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St. Cloud State University
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Diversions
Faculty concert showcases talent
By Amanda Degen
Published:
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Media Credit: Ryan Henry
Professor Mark Springer performs �Ballad in Blue� at the 2nd annual �Sincerely Yours� faculty concert Tuesday evening at the Ruth Grant Recital Hall in the Performing Arts Center.
Unbelievable musical talent filled the air Tuesday night as professors presented "Sincerely Yours," the faculty music concert hosted by the SCSU music department.
The program featured 10 pieces individually chosen by the faculty members based on personal preference. Compiled by the department as a showcase of local talent.
There was a variety of music chosen, including many foreign language pieces, as well as pieces dating back to the late 17th century.
Also unique was "Cappriccio e Largo," a piece composed by Melissa Krause, who is currently a professor at SCSU.
Performers included pianists James Dennihan, Shannon Loehrke and Charles Echols; singers Hugh Givens, Marcie Hagen, Harry Vermillion and Catherine Verrilli; violinist Maroin Judish; bassist Karl Van Beckum; cellist Pablo Mahave-Veglia; clarinetist Dennis Layne; trombonist Mark Springer and saxophonist Kim Gast.
The concert is the third in a series of five this year, with two more to come this spring. With these shows, the department is trying to take a different approach towards presenting itself to the public.
"This is our second annual Valentine's Day faculty concert. We try every semester to provide one faculty-based concert, so if students want to hear what the department members really sound like, this is the concert to attend," said Mark Springer, who emceed the event. Springer also played in the final piece of the night, entitled "Ballad in Blue."
Most performers were dressed in red and black to celebrate the upcoming holiday, even though not all the musical pieces reflected love and Valentines.
During intermission and prior to the performance of the last piece, a drawing was held. Prizes including boxed chocolates, restaurant gift certificates, tickets to the next faculty performance Feb. 19th and albums produced by cellist Mahave-Veglia.
Tickets were based on a test run to see how much revenue the Music Department can bring in per performance, with the proceeds benefiting the department in the form of scholarships and future musical concerts.
"We are one of the few places in the state that doesn't charge for our musical events," said Cathryn Verrilli, event organizer.
The department is also making efforts to offer more community-oriented concerts done through renting the Paramount Theatre, as well as importing international soloists to make it a higher profile event.
"We are so proud of our talented faculty, and the quality is so high that it seems a shame to keep it solely on campus," Verilli said. "In most other disciplines, professors are known by their scholarly work, which is writing papers and books, providing lectures and conferences. Performers do their work by preparing performances. Especially for our music major students, the role modeling and mentoring relationship that we have with them is continued through our performances as well."
Although student turnout was low, those that attended thoroughly enjoyed the event.
"I thought it was very classy, and adds some more interest to the department. This is a great opportunity for us (students) to see their performances," said Trevor Rittmiller, music major.
"It's too bad that there weren't more students here, especially those from the music department. It's very disappointing to me, as a music major, that there was such a low turnout."
