As another semester draws slowly to its end, the air around campus fills with anticipation, anxiety and music as the music department prepares its closing performances.
For the last month or so of each semester the Music Hall in the Arts and Communication Center, is booked with final concerts by UW-Oshkosh’s performing ensembles, concerts by visiting performers and student recitals.
Friday night Oshkosh student Luke Swanger gave his piano recital to a modest audience of family, friends and fellow music students.
“I’ve always claimed my parents tricked me into taking lessons at a young age,” Swanger, who began playing at the age of four, said. “Sometime in early high school or late middle school is when I started to become more serious.”
The performance began with a Franz Liszt piece, “Grande Etude de Paganini No. 5,” also commonly known as “La Chasse.”
The piece presents the feeling of a beautiful spring day interrupted by hunters. Swanger’s fingers seemed to chase each other across the keys, further justifying the piece’s unofficial title.
The recital continued with “Partita in B-flat Major,” a six-movement piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, and then “Les adieux” by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Perhaps the most relatable piece of the evening, “Les adieux” conveys an emotional farewell between two lovers, the longing and sorrow in each other’s absence, and finally the happy reunion.
Next was an Arvo Part piece, “Zwei Sonatinen fur Klavier.” Finally Swanger performed a piano-violin duet with Zachary Peterson. The piece, composed by Cesar Franck, was both sad and beautiful and was reminiscent of the “Transylvanian Rhapsody” from 1974 comedy “Young Frankenstein.”
Swanger has already received a degree in piano performance from Johnson State College, but is studying under Dr. Eli Kalman at Oshkosh as he prepares for graduate school.
“I enjoy giving back to others,” said Swanger, who hopes to continue giving back through his performances at the graduate level.
Following Swanger’s performance was a brief break before sixth-year violinist Jacki Thering took the stage. Her first piece of the evening included two movements of a violin solo composed by Bach. The second of the two movements is approximately 15 minutes long and comprised one quarter of the total recital on its own.
Thering’s second piece was a concerto by Edward Elgar, who also composed “Pomp and Circumstance.” Unlike his most famous piece, Elgar’s “Concerto in B Minor” included a mix of slow and lively sections. The final piece of the night was a piano and violin duet by Maurice Ravel.
Although performing can be stressful, for Thering it is a chance to show how her hard work and dedication to the craft have paid off.
“I don’t really enjoy the nervous feeling I get before a recital, but the energy helps me to play the best I can,” she said.
The audience clearly recognized Thering’s efforts, and rewarded her with a standing ovation.
“Jacki Thering is an absolutely superb musician and the most professional virtuoso performer,” Thering’s violin instructor, Klara Fenyo Bachall said. In addition to learning and performing, Thering also teaches violin and viola at Henri’s Music.
Thering is also a student of Kalman and performs with the UW-Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, which will be giving a final concert Dec. 10. She will be graduating in December and student teaching before going on to graduate school for a master’s degree in violin performance.
A complete list of the performances can be found on the music department’s Web site.
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