Eastern Connecticut State University’s Music Department recently held a series of events to showcase the talents of students, professors and visiting artists, ranging from multimodal performances to concerts and recitals.

On Feb. 22 in the Fine Arts Instructional Center (FAIC) Concert Hall, Music department staff and students came together to hold a concert titled “Me, Myself, and PIano” in honor of Dr. James Watson and Ellen Lang, longstanding supporters of Eastern.

Kicking off the concert was music professor, composer, theorist and performer Anthony Cornicello, who specializes in classical music and jazz. He performed “BWV 846” from “The Well-Tempered Clavier.” Other professors who performed included David Ballena and Okon Hwang who played a piano duet titled “Disney Waltz (2P4H).” Among student performers were Alicia Davis performing “Confessions in the Moonlight,” Esther Jones performing “Consolations S. 172, No. 3,” Lauren Pomerleau performing “Over the Rainbow,” Clancy Benedict performing “Jessica’s Theme,” Emily Gillespie performing “River Flows in You” and Olivia Lisowicz performing “Waltz, Op. 64, No. 2.”

On Feb. 21 in the FAIC Art Gallery, artist Linnea Maas and musician Jennifer Bill presented their collaborative aural-visual work entitled BRUSH/REED. First established in 2008 in Minneapolis, MN, when Bill and Maas were brainstorming ways to fuse their respective arts, BRUSH|REED emerged as an experience designed to cross both disciplines of music and visual arts, uniting their purpose, and highlighting the close relationship between music and visual arts for audiences around the world.

Engaging their audience through color, pitch, rhythm and expression, Maas and Bill explored the parallels of painting and sound through their collaborative performance. Following their performance they opened the floor to the audience for discussion and further questions about their work.

On Feb. 28 in the Fine Arts Instructional Center (FAIC) the Music Program held a student recital as part of their “Music Program Colloquium Series.” The recital featured collaborative and solo performances by students and staff in the Music Department. The “Music Program Colloquium Series” purpose is to enhance students’ experiences in lessons and coursework and encourage a sense of community.

The recital opened with Amanda Jovanovich performing “Etude 4” on the timpani. Following her performance, Professor David Ballena played the piano and student soprano singer Sarah Potter sang “Adele’s Laughing Song.” Collaborating on other pieces with Ballena during the recital was mezzo soprano singer Samantha Warshauer, soprano singer Emily Gillespie, mezzo soprano singer Christiana Montalbano and soprano singer Emily Kelly. In addition to Ballena, Olivia Lisowicz also played the piano, performing “Sonata Op. 10, No. 2, I. Allegro.” The recital ended with a performance by clarinetist Adella Carlson playing “Sonata in E♭ Major Op. 120, No. 2, I. Allegro amabile.”