Zoë Strickland | Editor-in-Chief

The sound of music filled Smith Hall as music students and professors alike played through piano performances. On May 2, “An Elegant Evening of Piano Music” was held as part of the 2017-2018 Smith Concert Series.

The two-hour event consisted of pianists playing the compositions of Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Debussy, among others. Professors Diane Baxter and Jackie Morelli opened the evening by performing “Celebration” by Rollin. The duo played two other songs throughout the night; “Fantasy Op. 5 ‘Larmes’” by Rachmaninoff was also played in the first half of the night, while “Jubilation” by Vandall opened the show after intermission.

Junior music major Levi Polasek played two songs in the latter half of the evening. The first performed was a short, lively piece by Kapustin, titled “Prelude Op. 53 No. 17” and the second was “Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2” by Chopin.

“The great part about performing is audience reaction, which honors both the performer and the composer,” said Polasek. “My favorites are the beautiful and timeless piano compositions from Liszt, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Chopin.”

Senior Bachelor of Music major Jessica McCutchen enjoys performances like these because of the moment after she reaches the end of a song; “There’s this moment of silence afterwards before people clap, and it’s when you exhale all the air you’ve been building up the entire time you’ve been playing — it’s the most relaxing moment.”

Also included in the setlist were performances by Leo McLean, a sophomore from Sprague High School in Salem, Oregon and Li Jing, a visiting scholar from Guangxi Arts University in China. McLean performed Chopin’s “G minor Ballade Op. 23” while Jing played Liszt’s “Harmonies du Soir.”

The evening of piano music ended with the only composition of the night, “Antumbra,” which was composed and played by McCutchen.

“(Antumbra) came from a place of transition in my life … I went through this huge writing block and I couldn’t write any music for two months, anything substantial,” said McCutchen. “So I went back to my old approach of writing music, which is just sitting down at the piano and playing until I figure out what I like … it’s not an effective use of time, but it really changed how I write music now. It got me back on track.”

“Antumbra” will be making an appearance at McCutchen’s senior recital on June 1.

Other student performers for the night included seniors Xia Yun and Xudong Yang, first year masters students Julia Harrington and Yuzhou Huang and second year masters student Lingyu Zhu.

The next performances hosted by the music program include the joint junior recital of Cole Johnston, Jacob Marsh and Keagan Wall on May 9, and the junior recital of Adam Hyland on May 17. Both events are at 7:30 p.m.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu.

Photo by: Zoë Strickland