Afternoon music

UND Music’s first Faculty Showcase draws a packed house for performances dedicated to new UND President Mark Kennedy and First Lady Debbie Kennedy.

University of North Dakota President Mark Kennedy and First Lady Debbie Kennedy were treated to an afternoon of fine music courtesy of the UND Music Faculty on Friday, Sept. 16.

The Kennedys were among a packed out of students, faculty and other members of the community, all of whom, showed up for the latest rendition of the Music Faculty Showcase: “Welcome UND President and First Lady Mark and Debbie Kennedy.”

Unofficially, the Josephine Campbell Recital Hall, in the Hughes Fine Arts Center, seats nearly 200 people. There weren’t many spots left once the UND trumpet master Ronnie Ingle and the Dakota Brass (Miaoquian Liu on horn and Joel Pugh on trombone) started things off with “Allegro vivace,” a piece by Anthony Plog.

In fact, attendees were asked to move to the center of their aisles to make room for more folks who were standing in the back.

Following Dakota Brass, UND Music faculty member and soprano Suna Gunther and pianist Keith Teepen, an instructor, shared a riveting and beautiful version of Gioachino Rossini’s “Bel raggio lusinghier”  from the Semiramide.

They were followed by UND Music faculty members and husband-and-wife team, Nariaki Sugiura on piano and Simona Barbu on cello. Sugiura and Barbu chose to play two numbers: Rachmaninoff’s “In the Silence of the Secret Night,” and “It was Not Long Ago, My Friend.” Both were arranged by Barbu.

Other UND faculty members who performed for the President and First Lady included Lisa Brost-Sandberg on flute, Scott Sandberg on saxophone, baritone Royce Blackburn, Mike Blake on marimba, James Popejoy on vibraphone and soprano Anne Christopherson. Thomas Anderson, an instructor, also joined in for a guitar performance.

The performance for the Kennedys was the first UND Music Showcase concert of the 2016-17 academic year.

The first Student Showcase will take place on Friday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m., also in the Josephine Campbell Recital Hall.