By Sabrina Ranada – Staff Writer
On Friday, April 26, TMU students Jasmine Hale and Lillian Bleeker will be performing in their back-to-back senior recitals. As vocal performance majors, these women will each be singing a setlist of songs that they have curated themselves. A senior recital is not just a graduation requirement; Hale described it as “a culmination of everything I’ve been working so hard on for the last four years.”
As their hectic final semester winds down to a close, Hale and Bleeker are greatly anticipating their recitals. Bleeker stated that she is currently feeling both “good” and “nervous.”
Having already finished her pre-recital jury, Hale has been enjoying the process of personalizing her final recital. “I’ve already done the hard part, and now it’s just the fun of … how do I want to perform this? What do I want my audience to get out of each and every song that I’m performing?”
Hale shared that her most highly-anticipated part of this recital is the opportunity to perform alongside her loved ones. “I love performing with other people far more than I love performing by myself. So even if it’s just with one or two other people, it’s so special for me,” she said. “I love making music with others, so the fact that my dad is doing a song with me for my senior recital is just the biggest blessing I could ask for.”
Bleeker shared this sentiment. “I’m singing a duet with my friend, Emma Erickson, and I’m singing a worship song with my sisters at the end that I’m really excited for. … I like it when it’s collaborative, especially duets because it’s fun when your voice blends with other people — there’s this ringing sensation that happens when notes are perfectly in tune, and when your voices blend well. I really enjoy that.”
A common misconception about vocal performance majors is that they are limited in the genre of music they sing. Bleeker said, “[Often] people think, “oh, vocal performance … so basically all you sing is opera…” I don’t! I sing a lot of other stuff too.” Lillian’s recital will feature a “wide mix” of vocal pieces, including various English and Spanish songs, as well as songs in four other languages.
Similarly, Hale said that a main attraction for her recital will be the wide variety of music performed. “They’re gonna hear five different languages, styles that they may have never heard of, songs as long as four minutes and as short as 57 seconds and some pretty crazy things that are gonna happen in some of the songs.” Hale also promises a captivating experience; “The program has a story behind each song and I think those are really interesting too, because it’ll help [the audience] interpret what I’m doing and make it a fun and immersive experience for everyone.”
Both senior recitals will take place in the TMU music recital hall on April 26. Bleeker’s recital will begin at 5:30 PM and Hale’s will begin at 8 PM. Show up to support these talented seniors, and to enjoy some wonderful singing!
The TMU Mane 