Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

Grace Kahl – Congratulations!

How many times have I mentioned her name at this point? At least three (Forum, Women’s Choir, Bach Mass)? Well, she has obviously caught my attention and remained on my radar. Grace Kahl is a graduating vocal student here at Queens College at the Aaron Copland School of Music, under the direction of vocalist Dr. Sherry Overholt. Having previously attended Boston Conservatory, she realized that she could get a lot more “bang for her buck” at our extremely prestigious CUNY music school. This evening was Grace’s graduation recital, and having seen fliers hanging up around the music building, I thought I would go – especially since I’ve been done with finals for two days and have absolutely nothing to do! I also went to support my private clarinet teacher, Alejandro Ceballos, as he accompanied her and pianist Miori Sugiyama in Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (or in English, Shepherd on the Rock). Back in high school, I played the piano accompaniment to this piece as well (you can check out my performance on Marina’s Performances page, or on YouTube)!

After the intermission, Grace graced the audience with Joaquin Rodrigo’s Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios or Four Amatory Madrigals: ¿Con qué la lavaré?, Vos me matásteis, ¿De dónde venís, amore?, and De los álamos vengo, madre. The first thing that excited me about this selection was that it was by a Spanish composer. The second thing was the recognition of the term madrigal in the title. All I know about madrigals is that they originated in the 16th century, and so I immediately associate them with the end of the Middle Ages and the coming of the Renaissance. Though this is a 20th century piece written in 1948, I do believe I heard some early music motifs.

I had to do some research, though, about the composer. Rodrigo was from Valencia, Spain, and was blind for most of his life. His list of works is quite extensive! The reason I wanted to find more information on him was because of Grace’s pronunciation throughout this section of the program. Coming from an Andalucian Spanish family, I am well aware and familiar with the lisped “s” sounds that come along with words such as “hacer” (to do/make). That being said, I know this anomaly isn’t usually too distracting, at least for my ear. Valencia, though, isn’t located in the region of Andalucia, but rather is its own region altogether! In listening to other versions of this piece, the Spanish lisp or “ceceo” is non-existent. This doesn’t, however, take away from how amazingly Grace sang Rodrigo’s composition – she was superb! The way she hit those high notes was unreal. And the pronunciation most likely came from an instructor, anyway.

Her last piece, Duetto buffo di due gatti by Rossini was definitely a treat! Sung as a duet between her and Sean Moonsammy (a baritone, and a great vocalist – I attended his graduation recital earlier this year!), the piece is exactly what you would assume – a duet between two cats! I was wondering before they started why the lyrics weren’t translated in the program like all of the other pieces performed. The reason for the lack of lyrics is because they were meowing! Sean and Grace acted as two cats that were bitter about love, and then ended up together. If you’re listening to the video I linked you to, you might be wondering – what is wrong with their voices? It’s a comic piece by Rossini and is not meant to be taken seriously!

For her encore, and she definitely deserved one in my opinion (and her audience of friends and family agreed, as they were screaming on their feet), she sang a jazzy tune with her father on drums, and two other musicians on piano and bass. Though the acoustics were a bit off (I think the microphone was not loud enough over the drumming and fully open piano), I thought the performance was very sentimental. How nice is it to jam with your dad at your graduation recital! If I were to have a graduation concert, I’d have to drag my father up on stage with his guitar.

I usually don’t stay after these recitals for food, as I feel guilty not knowing the performer personally. I felt a bit more comfortable this time around, however, because her audience was filled with people I know from stage crew. Not to mention I had to stick around to congratulate my clarinet teacher! I only took a bit of food, which I now regret as it was amazingly delicious!

Bravo to Grace Kahl for an amazing performance and a stupendous semester (though I must assume her entire run here at QC was quite wonderful).

Grace Kahl Graduation Recital
LeFrak Concert Hall
May 23, 2013

Marina B. Nebro