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Bates plays host to a wide range of musical talents. New bands emerge every month; there are orchestra concerts and choir concerts, the standard open-mic-night boys and a lot of a cappella. You've probably heard Ben Peck singing at any of these events, whether as musical director of the Deansmen, leading The Blueslippers or soloing in choir, but the recital on Sunday was a true showcase of his talent. In the first half of the concert, Peck sang pieces by Mozart, Samuel Barber and Gabriel Fauré. All of the compositions sounded great, but Peck displayed particular "chops" on Fauré's Sylvie, floating over the difficult French with fluid vocal lines. His baritone voice is beautiful, invoking comments like, "he's so good," from his musically talented friends. The amount of work that was put into the concert was obvious, and Peck's talent is impressive; it is disappointing there weren't more people at the concert to hear him perform in a genre not often featured at Bates. Most weekend entertainment highlights musicians performing popular contemporary music, but there is little comparison between that and the moving style Peck displayed on Handel's Revenge Timotheus Cries, as well as the Giovanni Paisiello and Robert Schumann pieces that concluded his recital. All talents at Bates deserve to be showcased like Ben Peck's; but, more importantly, they deserve to be appreciated. Next time around, I hope you go early to get your own good seat. |
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