Graduating Student Recital • NUAGES • Daniel Johnson, piano

Nuages: From first glance at the piano’s keyboard, the contrast between light and dark is immediately visible in the black and white keys. Despite this mono-chromatic color scheme, the instrument is capable of infinite shades and colors of sound, evoking equally unlimited emotions and interpretations for composers, performers, and listeners alike. This program seeks to explore these gradients through the lens of the skies above in three contrasting sets.

I: Stormclouds
Cesar Franck’s Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue begins with ominous, swirling uncertainty of the prelude which yields to a foreboding and solemn darkness in the Chorale. The stormy Fugue is dramatic and filled with twists and turns, culminating in a powerful climax that uses themes from all three movements together at once, crashing relentlessly into the final bars of the piece.

II: Shadows
This set shows four different depictions of the night skies. Chopin’s Nocturne in E Major evokes gentle breezes and glimpses of the stars, with a tumultuous central section that calls back to the storms of the first set. Debussy’s Nocturnes paint hazy pictures of clouds drifting across the evening skies, full of constantly shifting shades of light and color, and in the second selection, the songs of mysterious sirens across the darkened seas. Filled with intoxicating energy, Ravel’s La Valse sets the scene of a nocturnal waltz under the stars, starting from near silence and whirling into a wild frenzied conclusion.

III: Sunbeams
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C Major, dedicated to his friend and patron Count Waldstein, is from the very first note an expression of joy. Again, from near silence, the light begins to advance before bursting forth in exuberance. The contemplative second movement again brings clouds and shadow, but the glittering third movement soars above them into pure radiant light.

Dan Johnson is a pianist and teacher in Boston, Massachusetts. As a performer who loves collaborating as much as performing the vast solo repertoire, he has performed solo and collaborative recitals, working with university students, professional soloists, and collegiate choirs throughout the US after Receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Piano from Oklahoma State University in 2015. In six years teaching in Minnesota with the Academy of Music at the University of Northwestern Saint Paul, Dan taught students of all backgrounds and talent levels and performed as a collaborative pianist with students, faculty, and guest artists in recitals and concerts at the university and on tour throughout Minnesota. Currently studying under Renana Gutman in pursuit of a Masters of Music in Piano Performance, Dan has studied previously with Dr. Spencer Myer, Dr. Thomas Lanners, and Merrily Stone.

Sage Fogle is a current second year master’s student studying Collaborative Piano under Professor Renana Gutman at the Longy School of Music. Before beginning studies at Longy in Fall 2021, they graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Music History from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music in Ohio. Sage is originally from South Carolina, where they were chosen to attend the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. Sage is an avid collaborator with instrumentalists and vocalists and aims to continue to build connections between musicians from different backgrounds and bring people together through music. Over the summers of 2022 and 2019, Sage lived in southern Austria and studied at the American Institute of Musical Studies in both the Opera and the Lieder studios. Recent performance engagements include vocal collaboration recitals in Cambridge, MA; Liederabend and opera recitals in Graz, Austria; performances with the Baldwin Wallace Symphony Orchestra in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Cleveland; solo recital at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. Sage has worked in lesson and master class settings with Katherine Wright, Gary Matthewman, Warren Jones, Barbera Bonnie and Ulrich Eisenlor. Previous teachers include Dr. Spencer Myer; Dr. Sungeun Kim; Dr. Stephen Taylor; and Dr. Alan Weinberg. Outside of music, Sage enjoys working with children in various learning environments, biking, and gardening

Gabrielle Siena is a Connecticut native pursuing a bachelors of Music in PIano Performance from the Longy School of Music. Beginning her piano studies at the age of 7, Gabrielle later attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Gabrielle won First Prize in the 2019 Audrey Thayer Competition and has performed regularly at the Connecticut Bach Festival. She has also performed at the Emerald Coast Chamber Festival and the Adamant Music School Piano Festival. Gabrielle is currently studying under Dr. Hugh Hinton.