On Oct. 19, the second concert of the Chamber Music Series took place in Molnar Recital Hall as students, faculty and members of the community filled up the empty auditorium. Silence came across the audience as the clock struck four o’ clock and anticipation was high for the performer’s appearance.
Before the performance started, Dr. Lisa Kinzer addressed the audience on minor etiquette and when applause would be appropriate for each piece.
Dr. Samuel “Sam” Savage took the stage along with his accompanist Joni Chan to begin his performance for the afternoon. Savage was a colleague here at Longwood years ago and is currently the Coordinator of StudioVoiceatIndianaUniversity- Purdue University Fort Wayne. He also teaches private voice and vocal literature, as well as directs the opera ensemble.
Savage’s accompanist Joni Chan has performed in both solo and chamber music concerts in the United States, Canada, as well as Hong Kong, and recently completed her doctorate in Piano Performance. When Chan is not traveling to perform, she teaches at Vincennes University in Indiana.
Savage performed two compositions with subsets in each. Both compositions were sung in different languages and the audience was given the English translation as part of their program notes. As the audience would later find out, the notes would help them follow along with each individual song and helped explain the emotion behind each piece.
The first composition was entitled “Composizione da Camera” that included three subsets meant to serve as pauses in what seemed to be Savage telling the audience a story through song. It was obvious to the audience that Savage was into his performance as both his stage presence and tone quality expressed his emotion for each piece. In total, this composition included six songs that even though they were written by different people, all added to the “plot” of the composition
After a brief intermission, Savage returned to the stage to perform his last composition of the afternoon. This composition was entitled “Dichterliebe,” which translates to “A Poet’s Love” and Savage transformed himself into the poet as he sang the various songs in this piece. Out of the two pieces, this one seemed to be the one that Savage expressed the most emotion for, both with his expressions and the ongoing changes in the tone of each piece. There were moments of happiness, as well as sadness, which one would understand by reading along with the English translation.
At the end of the performance, Savage and Chan received a well- deserved standing ovation as they came back on stage for a final bow. Savage looked relieved that he was no longer in the spotlight, as well as appreciation for those in attendance. Following the concert, a reception was held in the Haga Room, where those in attendance were invited to meet Savage and Chan to ask them questions, or learn more about the two performers.
The concert was dedicated in memory of Thomas A. Williams, a voice professor at Longwood from 1979 to 2006. The Chamber Music Series is funded by the Longwood Arts Council and numerous patrons who donate their time and money to the program. The Chamber Music Series will make a return next semester with a showcase of other various musicians and vocalists.
