ASCC Holds Spring 2015 Music Recital
April 23, 2015
By James Kneubuhl, ASCC Press Officer
A combined orchestra comprising members of the class Music 187-01 (Beginning Orchestra), student volunteers and Fine Arts faculty presented their Spring Recital on Thursday, April 23rd in the ASCC Lecture Hall to a standing-room-only audience of students and community members. “Traditionally, we’ve held events like this in the evening,” said music instructor and orchestra leader Mr. Poe Mageo, “but we wanted to make the performance more accessible to daytime students here at the College and decided to hold the recital during midday.”
The ASCC Orchestra prepared a repertoire ranging from folk songs to Classical themes, marches and more. Music 187-01 students Alefa Tagoa’i on violin; Alefa “AJ” Afalava and Shiunn Huang on viola; and Meiling Jin on cello were joined by volunteers Rosanna Faagata, Eleni Fanene and Sialiinofo Lutu (viola); Ulelemai Kalani Kwon (viola); and Malaea E. McFall (cello). Mr. Mageo accompanied the orchestra on the keyboard, and visual arts facilitator Ms. Regina Meredith made a guest appearance as vocalist.
“A portion of the program, consisting of several instrumental pieces as well as Ms. Meredith joining us to sing ‘The Way We Were,’ was in tribute to colleagues of ours who have recently passed away,” said Mr. Mageo. Within a span of only three months, the ASCC family mourned the loss of faculty members Dr. Kenneth Belle of the Science Department, Mr. Mark Mageo of Criminal Justice, and Ms. Shevon Matai of Languages and Literature. Thus, a portion of the recital was dedicated to the memory of these dearly-missed individuals.
With the first half of the recital showcasing the ASCC orchestra, the second half consisted of an excerpt from the forthcoming ASCC theater production “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” “The program covered a wide emotional spectrum,” reflected Mr. Mageo, “from solemn respect for the friends we have lost to the joyous celebration of our return to the stage with ‘Joseph.’ This sneak preview of a portion of the play gave the cast members their first opportunity to display the dramatic and musical skills they’ve been honing during the past few months of rehearsals, and I’m sure they ended the recital on a very memorable high note.”