Eight piano performance majors showed off their talents Sunday afternoon at the annual piano recital.
The concert was conducted in the Williams Performing Arts Center. An audience of approximately 20-30 people gathered to give their attention to eight piano performers: Parker Gorndon, Robert Hull, Nathan Hamilton, Beccy Hutton, Jing-Yuan Jiang, Joe Rush, Michelle Sulaiman and Brooke Trapp.
Brooke Trapp, sophomore piano performance major from Texarkana, has been playing piano since she was in the first grade. She played two pieces during the recital and is also a member of the ACU marching band.
“About my senior year of high school I realized I didn’t see myself doing anything else besides piano,” Trapp said.
All participating students were piano performance majors taught by Director of Piano Pauline Bjorem. Each of the students played a few songs at the recital. The songs performed consisted of Bache to more modern pieces.
Parker Gordon, sophomore piano performance and political science major from Stephenville, said the recital was a broad sampling of very well-known repertoire.
They have been practicing all semester long for the recital held Sunday, but they have also been preparing for juries, the final exam for piano performance majors.
“Performing at the recital was a good way to test out the pieces before we have to perform them in front of Juries, our end of the year final,” Gordon said.
The free recital lasted about an hour and a half. The students felt they had a good turnout and feedback from the audience.
“It was a good success, and a very good turnout, and considering all of the hard work going into this, it was a combination of our hard work this year,” Gordon said.
“It’s always nerve-racking. I was nervous, but I think once you get through, it is rewarding to know that you went up and played well in front of an audience,” said Robert Hull, sophomore piano performance major from Rippon, Calif. “We got a lot of compliments from everyone.”
Gordon said the last piece, La Felle Aux Cheveux De Lin, performed by Michelee Sulaiman from Indonesia had several people in the audience crying. “It was obviously very powerful and moving,” Gordon said.
