Sami Schwanke/Winonan
When Winona State University’s music department came together to put on a concert, they made a night of music into a learning experience.
Winona State’s National Association for Music Educators (NAfME) hosted their faculty recital Monday night in the Performing Arts Center.
Faculty members from the music department put on various performances to help raise money to send Winona State students to the Minnesota Music Educators Association Midwinter Clinic.
There, music students have the chance to network with other music students, schools and music professionals, and to see what music and instruments are new and popular in the world of music.
Piano instructor Dr. Woobin Park started the concert. She performed “Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Études-Tableaux, Op. 33, No. 6” and “Études-Tableaux, Op. 39, No. 9.”
Park also accompanied vocal instructor Dr. Alan Dunbar, who performed selections from “Let Us Garlands Bring, Op. 18.”
The other professors who participated included violin instructor professor Natalie Filipovich and her husband, cello instructor Dr. Paul Vance, who performed the duet Sonatine Pour Violin et Violoncelle by Darius Milhaud.
Vance explained the piece to the audience.
“Milhaud is a French composer who liked to make use of jazz in his music and polytonality, which is playing in multiple keys at once, and canons,” he said.
“All is evident in the movement we play. I swear these are the right notes.” Vance said that the piece was written in 1955 for a married couple.
“Like us,” he said, referring to himself and his co-performer. “Whether or not that was a metaphor for their relationship is unclear, but it’s a quirky piece and a lot of fun.”
Another couple was saxophone instructor Dr. Harry Hindson and his wife Carol Rhodes in accompaniment. They performed “Sonatina Giocasa for Bass Saxophone and Piano” by Walter Hartley.
“The bass saxophone weighs about 30 pounds,” Hindson said.
“It’s one of the first types of saxophones. [Adolphe] Sax made the smaller instruments later on.”
The third couple was french horn instructor professor Corey Henke and his wife, Susan Henke, who accompanied him on piano.
Many other performers took the stage that evening. Clarinet instructor Dr. Daniel Sheridan played “Rhapsodie” by Giacomo Miluccio. Percussion instructor Jim Knutson, professor Rich MacDonald and graduate student Matt Ernster performed on steel drums and marimbas together.
Jesse Christian, a senior music education major and president of Winona State’s NAfME club, commented on the concert’s significance.
“It’s a great opportunity for us [NAfME] to advocate for the music department and show off our highly skilled faculty.”
Junior music performance major Josh Klein agreed.
“It sure beat staying home and watching my favorite TV show,” he said.
Jennifer Pierce, a junior music education major, couldn’t decide which performer she liked best.
“I can’t decide if the bass saxophone or the steel drums were my favorite part of the recital because of their uniqueness. Maybe I’d pick Dr. Dunbar,” she said. “There are just too many choices.”
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