By Angelina Jahn
Grand Rapids Community College will be hosting online, prerecorded, free virtual concerts to close out the Winter semester. Viewers are now able to experience the original compositions of GRCC students Elijah Babinski, Monte Davis, Zachary Henderson and Sarah Sizemore with tickets to the GRCC Music Composers Concert. Following this concert, on April 27th, there will be a Spring Instrumental concert featuring GRCC’s instrumental ensembles, encompassing most of the music department.
One of the featured concerts is a trombone recital featuring GRCC sophomore Nate Moored and junior Sarah Sizemore. Including pieces by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Carl Weber, Arthur Pryor and more. Due to being prerecorded, these concerts are now accessible online.
Tested in sixth grade, Moored had a natural ability with both the trombone and the clarinet. When deciding between the two, he took into consideration his family’s history with music. Both his father and grandfather played trombone in high school. For the last eight years since auditions, Moored has been playing trombone in band every year.
The virtual concerts provide us with a way to view the talents of GRCC’S musicians in a socially distanced way. Although this performance is virtual, Moore is eager to be able to perform in front of a crowd again.
When asked about his favorite part of performing, he replied, “Normally, it’d be engaging with the audience and going off of their energy. It’s a different kind of thrill with a live audience. Unfortunately due to circumstances, everything has to be pre-recorded recently, so that does diminish a part of it for me. Hopefully in the next year or so we can get back to that.”
Out of the compositions featured in the recital, Moored most connected with “Annie Laurie” by Arthur Pryor. “It’s fun to play, and it’s got some challenging playing techniques and that was a great experience to learn and grow over the time from the day I got it to the recording day,” he said.
Following his GRCC graduation, Moored plans to transfer to Western Michigan University to continue performing. During his time at GRCC, his interest in music was solidified.
“GRCC has served as a great way to see a lot of paths and careers available for music students,” Moored said “Especially because it’s cheaper than a four-year university, it’s a great way to experiment without getting too committed financially. In my case, it’s shown me that I do indeed want to pursue music as a career.”
The full lists of concerts, post dates and access to tickets is available through the Anyseat website link on the GRCC website, featured on the music department page under “Performance Calendar.”
