The Northwestern State University of Louisiana Department of Music faculty presented their Faculty Showcase of the academic year on Sept. 12, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. in the Magale Recital Hall. Although normally, the music faculty spends their time nurturing the next generation of musical talent, the showcase gave them an opportunity to demonstrate their talents.

The showcase opened with “La Battaglia,” which is a piece specifically for brass choir by Italian composer Adriano Banchieri.

For those who may not know about classical music, a brass choir is an ensemble that specifically includes brass instruments. The brass faculty members started the showcase with a bang and the piece helped to get the momentum of the concert going.

Another favorite was “Stop Speaking” by Andy Akiho. The piece was composed specifically for a robotic computer voice accompanied by a snare drum. Playing the snare drum for this piece was Oliver Molina, who is a member of the percussion faculty.

“Stop Speaking” is quite a prescient piece because the piece involves a robotic computer voice, which is a form of artificial intelligence. Molina deftly conveys the gradual breakdown of the robotic assistant with each variation in speed and dynamics in playing.

Steven Clark, who is the newest member of the NSU music faculty, made his performance debut this night at the university when he presented “Spiral Lament” by Ian Clarke, which was in collaboration with Chialing Hseih on piano. Clark comes to NSU from the United Kingdom, which he mentioned prior to performing his piece.

One of the most interesting vocal faculty performances was Marcy McKee’s performance of “Diva’s Lament” from Eric Idle’s musical “Spamalot,” which was adapted from the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” McKee brought levity and vocal power to the end of the concert and the number provided a fitting end to a wonderful night of vocal and instrumental music.