This article was written prior to Baum and Robinson’s performances, which took place on Tuesday 11 April and Tuesday 18 April, respectively.
This year the music department graduates two seniors: Anna Baum (‘23), who has a concentration in piano performance, and Parks Robinson (‘23), who has a concentration in composition. Even though both seniors put together recitals for their Capstone project, their concentrations called for dramatically different types of performances.
Baum realized that she wanted to do a senior recital during her junior year. “I was trying to decide if I wanted to do a recital or a paper, and I wanted to do a recital, so at that point I thought, ‘I guess I’ll have a performance concentration,’” Baum said.
There was never a question that she would perform anything other than piano. Baum has been playing since she was four years old and developed a love for French impressionist music while studying at Covenant.
Baum performed selections that included pieces by Claude Debussy, Franz Schubert and George Gershwin. She was most excited to perform a “Sonatine” by French composer Maurice Ravel, which she describes in her program notes as “layered, complex and delightful.”
Baum does not put much stress on herself while performing. Like the impressionistic music she plays, she is content to go with the flow and easily move on from mistakes. “I’m super chill,” she laughed.
Baum finds her inspiration from her piano professor, Roy Treiyer, and music professor Lok Kim. “I have a soft spot in my heart for Professor Kim,” Baum said. “He’s very encouraging. He has very high standards, so I like to ask for his advice, and he’ll tell me if it’s good or bad.”
Robinson, however, did not do any of the performing in his recital. Because he is a composition concentration, an assembly of students and faculty performed a selection of his original music that he has written over the past four years as a student.
The highlight of Robinson’s recital was an original piece entitled “Four Instruments,” performed by Christina Sullivan (‘25), Noah Sheldon (‘24), Matti Fusaro (‘23), Claira Herweck (fall ‘23), Lauren Westberry (‘25), and conducted by music professor David Tahere. Robinson described it as “the culmination of everything I’ve studied in the music department. I can think of ways in which every class influenced this piece.”
Fusaro, one of Robinson’s musicians, reflected on the challenges and rewards of performing original music: “It's different when you receive a part and are able to watch videos of a performance of it or listen to it to get familiar with it, but Parks’ piece was definitely one where the best ways to improve your playing was by rehearsing and hearing everyone else's parts in relation to your own.”
Robinson has been encouraged by music professor Dr. Brandon Kreuze, with whom he meets weekly to discuss his compositions in progress. “[Dr. Kreuze has] been the most valuable resource I could have ever asked for,” Robinson said. “I feel like half of everything I’ve learned came from those meetings … when you talk with someone who lives in that world [of composition] too and who also participates in it and contributes to it, it becomes a part of your life.”
Both Baum and Robinson hope to continue their music careers following graduation. This summer, Baum intends to work at a musical theater camp, where she will help accompany and teach music classes. She hopes to earn her masters in teaching so that she can continue to teach music.
Robinson wants to continue writing, recording and performing music in whatever ways possible. He wants to “dip my toe back into the electronic world [of music] … there’s a lot more I want to do with that, a lot more I want to say.”