by Kyla Parkins
The walls of the Music Building Recital Hall filled with the light lilt of a flute mingling with the strong melody of the piano. The crowd perched upon their seats silently. Pages fluttered as they were turned and notes sailed across the open space.
This was the scene on Sept. 24 at the Faculty Recital starring flute professor Sheri Jacobson. She was accompanied by her husband Gordon Jacobson on piano.
At 8 p.m., the duo filed onstage to begin a night of music. The seven selections included pieces from various time periods, creating a cultural experience of differing eras. Throughout the night, Sheri and Gordon Jacobson also explored the melodic contrasts of both energetic and flowing songs.
These diverse selections included “Hamburger Sonata Wq. 133” by C.P.E. Bach, “The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water” by Robert Beaser and “Six Studies in English Folk Song” by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
“I choose pieces to perform based on what I would like my students to have experience hearing and partly just what I really love to play,” Sheri Jacobson said. “I like any of the music that has reference to song so I really liked the six folk songs.”
Jacobson said that their Faculty Recital is not an annual event, although it does recur every once in awhile. The last time Sheri and Gordon Jacobson performed was two years ago.
“My husband and I just felt like we could fit this into the schedule this year and it was about time we did it again,” Jacobson said. “I like to do it because it makes me practice. It’s like a school class. You’re not going to study if you don’t have a test in the same way you would study if you had one…I might keep up to a certain level but doing a recital really makes you focus. It improves me as a teacher and a player.”
Jacobson’s choice to become a flute instructor was influenced by one of her role models.
“The instigator for making this more of a professional decision was my college flute teacher…her name was Frances Risdon. She used to be the first flute here in Spokane actually. She inspired me and that got me started,” Jacobson said.
She said she instructed in various venues before coming to Spokane. After she moved to Spokane, jobs became available at Gonzaga and Whitworth.
“It was a combination of the job being there and being something I really wanted to do,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson is just one of many faculty members who have the option to perform in a series of free faculty recitals. Coming up on Oct. 15 is a horn recital starring Jennifer Scriggins-Brummett. This event will take place at 8 p.m. in the Music Building Recital Hall.