ALEX GRUBER, ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST
The Music Department of St. Norbert College has officially entered student recital season. Music students have displayed the results of their hard work and great talent in the past two weeks.
Natalie Beck ’16 and Allie Baranczyk ’17 presented a piano and vocal recital on Friday, Nov. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in Dudley Birder Hall. Beck, a student of Elaine Moss, performed on the piano while Baranczyk, a student of Bethany Their, sang.
Beck is an instrumental and general music education major with a Spanish minor. She chose SNC due to its 4-year education program and friendly environment. Beck has been involved in music for 17 years and comes from a musically inclined family. Pieces in her recital included “Sonata in A, K. 331”by Mozart, “Prelude in G, Op. 32, No. 5”by Sergei Rachmaninoff and “Etude in E major, Op. 10, No. 3”by Frederic Chopin.
Beck plans to find a position as a music or Spanish teacher in an elementary, middle or high school after graduating. At SNC, she is a coordinator for the Pen Pals organization, a member of Knight Theatre, the pit director for the group’s production of “Chicagot this year and a member of NAfME.
Lizzie Tesch ’17 gave her junior instrumental recital on Friday, Nov. 20 at 3:30 p.m. at Dudley Birder Hall. Tesch, a student of Dr. John Salerno, played the saxophone, her main instrument, at the recital.
Tesch is a music performance and English double major who also plays oboe, piano and guitar. Her recital consisted of two large works for alto saxophone and piano by Fisher Tull and Pierre Max Dubois.
“The music department here is like family, always supportive and understanding,” Tesch said. “It’s a group of people I wouldn’t want to be without.”
Tesch connects her interest in music to a family visit to Walt Disney World at four years old, during which she saw the Epcot fireworks show “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.” The junior has maintained this love of Disney throughout her life; she hopes to work for the Walt Disney Company in the future, whether as a performer or as a writer.
Asked why SNC students should attend student recitals, Tesch answered, “To put it simply, aside from the free food that follows every recital, we can stand on a stage and play our music all day long because it’s what we love to do, but it’s the audience that makes it a performance.”
The last two weeks have also seen two concerts on campus. The Mid-Level Honors Band concert occurred on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. The United States Air Force (USAF) Band of Mid-America’s Airlifter Brass gave a concert on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Walter Theater. The band consists of six professional musicians with the traditional instrumentation of two trumpets, a French horn, a trombone and a tuba plus percussion. The Opera Workshop was held on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. in Dudley Birder Hall.
Upcoming musical events at St. Norbert College include The Dance Company’s performances of Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” starting Friday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Walter Theater; the Festival of Christmas Concert on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Walter Theater; and the Brass and Organ Christmas Spectacular on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. at St. Norbert Abbey.
Attend one, some or all of these events and support the musical arts at SNC!
St. Norbert Times 