By Ainsley Green, Staff Writer
On Sunday, March 24, Thomas Lynch IV ’24 performed his senior recital at 2:30 p.m. in Paul Recital Hall. Lynch is a music performance major, and this recital helped to fulfill an important piece of his degree requirements for his undergraduate career. Many classmates, family members and friends came out to support Lynch for this milestone event in his musical career. Lynch was accompanied on most of his pieces by Collaborative Pianist of the Sunderman Conservatory Dr. Scott Crowne.
Thomas Lynch IV ’24 (Photo Courtesy of Thomas Lynch)
First, Lynch performed “Dies Bildnis” from the beloved opera “Die Zauberflöte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; all of the lyrics were in German. Another German trio of pieces by Richard Strauss followed, entitled “Allerseelen,” “Standchen” and “Zueignung.” Both of these opening pieces to the recital come from prominent operatic repertoire and featured a lot of advanced singing techniques from Lynch.
On his next piece, entitled “Schilflied” by Benedict Randhartinger, Lynch was accompanied by Brant Miller ’27 on the cello and Christian Keller ’27 on the piano. The trio traded off the piece’s beautiful melody and worked well together to communicate and create a unified performance. The next piece was another solo for Lynch, singing the pieces “Lydia” and “Adieu” by late-Romantic French composer Gabriel Faure. A brief intermission followed before continuing with the remainder of the program.
Lynch began the second half of his recital with Giuseppe Verdi’s “La donna e mobile” from the opera “Rigoletto,” one of the world’s most famous and beloved arias. Continuing with more works from operas, Lynch sang a duet called “Tornami a dir che m’ami” from the opera “Don Pasquale” by Gaetono Donizetti. He was joined by Sydney Topoleski ’27, who sang soprano.
To finish his recital, Lynch chose to sing a set of three songs called “Spirituals” arranged by Harry Burleigh, and this was also the name of his program. The three selections were “My Way’s Cloudy,” “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel” and “Wade in de Water.”
Lynch chose to name his recital after the piece “My Way’s Cloudy.” Lynch stated in his program: “When I sing, I know I belong. My way is cloudy, and I would not have it any other way,” while reflecting on the meaning the piece holds to him and his journey as a musician.
When reminiscing on his time as a student, Lynch highlighted his experience working with professors and said, “This faculty’s commitment to cultivating the excellence of the individual musicians truly makes the Sunderman Conservatory unique amongst its fellow undergraduate institutions.”
Regarding his post-graduation plans, Lynch shared, “I will be attending graduate school in the Master of Music Performance program. I am very excited to continue my musical education and hone my craft.”
