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By Sai’da Green
Andrew Cohen, on piano, and William Patterson, on bass guitar, entertain students during a campus recital. (Khai Le)
By Sai’da Green
A Saxophone and Bass Studio Recital was held on May 22 in the Digital Library Auditorium.
The event was sponsored by the Associated Students of Riverside City College, and featured students of Charlie Richard, Cameron Dominguez, and Rick Shaw as a part of Riverside City College’s “Live! On Campus Concert Series.”
There were six solo pieces in which the performers, William Patterson, Emily Peterson, Matt Wycoff, Kristy Bergeron, Bill Dixon and Erik Rafnson, were accompanied by Judy Johansen on the piano.
The show also featured group performances on the saxophone, bass, guitar and the drums.
The group performances were pretty good.
They had a coffee house feel to them. All that was missing was some comfortable couches and a few mugs of hot chocolate to sip on after a long stressful day.
The music was very relaxing. A few of the students in the audience were leaning back in their chairs, tapping their feet with their eyes half closed.
One performance in particular, a saxophone solo by Rafnson, with music by Paul Creston, totally stole the show.
He played the alto saxophone and was accompanied by Johansen.
He was highly skilled, had lots of runs and beautiful melodies.
It sounded like a professional saxophone performance on a classical music station.
Overall, the show was very enjoyable.
Most of the students had expected to be bored coming to the recital, but when it was over audience members walked out of the Auditorium with smiles on their faces.
Riverside City College student Patricia King said, “I thought it would be a super boring performance, but I had fun. It was a good recital.”
“I felt good about my performance. I was a little nervous when I first started playing and I messed up a few times, but I still thought it was really good,” Emily Peterson said. “The other musicians had great performances as well, especially Erik Rafnson.”
Peterson played a tenor saxophone solo, with music by Jacques Ibert, and was accompanied on the piano by Johansen.
The students participating in the recital were all a part of the Performing Arts Department here at Riverside City College.
Their mission is to provide students the means to accomplish their goals in the performing arts.
