Sara found a time in one of our favorite performance spaces on campus, Fairchild Chapel, for her first solo recital at Oberlin. She programmed a broad range of pieces, fairly representing the work we’d done together so far. She had a terrific turnout, combining her friends from the Conservatory with a number from the College—particularly her lacrosse teammates—along with members of her family who traveled from Baltimore and Detroit to be there. Sara played her repertoire with ease: she never flinches or falters at the difficult parts. She presents herself professionally and with confidence. She pulled a large sound out of her instrument, often filling the room, and indicating unambiguously that great things are coming for this young player.

She featured some pieces from the Renaissance lute repertoire and a couple of favorites from Mertz’s Bardenklänge. Then followed with Venezuelan waltzes by Antonio Lauro. (Full program at the end of the post).

Sara closed her program with two works of Leo Brouwer: his suave Cancion de Cuña and the spiky favorite, Danza Characteristica.

It’s easy to tell from this shot of her final bow, that things went well. And they did! Bravo Sara!!

That was way better than a standard Freshman jury!