The Judson College Department of Music held its first annual Honors Recital auditions on Thursday, March 23, 2017. The auditions, which were judged by a panel of non-music department faculty members, were open to all music majors and minors. Of the eleven music students who competed, the following were declared winners: Seng Hkawn, Yaw Nam, Ja Seng San, and Macey Carter. Additionally, Jaw Zin (junior piano major) and Sara Jean Lane (senior piano major) were awarded honorable mentions. Dr. Cindy St. Clair, Head of the Department of Music, is excited about this new opportunity for Judson music students and hopes it will become an annual event. “Our students have pushed themselves to work harder and more efficiently than they might have normally worked. All performance students need to cultivate the skill to perform at the top of their ability, and we are delighted to add this yearly benchmark to our program at Judson College,” St. Clair stated.
The Honors Recital winners showcased their audition pieces with performances during the Music Department’s last Musical Hors d’oeuvres of the semester, held March 30 in Alumnae Auditorium. Ja Seng San, a one-year exchange piano major from Kachin Theological College and Seminary (KTCS) in Myanmar, performed Three Fantasies or Caprices, Op. 16 by Felix Mendelssohn. Macey Carter, freshman voice major from Fultondale, Ala., sang the aria “Batti, batti o bel Masetto” from W.A. Mozart’s 1787 opera Don Giovanni. Yaw Nam, junior piano major from Myitkyina, Kachin, Myanmar, played Voiles from Preludes, Book 1 by Claude Debussy. Seng Hkawn, senior piano major, also from Myitkyina, Kachin, performed Sonataine pour Yvette by Xavier Montsalvatge.
The Musical Hors D’oeuvres series at Judson College consists of short musical performances that allow students and faculty of the Judson Music Department to showcase the talent and repertoire that are being developed over the course of each semester. Each 25-minute performance is designed to “whet” audience members’ musical appetites by providing short sets of pieces that allow listeners to experience new music without the length of a full concert.
For more information about Judson College’s Department of Music or the Musical Hors d’oeuvres series, contact Dr. St. Clair at cstclair@judson.edu or 334.683.5187.
Photo: Winners of the Judson College Department of Music Honors Recital auditions are, from left, Sara Jean Lane (honorable mention), Jaw Seng Zin (honorable mention), Seng Hkawn, Yaw Nam, Macey Carter, and Ja Seng San.