By Ainsley Green, Staff Writer
On Friday, Oct. 4, Marissa Duggan ’24 performed her Minor Honors Recital in Paul Recital Hall at 3 p.m. Duggan is a health sciences major and a music minor who has been involved in a wide variety of productions, concerts and ensembles throughout her time at Gettysburg. The recital hall was filled with a supportive audience of family, friends, faculty and peers who came out to watch Duggan perform this important milestone in her musical journey.
“My favorite part of being a Conservatory music minor student is the ability to participate in several aspects of music including taking voice lessons, participating in opera workshops, singing in choirs and playing the flute in Symphony Band while majoring in Health Sciences,” Duggan said, which demonstrates her commitment and excitement about two distinctly different realms of learning throughout her time at Gettysburg College.
To begin her recital, Duggan sang two contrasting works by Johann Sebastian Bach in German. The first, “Vergnügen und Lust, BWV 197a” was a dance-like cantata accompanied by Professor of Collaborative Piano at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music Dr. Scott Crowne on harpsichord, Lianne Morrell ’25 on violin and Brant Miller ’27 on cello. The second was the recitative originally scored for soprano and trumpet “Wir beten zu dem Tempel an, BWV 51,” which once again was accompanied by Crowne on piano and Miller on cello.
Next, Duggan sang three religious works from the Classical Era, which spanned from 1750 to 1820. These pieces included “Excerpts from ‘Exsultate jubilate’, K. 165,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “With Verdure Clad from ‘The Creation’,” by Franz Josef Haydn and “Lady with the Hand Mirror from ‘Postcard from Morocco’,” by Dominick Argento. These pieces in succession were accompanied by Crowne on piano and are a collection of some of the most famous religious arias for soprano by Mozart and Haydn, mixing in a more contemporary work with a piece from Argento’s one-act opera written in 1971.
While listening, the audience had detailed program notes to refer to for context and knowledge of Duggan’s different singing styles throughout the pieces she performed.
“Overall my experience was truly beneficial to my growth as a musician and as a person. I was able to take responsibility and be creative to create a program that reflects my musical interests,” she said when reflecting on the process of choosing just the right pieces for this performance.
Duggan chose two pieces by Camille Saint-Saëns, a beloved French composer of the Romantic Era, for the next section of her recital. She sang “Ave maria” and “Le bonheur est chose légère,” the second piece once again accompanied by Morrell on violin.
For the final encore of the recital, Duggan revived one of her past roles at the College by singing “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,” another Mozart piece from his ever-famous opera “Die Zauberflöte,” or “The Magic Flute,” which was the annual opera workshop in spring of 2023. This aria title translates to “Queen of the Night,” an exciting piece that features difficult leaps in the voice with a fast, dramatic accompaniment that is familiar to many.
This role was an important moment in Duggan’s Conservatory experience that she wanted to highlight, remembering the time by stating, “It was so much fun to be able to say that one Friday I could be in the anatomy lab with digital cadavers in the afternoon and then by 8 p.m. be on stage singing ‘Queen of the Night’ in the opera!”
“After I graduate I hope to attend medical school and become a physician,” Duggan said. “My advice to future Conservatory students is to put yourself out there! Never be afraid to audition for groups and take advantage of performance opportunities.”
Make sure to mark your calendars for other upcoming Conservatory events that showcase talented musicians across the College. Click this link to learn more.
