At present, I am studying Vocal Performance in the studio of Dawn Marie James, accompanied by Dr. Wooyoung Kwon. I have been studying music seriously since the age of ten, learning to sight read music and play the piano. My time at Agnes Scott as a Nanette Hopkins Music Scholar has gone beyond refining technique, I have really begun finding my voice!
My junior recital was one of the last public events at Agnes Scott before the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold in the state of Georgia. I never would have imagined that I would fill Macclean Auditorium with family, friends, and community members from near and far, but in retrospect it makes this experience so much more dear to me.
About the Junior Recital at Agnes Scott:
To give you an idea of what recitals are like at Agnes Scott and what the process is like, here’s a brief description from the Music Department:
All applied music students at Agnes Scott College are encouraged—but not required—to give solo or joint student recitals. Music majors must give a senior recital (MUS 499) if they have chosen performance as their emphasis. Students may also give either a solo or a joint recital in their junior year (MUS 399) if they desire. Approximately two weeks before each junior or senior recital, the student recitalist auditions for the full-time members of the music faculty and her applied music instructor in order to receive approval to perform their recital. This audition is called a hearing. All recitals should be thoroughly prepared including recognition of the collaborative musicians, printed program with program notes, and publicity materials in addition to mastery of repertoire and stage presence. Both MUS 399 and MUS 499 earn 2 hours of credit. For 399, the student performs 25–30 minutes of music as a soloist and/or in duet with another student on the same recital.
Performance Samples
“Give Me Jesus” is an African American spiritual arranged by Moses Hogan, one of the most celebrated contemporary directors and arrangers of spirituals. Give Me Jesus is diatonic and idiomatic, and its melody is very straightforward. The effortless nature of the music reflects the honesty and simplicity of the text. Though it sounds like a prayer, it is more of a simple proclamation of an everlasting, faith-based relationship, contrary to ones that cling to temporal, worldly pleasures. In its historical context, this spiritual is an affirmation of faith through the perils of slavery. This prayer for me is a daily reminder to keep my priorities straight; accolades and worldly success are things that will only satisfy me for a short period of time. In my own spiritual walk, whenever I lose my focus on Christ, I like to come back to this song and make it my plea.
“Just You Wait,” from My Fair Lady, is sung after Professor Henry Higgins, who has agreed to give heroine Eliza Doolittle lessons in elocution, scolds her for “improperly” pronouncing her vowels. In this song, she fantasizes about getting rid of him. While she is frustrated about learning how to re-pronounce words, she sings this song in the very accent she is striving to get rid of! This piece requires a great deal of theatrics on the part of the performer, both physically and also singing in her Cockney, East London accent. Eliza’s frustration is expressed in the frequent use of chromatic notes in the melodic line, and as her fantasies intensify, the piece modulates keys. When Eliza begins to describe her private audience with the king, the music features more disjunct, leaping motion, while her other plots use more conjunct motion.
View the full recital program here.
Behind the Scenes: Marketing & Promotion
One of my favorite parts in the process of putting the Junior Recital together was working behind the scenes with Nigel Enoch and Leah Owenby to create promotional materials! Nigel and I have been together since elementary school, and we have done plenty of creative photoshoots when he was budding as a photographer. My recital shoot was a wonderful way to continue building both of our brands: Nigel as a photographer and myself as a classical soprano. Leah Owenby did a great job designing the flyers, and I was extremely grateful for the Music Department’s work study students who helped promote my first solo concert across campus. It was weird seeing my face in every building on campus, but it was such a fun process!
