Chowan Alumni Event

On October 18th, I played a few selections from the anthology for a group of alumni of Chowan University. The particular group consists of graduates who attended in the first few years after the school reopened following World War II.

I played "Natchez on the Hill" and "Love in the Village" from the set of Virginia reels, the first of the two waltzes from Der Freischutz, the variations on Auld Lang Syne, the Battle of Waterloo. I concluded with a piece I wrote this year called "Columns." This Chowan etude commemorates the 160th year of our school. The structure of the piece is based on aspects of our main and oldest building, the MacDowell Columns. The middle section of my piece is a slow wistful waltz loosely based on the school's alma mater. This slow section is a musical thought for our resident ghost, the Brown Lady.

This mini-concert took place in the Mulberry Grove room after a nice lunch. There was a huge poster of the MacDowell Columns that emphasized the recent restoration. I played on a nice older Yamaha upright that was given to the school last year. It was first time playing on that particular piano.

I thought this was the ideal audience and occasion for music from the anthology as many of these alumni were from this part of the country and have an interest in the history of the region.