Every major on campus has that one big task or project a student must accomplish before graduating. Some majors have to create portfolios, some have to do an internship, others complete their capstone and music majors have to complete a senior recital. Lizzie Lee, an instrumental music major, accomplished her senior recital last Thursday night in the recital hall of the new Fine Arts building.
Even though her recital only lasted an hour and a half, it was filled with songs that were special to Lee in some way. She also placed them in a strategic order. Her first piece, Romanze by Max Reger, was slow and romantic.
“It gave me a chance to get comfortable in front of my audience but also have an opportunity to be musically expressive right from the beginning,” Lee said.
Lee said her second piece, Time Pieces by Robert Muczynkski, was the most challenging piece in her recital. The third piece in the program was Three Etudes on Themes of Gershwin by Paul Harvey, which she played unaccompanied. Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, Lee’s fourth piece, was written for clarinet, piano and soprano. Delana Easley, the collaborative pianist for the music department, played piano and Dr. Amy Yeung, a voice professor at UTM, sang soprano.
“I chose this piece because of the beautiful German romantic style. Also, working with Dr. Amy Yeung was fantastic. She has a phenomenal voice, and I was incredibly thrilled to perform with her,” Lee said.
The fifth and final song that was played was very special to Lee because one of her good friends wrote it for her. Josh Spaulding, music education major, wrote Blue Transference specifically for Lee’s recital.
“He wrote this for me after I performed a clarinet quartet piece he wrote a few years ago. He took the movement titled Aqua Blue from the clarinet quartet and used it as the basis for the solo he wrote for me, hence the title Blue Transference. Working with Josh was one of the most enlightening experiences I have ever had as a musician, and I am honored to have premiered his piece,” Lee said.
As for what music means to her, Lee simply said that it is too broad to be able to explain what it really means to her altogether.
“I just know that without it, I would be missing all of the life-changing opportunities I have been given so far,” Lee said.
Since her recital was on Halloween, Lee asked her guests not to change out of costume before coming to her recital. She wanted her recital to be more informal than others. She enjoyed seeing people in the audience dressed up and said it helped calm her nerves.
Lee explained how it felt to finally have her senior recital accomplished.
“I am so relieved to finally get past ‘the big day.’ It was a bit stressful, but the love and support that was shown to me during this recital was overwhelming and made the experience completely worth it,” Lee said.
After graduation in the spring, Lee has big plans to go to graduate school and get her Masters degree in music therapy.
“I believe that music has a remarkable way of helping and healing people unlike any other modern medicine or technology,” Lee said.
Lee has high hopes and big dreams for the future. She is well on her way, especially after being able to accomplish this recital and moving on as a senior music major.
