Rachel LaMothe entertained family, friends, community members, church officials and students with her varied and beautiful recital this past Monday, May 2. LaMothe’s concert was a moment to showcase her musicianship that she has been developing during her time at Washburn.

LaMothe opened the concert with a rendition of Vivaldi’s “Four Arias,” her high, ethereal vocals suiting the contemplative movements perfectly, making for an opener that set the tone of the recital perfectly.

Then she performed two movements from Poulenc’s “Cinq Poemes de Paul Eluard.” The shining movement was “Amoreuses,” a fast-paced and powerful declaration of love. She kept the French literature coming with “Adieu, notre petite table” from Massenet’s “Manon.”

Her performance of Giacomo Puccini’s “Quando m’en vo” highlighted her beautiful singing voice and her ability to hit seemingly unreachable high notes. The first act culminated in a theatrical performance of “Mein Herr Marquis” from Johanne Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” – a humorous song about how the main male character confuses his love interest with his maid. LaMothe brandished a fan and gave very illustrious and aristocratic movements to highlight the humor hidden in the song.

The most interesting piece of the night was Bohuslav Martinu’s “Songs on One Page,” a collection of several short Russian pieces with varying styles and emotions with the only thing tying them together being the very short length of the songs.

Dvorak’s “Song to the Moon” perfectly matched with LaMothe’s vocals and was definitely the most inspiring piece of the evening. The beauty of the song’s words with LaMothe’s voice leading them along culminated in a beautiful piece that dazzled the audience.

She ended the concert with Leonard Bernstein’s beloved “Dream With Me,” which was a favorite of many audience members that made for a great and excitable closing piece.

LaMothe also thanked her teachers, accompanist, family and friends in her program. She thanked her parents in New York, her sister Ruth in France and friends. She also thanked AnnMarie Snook, her vocal professor, who she credited as a huge influence on her growth and love of music during her time at Washburn University.