Spring Unrecital a messy and fun time for students, performers

Audience members at an event in Weller Hall.

Photo credit: Kayla Korb (photo from previous event)

By Mi-Ree Zwick

A student-run informal “Unrecital” in Concordia’s Weller chapel focused on the show itself and interactions with the audience, and allowed last-minute additions and messy performances that would not have been acceptable at a concert or a recital.

The Unrecital was hosted by the Nebraska Association of Music Education but was internally handled and performed by music majors.

Junior Samuel Dunbar helped organize the event with a few other students and also participated as a performer. Dunbar, along with others in the show, had only a few days to prepare for the event.

“Everyone was so willing and open to accept something that was a little messy and probably a little under-prepared,” said Dunbar. “Everything you did was a point of interest to the audience, and I really liked that.”

Before the show even began, the audience was invested. The lights had not even dimmed when Dunbar came out to buy time for the performers to get ready to go on stage. He was cheered by the audience.

“The Unrecital is not defined by its performers. It is defined by the attitude of the audience,” he said.

The informality allowed for performers to do pieces that they would not necessarily be able to do elsewhere. They ranged from a song about “poisoning pigeons in the pond” to musical numbers and VeggieTales.

“That was outstanding,” said freshman Nathan Sollberger. “I didn’t know what to expect, but that was more than what I wasn’t expecting.”

Sollberger compared the Unrecital to the annual fall O-Show and said that it reminded him of how silly and goofy the O-Show was. “Everyone was into it, and I loved it,” he said.

Performer Marieka Kaufman said that it was fun to watch because the audience cheered at everything. Performers and audience members could do things they would normally not do during a recital, such as heckling and responding to the heckling.

Kaufman said that the audience was “just a whole bunch of college students” who are having fun with every performer that comes up to the stage.