By Jiana Martin ('26)
Two senior composition recitals are coming up with Citlali Sanchez-Acosta’s (‘24) occurring on Monday Feb. 19 and Kaitlin Kleinau’s (‘24) recital on Wednesday Feb. 21. Both will be in the Center for the Arts Recital Hall at 6:30 p.m., and each hour-long performance will feature the artists’ original works.
Sanchez-Acosta is a music composition major who transferred to Houghton University from her local community college and has enjoyed her time in the Greatbatch School of Music program.
“It’s a really good program. It’s pretty close-knit, which is really nice and everyone supports each other,” Sanchez-Acosta reflected.
Her recital will include eight to nine pieces, most of which she has written while at Houghton, which will be performed by around 20 performers. It will be a mix and match of solo instruments, smaller ensemble pieces and vocal songs.
Inspiration for her music comes partly from need-based occasions and partly from pure inspiration.
“Inspiration comes and goes and sometimes I just start messing around. This recital is a little bit of both necessity and inspiration,” Sanchez-Acosta commented.
Although there is no overarching theme, identifiers for the pieces are developing skills and time passing. The recital is a culmination of everything she has written.
“The pieces themselves are not a series of anything,” Sanchez-Acosta explained, “there are a bunch of different themes and motifs. I’m bringing back a lot of my old works. One thing I know I’m definitely going for in this recital is seeing the progression.”
She likes keeping the original versions of her old works and then later refine them to see how she’s progressed and improved. During her time at Houghton, the community and her professors have greatly influenced her.
“My professors have definitely been a part of [influencing me]. Dr. Magin and Professor Ashbaugh have been super helpful in guiding,” Sanchez-Acosta thoughtfully said, “and community has definitely helped motivate.”
Kleinau is also a transfer student pursuing a music composition major with an additional vocal performance minor. The theme for her recital is “Woman Becoming: Love Letters” which deals with the idea of love in different forms, especially grief and love. Her inspiration for this theme came from an interest in different types of love such as familial and agape love, and wanting to explore more of it.
“I usually come up with a cool title and see how that works out,” Kleinau explained.
One of the pieces, “Echo” talks about a lost love and begging him to return while another piece, “Daffodils Never Die” is about her grandmother who passed away.
Kleinau’s recital will include eight pieces that are both vocal and instrumental ranging from choral pieces to a piano solo to a flute piece, and more. She will be performing in “Daffodils Never Die” and many classmates will help bring her music to life.
“Most of them have been so gracious and willing,” Kleinau gratefully said.
Reflecting on her time at Houghton, Kleinau considers it being a sort of rebirth as she has grown so much since she started. Kleinau attributes inspiration for her music to classes, professors and music she has listened to. Helpful advice she received from Dr. Carrie Magin was to listen to a hundred pieces before writing an original.
“Theory classes and music history are helpful. A lot of times it [composing] comes from listening and from what you want to write and hear. It is creativity paired with prior knowledge,” Kleinau noted.
For Kleinau, a valuable part of being in the Greatbatch School of Music program is that she is seen as a person first and a musician second. She’s experienced grace and care as a person and has been encouraged to become the best musician she can be.
“I see music as an expression of one’s soul; therefore, you want to do it in a way that honors God,” Kleinau expressed. “You want God to be a part of that. It’s not for my own glory, but for God’s glory.”
Dr. Magin, Associate Professor of Music Composition and Theory, has enjoyed working with both Sanchez-Acosta and Kleinau, and watching their growth. As a professor, she loves hearing how audiences react to her students’ compositions.
“I look forward to the final product as their work is shared with our community,” Dr. Magin commented. “It’s a unique gift to be able to create something that moves people, and even more special to help bring that ability out in student composers. These students have worked very hard to put on their recitals, and it’s a great joy seeing and hearing it all come together.” ★
