Cabrini’s Sixth Annual Performing Arts Exhibition, organized by visual and performing arts department and XMusica Societybrought together various musical talents.
The presentation was held on Wednesday, April 26 in the Widener Lecture Hall. It included vocal and instrumental performances, contemporary classical music, new musical compositions in hip-hop, jazz and concert ensembles.
The event was organized by Dr. Stephen Grieco with the help of XMusica Society President, Brianna Mack, and its Vice President, Nick Centofanti. Most performers were enrolled in the university’s music program, and the music faculty assisted in the selection of performers. Entrance was free.
What could he offer?
Fifteen acts were performed and each act had about two to six minutes to show off their skills.
The first four actions were, Sam DiTrolio, who played “What is This Thing Called Love” by Cole Porter on jazz guitar; Isaiah Reed who sang his own recorded song called “All I Wanna Know”, Charlesetta Kouwo who sang “Million Years Ago” by Adele and Miguel Denisar whose personally recorded song called “About Time” was shown on screen .
The Cabrini Concert Ensemble stepped in as the fifth act, performing two pieces: “Down Under” by Men at Work and “Africa” by Toto.
Rodrigo Gonzalez and Kaimear Spann then performed their own recorded composition called “Lifestyle in the Moonlight”, followed by jazz ensemble performances of “Afro Blue” by Mongo Santamaria and “Autumn Leaves” by Joseph Kosma.
Centofanti said, “I performed with the concert ensemble directed by Jason Herman and Jason did a fantastic job of preparing us all throughout the semester and making sure we were all ready for the performance. All the performers did a really great job and worked together between performance changes to make sure everything ran smoothly.”
The concert ensemble included Angelica Lara-Rosas on flute, Sarah Abate on violin, Daniel Cassidy, Richard Ardizzone and Centofanti on guitar, Peter Mihaly and Divine Olasubomi on drums, and Michael Moraski on bass guitar.
Centofanti is also a member of the jazz ensemble and said Herman, a professor of music, also “taught each of us improvisation skills during the semester so we could form new musical ideas on the spot.” Herman joined the ensemble on bass guitar and all who performed with the concert ensemble played the same instrument as their individual performances with the jazz ensemble.
After the Jazz Ensemble, Gian Pina played his own recorded song called “One More Day”, Centofanti played guitar for his own song called “Asphodel” from his upcoming yet-to-be-titled EP, followed by Grace Hoat who played his own recorded song called “The Mice Will Play” and Kerry Habicht sang “Think of Me” by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The event ended with Jeremy Allen singing “Some Enchanted Evening” by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Emily Licius playing the piano for “Praeludium XXI” by JS Bach, Ben Rothe performing his own recorded song called “Silence Kills,” and Aaron Ellis sings “All of Me” by John Legend.
The Performing Arts Showcase was virtual in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bringing it back to a live audience is a momentous moment that all the performers were excited to be a part of.
Special environment
“We converted Widener Hall into a music performance room and the environment was relaxed yet professional,” Centofanti said. “Everyone was very supportive of each other and had good words for everyone’s performance.”
Communication sophomore Julian Diaz said, “Being here really gives you a broader and more positive perspective on the artists that make music here at Cabrini—I’ve never been to a performing arts show here before, but after checking this one out with my friends, this will not be my last.