Daniel's Senior Recital

If I had a dollar for every time someone has commented to me how fast Daniel's four years of college have gone by, I'd have enough to book another cruise! I agree with everyone that it has gone by very fast and it is hard to believe that Daniel will be graduating from college in May.

My theory on why it has seemed to go by faster than any other stage of his life is that he has been away at school. Other stages have gone by in the blink of an eye, but I was at least getting more of the day-to-day details from living under the same roof. College has been a different story and while we have stayed in close touch, thankfully, having the weeks and months go by without seeing Daniel has made the time zoom by.

So, that brings me to the point of this post:  Daniel's Senior Recital. If you're not familiar with music majors, they are usually required to perform a recital in the Junior year which is a practice run, so to speak, for the Senior recital. The Senior recital is a culmination of all four years of study and is a big event for a music major. Being a drummer, Daniel had to recruit other musicians to play with him (wouldn't that be be funny show to watch a drummer play solo for an hour). He also had to choose and arrange the songs and make the plans for rehearsals and secure the date for the performance with the School of Music. Pretty much gets things planned from start to finish and then gets a grade, and more importantly, the go-ahead to graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree.

I overheard Daniel talking on the phone to a friend before he went back to Knoxville after Christmas break, and they were talking about all the work that Daniel needed to do to start preparing for his recital. At that point, the recital was still a few weeks away. He evidently put his all into it, because on February 20, Daniel and his friends put on a performance that made everyone proud!

Daniel was so relaxed and he and his friends seemed to be having fun on stage together. In fact, several of the guys are some of Daniel's best friends, including Luther Allison, who played the piano, and has been Daniel's roommate for couple of years. Another guy, Jeremy Wright, who played guitar, has been with Daniel all four years at UT. Still another friend, the trumpet player, was at Hume-Fogg with Daniel for two years and then came to school at UT. Nathan Domini, who played upright bass, actually went to our church in Nashville when he was a child, and then ended up as a student at UT in the Jazz program and got reacquainted with Daniel. Small world kind of stuff!

In true Daniel fashion, he confidently spoke at the mic to introduce some of the songs and give shout-outs to his band and others. It was just a fun show to watch!

Grandma, Daniel, Mom, Bud & Vickie

Dad, Daniel, Anita, Keith

Daniel with Nana & Papa G

Good friend, John Dooley and his mom

Daniel had his typical "fan club" present:  Mom, Dad, Anita, Grandma, Uncle Bud and Aunt Vickie, Papa G and Nana. Some other relatives weren't able to make it this time (Nana, Papa, Aunt Dana, the Masseys, etc.), but were able to watch via livestream. There were also many of Daniel's college friends who came, as well as some friends from church. One friend, John Dooley, has known Daniel since the fifth grade when they were at Meigs Magnet School and his mother was their teacher (and she happened to be in town to visit John, so she attended the recital). All counted, there were around 55-60 people there, including his professor, Keith Brown.

After the recital was over, we gathered out in the foyer of the music building to congratulate Daniel and we showed some pictures of Daniel drumming through the years. We also had some custom decorated cookies to give to the guests, which was a special touch for a special night.