By Jen Lassen
Arts & Life Editor
The thought of performing in front of peers, family and faculty members typically makes most people’s crawl … especially if the performance includes singing.
For Emily Lattal ’12, this type of performance is a piece of cake.
On Sunday, Feb. 19, Lattal gave her senior recital, the culmination of all of her studio voice lessons she takes for class credit each semester. Lattal, who studies under the direction of associate professor of music Catherine Payn, credits her as being a “wonderfully talented and supportive mentor.”
Last March, Lattal performed a junior recital for an audience at the University, and ever since then she has been practicing for her senior recital.
“I was able to choose some of the music myself, and the rest had been assigned to me gradually since then. I practice about one and a half hours per day throughout the year, and two to three hours per night for the weeks leading up to the recital,” Lattal said.
Obviously, Lattal is not one to shy away from the limelight. Having performed at countless classical voice and opera experiences, Lattal has also thoroughly enjoyed singing with the University’s all-female a cappella group, the Silhouettes.
As a current college senior, it is only appropriate that Lattal look back on her musical journey that led to her culminating senior performance.
“I had participated in musical theater and choirs from sixth grade through high school and loved experience of performing! Through voice lessons, I discovered that my voice is most appropriate for classical music. I wanted to explore performance through college, but it was important to me that I receive a strong liberal arts education as well,” Lattal said.
Since Lattal values the University not only for the vocal opportunities it afforded her, but for the education she has received.
“There is a special place in my heart for my freshman hallmates from the Arts Residential College. The common interest housing really helped us develop a lasting bond. My most exciting experience has been my work at the Nueva Vida Health Clinic in Nicaragua with the Bucknell Brigade,” Lattal said.
As a music performance major, Lattal plans to continue studying classical music in addition to performing, yet she wants her career to be focused on the administrative side of performance.
“I would love to work in development, marketing or outreach for an opera company or another performing arts organization,” Lattal said.
To her delight, Lattal’s senior recital accomplished the goals she set for herself from the start.
“My main goal in performing my senior recital was to pull together all I have learned about vocal technique, acting, language study and musicality over the last four years. I do believe that I demonstrated my improvement in these areas and I truly enjoyed giving the performance,” Lattal said.
Certainly, there’s nothing better than putting in hard work and having it pay off; figuratively, and literally for those who attended her performance, it sounds like this is what happened for Lattal. We can look forward to hearing more from this talented senior in the near future, but in the mean time, we can all only hope to imitate the same work ethic and dedication that allowed Lattal to put on a stellar performance after days and months of hard work. In Lattal’s case, practice does truly make perfect.
