by Pete Rosenbery
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The premiere of “Worth Living,” a musical composition by recent Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate Thomas Edgar, highlights a Tuesday, Aug. 20, program by the faculty-student Versa’tile Chamber Ensemble.
Thomas Edgar, who graduated from SIU Carbondale in May 2024 with bachelor’s degrees in piano performance and aviation flight, will premiere “Worth Living,” during the faculty-student Versa’tile Chamber Ensemble at SIU Carbondale. photo by Russell Bailey;)
The free, public performance is at 7 p.m. in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall, 980 Faner Drive, on the SIU campus.
The performance will also feature the SIU School of Music talents of soprano Carley Jo Goggans, a graduate teaching assistant and master’s student in choral conducting; Julia Mrazek, a graduate teaching assistant and master’s student in clarinet, and cellist William Cernota, an assistant lecturer also in the School of Music.
Edgar, who is from the Chicago suburbs (St. Charles) earned bachelor’s degrees in May 2024 in both piano performance and aviation flight. A certified flight instructor in SIU’s School of Aviation, he is building hours to pursue a career as a pilot but will also keep working on composing, which he started at 15. Edgar recently won the Diamond Prize in the original composition category and a special award for creative innovation for “Inferno to Infinity” at the Saint-Saens International Music Competition 2024 Season 2 in late June.
Goggans selected “Worth Living,” a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox set to music by Edgar, who said that composing the work took about two weeks.
“For me, composing is not necessarily a continuous linear process, but rather something that progresses in waves of different sizes,” he said. “Some days, I will be able to make great progress on a piece, and others, it seems like I have no ideas.”
The program repertoire is:
“The Shepherd on the Rock (Der Hirt auf dem Felsen),” D. 965 by Franz Schubert, performed by Goggans, soprano, Mrazek on clarinet and Edgar on piano.
“Dream with Me” from Peter Pan, by Leonard Bernstein, performed by Goggans, soprano, Cernota on cello and Edgar on piano.
“Worth Living,” by Edgar, with Goggans, soprano; Mrazek on clarinet, Cernota on cello and Edgar on piano.
“Trio in A Minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 114” by Johannes Brahms, performed by Mrazek on clarinet, Cernota on cello, and Edgar on piano.
Donations accepted
The performance is free, but donations in support of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Illinois Blue Door Reopen Campaign will be accepted at the door.
“BGCSI greatly appreciates the opportunity to partner with the School of Music at SIU to raise money toward reopening our club sites in Carbondale and Marion,” BGCSI board member Kathleen Fralish said. “The theme of the concert, ‘Renewal and Hope,’ seems particularly appropriate as we renew our commitment to the youth of Southern Illinois, offering them hope and opportunity for their futures.”
The faculty-student chamber ensemble is under the auspices of the Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society and School of Music. Versa’tile was established in October 2021.
For information regarding the performance, contact Cernota at william.cernota@siu.edu. For information about the School of Music, visit the School of Music website.