Digital Sculpture
Title of Event: Bryan Wills’ Senior Recital
Date and time of event: Friday, 17 April 2015, at 7:30pm
Location of Event: Natalie Davis Rooke Recital Hall in the Sigrid Weis Music Building
Type of Event: Musical Performance
1.) Provide a brief detail-oriented technical description or summary of the event you attended. (This section should remain journalistic and should not be reflective of your opinion.)
This concert featured baritone singer Bryan Wills. He sang twelve songs for his concert, including many that were not in English. He did three songs in English, one song in French, four songs in Italian, and four songs in German. Following the recital was a reception where I spoke with Bryan about his performance and the differences between performance routines for singers and instrumental musicians.
2.) Use the section below to write a well-structured paragraph focusing on your personal criticalinsight / response to the event. How did you interpret or react to what was presented to you?
I found his performance to be incredibly interesting. However, I would have liked some background on each of the pieces before I listened to them. While the program did have translations for most of the songs, I was surprised that he didn’t stop between pieces to explain his next works. Upon asking him about this, he said that the music department is highly critical of performers actually speaking to the audience, and he was therefore not allowed to interact with them. Bryan has been a friend of mine for a long time and I haven’t heard him sing since Freshman year. It was amazing to hear how much his voice had changed and developed.
3.) What information, ideas, images, etc. most impressed you and why?
The thing that I found the most impressive was his ability to do such a long program and switch effortlessly between languages. The different pronunciations and syllabic nuances of each language would have given me a headache if I were a singer.
4.) Overall, how would you rate this event (10 being the most worthwhile)?
(10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 )
9.5
5.) Justify your rating in the question above:
I thought that Bryan’s singing ability was unbelievable. However, his accompanist made a few mistakes that I was able to pick up on – such as entering in early and forcing Bryan to come in late for his entrance, forcing him to start in the middle of a passage. To clarify, I would give Bryan a 10 and the accompanist an 8.5.
