What is the ultimate purpose of human existence?
- Aristotle
In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores the possible answers to the question: 'what makes a human life worth living?' Throughout his explorations of thought, Aristotle concludes that the ultimate pursuit of human activity is happiness. This recital is an exploration into other potential answers to Aristotle's question: What is the ultimate pursuit of human activity? Each piece represents a theme of one possible answer to that question.
To Function.
Planet Damnation
John Psathas
To Exist.
Reflections on the Nature of Water
Jacob Druckman
To Help.
Nurture (Premiere Performance)
Cait Nishimura
To Celebrate.
(Loco)Motion (Midwestern Premiere Performance)
Kevin Day
To Endure.
Song of Almah; Rose of Sharon
Andrew Beall
To Conserve.
Taxidermy
Caroline Shaw
To Coexist.
Pulse Train
Viet Cuong
To Love.
Fix You (Premiere Performance)
Chris Martin arr. Collins
Thank you
Chris and Sandy Collins for bringing me into this world 32 years ago. I’m pretty sure none of this could have happened without your making me. Basically what I’m trying to say is this whole thing is your fault.
Ben Collins, for his massive amounts of help with creating the audio-reactive visuals, as well as running my recital and making sure everything goes smoothly.
Chris Barrick for giving us access to the livestream account, and Kyle Yapp for agreeing to help run the livestream so that so many people who could not be in attendance today can still experience it.
Jim King, at King’s Keyboard, for providing a phenomenal piano for us to use in this performance.
Collin Kuss, Anthony Gaines, the Something Singers, and all of the other friends whom I dearly love and value for their help and contributions to make this a reality.
Sam Sidorowicz for his technical expertise in helping me during my recital hearing and figuring out a lot of the technical portions of my recital that I still don’t understand.
Kaleb Prescott for creating amazing choreography that greatly enhanced the performance of (Loco)motion
John Dorsey, for providing me with continued guidance and insight to help me become the musician I am today.
Claire Castle, Kayla Cieslak, Jamie Gallupe, Casie LaMay, Sebastian Lubahn, Josh Marzan, Phil Rinke, Emily Smith, Joachim Stepniewski, Robbie Thorburn, Dan Winnick, and all of the musicians who have made this so much more than what I could have ever hoped it could be.