Walker Boldman's Senior Recital

 
On Saturday, November 14, violinist Walker Boldman performed his senior recital. The recital consisted entirely of classical violin repertoire performed in chronological order. The opening number was the fifth movement of J. S. Bach’s Partita for Violin No. 2 in D minor (“Chaconne”). The “Chaconne” is a technically challenging, fifteen minute long Classical solo which Boldman performed from memory. Fellow students joined Walker on the next two pieces. Kaylen Draschil, a freshman piano major, played the duet part for the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in F major (“Allegro”). C of O students Thomas Nissen and Collin Hill on violin and cello, and Drury University student Celka Ojakangas on viola joined Walker to create a quartet for the first movement of String Quartet No. 2 in D Major (“Allegro”), a lush, melodic composition by Russian Nationalist composer, Alexander Borodin. After an intermission, Marilyn Dunn accompanied Walker for his last two pieces. Walker performed the first two movements of Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem, “Three Pictures of Chassidic Life,” a dramatic, lyrical piece. The final piece was Austrian composer Ottokar Novacek’s Perpetuum Mobile, a piece consisting entirely of sixteenth notes played at a rapid pace with melodic themes woven throughout. Walker’s impressive and exemplary musicianship was met with an enthusiastic response from many beloved family, friends, and teachers who did not hesitate in giving a standing ovation. Walker ended the recital on a bittersweet note, playing Meditations by Massenet, the first song he ever performed at C of O, as an encore. Walker will graduate this December with a double major in math and music. He has been accepted to a graduate program in Material Science Engineering at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he also has an opportunity to play violin with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. The people in the Music Department look forward to seeing how the Lord guides Walker’s path and uses his gift of musicianship.