Northwestern students have the opportunity to take in an hour of music, food and fun as students Drew Lemke and Jake Ven Huizen present their end of the year recital 3 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 17 in Christ Chapel.
With Lemke on the trumpet and Ven Huizen singing, the event will feature the musician for a half hour each, along with a small collaboration.
Music has always been a part of Lemke and Ven Huizen’s lives.
“I started playing trumpet the summer after first grade,” Lemke said, of his first encounter with playing. “My uncle had an old coronet, and I was just ready to get going.”
Ven Huizen was also a young starter.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a singer,” Ven Huizen said. “I get it from my dad, who is a former choir teacher, so I was kind of born into it.”
Following their passion for music, both are heavily involved in the music department at NW, participating in everything from band ensembles to various choirs.
Preparing for the recital was a large time commitment. According to Ven Huizen, there were many steps they both had to take in order to complete their recital.
“First you compile your program,” Ven Huizen said. “Once you have that, you put it into program order, how it would best flow as a concert and then write program notes about each piece and composer. Then we had to do a pre-recital jury, where we performed for all the music faculty for feedback.”
Because of the time both students have spent preparing, they each have impressive pieces they’re excited to share with the audience.
Along with a piece called “Rhapsody in Blue” that features a piccolo, flugelhorn and muted trumpet among other things, Lemke is also excited to show off a jazz combo he’s been working on.
“We’re going to have Mandrew Currier on the keys, Kaleb Mortenson on the drums, and Clayton Ehlers on the bass,” Lemke said. “We’re going to play a couple songs and take some solos and stuff, but I’m looking forward to jamming.”
Similarly, Ven Huizen has prepared one of his favorite musical theater songs to perform, “Stars” from “Les Miserables.”
“I’ve been in theater for many years now and singing “Stars” has always been on my bucket list of songs to sing,” Ven Huizen said.
Both credit their passion and success in music to the professors that have helped them over the years. The skills they plan to showcase in their recital did not come easily.
“I look back on what we started out with as freshman and we’ve definitely grown in our musicality, and a lot of that just comes from the expertise of the faculty,” Lemke said, with echoes of the same sentiment from Ven Huizen.
“It’s like, our senior thesis, you know,” Ven Huizen said. “This is our big deal. It’s the pinnacle of what we’ve worked for in our major.”
Though the recital does offer the chance to showcase their work, Lemke also stressed that their performance is also meant to be fun.
“We have a pretty big variety, and its just fun to play the pieces,” Lemke said. “And our moms are making free food for the reception afterward.”
