2017 Winner: Bachelor of Music Senior Recital, Guitar

Project Information
Bachelor of Music Senior Recital, Guitar
Arts
Music Department Bachelor of Music major program
The Bachelor of Music Senior Recital is the culmination of the performance degree. Entrance to the BM program requires rigorous preparation, audition placing into the “Advanced Level” deemed by ladder faculty jurors. BM students are required to continue to maintain their “Advanced” standing through a series of ongoing schedule juries. Meanwhile, individual weekly lessons with guitar faculty, Bill Coulter, continue for the four years leading up to the Senior Recital with the preceding year serving as intensive preparation.

The Senior Recital consisted of a program (approx: 60 minute duration) that included solo performances of composers along with performances with the Guitar Ensemble comprised of music major guitar students and directed by Bill Coulter. The solo and ensemble performances were flawless in technique and performance. But above and beyond these requirements, I composed two solo composition and composed an ensemble piece for guitar titled “Endless Journey”.

“Endless Journey” is an ensemble piece I wrote for 5 guitars and bass. The first section introduces an atmosphere of ambiguity on a i-bII progression. It contains an ostinato that depicts an "Endless Journey." This pattern gets repeated over and over and comes back throughout the piece in different keys. Main section is in 7/8 rhythmic meter and introduces some of the main motives that come throughout the piece in other meters. It has folk-like rhythms. The F section comes from a sudden chromatic mediant modulation of Ab major to E major. The G section is quite different and it contains a polyrhythm between two guitar parts, one playing 16th note triplets while the other one playing just straight 16th notes in 4/4. After this, it modulates back to Gm and comes back to the main theme and ends on the main ostinato pattern in 7/8 in Cm. Little by little, it fades away kind of simulating that the journey is endless... Melodies and percussive beats are often interchanged among the guitar parts. Some are broken up as to create hocket.

“Endless Journey” Composer: Janet Noguera Sanchez. Senior Recital Performance Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isVNTMIsN7o
“Endless Journey” Composer: Janet Noguera Sanchez. Score Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz94UGtUG9g
“Un Día de Noviembre” Composer: Leo Brower. Performed by Janet Noguera Sanchez.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f0eGtlHmdM
Students
  • Janet Sanchez (Eight)
Mentors