Campus Commentary 4: Davidson College String Studio Recital
Davidson’s string studio recital on the 15th of April offered an evening of beautiful string music to listeners from on or off campus. The recital was hosted in Tyler-Tallman hall, a beautiful room “ideal for intimate musical performances” because of its relatively small size. Pianist Tomasz Robak accompanied both individual string musicians and string ensembles, beginning with a rendition of Dmitry Shostakovich’s “Three Duets for Two Violins” by student Penelope Hobbie and professional violinist Joseph Meyer, employed by Davidson as an instructor. This performance was followed by Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major” performed by Chloe Wang and Sylvia Stewart-Bates, respectively a violinist and violist, both students, and then Vivaldi’s “Concerto for Four Violins in B Minor” played by a student violin quartet. Next, another piece by Shostakovich: “Five Pieces for Two Violins and a Piano” accompanied by a student pianist, Josephine Niu, and played by Dante Falzone and Nicolas Knaupp, and finally Borodin’s “String Quartet No. 2 in D Major” by Jeanne Kim and Chloe Wang on violin, Adit Sahasrabudhe on viola, and Silas Garrett on cello.
The structure of the performance more or less seemed to crescendo the order of the pieces by depth—the first pieces were slightly more simple and contained fewer timbres, while later pieces incorporated more timbres and more complex sounds. This structure, whether intentional or not, felt strategic and the result was a satisfying display of talent by both Davidson students and employees alike. While earlier pieces were evidently more simple, they were performed with finesse and sounded just as nice as the more complex pieces later. This concert served not only to expose the Davidson community and individual artists’ friends and family to their work, and to display months of hard work and practice by students, it also allowed potential music majors with differing levels of expertise to experience a true stage setting and audience while playing. As a former pianist, the pressure of an audience dramatically changes how a musician plays, so these performance experiences are quite valuable as students continue their musical journey.
This performance was undoubtedly successful as a means to allow students to play in front of a crowd and as entertainment for audience members. The music was played well and the music choices were somewhat diverse to keep the performance engaging. The gradual introduction of new instruments, most notably the viola and the cello in the final performance, also served this purpose. This performance was especially rewarding for me subjectively because two of my good friends played, and it is nice to see success from friends. As I surveyed the room upon walking in, it appeared most other audience members were friends and family of musicians, meaning much of the audience also got to see somebody they know show off their hard work. Davidson’s Spring Studio Recital was a beautiful, successful performance of string instruments, just one of many similar opportunities offered in the spring to witness the culmination of a year of academics and the arts at this school.
Works Cited
“Tyler-Tallman Hall.” Davidson. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.davidson.edu/academic-departments/music/sloan-music-center/tyler-tallman-hall.
“Joseph Meyer.” 2021. Davidson. 2021. https://www.davidson.edu/people/joseph-meyer.
