In Lawrence Memorial Chapel on Sunday, September 30, seats were arranged on the stage for an exciting recital. Associate Professor of Trumpet John Daniel provided the main attraction; Wayne Wildman was his pianist and sidekick throughout the program.
The musical exhibition got off to a great start with an enlivening opening, “Intrada” by Arthur Honegger. At only about 4 minutes long, the piece segues in and out of slow and fast sequences that Daniel and Wildman handled with ease.
The first act finishes up with “Concerto pour Trompette et Orchestre” by Henri Tomasi. Daniel and Wildman played on their own where a larger orchestra would play in another arrangement. Divided into three movements, this piece certainly invites the listener to dive deep into the world the musicians create using seemingly simple motions and techniques.
Following the intermission, the recital continued with “Concertino a cinque,” by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. Our two heroes received assistance from Samantha George, Associate Professor of Violin, Matthew Michelic, Associate Professor of Music, on viola and Horacio Contreras, Associate Professor of Music, on cello. It was by far the most expressive and grand piece of the program. Each musician brought their own personality and individuality, but they all shined as an ensemble as well.
The night could’ve ended with that last piece, but Daniel and Wildman instead ended the night with the lovely piece, “Sonate pour Trompette chromatique et Piano” by Jean Hubeau. Each of the three movements is lovely in its own right, and the piece flows marvelously together. The melody that Daniel played acted almost as a refrain. Wildman kept up with lovely control of the rhythm and adds wonderful little flourishes of his own, as it seems he had been doing the entire night.
When everything was over, and Daniel and Wildman had given their finals bows, I felt very grateful to be able to witness music being played with this much talent and creativity. As someone who doesn’t normally frequent Lawrence recitals unless I know someone participating or am filming it as a job, this performance encouraged me to check out more performances, particularly performances by the incredibly gifted faculty here. In all honesty, this was my first time attending a Lawrence faculty recital and I am incredibly interested in attending more of these concerts in the future.
