A celebration. A triumph. A victory.
That is what senior musical theatre majors Madeline Logan and Victoria Koro had to say about their Senior Voice Recital.
“It felt like such a culmination of all of the work that I have done over the last four years, as this recital allowed me to perform such beautiful pieces where I was able to express myself and give something lovely,” Logan said.
Logan has always identified theatre as the place in her life where she feels the Holy Spirit working. Throughout her time at Taylor, Logan said that she has been able to embrace her passion for musical theatre as a scholarly pursuit, as well as an art and a craft. Similarly, Koro spoke of the substantial change that has occurred in her life since studying musical theatre at Taylor.
“I've grown as a performer, I’ve grown vocally and I’ve grown in my confidence and comfortability,” Koro said. “I was so grateful to have this event where I could come and celebrate those things and say, ‘Look at the work we have done together and look at what God has done with us.’”
The Senior Voice Recital is a platform to fulfill the requirement for voice lessons over the last four years, and because Logan and Koro are both musical theatre majors, their repertoires were mostly musical theatre pieces. Logan was instructed by Conor Angel (an Associate Professor of Music Lyric Theatre and Voice) and Koro was instructed by Patricia Robertson (a Co-Chair for the department of Music, Theatre, and Dance and a Professor of Music). Although their voice types are very different, they share the same love and passion for musical theatre.
Logan and Koro each performed eight pieces, which averaged 30 minutes of music per vocalist. Logan’s favorite piece was “No One Else” from “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.”
“It fits in my heart really well — it fits in my soul,” Logan said. “It’s lived with me and grown with me, and in turn, I’ve grown with it.”
Koro determined that “Who I Was” from “Bandstand” was her favorite piece that she performed in the same way that Logan determined her favorite piece, as her decision was based on her connection to it and the moving storyline.
“I love the story behind it,” Koro said. “It’s a very deep, real and interesting look at grief.”
Performing at the Senior Vocal Recital provided an opportunity for both Logan and Koro to embrace different characters while still staying true to who they are and the artists that they have become.
“What’s nice about a vocal recital is that I'm portraying the character within the songs that I sing, but I am not being these characters,” Logan said. “I got to stand on stage and do what I love,” Koro said.
As the Senior Voice Recital came to a close, Logan and Koro were able to walk on stage together and take their final bow.
Both Logan and Koro agreed that their Senior Voice Recital was indeed a celebration.
As Logan so perfectly said, “It really did just feel like a triumph.”
