The Clarion February 14, 1989 Page 3
Brevard Duo wows Big Apple
Tony Sirianni (top right) at reception with friends and supporters from
Brevard College. (Clarion photos by Helyn Trickey)
Students should be
‘possible-ists’ says bishop
by Helyn Trickey
Clarion Reporter
Why would 15 Brevard College students
travel 900 miles, risk their lives on the
open highways, lose massive amounts of
valuable sleep and endure temperatures
too low for our southern minds to com
prehend?
The answer: To see Brevard College’s
“Ensemble in Residence,” comprised of
EC’s own Anthony Sirianni, pianist, and
violinist Kate Ransom debut at Carnegie
Hall, on Feb. 4.
Was it worth the trip? You bet!
The concert, which included musical
pieces by Mozart and Beethoven, was sold
out to an audience that delighted in the en
tire musical experience. Time raced by as
the duo confidently performed each piece.
The audience listened intently as music
flooded the room. The concert ended with a
standing ovation which prompted a
beautiful encore from the duo.
The concert hall, decorated in shining
gold and blue, played host to many
Brevard College students, faculty
members, and trustees. Present in the au
dience were President Greer and his fami
ly. Because of the enormous support that
Brevard has given the duo, the two musi
cians chose to announce their new name —
“The Brevard Duo.”
One of Mr. Sirianni’s students, Tim
McWilliams, a Jonesboro, Ga. sophomore,
was chosen to appear on stage with them
to turn the pages of Mr. Sirianni’s music.
Being on stage in Carnegie Hall was “ex
citing, but intensely emotional,” says Tim,
“because you have to concentrate so hard
on the music.” Tim admits that he was
very nervous before the concert, but “Mr.
Sirianni had written humorous notes on the
pages of the music to help me relax.”
Mr. Sirianni is an associate professor of
music at Brevard College. In the past he
has won first prize at the 1980 National
(Jershwin Competition. Also, he makes
regular appearances on public radio
broadcasts.
Ms. Ransom has performed in ten dif
ferent countries. She won the 1985 Interna
tional String Quartet Competition in Port
smouth, England. Currently, Ms. Ransom
is involved in the music program at the
Settlement Music School located in
Philadelphia. She has studied at the
University of Michigan, Yale University,
and the Juilliard School.
The two musicians first met and began
working together at the Highlands
Chamber Music Festival. Ever since, the
duo has dazzled audiences with their
energetic style and musical talent.
Tony Sirianni
New York Times reviewer Allan Kozinn
wrote in the Monday, Feb. 6 edition that
the new Brevard Duo performed “with an
impassioned, beautifully regulated ac
count of the Brahms Sonata in D minor and
a suitably misty and dark-hued Debussy
Sonata in G minor.”
Mr. Kozin concluded, “Throughout the
evening, Ms. Ransom produced a tone that
was rich in the lower and middle register
and thin at the top, but she shaped her
violin lines with intelligence and taste. Mr.
Sirianni was a consistently impressive col
laborator whose sensitivity to dynamics
and balance often seemed the perfor
mance’s driving force.”
by Helyn Trirkey and Brian Howell
Clarion Reporters
“Will you be part of the problem or part
of the answer?” Brevard College students
and faculty found themselves challenged
by this question from Bishop J. Bevel
Jones III at Spring Convocation Jan. 25 at
Brevard College.
The Resident Bishop of the Western
North Carolina Conference of the United
Methodist Church said, “this is an age of
unprecedented promise...the possibilities
are there, but they are conditional, and de
pend on our response to our time in
history.”
Bishop Jones said, “We now live in a
global village, a world of such un
precedented technological prowess that
we now have the dubious capacity of
destroying life on this earth as we know
it.” And he cited Winston Churchhill's
ironic quote: “We could bring the return of
the Stone Age on the gleaming wings of
science.”
But it could be otherwise, the bishop
assured. “I’m not a pessimist or an op
timist — I’m a possibilist,” he said with a
chuckle.
Delivering his rousing speech peppered
with humourous anectodes to an entranced
BC audience, Bishop Jones said the oppor
tunities for true peace, or “Shalom,” are
available now, but may not be indefinitely.
Shalom, according to the bishop, is the
place where God led Abraham to establish
his chosen people, Israel. This story is
analogous to the same situation facing the
present generation of young adults, im
plied Bishop Jones. But like Abraham, this
generation must recognize and seize the
opportunities that (Jod has opened to it.
'The bishop encouraged his audience to
“become informed atwut our world,” and
stressed the importance of education,
praising Brevard College as a “unique
school with a fine faculty,” and calling BC
President Billy Greer “a great human be
ing.”
Bishop Jones urged the young people to
“discover, develop and deploy your skills
and gifts — and then find a great cause.”
Praising President Bush’s inaugural ad
dress as “the most understandable and
pragmatic speech by a person in high
power that I’ve ever heard,” the bishop
said he agreed with Bush, that “the only
reason for power is to serve people”
through stewardship. “A peaceful, hopeful
society is ours for the taking,” he said,
“but those responsible must act now
because there comes a time when the door
is shut — the opportunity gone.”
“God is capable of giving us Shalom in
our time — but we must be responsibile
and responsive,” he said. But “the issue is
leadership — value-driven leadership.”
Bishop Jones concluded by asking ques
tions which demanded answers. “Will you
go atK>ut life thinking the world owes you a
living — or do you think you owe the world
a life? And settling the responsibility of op
portunity squarely on the shoulders of the
pensive audience. Bishop Jones demand
ed, “Young people, will you respond to the
challenges of you time in history?”
The bishop awaits an answer.
r
A proud President Greer congratulates Sirianni