On Friday January 20th, the annual student piano recital took place in the recital hall of the music department. Eleven student pianists showcased their skills playing music of a wide range of time periods, styles, forms, and composers, from Mozart’s sonatas of the classical period to Tchaikovsky’s Russian folk music.

About an hour before the start of the recital, the music rooms were already crowded with student performers. Striving for perfection, they practiced their pieces over and over to prepare for the final show time. At 7:30 sharp, the light dimmed in the recital hall, signalling the start of the recital. Mrs. Hobbs, Music Department Chair, briefly introduced the music program at Kent and the tradition of this annual student piano recital. She then left the stage to the student pianists who have been waiting excitedly for their big moments.

The recital started off with Kevin Hobbs ’20 who played Solfeggietto, a short and light piece composed in 1766 by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Though only a freshman, Kevin has been actively involved in the Kent music program, taking piano and vocal lessons and singing in the chamber choir.

Following Kevin, a number of excellent pianists played pieces from Bach, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Liszt.

The highlight of the whole recital was Alina Xiao ’17’s flawless performance of Sonata, Op. 53 “Appassionata” Allegro assai by Beethoven. The piece started off quietly with a beautiful melody and surprised the audience with a powerful sforzando. With unbelievable precision of notes, Alina presented her interpretation of the piece, leaving the audience awestruck and amazed.

After the recital, Mrs. Hobbs commented that this piano recital “is a valuable opportunity to get student out of their state of solitude from the music room and give them a moment to share their hard work, passion, and dedication to music to the audience.” The only thing we can improve on, suggested Mrs. Hobbs, was “to let more students and faculty audience hear the wonderful performances.”