By Marie Umholtz
Saint Leo University’s Fall Faculty Recital, “Camelot to Woodstock: Music of the 60s,” recalled a time of revolution in culture and music. The event opened at 7:00 p.m. in the Selby Auditorium on Tuesday, Sept. 26, with a cover of “Camelot,” written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.
This score from the hit musical of the same name was performed by soprano Cynthia Selph, instructor of music and director of Saint Leo Singers; violinist Kasia Dolinska, director of the string ensemble; bassist Mauricio Rodriguez, adjunct professor of music and director of jazz ensemble; and pianist Inna Korotkevitch, piano instructor and staff accompanist.
When asked about their preparation process, Selph explained, “We usually figure out a repertoire during summer and get down to work when we get back in August.”
From there, they practice for about one month to six weeks.
As the School of Arts and Science’s theme for the 2017-2018 academic year is “REVOLUTION: Saint Leo Remembers the 60s,” the recital included an assortment of music genres from the decade with educational facts about their historical context.
Jennifer Orendorf, the administrator of events and special programs at Saint Leo University, explained that the department is “exploring a decade both inside curricula and outside curricula.”
“Camelot” was among the songs Grace Brumby performed in her historic performance at the White House during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. The recital selected four other pieces from Brumby’s performance, as well as “Song of the Birds,” originally performed by Pablo Casals at his 1961 White House concert.
Korotkevitch and Dolinska performed a series of iconic film scores, including Francis Lai’s “Concerto for a Love’s Ending” from “Love is a Beautiful Thing” and the themes of “Love Story” by Lai and “Romeo and Juliet” by Nino Rota.
When she heard about this year’s theme, Korotkevitch was ecstatic.
“Music from movies was my first choice,” she said.
Dolinska said she especially enjoyed Italian and French scores from the 1960’s, and she appreciates the depth of the performed scores and their corresponding films.
“I think it would be great for young generations to reach out and see films of the period,” she said, seeing as how many students may not be familiar with such pieces.
Anapaula Rios-Rosales, a freshman at Saint Leo University, wanted to try 1960’s music and decided to attend the recital after hearing about it in her Spirituals of Rock and Roll class and Saint Leo University’s newsletter. She particularly enjoyed the violin pieces.
The show ended with a performance of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” a song embodying the massive 1969 music festival and arranged by Rodriguez for the evening’s performance.
Coming full circle from historic performances, to beloved soundtracks, and to iconic 1960’s rock and country, this was a fitting ending to define the revolutionary decade.
