The final faculty recital of the year at Fort Lewis College takes place at 3 p.m. Sunday in Roshong Recital Hall. In a sudden programming shift, violinist Richard Silvers has changed plans because of an accident in the music department, a fortunate recovery and a completely new project.
Silvers is a mainstay of the music department and regularly performs in the area – and abroad. He’s known locally for his solo and chamber music performances
This past year has seen a series of triumphs and pitfalls for Silvers and his wife, pianist Holly Quist, who is also a colleague at FLC.
The highlights: On Nov. 21, Silvers, Quist and FLC cellist Katherine Jetter presented a lecture-recital dedicated to the life and music of Dimitry Shostakovich. It was a memorable evening of music, imagery, videos and commentary and a highlight of the college’s free lecture series, Life-long Learning. The program played to a full house.
On Feb. 28, Silvers and violinist Brandon Christensen offered an unusual program for two violins and piano, ably assisted by Mika Inouye in the Unitarian Recital Series. It was a rare evening as they played Russian works by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, and the trio introduced music lovers to the rarely heard Norwegian composer Christian Sinding. The beauty, power and elegance surprised everyone.
We usually see Silvers on stage as part of the San Juan Symphony, but we didn’t see him on stage for one of the four symphony concerts this year because of a medical emergency. Silvers suddenly experienced the agony of kidney stones, he told me recently, rolling his eyes and grimacing.
So, it’s been an uneven year already. And now, another mishap has changed plans for the upcoming recital. Originally, Silvers and Quist planned a joint appearance for Sunday.
“The recital is still on the schedule, though its content and scope have changed due to recent events,” Silvers said in a recent email. “On Monday last week, Holly sustained a concussion head injury while teaching theory as a projection screen housing unit came loose and fell on her head in one of the classrooms. As such, she could not perform the works for violin and piano anymore.”
As an aside, Quist had just completed an extra assignment on campus. She directed the onstage band for the FLC production of “Pippin,” which closed only last week. Extra duties mark the lives of music faculty members everywhere. So, Quist was on overtime when the classroom accident occurred. As a result, she is recuperating and Silvers has had to decide whether to cancel or create a new program for the final recital of the year. He chose to prepare something new.
Astonishingly, he will honor his commitment and present a world premiere.
“This recital will now be a lecture recital instead,” Silvers said. “It will feature a 15- to 20-minute presentation by the composer, Matthew Honas, about the world premiere piece for solo violin, ‘Journey into Phantasia,’ and the process surrounding its composition and technique. The program will conclude with me performing the three-movement work in its entirety. The work is titled, ‘Journey into Phantasia’ for violin solo, 2024.”
Tickets for the FLC Faculty Recital are adults $15, free to students 18 and under. Cash or check at the door.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
