Each year Monmouth College sees many talented and gifted musicians come through the campus, and this year proves to be no different. One of those very talents is Eric Brandhorst, a junior music major out of Quincy, Illinois. On Friday, November 30th at 7:30 p.m., Brandhorst held a junior recital in the Kasch Recital Hall of the Dahl Chapel and Auditorium. In front of a reasonably-sized audience, Brandhorst showcased his vocal abilities, while accompanied by Ashlee Mack on the piano.

Brandhorst is very dedicated and passionate about music and loves to learn about it. For inspiration, he enjoys listening to the musical talents of Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price, The Hush Sound, Snow Patrol (before that whole “Chasing Cars” thing) and music from The Last Five Years and Spring Awakening.

Brandhorst began his recital by delighting the audience with a strong and beautiful voice, while performing “Giά il sole dal Gange,” an Italian classical piece by Alessandro Scarlatti. He continued to take his audience on a musical adventure singing “Lasciatemi morire!,” another classical Italian piece by Claudio Monteverdi. Brandhorst showcased his opera-like vocal skills as he sang more classical pieces, one by Johann-Paul Martini, one by Gabriel Faurè and two by Robert Schumann. After singing these selections, Brandhorst left the audience wanting more but, instead, took them into an intermission.

After the brief intermission, Brandhorst got right back to entertaining the audience with his very talented vocals. He brought his audience back into the music by singing “Sure On this Shining Night,” an American classical piece written by Samuel Barber, and then a song called “Bright is the Ring of Words,” an English piece written by the composer  Ralph Vaughan Williams.

For his final two pieces of the recital, Brandhorst chose to sing two musical theatre pieces - ”Johanna,” a piece from “Sweeney Todd” by Steven Sondheim and “I’d Give It All For You” by Jason Robert Brown, from the play “Songs For A New World.” For the singing of “I’d Give It All For You,” Brandhorst was accompanied by the soprano voice of Sarah Nicholas Price, adjunct professor of voice. Together, the two took the audience out of the recital with the beautiful duet and, afterwards, received a heart-
warming applause.

Brandhorst is altogether pleased and proud with his performance saying, “This recital was the first big performance of mine. I have performed solos for choir, songs in the annual Honors Recital and other venues, but this was my first performance in which I was singing more than two pieces.”

His audience was just as pleased, as Stephen Richter, director of instrumental activities, said of Brandhorst’s performance, “Eric performed with youthful enthusiasm and a good sense of musicianship. His voice is full and rich. Mr. Brandhorst is a fine talent with lots of potential.”

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