McCallie’s second annual ‘Afternoon Of Music’ recital review

Michael Aké was on his way to his car just after the second annual An Afternoon of Music student recital at the chapel when someone asked McCallie’s chair of performing arts how he thought the event went.

“It was great,” he said. “The students really showed off their talent with some talented performances.”

The event began with sophomore pianist Cameron Kitts performing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor on the chapel grand piano – a complex piece that highlighted his focus and dedication.

When asked if this was his favorite piece, Kitts replied, “My favorite changes every year. Hopefully we can do this recital again in the spring. We had planned one last spring, but it didn’t happen.”

After a moving trombone solo from junior Simon Monen, alto saxophonists Anderson Ivey, a Christian student from Chattanooga, and Dublin James, a student at the Chattanooga Center for the Arts, took the stage for two songs: Canzonetta by Bernards and King’s Gigue. They only had a few weeks to put the duet together.

“I rehearsed my role for about a week,” Ivey said. “After that we met a few times to refine it.”

James, an eighth-grader at CCA, added, “I spent about three weeks on my end. It was a lot of fun doing this.”

As often happens when a McCallie music event takes over the chapel, guitars were prominent in the production. Nathan Campbell of the Guitar Quartet went solo with a performance of Tango and Skai by Roland Dyens. Junior Sid Cheemakoti then performed a lively version of Dyens’ Introduction and Danse from Saudade No. 3.

The quartet then joined forces – Colin Sanders and Walker White joined Campbell and Cheemakoti – to perform Andrew York’s expressive Pacific Coast Highway.

“We have been working on the Pacific Coast Highway since the beginning of September,” says Cheemakoti. “Last week we went through the piece completely for the first time, which was exciting.”

As strong as the quartet’s performance was, Michael Sutton’s rendition of Handel’s Passacaglia brought a moment of peace to the piano and set the stage for the final act of the recital: the VoCallie Ensemble.

The eight-member group, consisting of sophomore Thomas Hardin, juniors Elijah Cooper, Benjamin Jeong, Ellison Lord and Lincoln Olson, and seniors Nathaniel Johnston, Jack Schurr and Jake Studley, performed two Billy Joel classics: And So It Goes and The Longest Time.

“We spent about a month getting those pieces ready,” said Lord, who won the GPS/McCallie Got Talent show last winter. “It was a great experience to practice these together. I hope we can do this again in the spring.”

When asked what he liked more, solo performances or playing with a group, Cheemakoti said:

“Playing solo is cool because I get to show what I can do, but it’s kind of nerve-wracking because every note counts. But it feels great when things go well. Playing with the quartet is a different atmosphere – I think more about how we all fit together in the piece.

The Quartet welcomed two new members this year, Campbell and White, who quickly adapted to their roles.

“We had to adapt a little bit,” Cheemakoti said. “This was the first time we played in front of a crowd together with the new lineup, so I think we’ll only get better from here. Hopefully we will show that during the spring recital.”

Sunday’s performance gave everyone a taste of what’s to come, and the spring recital should be just as memorable.