ARTS & CULTURE
KANSAN.COM
VICKY DIAZ-CAMACHO/KANSAN
Stevens says this is her favorite practice piano in Murphy Hall. Though wedged inside a small room, she says "it's prettier than the other ones."
Student plays a parody song for final recital piece
COURTNEY BIERMAN
@KansanNews
"Look at this hall, isn't it neat?
/ Wouldn't you think my education's complete?"
Pianist Hannah Stevens ended her senior recital at Murphy Hall early November with an original piece: a parody of "Part of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid" replaced with lyrics about the life of a music student.
Stevens is a music education
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major in the University's School of Music. She had her first piano lesson at five years old and "never really stopped," she said. She decided around her junior year of high school that shed like to pursue a career in music education.
Stevens' final piece was unconventional. It was preceded by several lengthy works composed by Schubert, Debussy and Russian composer Kosenko — all of which had to be memorized.
"I wanted to do something kind of fun and personal for my recital, but I was kind of nervous to bring it up to my teacher or go on a limb like that," Stevens said. "I finally just decided that I'm not going to get another chance to do that."
it be musical and fun."
Stevens added: "That was my favorite part of the performance probably — connecting with the audience and getting to make them laugh, and make fun of myself at the same time, but have
For music students, senior recitals are the culmination of all music education received so far. Preparation begins months in advance. All students are required to perform a half-hour set (or longer) in the fall of their senior year. The stakes are high, and Stevens said she felt the pressure.
"I was very nervous," she said. "I don't know if I appeared that way or not [at the recital]. The week of, I tried to get a good number of hours of sleep each night and just relax, but I was very nervous. It was a really special culmination of years and hours spent practicing, and for people to share that with me was incredible."
building and the close relationships between classmates. Music students are enrolled in anywhere from eight to 12 classes per semester, Stevens said, which includes private lessons with an instructor.
Murphy Hall, home of the School of the Arts, is affectionately referred to by students as "Murphy High" because of the amount of time most music and drama students spend in the
In addition, they work in at least one hour of practice every day, plus rehearsal for any of their extracurricular band or chamber groups. Stevens' instructors recommend she work in 10 hours of practice every week — which she says doesn't always happen.
scheduling began only last week
Senior recitals only make up a portion of the more than 300 recitals held in Murphy Hall every year. Laura McCorkill, an Administrative Associate in the School of Music, works with event coordination and recital scheduling. McCorkill said there are 62 total recitals scheduled for the 2015 fall semester and 58 scheduled for spring. More will be added though, as spring
"That was my favorite part of the performance probably — connecting with the audience and getting to make them laugh, and make fun of myself at the same time, but have it be musical and fun"
HANNAH STEVENS
"Students are here to be musicians," McCorkill said. "Music education and music therapy majors may not have quite as high expectations for time in the practice room; however, they do have to be proficient musicians. They do have to be able to perform on their major instrument, so that's why they take applied lessons."
Although her senior recital was her first solo performance in over a year, Stevens is no stranger to public performance. Performance requirements are different for each degree, but all students in the School of Music are required to play in front of "juries" at the end of each semester. Students play small sections of a few predetermined pieces in front of a small group of faculty and students who critique and grade them.
Stevens has plans to student teach in the spring and is considering graduate school. But after nearly two decades of playing piano, her formal education is almost complete. Her senior recital was a milestone both personally and academically.
"It's kind of a culmination of all those years of studying piano," Stevens said. "And it's just a really special night and really fun."
Edited by Leah Sitz
Hannah Stevens plays the piano Friday night at her recital.
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and the oppression that women faced at the time, Adrian Brothers, a senior playing the role of the porter, said the play is, broadly, a "human" play.
PLAY FROM PAGE 7
"Every character in the play has some sort of desperation in their lives," Brothers said. "There are extremes on all sides, and I think that the play does a wonderful job of representing the human condition."
Brothers said he is excited to be working with Zazzali for the second time. He said that even though the play is more than a century old, the content is still as relatable and relevant as it was at its publication.
"A well-written play doesn't need to be from any time period," Brothers said. "A well-written play reaches into the heart of what it is to be human and shows that in its raw form for the world to see."
Zazzali said he is confident that his production would be unique as well as in keeping with the themes. Brothers
"He's got such a vision," Brothers said. "He's very calm and thoughtful and humble, but that's not to say that he has a problem getting his ideas across. We've been rehearsing since September, and in that time he's crafted the relationship between Nora and Torvald so meticulously you'd think the actors themselves have that same relationship."
agrees.
Zazzali attributes the chemistry to those students, who understand the serious and relatable content that he and Brothers say should be seen. "We've got a great crew here, and I think that each
A well-written play doesn't need to be from any time period
... A well-written play reaches into the heart of what it is to be human and shows that in its raw form for the world to see."
ADRIAN BROTHERS
person here adds something special to the piece," Zazzali said. "Though we are going for an accurate design with the costumes and the set, I did not cast actors to fit the time frame, meaning that not everybody is going to be the white, blue-eyed, Norwegian-looking character that Ibsen would've used, and I think that adds a depth to the story and a character that wouldn't be there typically."
Zazzali also seems proud of his set designers and said the set will be as beautiful as the gilded cage it's supposed to represent. Brothers said it eerily resembles a baird cage
"We've worked very hard to get all the symbolism and reality in the set and costumes as Ibsen wrote," Zazzali said.
"A Doll's House" will open on Saturday, Nov. 14 in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre. Curtains open at 7:30 p.m.
- Edited by Maddie Farber
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