Completing
degree recitals: something to sing about
for three students
 Voice student Michelle Mathis of Music rehearses for her senior recital. Accompanying her on piano is Crystl Baltazar. |
The degree recital process for music students can be a stressful yet truly rewarding experience. It is a required demonstration of the skills they've acquired through rigorous years of training at Montclair State, and it's an opportunity to perform in front their peers. The senior recital consists of about 15 pieces and runs from an hour to an hour and a half. The graduate process involves both a chamber and solo recital.
For Michelle Mathis of Music, preparing for the undergraduate degree voice recital began two years ago when she started thinking about which pieces to perform. Mathis studied the programs at each concert she attended to find inspiration for her own recital. "I picked pieces that I've seen performed," said Mathis. "They fit well with my voice and provide a good range to showcase my abilities."
Mathis is anxious to get in as many rehearsals as she can before the big day on May 4, but as coordinator of auditions and admissions, scheduling rehearsals for other students, accompanists and professors leaves her little time to prepare for her own recital.
"This is a classically focused department," said Mathis, "so I will use only four modern pieces for the encore." The recital will include Mozart, Handel and Strauss, as well as a variety of works from Baroque to classical. Mathis, who will sing in English, French, German, Italian and Latin, will be accompanied by a student string quartet with euphonium, and will sing one piece with five male students.
"Professor Jeffery Gall [of Music] prepared me for the recital," said Mathis. "He's encouraged me to grow, helped me to break bad habits and he's shown me how to let my real voice shine through."
Mathis was chosen to spend one school year in Graz, Austria through an overseas neighbors program between Graz and Montclair State University. "Going to Austria was a great experience," she recalled. "I encourage students to study abroad. It was a dream come true for me."
After she completes her degree requirements Mathis will have another opportunity to perform for her peers. She has been selected to sing the National Anthem at commencement. "I look forward performing," she said. "It's a stressful time, but I don't consider it a burden. It's what I want to do with my life."
Michael Wall, a music education major, is preparing for a degree recital in composition. "Things get hectic," he said. "It's difficult writing pieces and getting people to play them."
When Wall auditioned for Montclair State he played the trumpet, his primary instrument at the time. He started composing in February 2000. "I want to write, play and teach music," said Wall, who is student teaching in Saddlebrook.
Wall's recital will include nine pieces, eight in which he will play the trumpet. The only piece he will not perform is his blues song titled "Sonny's Blues," which is based on a story by James Baldwin. "This one will be a blues ensemble with saxophones," said Wall, who practices the trumpet 14 hours a week.
Graduate student Darren O’Neill calls himself "a late bloomer." After earning a bachelor's degree in guitar performance more than a decade ago, he finally decided in 1999 to pursue a master's degree. "Feeling as though my muse was not satisfied, I applied to Montclair State's graduate program in guitar studies to work with early music specialist Dennis Cinelli [of Music]," said O'Neill.
O'Neill studied ensemble work with Cinelli in 1995 at the 92nd Street Y in New York. "Four years later, I called him to see if I was potential graduate material at Montclair State," said O'Neill, who has a master's degree in library science and works at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. "I was nervous the day of my audition because a full lifestyle change was about to occur," he said. "But thanks to my wife's love and support, I gathered up the courage to realize my dream."
O'Neill performed the chamber program earlier this month, which included supporting artists Momoko Matsumura on violin and Cinelli on guitar. "I began planning for this recital last summer as I plowed through stacks of music to find pieces to cover an historical overview of the classical guitar as ensemble partner," said O'Neill. "Without the training I received at Montclair State, I would be ill prepared to enter the world of professional musicianship. Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned from my graduate experience is to remain flexible and prepared in a world that keeps changing."