I’d always been interested to see what the BPAC looked like. The recital hall was a little smaller than I’d imagined it, but it was ever so quaint, just enough room for a grand piano to sit on the stage.

Based on my prior experience, I was never a fan of attending to a live instrumental event because it was just boring and dull, and within minutes, I’d be asleep. I already knew that I’d prefer a live performance where someone was singing – it’d be more interesting and definitely keep me awake. So I didn’t have high hopes of staying awake at the recital. However, Sara proved me wrong.

First of all, Ms. Buechner was freaking hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed her introduction because she came off as witty, sarcastic, and human, instead of a simple and plain “Hello, my name is blahblahblah and I will be performing blahblahblah for you tonight.” I learned that we weren’t to applaud until she stood up, which I suppose is probably instrumental recital etiquette, which is good to know for any future recitals I might attend.

While I love listening to piano music (on YouTube), I was expecting to be bored at the recital. However, Sara put her own twist on things. She added her own dramatic flairs to the show: little jumps and flailing arms. With her integration of these motions, it was easier for me to pay more attention and see a storyline behind each piece. I could suddenly tell where the “plot” of the piece began to be more climatic and wild, and where it was calming down. While the pieces were (dreadfully) long, I managed to stay intrigued and entertained by Sara’s little movements and energy that she put towards the song.

She played a variation of pieces by various composers. Personally, I only knew Mozart and I’d vaguely heard something about Chopin. There was also Arensky and Gershwin, composers that I’d never even heard of. Out of all the pieces, I preferred the last piece the most, which I believe was Sara’s own piece (maybe Gershwin’s…? I can’t recall).

The combination of Sara’s witty personality and amazing talent made it a wonderful night. I thoroughly enjoyed the recital and at the end, her little story. Sara is clearly a talented figure and she is a serious musician, obvious from her travels to Japan to further pursue piano music. It is quite a shame that after her transition, people would not book her for more concerts “50 concerts a year [to] three to five concerts a year”, all because of her change in identity. Although she still has quite a big name, I hope Sara manages to make it far again, performing 50 concerts a year again.

After this performance, I can say that I probably will attend another BPAC performance, even if it is outside of IDC. Through this experience, I learned that BPAC offers wonderful performance and experiences that I shouldn’t miss out on, because it is right at home on campus.