By Sarah Daniels, Staff Writer
On Friday, March 22, music major Christa Calderwood ’24 performed her senior recital in Paul Recital Hall at 7 p.m.
Her first piece, “Hommage a Bartók,” composed by Béla Kovács, featured a melody that was both sharp and quick. Following was a four-part piece titled “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 120, no. 1” by Johannes Brahms with Collaborative Pianist for the Sunderman Conservatory of Music Scott Crowne accompanying.
Also with piano accompaniment by Crowne, Theresa Martin’s “Calcipher for Eb Clarinet and Piano” was performed.
The next piece was a two-part composition by Aram Khachaturian titled “Trio for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano,” which had two accompanists: JJ Jordan ’24 on violin and Abbey Jemison ’24 on piano.
On March 22, music major Christa Calderwood ’24 performed her senior recital. (Photo Courtesy of Christa Calderwood)
The final piece, which included the use of a slideshow presentation, was Marc Mellits’ “Splinter.” In this seven-part piece, all the individual parts are named and composed with specific trees in mind. For instance, as the group of woodwinds played “1. Scarlet Oak,” a bright, vibrant picture of a scarlet oak tree was projected behind the musicians. The group playing included Isabella Jenson ’24 on oboe, David Grant ’24 on alto saxophone, Noah Morrotti ’26 on bassoon and Adjunct Assistant Professor Aaron Scott on bass clarinet.
Calderwood’s journey with music began in grade school: “I chose clarinet going into 4th grade band. At first I wanted to play flute since my mom played it, but when I tried clarinet I got a sound out on my first try. I had begun piano lessons a couple years before then, but clarinet quickly became my primary instrument due to my excitement and curiosity in learning it.”
Calderwood discussed her decision behind her music major, sharing, “I had a couple interests in high school when I was thinking about college that I could have pursued, but I gradually realized that music was really the only thing that I was not just good at, but passionate about the work it took. Of the things I could have chosen, at that point it was the only thing that felt like I could see it through and still love it by the end.”
The process to create her senior recital, though long, was worth it to Calderwood.
“The whole process was filled with rewarding experiences, and it’s been difficult to organize my thoughts into more than a collection of impressions and choose just one part of it. Getting to work with so many other excellent musicians to put everything together, having the opportunity to share the music I’ve been working on with all the people who came or watched the livestream, hearing myself and enjoying the music I was making as I performed, and being overwhelmed by the incredibly kind and deeply meaningful things I have been told by so many people are at the front of my mind,” Calderwood said.
Calderwood discussed her favorite pieces from her recital: “I had a lot of fun with all of them, and I love each for different reasons. ‘Calcipher’ is such a fun and weird little piece, and works so well with its own inspiration-story taken from ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ as well as the story told through the rest of my recital. There aren’t many contexts where I get to perform solo Eb clarinet, so it was a really special opportunity to work it up and perform it. The Khachaturian Trio is incredibly lovely, and it was also a joy to put together with JJ Jordan and Abbey Jemison, who are both wonderful chamber musicians. Splinter is such an interesting piece musically and thematically, and was an amazing way to end my program. It was also my first experience playing in a reed quintet.”
Calderwood hopes to continue to grow her passion in music after graduating.
“I auditioned and was accepted at a few different grad school programs for clarinet performance,” Calderwood said. “Regardless of where I end up in terms of grad school, I also hope to start building a clarinet studio, taking more gigs and auditioning for professional ensembles.”
