As the fall semester comes to a close, there are many opportunities to support the seniors on campus. One of the ways to support music majors is by attending their senior recitals.
Grace Price, a senior music education major, shares her experience studying music at Asbury. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in the music department during my time at Asbury. The faculty are so kind, and as much as people always say this and it feels cheesy, they really do feel like family. My professors have encouraged me so deeply, especially my voice teacher, Dr. Duclos. She knows just what to say to make my lesson easier, how to encourage and build up as well as to challenge and critique. My peers have also been dear friends, and I know those friendships will continue outside of Asbury. What surprised me about my time at Asbury is how much I enjoyed the technical side of music, the theory and the vocal pedagogy. It will be so hard saying goodbye to the underclassmen.”
After graduation Price has decided to go into music to teach. “I have always had a passion for music and a passion for kids, so teaching seemed like the best of both worlds. I am hoping to teach at a local elementary school or a school near my hometown in northern Ky. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but I am hopeful and excited for the ways God will use me in the education world. Really, I’m most excited to build relationships with kids and teach them to love music the way I do, not just listening to it but making it as well. I want to make safe spaces for kids to love learning and explore fun things that they are interested in.”
Price is influenced by many genres. “This recital is more classical than my day-to-day music influences. Outside of lessons, I prefer folk, indie and bluegrass music, artists like the Arcadian Wild, Tow’rs and Andrew Peterson. I will be performing 11 songs from a range of musical eras and genres. I will be singing in five languages: Italian, German, French, Spanish and English. Composers such as Mozart, Debussy, Handel and Copland will be featured.”
Price shares her love of music outside of the recital hall. “Outside of vocal music, I play piano, and I like to mess around on string instruments when I have the time. As far as preparation for the recital goes, I have been preparing for my recital since I started here at Asbury. Almost all of my pieces are ones I have learned throughout my time here, so the recital serves as a culmination of all the work I’ve done. The hardest part about preparing for the recital is building endurance vocally to sing for thirty straight minutes and finding time to practice in a busy senior year, between leadership projects, student teaching and trying to suck the marrow out of my college experience socially, academically and spiritually.”
Finally, Price shares her hope for the future of Asbury’s music majors. “For people entering the music field, I would encourage them to keep pursuing their craft with excellence while remembering to just enjoy what you do. Doing music in college can be stressful, especially as a music education major, but the reward is so worth it so long as you find time to rest, relax, and make music for fun as well as for a grade. It is easy to get tired, but at the end of the day, music is so worth being tired over.”
Price’s recital will be Monday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Jameson Recital Hall.
