Edward Maki-Schramm and Chris McCourry met more than 25 years ago at the University of Michigan. Last Friday, they relived the old days and brought an audience Mussorgsky’s celebrated “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
In the faculty recital, McCourry, director of jazz ensembles, collaborated with Brad Blackham, director of keyboard studies, Emily Douglass, artist-teacher of voice, and guest organist Maki-Schramm to present a program of operatic, romantic, baroque, and modern music.
This performance marked McCourry’s 20th recital since joining the Hillsdale music department, and was one of many shared with Blackham in their 15 years together at the college. McCourry and Blackham opened the recital with a piano and trumpet duet, showcasing McCourry’s skill on the B flat and Piccolo trumpet as he switched between the two throughout the piece.
Douglass, a seasoned soprano with years of experience in vocal performance, demonstrated her extensive range and graceful technique in two operatic works, the first with McCourry on the trumpet, and the second with Blackham on the piano.
Marie-Therese Romanos, a Hillsdale college junior who attended the concert and a student of Douglass, particularly appreciated Douglass’ tone and presentation.
“I loved the joy, especially of the combination with the trumpet and her voice. The trumpet gave it a lot of vibrance and she matched it with her voice, which was beautiful. I know as a singer it’s really hard to get into character vocally, and she really succeeded. Not only could you tell on her face, but in her voice you could hear she matched the liveliness of the trumpet.”
The second half of the performance featured Maki-Schramm in a 40-minute suite performing alongside McCourry.
“When I was a master’s student at the University of Michigan, I worked for his wife at the music library,” Maki-Schramm said.
McCourry and Maki-Schramm would go on to perform together at hundreds of funerals, weddings, and other events before McCourry joined the Hillsdale faculty.
This concert featured the first time Maki-Schramm has performed “Pictures at an Exhibition.” The piece was originally composed for piano but later arranged for orchestra and then as a trumpet and organ duet.
“I took it piece by piece,” Maki-Schramm. “And then before even putting the pieces together, I would drill the hard sections and then try to weave it into the rest of the piece.”
He praised the acoustic of the chapel and the chapel organ, despite the natural limitations of a duet compared to an orchestra.
“It’s not meant for a transcription of ‘Pictures at an Exhibition,’ this is meant for an orchestra, right, so the organ is a poor substitute,” Maki-Schramm said.
Maki-Schramm made full use of the versatility and the majesty of the organ, as he distinguished each piece from the last with a variety of unique stop combinations.
“I really enjoyed the rendition of Pictures at an Exhibition. I’ve heard it with an orchestra before and I was really impressed with how well the organist was able to mimic the sound of the orchestra. I thought he did an awesome job and I really appreciated his work,” freshman Brian Knewtson said.
McCourry added another layer of versatility to “Pictures at an Exhibition” by assembling a collection of brass instruments and accessories to use throughout the piece. He used various trumpets and mutes to add new and distinct sounds to each piece, setting the tone and mood of the suite to match the vivid images projected onto the screen on the chapel stage.
Maki-Schramm and McCourry received a standing ovation at the close of their piece in appreciation for both the splendor of the suite and the overall excellence of the program.
