Undergraduate Honors Performance
Meditation for the Left Hand alone (1929) - Leopold Godowsky (0:00)
Ikons Op. 6 No. 1 - Einojuhani Rautavaara (4:50)
Prelude Op. 32 No. 10 in b minor - Sergei Rachmaninov (9:00)
Pianofall - Shayan Kalantar (16:00)
In order to graduate with honors from UC San Diego’s Music Program, one must hold a solo concert during their senior year. I had been preparing an extensive program since the beginning of the year, but I couldn’t have expected to break my right wrist on the ski slopes and require surgery halfway through the school year! This, of course, threw everything I had been envisioning down the drain, and I instead went with a program I developed much later in the year, with pieces which became a part of my repertoire largely after I broke my wrist.
Godowski’s Meditation is a special one, being for the left hand alone, and I finally had the excuse to tackle it with only a left hand to use for the time being! Rautavaara’s Ikons and Rachmaninov’s Prelude were more of a challenge to myself in recovery post-surgery, and I was glad to be able to include them in my Honors program despite starting to study them so late! The real hidden gem in the performance is Pianofall, though. It is the only other recorded live version of Pianofall, and it’s unique because I improvised and recorded the original Pianofall with only my left hand, but was able to use both hands for the performance. That changed my improvisation during the performance a lot, but I wouldn’t exactly judge it as better or worse despite having another whole hand!
In retrospect, I’m glad to have been able to end my studies at UCSD on such a great note despite any setbacks which appeared during the school year. More than anything, I’m proud of myself for getting over the fear and worry of a pianist who just injured one of his hands. It took unwavering self-confidence and positivity to be able to push past all doubt coming from myself and others and make progress despite the circumstances, and my Honors Performance is a testament to that work. I’m glad to report that my wrist has since healed back to 100% as far as I can tell, and the sky is the limit when it comes to the next challenge!
I was also able to have some fun with graphic design using my Adobe InDesign skils, and made my own program booklet instead of relying on the department! This allowed me to use pictures of my own which mean something to me, and get much more in-depth with the spacing and overall layout/design of the program.
click the image to see the full program
