Ryan ChartrandEvery day, pop music bombards people through the radio and Internet. How often is classical, jazz or opera music blasted at a party or in a store? Not very often.
Now, there is a chance to catch a glimpse of what this music is like. On Saturday, Oct. 14, a vocal and piano recital by professors Jacalyn Kreitzer and Susan Davies will be held in Alex and Faye Spanos Theater.
The performance will contain music from all genres and time periods and will also include Ken Hustad, a bassist for the jazz pieces. Kreitzer, a retired opera singer and performance lecturer in the music department, said she does this annually to allow her students to see a professional perform what she teaches them. “You teach these students all year, and you kind of have to put your money where your mouth is,” she said.
The recital is about the story of a woman’s journey through life and what she learns. It starts with her leaving home to the difficulty of being on her own, and “falling in and out of love numerous times,” she said.
The story also deals with the discovery of children and that music is a great calling. “She learns that music puts a positive vibration in her life,” said Kreitzer.
The recital ends with a couple saying goodbye because one is dying. “They say ‘but sorrow has transformed into happiness because no matter what we have befallen in life, we have experienced it together’ because they know they will see each other again someday,” said Kreitzer.
Kreitzer has performed all over the world, including cities like New York, Los Angeles and Prague. “This whole performance is her vision,” said Davies, the pianist accompanying Kreitzer. “It is going to be a wonderfully eclectic show,” she said.
Though Davies thinks she is a small part of the recital, Kreitzer disagrees. “Playing with Susan is just like playing with an orchestra,” she said. “When I first arrived, I didn’t believe any pianist could handle my stuff but she almost knocked me over – she’s just like the professionals out there,” Kreitzer said.
All the proceeds from the concert will go to voice scholarships and the Tom Davies Choral Fund, said Kreitzer. “I really think people will like this concert a lot,” Davies said.
There will be songs that are not in English, but Kreitzer will explain them from stage beforehand and there will also be translations, said Davies. “The show will really be accessible to everyone,” she said.
“Above all the necessities of human nature, above the satisfaction of any other need, hunger, love, pleasure, fame, even life itself, what a man really needs is conviction that life has the arts,” Kreitzer said. This is the motto from Walter Lippmann that she uses in life, she said. “Without music and the arts I don’t feel any reason to exist,” she said.
People have to have creativity, Kreitzer said. “There are so many things that are creative that without them there would be no use in life.”
Tickets for the show are $10 for general admission and $6 for students and seniors. The recital is called “The Voice: Set Free!” and will begin at 8 p.m.