Gabriel Fauré.
“This song, ‘Lydia,’ is a very dreamy song. It’s about a woman who is so beautiful that her love extends past the eternal slumber of death,” Everett told the audience.
Finishing out the night was freshman vocal performance major David Samuelsen,who performed “Mattinata,” by Francesco Tosti.
