Kent never lacks students with a strong passion for music. On Friday Oct. 20th, twenty-two outstanding musicians showcased their talents in the Fall Chamber Recital, delivering wonderful vocal and instrumental performances in the Pre-E center.

In this recital, the audience enjoyed Italian art song and Mozart Concert from Lucy Zhang’ 18, Debussy’s Arabesque 2 from Amy Fang’ 20, two contemporary pieces from the Kent School Flute Ensemble, violin solo “La Folia” from James Kim’ 19, a Baroque cello sonata from Hyung Joo Ahn’ 19, and many more impressive music pieces. All of these musicians take weekly private lessons with their music tutors. These pieces they performed presented their skills and daily effort in music, says Mrs. Hobbs, Chair of the Music Department.

Several of these musicians are reaching out for further involvement in music performances: Lucy Zhang’ 18, Beatrice Chen’ 19, and Katherine Herrema’ 20 will be auditioning for the Northern Connecticut Regional Honors Choir on November 4th; flute player Julia Park’ 20 is auditioning for the concert band and orchestra; and violinist James Kim’ 19 and cellist Hyung Joo Ahn’ 19 are trying out for the Regionals Orchestra. Among these dedicated musicians, some have already gained the opportunity to play in the All-National festival orchestra and choir. Some even planned to take music major or minor in colleges. “Music is their life-long companion,” says Mrs. Hobbs with a smile.

When asked about the purpose of this recital, Mrs. Hobbs answers that this recital was “held in town” as an “outreach community activity” so that the residents in town and students from other schools could have the opportunity to see Kent students’ performances. “We bring [the town residents] to campus for performances and events, including the dance recitals and plays as well as the music concerts,” she explains. “This is a brand new experience for some audience who had never heard music like this before. They left the recital with great excitement and were very willing to come back.”

She also told us that this performance was an opportunity for students to “show the beauty of what they do and present the fruits of their labor.” They are encouraged to focus more on enjoying the gift of music instead of worrying about how well they did. “The students need to realize that the people would always appreciate their effort and honor the fact they are trying.”