On Sunday, May 4 at 8 p.m., Alexander Poplawski gave his senior recital in Harper Hall. A candidate for the Bachelor of Music in Composition and the Bachelor of Arts in English: Creative Writing, Poplawski is a senior from the studios of Associate Professors of Music Asha Srinivasan and Joanne Metcalf. His recital comprised five original pieces, and featured more than 20 student performers. Unsurprisingly, Harper Hall was packed.
Before I discuss my thoughts on the program, I thought I would include quotes from an interview with Poplawski himself.
Photo by Alex Stanger
Q: “What was the most rewarding part of this experience?”
A: “Hearing each piece ‘click’ in rehearsals; that moment when suddenly everything goes well, and I realized that the marks I made on the page actually sound like how I imagined them to sound.”
Q: “What was the most challenging part?”
A: “Scheduling; there are just so many collaborators, more than the average recital — so finding rehearsal times that work for everyone each week was often really hard.”
Q: “When did you begin preparing for this recital?”
A: “In effect, my preparations began when I started at Lawrence, because any piece I have written over the years could be considered for the recital. But this round of preparing my pieces for performance really started in Winter Term [2025]. So, about four months ago.”
Q: “What is one piece of advice you would give to a younger composition major?”
A: “One piece of advice I’d give to a younger composition major is to really figure out what about music moves you. Figure out what touches your heart and your brain, and write music that does that. Really evaluate what resonates with you… in the moment, after a week, after five years… and study the pieces that grip you the most, no matter if they were composed recently or a thousand years ago. It’s there that you’ll find your compositional aesthetic core.”
Q: “Are there any pieces on the program that are especially important to you, and if so, why?”
A: “If any one piece in my recital is particularly special, it’s probably ‘Fading Canvases.’ When I was writing that, I feel like I found my values as a composer. It’s also when I started developing a signature compositional technique that I plan to continue using in a lot of my music to come. It is also my longest piece to date, and I love the pacing, the instrumentation and the journey it has gone on since I first wrote it.”
I also spoke with one of the student performers, senior physics major Jordan Simons. Simons played clarinet on the fourth piece of the program, “The Knight and the Fairy-Dance.” When asked what his favorite part was about being in the recital, he responded, “I have enjoyed the experience of getting to make a friend’s creation come to life. ‘The Knight and the Fairy-Dance’ is also a very fun piece to perform, a true earworm with dancing melodies and tempo markings like ‘In a dark wood’ and ‘Adventure awaits.’ The piece oozes character, which makes it extremely satisfying to play.”
As an audience member, I was most touched by “Fading Canvases,” the third piece of the program. Listening to the two violinists senior Ellie Lutterman and junior Fiona Petrie gave me chills in an otherwise warm room. I also really enjoyed “The Knight and the Fairy-Dance,” with its whimsy and playfulness. Poplawski’s music has a way of expressing humanity in all of its complexity. His compositions walk a delicate line of conveying life’s joy right alongside its discomfort.
Needless to say, beautiful music and lovely playing! If you weren’t able to make the recital in person, you can catch the livestream at https://vimeo.com/1080072401. It’s well worth a watch!