When Karen Becker came to Plattsburgh State in the fall of 2008, she realized there weren’t enough performance opportunities for students in the music department. “With the student art gallery and all of that beautiful student art [in it], why not have student music?” Becker said. Nine years later, gallery concerts have become a semesterly tradition for the entire department, giving more students their own time to shine.
The Fall Gallery Concert was held on Oct. 27 in Myers Fine Arts. Four music students, (Trevor White, Kendall Joseph, Michael Hudin and Vihan Wickramasinghe) and the cast of “The Drowsy Chaperone” performed for a public audience, surrounded by the student art in the main lobby art gallery.
Flutist Trevor White has played in the department’s gallery concerts seven times in his college career, performing “Madrigal” by Philippe Gaubert during Friday’s concert. “[The program is] very highly individualized, and I’ve gotten so much support from my professors over the years,” White said. Graduating this year, White has definitely noticed a difference in his sound as he plays since he joined the music program at PSUC.
Bass-baritone Kendall Joseph sang an Italian opera, “Nebbie”, with strong emotion and theatrics in the concert. As an international student from Trinidad, Joseph appreciates the small class sizes and amazing professors in PSUC’s music department.
Joseph also plays Aldolpho in the Department of Theatre’s biennial college musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The show is a parody of American musical comedies. A lonely Broadway fanatic finds a recording of the fictional 1928 comedy “The Drowsy Chaperone”, and as he listens the comedy comes to life before him, creating the “show-within-a-show” concept throughout the performance.
As a special preview and addition to the Fall Gallery concert, the cast performed different musical selections, such as “Fancy Dress”, “Love is Always Lovely” and “Accident Waiting to Happen.” The musical within a comedy will debut on Nov. 2 to 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. in Hartman Theatre in Myers Fine Arts.
The performance is an opportunity for students to showcase their talents and for the faculty to appreciate the department, especially during the fall semester. With multiple opportunities to double major and a new Music Management program coming to the department in 2018, Becker advocates for a stronger music program in the near future.
“This time of the year, [the concert] makes it all worth it,” Becker said. “It’s all about recruitment. We have a terrific little program here. We have a lot of cool things in the works.”
Email Emma Vallelunga at news@cardinalpointsonline.com
