Community, Creswell, Scene & Heard

Versatility on display – Piano Den students show versatility in spring recital

Sixteen students of Dave Stram’s Piano Den studio performed their Spring Recital on June 2. From left, back: Austin Gordon, Isaac Pinkham, Grant Marshall, Kimberlee Kelsey, Grace Perdue, piano teacher Dave Stram; middle: Sarah Campbell, Khloe Seeley, Truman Derminer, James Rose; front: Phoebe Knudsen, Olivia Knudsen, Allie Marshall, Audriahna Jones, Emma Gordon and Kaylin Seeley. Photo Provided/Erin Weatherly Derminer

The sanctuary of Creswell Presbyterian Church was filled with music June 2 as 16 students of Dave Stram’s Piano Den held their Spring Recital.
”It’s a real privilege for me to be able to be with these young people each week, being able to teach them music and get to know them better – because most of them come for lessons right after school, and they have stories to tell,” Stram said, drawing chuckles from the audience.
Nina Riddle opened the recital with ”Pop! Goes the Weasel” and ”Spooks!”
Next, Emma Gordon played ”Little Indian Brave” and ”The Dragon Monster.”
Sarah Campbell played Beethoven’s ”Ode to Joy” and ”Space Walk,” followed by Allie Marshall, who played ”Ocean Deep” before performing her original composition, ”Stages of Fear.”
”One of the fun things about this recital was that a number of kids created either their own songs or adaptations of songs,” Stram said. ”It’s amazing to see the things those kids created out of their own heads.”
Kaylin Seeley played ”Spooks!” and ”Bugle Call.”
Phoebe Knudsen performed her own adaptation of ”When the Saints Go Marching In,” followed by Beethoven’s ”Ode to Joy.”
James Rose played ”Jacob’s Ladder” and ”Red River Valley,” followed by Kimberlee Kelsey with ”Denim Blues” and her own adaptation of ”Swingin’ Beat.”
Khloe Seeley played ”Country Gardens” and ”Ocean Deep” before Truman Derminer performed his own minor key arrangement of ”Down by the Station,” followed by Mozart’s ”Sonata Theme.”
”It amazing how many of my students enjoy playing in a minor key now,” Stram said.
Grant Marshall played ”Surfboard Boogie” and his own arrangement of ”At Sunset” and Olivia Knudsen played ”The Matador” and Pachelbel’s ”Canon in D.”
”Olivia brought this to me and said, ‘I want to learn this’ – and it’s four or five pages long, but she really worked at it,” Stram said.
Next was the only one of Stram’s seven adult students to perform in the recital: Austin Gordon, who has been taking lessons for only a year, performed ”The Stranger” and ”Struttin’ Along.”
”Austin is proof that an adult can learn to play piano with no musical background but with a love for making music,” Stram said.
Grace Perdue played ”The Limpid Stream, Op. 100, No. 7,” by Friedrich Burgmüller and ”Clarinet Blues.”
Audriahna Jones played ”Lavender’s Blue,” then changed things up with a vocal performance of ”On a Clear Day,” accompanied by Stram on piano.
Isaac Pinkham closed the recital with ”In the Hall of the Mountain King,” by the Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg.
”It’s really wonderful to have all these young adults stretching themselves by performing in public, because that’s how we become stronger as people, by putting ourselves out there,” Stram said.

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