As the semester winds to a close, and hats and mittens come out, Bowdoin music students are offering a harmonious start to the holiday season by showcasing their prowess. This week includes multiple senior recitals, the fall concert of Bowdoin's Chamber Ensembles and a performance of the recently formed New Music Ensemble.
Jake Levin '10 will be singing "Dichterliebe" composed by Robert Schumann, from the German Lieder or "art song" genre.
Levin spoke passionately of the substance of his final vocal recital on Friday.
"Schumann didn't write 'Dichterliebe' because he felt like composing music; there was something else driving his composition," he said of the song, which translates to "Poet's Love." "You can't leave anything out...emotion and expression make music, but notes alone are just organized sound."
Senior Eugene Sun is looking forward to his first ever piano performance in addition to his presentation of four pieces on his familiar trombone. Sun will be playing a piano duet excerpted from the opera "Prince Igor" by Alexander Borodin with his sister Forence Sun '11. She is also performing with the Bowdoin Brass Quintet. As his senior recital, this showcase of his talents will be bittersweet.
"This concert will be very meaningful to me because it is the first time I am performing on the piano," Sun said. "Also my sister, as well as the two juniors in the Brass Quintet ,will be studying abroad so this will be the last time we perform together here at Bowdoin."
Peter McLaughlin '10 will be performing with the New Music Ensemble. Created at the beginning of this semester, the Ensemble is devoted to playing classical and concert pieces of the 20th and 21st centuries.
"While all the music we're playing was conceived as 'concert music,' listeners [will hear] sounds that will be more familiar to fans of rock and pop than fans of classical music," said McLaughlin. "Listeners should come expecting the unexpected. The performers always do."
The ensemble, which includes seniors Olivia Madrid, Katie Cushing, Abriel Ferreira and Peter McLaughlin, and juniors Jimmy Pasch and Akiva Zamcheck, will perform on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Studzinski Recital Hall.
This Friday's Common Hour, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Studzinski Recital hall will feature performances by the Bowdoin Chamber Ensembles. Stephen Wagner '12, violin; Yojin Yoon '12, violin; Jarrod Powell '10, viola; Maren Askins '12, cello; and Jimmy Pasch '11, cello, coached by Mary Hunter, will perform "String Quintet in C Major, D. 956" by Franz Schubert. Bonnie Cao '13, piano, coached by George Lopez, will be performing a piece from "Fantasiestüke, Op. 12" by Robert Schumann. Performing "Shadowcatcher" by Eric Ewazen will be Abriel Ferreira '10, trumpet; Will Cogswell '11, trumpet; Allison Chan '11, trumpet/flügelhorn; Eugene Sun '10, trombone, and their coach Anita Jerosch will join on the bass trombone.