Photo by Randy May, Faculty Artists Performance Series final show
Faculty members Stephen Anastasia, Kevin Wiley and Masako Klassen came together Sunday night to perform “The Art of French and German Song.” This marked the last in a series of eight faculty artist performances. Instead of ending this series with an extravagant show, Anastasia, Wiley and Klassen completed the series on a simple note.
The Faculty Artist Performance Series allows teachers to show what they have to offer Mt. SAC through music.
“It shows the students that we actually practice what we teach,” staff accompanist Kevin Wiley said.
People gathered into the Music Recital Hall to watch the final concert. There were no bells and whistles in this performance, just music. “The Art of French and German Song” was performed in an intimate environment for the audience as there were no decorations on the stage, simply a piano. Between sets, the audience stayed silent awaiting the next set of songs.
The performance was personal and passionate.
Faculty member Stephen Anastasia sang a set of three French songs written by Maurice Ravel titled “Shéhérazade,” accompanied by Kevin Wiley on the piano. The first song, “Asie,” expressed a man’s longing to visit Asia. The second song, “La Flûte Enchantée,” illustrated the story of a man captivated by the woman he loves playing the flute. The final song in this set, “L’Indifférent,” tells the story of a man who is in love with a woman who he is invisible to.
Staff Accompanist Kevin Wiley sang a song called “Dichterliebe,” by Robert Schumann, while accompanied by Masako Klassen on the piano. This German song expressed a man’s love for a woman he is consumed by. She is not around and he begins to dream about her. When the dreams become worse, the man realizes his love is useless. The song ended with the man burying his pain and love for the woman in a dream.
The series officially came to an end as Anastasia, accompanied by Wiley on the piano, sung a French song written by Maurice Ravel titled, “Don Quichotte á Dulcinée.” The piece was based on the characters of the novel “Don Quixote” written by Miguel de Cervantes. The song depicted Don Quixote, his love for Dulcinea and her bitter and jealous afflictions that lead him to become an alcoholic.
Together, Anastasia, Wiley and Klassen gave solid performances to end a great season for the Mt. SAC Faculty Artist Series with love songs of Germany and France.
-Lianna Sapien
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