Bringing world class music to the students and faculty at MSU and to the community of Wichita Falls is the goal of the Music Series at Akin Auditorium. Having started in the spring of 2012, the fall 2016 program featured Jennifer Koh on violin and Shai Wosner on piano. Koh has performed for both First Lady Michelle Obama and South Korea’s First Lady, Kim Yoon-Ok. Pianist Shai Wosner has played throughout the United States and abroad in locations such as the Wigmore Hall in London and in the Festival de Musica de Camara in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
The program included compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, and Gabriel Fauré, with the proceeds supporting the arts programs at Midwestern State University. The event had a large turnout, the audience consisting of those from the community and the students and faculty of MSU.
“It is wonderful to have this kind of entertainment or exposure. Just beautiful,” Norma Hill, Wichita Falls resident, said.
Ana Aguilar, education junior, was also in attendance.
Aguilar said, “I feel that being from a small town and from a smaller school, people don’t think that we have these things. I feel like a lot of people don’t know that we have such talented musicians come. I think this is the third time I’ve come so it makes me feel very special to be part of a school that offers amazing things to students.”
Sharon Mucker, vocal performance senior, said she thought the performance was “intimate.”
“From my own personal experience, everything she played was so like intimate and sweet and soft. It was gorgeous through the whole concert,” Mucker said.
Faculty members also attended, including Ruth Morrow, music professor and distinguished chair of piano, and Martin Camacho, Fain Fine Arts dean.
“They’re marvelous. They make everything look and sound not only effortless, but this is the way music is supposed to be,” Morrow said.
Camacho agreed.
“It moves you and inspires you into a different level of musicianship,” Camacho said.
Coming up in the Akin Music Series is the Fauré Quartet, which is set to perform on Feb. 14, 2017.
