At 7:30pm on February 21, 2022, Morgan Yoder sang the first notes of her Senior Vocal Recital. Brimming with confidence, she continued in Aria, her voice and the piano complementing each other. Erin Cummings, her accompanist, introduced the tone with ease.

How did you decide which songs to perform?

Morgan: This recital is required by the school of music and is actually a graded performance. Every music student declares a primary instrument they will study while they are at Cairn University. With my primary instrument being voice, the format of my program was given. I needed to have at least four sets of literature: one in English, German, French and Italian. From there, I chose songs [that] I have been learning in my applied voice lessons since freshman year. I took one to three of my favorite pieces from each language and put them in a set. Each language set needs to flow and the pieces need to have a similarity in some way.

[“Si mes vers avaient des ailes” by Reynaldo Hahn]

Erin introduces the song, elegant and strong, and Morgan’s cadence rises to meet and match the sweeping call to freedom and longing. As she finishes, her demeanor changes slightly, pulling herself together to whisk the listener into thoughts of the soul.

How long have you been practicing these pieces?

Morgan: I decided on the songs in October of 2021, about five months before my recital. I started learning and fine-tuning those pieces ever since. I practiced with Erin once a week for an hour and then she came to my voice lessons for half an hour every week. I personally practiced those pieces around 4-5 hours a week outside of that.

[“Ten Biblical Songs” by Antonín Dvořák]

For some reason, I expected this song to be less lovely than the others, given that English is our primary language, but it is no less so. Morgan’s satisfied smile brings a feeling of deep-rooted assurance to the meaning of the song.  Her notes lengthen and stretch, but she’s focused. I believe her when she sings, “I will dwell forever in the tents and hide me in the shadow of your wings.”

Morgan, which song was your favorite to sing? Erin, can you sense a cultural shift in the way the piano is used in the song?

Erin: The piano’s role in accompaniment varies from piece to piece, therefore, there is a difference in how the piano is used. The “With Verdure Clad” is transcribed from an orchestra in a Classical era setting, [so] I have to listen to the orchestral accompaniment on Youtube to better understand what instruments I am imitating. The German pieces are Schumann, who was a Romantic era German composer who was passionate about the piano being an equal role in the interpretation of the piece. In those pieces, I have to look up the translation of the text to understand what mood the piano is supposed to set. In the “Romance” by Debussy, the piece is French Impressionistic, so my role is to create a light ambience/backdrop for the singer of beautiful yet slightly ambiguous harmony. With the song from The Waitress, its contemporary style was more natural to me since its from my own time period of music.

Morgan: My favorite song was my Italian aria, “Una donna quindicanni”. That song was one I have been singing the longest and therefore, knew the most. I was able to memorize the word-for-word translation and had fun being able to portray the story even as I was singing in Italian. 

[“Una donna quindici anni” by W. A. Mozart]

The singer balances well between acting and singing in this song, using gestures and twisting the ends of the notes so the audience can feel the humor and sarcasm of the piece. Erin’s grinning as she plays; this must be a favorite of hers.

Morgan, which language do you enjoy singing in most? Erin, which piece did you enjoy playing the most?

Morgan: I enjoy singing in Italian and English the most. I feel very natural singing in Italian and have lots of experience [singing it].  It is a beautiful language that works with melodic phrases and tonalities that other languages don’t give the same appeal towards. I also love singing in English as it is my first language and it is better received by my English-speaking audience. I sing to tell a story and more importantly, glorify God. I sing to show others the talent God has given me and bless Him with it…Singing in English will allow [this] audience to better receive the music and understand it.

Erin: It’s hard to choose! But I believe I enjoyed playing the Italian the most. That piece is difficult to play but once it’s learned, it has such an energetic accompaniment. Also, Morgan takes on the personality of the character from Mozart’s opera very well, and it’s so fun to hear her sing it.

[“With a Believer” by Sara Bareilles from Waitress]

Morgan takes a deep breath; then begins her final song. This is a modern ballad, heartfelt and strong in its tone and meaning. As she sings, “She saw something in me,” I feel my eyes burn a little. I hear a sniff behind me, too.

Her hands are cupped in front of her as she sings the final notes, like she’s received a blessing and is giving it back to the audience.

Morgan triumphantly ends her piece, joy spilling off of her and flowing through the audience. As she and Erin stand together, the crowd stands almost as one and celebrates her and the Creator of her talent.

The song from The Waitress (the one I definitely didn’t tear up during) seemed to be dedicated to someone. Was it?

Morgan: This was my personal piece, and I dedicated it to my mother as she has been my number one supporter since I was a child. She and I share a love of music and the beauty it provides. The words in the song were slightly changed from the original to tell a true story she and I share.

What is your favorite moment when you’re performing?

Erin: My favorite moment was when we came out of the doors in the very beginning. Backstage, I was battling a lot of nerves, but the moment I stepped out to face the audience, the roar of cheers and applause was energizing. I felt ready to go. From there, I knew the recital was going to be fun.

Morgan: My favorite moment when performing is being able to look out into the audience and see that [my song] is touching someone personally. [I love to see] someone simply enjoying the music [or] able to finally relax after a long day and for a moment not worry about everything else going on around them.

Thank you for gracing us with your songs of praise and spirit, Morgan Yoder. Blessings in your future endeavors!