Kaitlin Weeks Senior Recital; Texas Christian University. March 26, 2022 This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree of Instrumental Music Education. Ms. Weeks is a student of Dr. Corey Mackey. Zach Lewis, marimba. Blaine Bryan, string bass. Eric Sammut was born in Toulouse, France and became known for his musical abilities at an early age. While studying piano and percussion at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Lyon, Sammut studied jazz and performed in bars with his first band for a couple years. In 1989, he won the job as Prinicpal Percussionist of the Orchestre de l’Opera National de Lyon. Sammut's varied musical experiences have led him to appreciate music of all styles, from Bach to rock. Sammut is a well-respected and prolific composer of modern percussion music. Zapping Trio creates a jazz combo of marimba, clarinet, and double bass. In typical Sammut style, this piece has a jazzy, improvised feel and is fun for both the performers and the audience. Parts of this trio sound like they could have come from a different era. I can imagine this piece being written when jazz first came to Paris following World War I by American Army soldiers.

Kaitlin Weeks Senior Recital; Texas Christian University. March 26, 2022 This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree of Instrumental Music Education. Ms. Weeks is a student of Dr. Corey Mackey. Dr. Cecilia Kao, collaborative pianist. John Mayer was a British composer of Indian origin whose works are characterized by including Indian instruments and techniques in Western forms and orchestration. He studied classical music and had a successful career as an orchestral violinist, but he gave it up to compose music and lead a jazz fusion band in the 1960s. Mayer was well known in avant- garde circles and established a name for himself within jazz, progressive rock, and world music groups in London. Mayer's Violin Concerto features the sitar, tambura, and tabla, while ragas, talas, and microtonal inflections comprise his Flute Concerto. Raga Music is a set of pieces written for solo clarinet in A and is one of the first to infuse Western music techniques with Hindustani music. The titles of each movement specify the particular raga to be used and the character it evokes. Ragas, or raags, are a melodic framework for improvisation in distinct modes in Indian classical music and are used to symbolize a time of day, season, mood, or special occasion. In some Hindu languages, the word raag means 'to color.' Raags are a unique and central feature of the Indian classical music tradition, and they have no direct translation to Western music. Each raag is a unique melodic structure with its own musical motifs that possess the ability to "color the mind" and affect the audience's emotions. The rich musical tradition dates back almost 6,000 years to the sacred Vedic scriptures that utilized chants to create musical notes and cycles. John Mayer's Raga Music was published in 1958 and contains nine movements: Vilasakhani – This raag originates from a son mourning his father's death. While singing his father's favorite raag in grief, he mixed up the notes, giving birth to the raag Vilasakhani. Legend has it that his father's corpse moved one hand in approval of the new melody. Megha (Rainy Season) – One of the most primitive ragas of Hindustani classical music, raag Megha finds mention in ancient Vedic scriptures. This raga was allegedly played by the damaru (a small two-headed drum believed to produce spiritual energy) of the Hindu god Shiva when he tried to protect Lord Krishna in carrying the Govardhana mountain. The meaning of "megh" in Sanskrit is "cloud"; hence this raga is primarily performed in the monsoon season or at night. Vibhasa (Sunrise) – Performed during daybreak, the atmosphere created by this raag is solemn and silent. Gunakali (Morning) – This raga is played in the morning with a sense of confidence and nervous activity. Shri (Afternoon) – Raag Shri is an evening raga performed at sunset. Still a popular concert raga today, it is considered one of the most famous ragas from the North Indian classical system. In traditional beliefs, this raga is serious and thought-provoking in nature. Pilu (Evening) – Also known as the "raga of colors," performances of this raag are popular at the Hindu festival of colors called "Holi." This raga is played in late afternoon before sunset with an ever-changing quality as if satisfied but longing for something else. Puravi (End of Day) – Raag Puravi is a sunset raga, which evokes a profound and mystical mood in many listeners. Imagine a charming and beautiful archer named Puravi at the end of daytime. Idle and sleepy, she suffers from the pangs of separation and dreams only of her lover. Kanada (In the deep of Night) – Considered by many to be India's greatest raga, raag Kanada was created by India's greatest musician, Tansen, in the 16th century. This raga is an illustrious work that evokes the feeling of love in the listener, and one may even hear this raga used extensively in North Indian film music. Vasanta (Spring Raga) – Suitable for singing in the evening and instilling hope in the listener, raag Vasanta denotes the changing of the season and the newness of spring. "Basant" is the Sanskrit word for "spring," and just like spring cleaning creates a fresh start, springtime brings the expectation of a new beginning and a new cycle. Therefore, this raga is aptly named because all associated with it is hope and positivity.

Kaitlin Weeks Senior Recital; Texas Christian University. March 26, 2022 This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree of Instrumental Music Education. Ms. Weeks is a student of Dr. Corey Mackey. Dr. Cecilia Kao, collaborative pianist. Domenico Cimarosa was a late eighteenth-century Italian composer best known for his comic operas. He composed nearly sixty stage works, most of which were in the style of opera buffa. Despite Cimarosa's facility at writing comic operas, he preferred his more serious works. In 1787, Cimarosa accepted the position of maestro di cappella at the St. Petersburg court of Catherine II in Russia. Showing much disinterest in Cimarosa's work, the court replaced him with another composer whose music was better received. With his newfound spare time, Cimarosa wrote over eighty keyboard sonatas. Thirty-two of these sonatas are written in the style of Domenico Scarlatti, a prolific composer in the Baroque period. The Concerto in C Major is a conglomeration of four keyboard sonatas. Sonatas are one movement long and are complete pieces in of themselves. In 1949, Australian-born Arthur Benjamin (1893-1960) combined four of his favorite keyboard sonatas into a larger concerto form, initially scoring for oboe and later for clarinet. Most of the melody remains in the solo voice with light piano accompaniment. This concerto comprises sonatas 23, 24, 29, and 31. Benjamin's concerto follows late Baroque traditions rather than classical practice, although Cimarosa himself found fame during the classical period. A moving Introduzione leads to a spirited Allegro and Siciliana, a gentle and slow pastoral dance. The final Allegro giusto makes for an exuberant conclusion.

Kaitlin Weeks Senior Recital; Texas Christian University. March 26, 2022. This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree of Instrumental Music Education. Ms. Weeks is a student of Dr. Corey Mackey. Dr. Cecilia Kao, collaborative pianist. Bohuslav Martinů was a substantial Czech composer in the 20th century. However, most of his creative life was spent away from his homeland in Czechoslovakia. Martinů was born in a small Czech town and moved to Prague to study at the conservatory at age sixteen. The conservatory exposed Martinů to the music of Claude Debussy. This prominent French Impressionist composer immediately impacted Martinů's incipient compositional style. He moved to Paris in 1923 and was further exposed to the styles of jazz, Stravinsky (a Russian modernist composer), and Les Six (a group of twentieth-century composers whose music represents a strong reaction against the heavy German Romantic music of Wagner and Strauss). Martinů became increasingly prolific as a composer in the 1920s, and his compositions of the 1930s reveal an interest in Czechoslovakia's folk music and culture. During a sojourn in the United States, Martinů composed the Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano in 1956. The work is played in a single movement but consists of three well- defined sections: Moderato, Andante, and Poco allegro. The Sonatina reveals Martinů's influences of Les Six, Stravinsky, Debussy, and Czechoslovakian folk music traditions. In addition, the work embraces Martinů's nostalgia for his time in Paris and the strength of his Czech roots. A rich palette of tone colors, polka and march rhythms, and virtuosic runs combined with syncopation and lyrical passages make the Sonatina a standard in clarinet repertoire and a beautiful piece showcasing the vast array of musical traditions that emerged in the 20th century.