Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Beautiful End of the Year

Well my friends, my first semester here at the University of Miami has finally wound down, and although I am in my last week during reading days and finals, I am more relieved than anything else that I survived this long and learned so much in the process!!! :) I'll be going home on the fourteenth (Yay!!) , but my winter break will be full of piano practicing and compositional studies. I plan to raid the music library before I leave and take books home on orchestration and choral composition...it's going to be a good break :)
December first was an SCI (Society of Composers, Inc.) concert here at the University and I had the chance to write and perform a piece on the program. It was actually a revision of a piece I wrote last year, but rewritten for piano and two sopranos. I wrote them for my friends Marissa and Madelaine, two of my kindred spirits that I have found here at school. Both young ladies are opera performance majors, and Marissa is a composer as well. She had a piece of hers on the concert too. (It was excellent, by the way!) Anyhow, I'm posting a video of our performance. It was a really rewarding experience, especially since we were the only freshmen on the program. All of the other pieces were by seniors and grad students, and almost all of the faculty were there as well. I felt teary eyed after wards, because although the audience wasn't tremendously large, a good percentage were friends of mine who really care about me and support me in my studies and have been there through all the ups and downs of my first semester in school. How blessed I am! Enjoy the performance :)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

My Final Farewell

Dearest Friend,


This afternoon I had the immense pleasure of performing for a benefit luncheon for the Anson County Arts Council in Wadesboro, NC. For quite some time now, plans had been underway for this event-and I was very honored to be able to participate.

The Arts Council has been such an incredible means of encouragement and support to me as a student artist- providing me with performance opportunities, helping me gain exposure etc... When approached by one of the board members about being the guest performer for this afternoon's lunch, I was thrilled accept!

For the past few years, the Arts Council has been putting on three "Bach's Lunches" over the summertime in an effort to gain support for their renovation project of the old Ansonia Theatre ( a wonderful historic theatre in downtown Wadesboro with an intensely rich biography!)

In appreciation for all that has been afforded me through the council and its kind board members, I composed a special piece of music for this Bach's Lunch and titled it "Ansonia". I do believe it was received well...:)I consider my time spent with the council as a truly sweet time in my life. Now, as I prepare to begin my professional career as a composer, all the memories and faces of gentle souls who warmly prodded me along as a child and into my young adult years flood back to me, and the Arts Council holds many such dear faces.

May the most remarkable and enduring of blessings be with these kind people, and may their efforts to strengthen and encourage the youth of our community through the world of art never be forgotten.

Affectionately Yours,

Kate

p.s. I hope you enjoy a few of the photos I have enclosed below!








My mom and I arrived at the church at around 11:20 a.m. Imagine our surprise when we saw this sign outside! It was a pleasantly warm afternoon, brimming with promises of a beautiful time of fellowship and music. What a combination!






Haha- can you tell that I talk with my hands??? This shot was taken from across the dining table by my mother, who thought my engrossing account of how music is built around "themes" would make for an...interesting photo. Thanks, mom. :) (Although now that I think of it, I don't look very excited, do I? Just a thought...)











I played altogether six pieces of music, ranging from the first song I ever performed as a student composer, all the way to a piece that I finished two nights ago-"Ansonia". I composed and dedicated this music to the Anson County Arts Council, and performed it in honor of the future young artists who will one day grace the stage of the renovated Ansonia Theatre...









A very kind gentleman complimented my playing and asked me if I wanted to go to New York one day to pursue my endeavors there---now, do I ever??











Following the performance, I had the opportunity to talk with some of the wonderful people who came to the luncheon. We shared a good deal of smiles and hugs and made promises to meet again. I intend to keep that promise!