While I missed the cheers from the audience, the Women Composers Collegium was a good experience. Students, staff, and parents attended the event. It was indeed an exciting and overwhelming performance from various students. They displayed top-notch entertainment. The event required proof of vaccination and masking in order to follow local COVID-19 regulations.
Having an in-person event was a great experience. For so long, events like this could not be held in person.
The Women Composers Collegium was a specialty Collegium Musicuum, a concert of vocal and instrumental pieces. This event was originally pitched by former music student Adele Marsland.
Students from different countries and races performed various types of music at this event. Some of the sounds I found peaceful and relaxing and some went from low to very high in tone. Some of the songs students sang were not in English, providing a diversity of storytelling language. Second-year voice major Emma Yee said that she “loves the connection that she can make with others through narrative storytelling.” She discussed how essential it is to her to showcase women composers, and how she tries to include numerous pieces by women in her repertoire each semester.
One student performed a piece communicating a woman’s age, her beauty, and her personality. As they performed this music, they showed how passionate they are and how touching this was to them; I could tell the music was a big part of their life and their story. They became happy as the tone of the music got higher and sad when the tone of the music was slow.
Mt. A and the teaching staff help in supporting students that plan on venturing into music. “I think that it’s wonderful that the music department offers performance opportunities every week for students,” said Yee. “This opens up the opportunity for students to get experience playing instruments and performing in front of an audience”. “That performance experience is extremely important. My work with my applied professor and collaborative pianist has allowed me to perform confidently and healthily. They are both extremely supportive in helping her realize both my short and long term goals in music,” Yee said.
