Story and Photos by: Tyler Korponai – Photo Editor
On Tuesday, April 5, Drew McWeeney, an early childhood education and music double major, presented a percussion recital in the Charlers Garner Recital hall of Engleman.
The main focus of the recital was oriented as a precursor to an expanded recital, though percussion will be the unifying theme.
I’m actually planning on two recitals,” said McWeeney. “Yesterday was my half recital. I didn’t want it to exceed 50 minutes, but my senior recital will be longer. I wanted to do one song for each instrument to show off what you can do. I’m going into music education, so in schools they focus on playing different parts at concerts, it’s an organized approach.”
In this spirit a diverse repertoire of pieces was called upon to highlight different instruments and aptitude in percussion.
Among the pieces included was “Connecticut Halftime,” a snare piece that has survived since the Civil War and has heavy ties to Wolcott, CT. To highlight the full range of percussion possibilities an original composition that was in the tune of “March” from The Nutcracker. Interestingly, “March,” a different tune composed by Mitchell Peters, was also performed in timpani.
A special moment in the recital was the addition of Walter Stutzman on the piano to help perform the “Violin Sonata in F Major,” originally attributed to George Frideric Handel, though now labelled as “spurious.”
After the classical oriented percussion portion of the recital had finished the performance pivoted and a jazz combo comprised of Tom Pelton on trumpet, Jesse Raccio on bass, and Brendan Donovan on saxophone, as well as McWeeney playing the drum set.
An inclusive night for music and to appreciate music and the unifying effect it has on others, this recital was about bringing music forward.
“I have a little joke I was thought,” said McWeeney. “The difference between an athlete and musician is that musicians never sit the bench, because everyone has talent and everyone’s talent is used. There’s a stereotype today that if you’re not good enough to reach a certain point that you don’t have the capacity to. In music it doesn’t matter what your abilities are you’ll always grow to be the level of musician you want to be.”
