Lynn Kang, soprano performs during the Art Song Recital Wednesday in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall.
LAYLA VINSON AND JENELL TAYLOR
Staff writers
In a recital that united perspectives through visual art, operatic singing and instrumental performance, the School of Music presented its Art Song Recital at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. Highlighting five sets ranging in style and language, the show displayed weeks of growth and talent being developed emerging artists studying at Chautauqua Institution.
“These past weeks, everyone’s so close, everyone’s just so supportive. I was able to come out here — no judgment — and now I know everyone’s just going to love whatever happens,” Hannah Verduzco, a Conservatory soprano who concluded the recital with selections written by Joaquín Turina, said. “And the same thing for the rest of my colleagues. It’s a performance, but it’s also just supporting people.”
For Director of the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory Jonathan Beyer, Head of the Chautauqua Piano Program Nicola Melville and, Sydelle Sonkin and Herb Siegel Artistic Director of the Visual Arts Erika b Hess, support and collaboration were integral. After Melville grouped pianists with singers and Hess paired groups of visual artists to each set of songs, the students had the opportunity to merge their perspectives into one shared performance.
The recital began with the “Rose Set” — a series of songs dedicated to the flower. Performed by Lynn Kang with piano accompaniment by Lucy Parke, the set featured a blooming rose projected onto a draping white curtain behind them. The visual — created by artists-in-residence CJ Chavarria, Marin Griffith, Alpha Massaquoi, Jr. and Jessie McClanahan — reflected Kang’s bright timbre.
Tenor Brenden Christie and pianist Jingbo Zong took the stage for the aptly named “Musical Theater Set,” which included Broadway songs such as Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s “Something’s Coming.”
Artists-in-residence Amber Dacanay and Hal Hardin created the visual for this set: a stop-motion scene of a sunset drawn in crayon, pictured through a window pane made of paper. As the songs progressed, the scene flowed into nighttime, revealing a lonesome paper house with a smoky chimney and two dim interior lights.
In a scene capturing the bloody aftermath of battle, resident artists Nada Bayazid, Charlie Mura and Joel Nessim echoed the wartime theme of the “German Set.” The piece — entirely black and white save for a crimson pool of blood — enveloped singer William Scarrow and pianist Samuel Han in an atmosphere heavy with reckoning.
Zongwei Zhang, tenor, performs during the recital.
Singer Zongwei Zhang and pianist Zong took the stage for the “Henri Duparc Set.” The two conjured the energy of an eager lover while backdropped by the abstract visual created by artists-in-residence Elisse Gachupin, Octavia Lawson-Solorio and Ilze Martinez. As Zhang’s tenor grew more feverish with the songs’ conclusion, the visual’s watercolor elements blurred further — echoing the desperation in Zhang’s voice.
The fifth and final set, “Poema en forma de canciones” — or poem in song form — was performed by Verduzco with piano accompaniment by Susannah Zou.
Projected behind them was an oil painting created by artists-in-residence Onaje Grant-Simmonds, Finn McLaughlin and Aly Yazzie. Hidden within the piece’s muted color scheme of reds and yellows, one could almost make out a face. As Verduzco sang, the image shifted into a mountainous landscape with birds flying freely.
“It made me think of more than a romantic relationship but [how] it can also be a companionship of finding each other; coming back together again,” Verduzco explained, suggesting poetry, rather than the music score, was the primary focus fueling the work of Grant-Simmonds, McLaughlin and Yazzie.
For Verduzco, seeing pieces she has performed many times before portrayed in a “pastoral way” inspired her to visualize beyond the usual imagery she might use in her singing. Emphasizing the message behind a song and being attuned to audience response are vital parts of the process for Verduzco, which she hopes to convey through her body language.
Verduzco said she feels like she receives the most feedback from audiences because her expressive body language brings people into stories even if they don’t know the language the song is in.
“That’s where I get a lot of fun with the audience — including them in the story, even if they don’t speak the language,” Verduzco said.
In her perspective, singing is vulnerable because of this innate connection to the body; Verduzco expressed great appreciation to be part of a summer program surrounded by encouraging students and faculty working together to improve their craft.
“To be in a space where everyone’s at the same level, everyone’s just trying to support each other, these things don’t feel as intimidating. It feels like sharing what music you’re passionate about with people who support you,” Verduzco said.
