Fourth-years Joe Coulombe and Joe Riley performed their senior recitals, labeled “The Joe Squared Experience,” at the Fine Arts Center on Sunday.
Coulombe, who studies classical voice, completed three sets containing multiple songs in different languages such as Italian and German. For his first set, he sang six songs, two in Italian and four in English.
Two ballads were “The Wanderer” and “She Never Told Her Love,” both by composer Franz Joseph Haydn. “The Wanderer” had a strong tone and was mostly sung in forte throughout the piece. “She Never Told Her Love” tells a story in which the singer, in this case Coulombe, experiences getting cheated on.
After Coulombe finished his first set, Riley, who studies trumpet, came out to showcase his first of three sets. He played one section of a sonata called “Strength and Vigor” and “Andante et Allegretto.” The sonata included a mute to alter the sound of the trumpet.
“Andante et Allegretto” was a slower sounding piece at the start and demonstrated crescendos and decrescendos throughout.
Coulombe then came back for his second set, which were three German songs and a French duet with vocalist fourth-year Kaylee Arnold. Like the first set, the songs showed power while staying at a steady pace. Coulombe and Arnold’s duet “Pleurs d’or” was unified and told a love story.
Riley came back out for his second set where he played “Siete Canciones Populares Españolas” by Manuel de Falla. It was split into seven parts and combined with different speeds. The mute was used in fourth “Jota” and fifth “Nana” parts to dramatize and slow the pieces down.
After he finished, Coulombe came to complete his last set, singing three songs with different emotions. “Say it isn’t So” by Irving Berlin is a plea about denial, and “Beginners Luck” by George Gershwin is about finding first love. The final song, “Bob’s Bedroom” by Gina Carlo Menotti, is about how the characters’ life is bittersweet.
When he finished his set, Riley came back to complete his last set, accompanied by a brass ensemble, playing two uplifting and upbeat songs. The two songs were “Pavan” by Gaspar Sanz and “Canzona per Sonare No. 2” by Giovanni Gabriele.
At the end, both Coulombe and Riley came together and performed a set of six poems as a song called “Vacation Time” by Lori F. Ardovino. Coulombe narrated as Riley played different styles and tones based on how the character was feeling.
The three trumpet sets were a variety of songs over seven semesters, Riley said. He wanted contrast between each piece including different backgrounds and different instrumentation.
“I thought that my performance was good, all my friends and family were there…I was proud of it,” Riley said.
Performing can be difficult, Coulombe said. However, knowing that he did the work, it was a matter of putting together everything he learned in his four years at the University of Rhode Island in one show.
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