Facing the Music

DavidHolder D:

|aveGallagher and Tammy Pryorwaitanxiously outsideofFA101, "The Green Room," toperform theirseniorrecitals Dave willperform first Through the door he canheartheprofessorwelcome theaudience. Outsidethedoor thereis nervous laughter asTammy and Dave jokeaboutthisbeing thebiggestnightoftheircollege career. Dave leanscloserand cups hishand around hisearashe strainstohearwhat is going on inside HefaintlyhearsDr David Randlett, associateprofessorofmusic, praying Applause ripplesthrough thecrowd. It's time... deep breath... sweaty palms... Dave gentlypushes thedoor. Wait! — It's locked... panicbutton... unbelief... man with a key all is well stage lights more applause silence anticipation pianoplayerbegins music confidence....It hasbegun. The silent audience is captivated asthesound ofDave'scrisp tenorvoiceassuresthem thattheyareinforastirringperformance.

MUSC 498, theseniorrecital, is arequirement forall music majors. A senior recital hearing is held sixweeks priortotheperformance. It is atthis time thata grade is administered and a pass/faildeterminesif theseniorwillperform inaseniorrecital and subsequently graduate Countlesshoursoffrustratingpracticedemand everybit oftime and patience graduating seniorscanspare

Tammy Pryor, amusic education major from Smithsburg, Md.,worked 12hours a week forayearpreparing forher35-minute saxophone performance. Accompanied on thepiano by Dr. Samuel Wellman,assistantprofessorofmusic, herperformance was mostly contemporary piecesalthough shedid perform a selectionwith abluesy flavorby Gershwin. Pryor, who is alsointhemiddle ofherfifth yearwith the "SpiritoftheMountain" (theLUmarching band) where sheis thesaxophone sectionleader, spentherspring semester studentteaching. When thepressure seemed overwhelming,herfriendswere theretocheerheron.

"My friendAndrea Wallisky was theretohelp pullmethrough thetough times She understands; shehastodo one too!" Pryorrecalled.

The seniorrecital becomes themost challenging aspectofamusic major'sdegree, relentlesslydriving them untilit's over. Recallinghis experience, Gallagher, asacred music major from Massillon, Ohio, said thatthereis somuch preparation thatgoes intoit thatby thetime it arrivesyou have mastered themusic. Hisvocalperformance included aselection from Handel's "Messiah." Hispiano accompaniment was provided by JoelGay.

"It may notbe perfect, butit's mybestperformance yet," he continued Gallagher, who was amember ofthe "Sounds ofLiberty"is presently with theSpeer Family, a nationally recognized southern gospelgroup

For thefriends, family, and music appreciation studentsanxiousforextracredit who attend, seniorrecitals areone hour ofgood qualitymusic For theperformers it's the accumulationofall they have learned.

"When Ifinished my recital, it seemed unbelievable. Imean — I had finallyfinished what Ihad worked on notonly forfouryearsbutformy entirelife Iwas reallyfinished It was over M y brothersaidIwas almost on ahigh from theexperience,"Pryorsaid

DarenWise sings duringone ofthe most taxing nights ofhislife The careerofa performer hinges on theabilityto overcome nervousness and perform as flawlesslyas he has rehearsed

SeniorAndrea Wallisky practices forherpiano recital It isn't uncommon for music majorsto practice hours everyday forayear beforetheactual performance let out, butour day is far from over. It's timetoget to using ourvoices, ourbrainsand our abilities—toget outsidetheclassroom, tomake adifferenceonthis campus and inthiscommunity. j^ny^gjt«'s upbeat, soulful melodies, oFP^utiful arrangeimpPvTitten ahundred years ago. We prais^^^^vrtnthe harmonies we create.

We give of ourselves to reach out to others. We teach children, we hold Biblestudies, we travel toothercountries to sharethe gospel.

We use off-classroom time to show the world we are rightwing conservativesand proud of it aswe travel toWashington, D.C.tomarch againstthemurder of theunborn.

We excel in academics, showing the world that the fact that we areChristiansdoesnotmean we are inferior.

We create excellent publications, spending dozens of hours every week,goingway above what is expected and producingqualitynewspapers,ad campaigns and yearbooks.

And we do it all on our own time. We carry a full load of classwork, some of ushavejobsand we still findthehoursto putintoextracurricularactivities. We dedicateourselves to contributesomething inour fouryearshere, and we are working overtime todo it.