In order to graduate, many majors require a presentation of all coursework throughout the four years. Senior Jared Phillips and junior Amy Bailey showcased their work in the music department in their recitals last week.
Phillips is a music performance major with an emphasis in guitar. After trying several majors, including Bible and Electronic Media Production, he said he found himself at home in the music department. Currently, he is the only music performance major focusing on guitar.
For his recital on Nov. 4, Phillips played the repertoire that he has been working on his entire college career. It included a wide variety of styles of music, including classical, contemporary and tango. He also played folk melodies on a steel stringed guitar. To engage the audience, Phillips took a more relaxed approach to the format of his recital.
“We are a very classically oriented program, but I have always been someone who goes against the grain,” Phillips said. “I don’t follow tradition so I just walked out on stage, put all five of my guitars out and sat there the entire time and talked to the audience. I would talk before each piece, which gave me time to tune my guitars. It’s really important to me to connect with the audience.”
While at Harding, Phillips performed in the jazz band and orchestra for the musicals.
“It was definitely a strange experience playing banjo with an orchestra for ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie,'” Phillips said. “The banjo is a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ kind of instrument, so to learn to play that in an orchestral setting, with lots of key changes and sporadic rhythms, was weird.”
Phillips said music has been a part of his life since he started playing the trombone in the fourth grade. When he decided to pursue a degree in music, Phillips said he did not want to make a career out of it.
“Music was the only tolerable thing I could do,” Phillips said. “I wanted to spend time learning a skill. My parents were a little iffy about it at first, but now that they see what I am able to do, they are very supportive. I want to enjoy music and I can make a comfortable life for my family some other way if I can. If an opportunity presents itself where I can make a living off of playing guitar, I will take it.”
Amy Bailey, on the other hand, said she knew in high school that she wanted to become a band director.
“Near the end of high school my band director was one of my best friends and took advice from students and let us lead,” Bailey said. “That’s when I decided that I wanted to be a band director. After observing several career options, I decided on elementary music. Everyone tells me they remember their elementary music teacher, and I want to be one of those people.”
At the end of last semester, Bailey selected the music she would perform for her junior recital. She decided on Graham Lyons’ “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano” and “Five Bagatelles” by Gerald Finzi. Bailey first listened to the sonata while working with an instructor two summers ago and decided then that she was going to play that piece someday, according to Bailey.
Bailey said she has been playing the clarinet for about 10 years and piano for about 15 years. While in high school, she was selected to play with a local symphony academy. At Harding, she performed in the wind ensemble and marching band.
“The camaraderie in both groups is great,” Bailey said. “In marching band we are like a family because we spend so much time together practicing and actively working together.”
