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Musicians share experiences, grow
By Diana Matusewic
Catherine Verrilli brought the music of the 19th and 20th centuries to SCSU in a recital at the Ruth Grant Recital Hall Monday night.
“The composers have contributed in a major way to music in society,” said soprano Verrilli, assistant professor of music, voice. “I wanted to present the philosophies they contributed in American music.”
“I’ve performed professionally all over the country, including the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and National Gallery of Arts,” she said.
“(In addition to other features) I’ve performed with symphony orchestras and in operas,” she said.
The composers featured included David Diamond, Leslie Adams, Margaret Bonds, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Samuel Barber, George Crumb, Marshall Ocker and Stephen Collins Foster.
Accompanying Verrilli in her performance were various music colleagues and professional musicians.
The most recent piece performed was written in 1994 by Marshall Ocker.
“String Quartet no. 3 “Song of the Sea” was actually written for me by the composer and I did the world premier in Washington in 1995,” Verrilli said.
The performance Monday was the Minn. premiere of the song. Marion Judish, assistant professor of music, head of string department, was the first violinist in the quartet.
“Song of the Sea” was inspired by a poem, by Philip Booth.
“Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair,” “Beautiful Dreamer,” and “Ah! May The Red Rose Live Always!” were the songs by Stephen Foster. Accompanying Verrilli with these pieces was Charles Echols, professor of music history, who played the organ.
“Stephen Foster is considered the first professional American composer,” Verrilli said.
Accompanying Verrilli with “Madrigals: Book II” by George Crumb was Melissa Krause, Associate Professor of Music, woodwinds/music theory (on alto flute, flute and piccolo) and Terry Vermillion, associate professor of percussion studies (on percussion).
“His music is definitely off the beaten path, it’s a combination of sounds much like you’d hear in your everyday environment,” Vermillion said. “With a lot of music, you just read the notes, but with his music you have to research it, you have to study it, you have to really think about it. It’s a very rewarding process for the musicians. He puts emotion into sound.”
The other songs included in the program were, “Three Vocalises for Soprano and Viola,” “For You There Is No Song,” “Minstrel Man,” “A Child’s Grace,” and “Knoxville: Summer of 1915.”
“I think the recital’s a very personal thing for Verrilli. She’s at the point in her career where she gets to choose music to perform that really means something to her,” Vermillion said, “I think the music she chose for this recital is off the beaten path (and) it’s kind of our responsibility as music professors to expose people to hear music they might not be familiar with.”
“I’d say that it (the recital) was very cerebral,” Judish said. “Twentieth century music is more thought provoking.”
Vermillion feels that it’s important to do more than teach.
“We need to grow and evolve as musicians so we continue to share our experiences with students,” he said.
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