On the evening of April 6, musicians in the University of Maine’s guitar ensemble course performed in a recital open to the public in Minsky Recital Hall. The performance was organized through the UMaine School of Performing Arts (SPA) and was directed by UMaine instructor of guitar, Richard Kenefic.
The recital featured 10 guitarists of varying skill levels. The recital began with solo performances of one to two pieces for the first several acts. The performance gradually transitioned into ensemble pieces that varied from a duo to a quartet. All the guitarists showcased what they have been rehearsing in their guitar ensemble class during the semester.
“We meet up once a week and rehearse chamber music for guitars,” music education graduate student, Joshua Hunnewell, said. “We have like two, three, even four people playing together. My group is a duo.”
Hunnewell, who has been playing guitar for roughly 12 years, also directed the quartet that performed, consisting of students Lindsay Sky, Sean Randall, Nikolas Dimoulas and Andrew Cloutier. Directing the quartet gave Hunnewell an opportunity to use his background in music education and helped prepare him for his future goal of being a high school band instructor.
The recital featured a diverse array of music styles, including classical and baroque, as well as some pieces from the 20th century. Solo performers demonstrated a variation of pieces; some that required intricacy and focus, and some that were softer and more of a ballad style.
“Anything from the 1700’s to now is what we’re playing. There’s a lot of variety,” Hunnewell said. “I only selected the pieces that I’m playing and that the quartet is playing, but I selected them because the difficulty is appropriate to the players. And they’re good pieces of music too.”
The musicians played to an audience of supportive friends and family members. The recital highlighted the amount of practice put into these pieces over the course of the semester. The first several performers even memorized their pieces.
“I came to see Andrew Cloutier,” anthropology student, Katherine Parsons, said. “I’m in a performance group on campus and I love music. I was excited to see a lot of the musicians performing. Usually I see a lot of vocalists, and it is interesting to see instrumentalists for once.”
“My favorite thing about performing is being able to share what I’ve worked on with the audience,” Hunnewell said. “It takes a lot of work to play music like this, and it is cool to be able to show it off.”
The SPA will be hosting Brass Night on April 12, as well as a Percussion Ensemble concert on April 19. Both events begin at 7:30 p.m. in Minsky Recital Hall. The events are free for students with their MaineCards and $9 for the public.
