The harmonious sounds of the saxophone and piano blended together in a small room inside the Collinsworth School of Performing Arts. A crowd of music lovers gathered to hear the spectacular performance. Dan St. Marseille was featured in this month’s Faculty Artist Series playing the saxophone, accompanied by Dr. Andrés Jaramillo on the piano.
Marseille, director for the Music Education/Performance Division and director of Jazz Studies, is a renowned jazz saxophonist and clarinetist whose recordings have been heard internationally and featured in publications. He has performed in other countries, such as Europe and Canada, and numerous jazz clubs and festivals.
The recital consisted of various music, including from the Baroque era, contemporary classical music, and jazz-oriented music. Some featured composers were Bach, Alen and Bozza.
Jacob Valadez, senior music education major, has attended recitals by both professors in the past and anticipated hearing them play again.
“I respect how both Professor Dan St. Marseille and Dr. Jaramillo act as performers and people, and I feel like I am transported by their music whenever they perform,” stated Valadez. “There is already strong non-verbal communication that naturally occurs between a soloist and their accompanist, but this communication was different because these two performers were friends.”
This hour-long recital required much preparation up to a year in advance especially because of how challenging the repertoire was. For the musicians, this performance not only required individual practice but also meeting weekly to get accustomed to playing with each other.
“It’s just an experiential thing,” explained Marseille. “You have to agree on tempo changes. You have to agree on certain stylistic choices. That all happens organically in the process of rehearsing together. It’s the actual process of playing together that creates the relationship musically.”
There is skill involved in playing an instrument with another musician, and some challenging aspects are not present in solo performances. When playing alongside another person, there is a musical conversation that occurs between the two.
“About halfway through the performance, there was a moment when I finally made very serious eye contact with Dr. Jaramillo, and there was a very strong human connection to what we were doing. It just explained why we were doing it,” Marseille stated. “And so the part that’s well above the music itself is the human connection.”
Natalie Shaw, senior music education major, decided to attend the Faculty Artist Series since Marseille is her private lesson professor.
“He’s amazing in my lessons, so I wanted to hear him play,” said Shaw. “I loved how it wasn’t super uptight. It felt very free, like a conversation they were having with themselves and the audience.”
There is a lot of communication involved in performing alongside other musicians not only between each other but also with the audience. For Marseille, the audience consisted of some of his students.
“To be effective as a teacher, the very things that you’re asking of your students should be reflected in how you do things yourself,” Marseille explained. “If I’m asking them to play at a high artistic level, but I can’t demonstrate that, then I won’t have any credibility. So to be able to perform and demonstrate that to students is very edifying for me. I enjoy playing for them as much as I think they enjoy hearing it.”
A defining moment of performing as a professor is being able to play for their students. It is an opportunity to share the musical beauty that an instrument creates.
“I think CBU students can show better support to their professors for these types of events by not just attending, but grabbing as many of their friends as they can and bringing them too to these events,” Valadez said.
Musical performances bring together musicians and music lovers alike. This performance by Marseille and Jaramillo concluded the Faculty Artist Series for this school year, but there will be many more opportunities for students to continue showing their support for CBU’s music professors.
