Next week, two unusual performances at Fort Lewis College remind us of our good fortune to simply live here and have access to free college events. One is a first for the new Performing Arts Department; the other is a special recital in the esteemed Life-long Learning Lecture Series. Both are free.
At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jade Sophia, the first FLC student to graduate from the new Musical Theatre program, will give a senior recital on the Main Stage of the Drama Building.
“I would definitely describe my senior project as a cabaret rather than a recital,” she said.
Those lucky enough to see her in a variety of FLC productions, including the most recent, “Behind Me Is Silence,” know Sophia has a wide skill set. In 2022, she was one of the “Heathers” in the dark musical of the same name. She played Fanny Allen in another ink-black musical, “Nevermore.” Last summer, Sophia played dual roles in Durango Arts Center’s music-hall production of “Drood.” Earlier, she portrayed Ronnie in Merely Players’ “Hands on a Hard Body.” And most recently, Sophia took the stage in DAC’s annual “Rocky Horror” as Magenta. In short, while working on her degree, Sophia has auditioned for and secured roles with every company in our performance-rich town, including Lower Left Improv.
Born in Los Angeles, Sophia grew up in a military family. Consequently, she has lived in several different cities and even attended two different high schools. Early enthusiasm for singing and dancing crystallized at FLC, she said.
“I really fell in love with performing when I did ‘Heathers,’” she said. “I came to FLC because the Fort kept emailing after I took my SAT.”
In 2025, Sophia plans to continue “telling stories on stage. Right after graduation, I will be working at Enchantment Theatre Company in Philadelphia. I’m very excited about the future.”
“Jade: Rediscovered,” her senior recital, has been shaped as a journey, Sophia said, “the rediscovery of my love of the art of theater through song.”
***
At 7 p.m. Thursday, the Fort Lewis College Piano Trio will present a free program dedicated to the music and life of Dimitry Shostakovich (1906 – 1975). Violinist Richard Silvers, cellist Katherine Jetter and pianist Holly Quist will discuss the Russian composer’s tumultuous career and perform his Piano Trio No. 2 (1943-4). It is the final program in the FLC Fall Life-long Learning series and will take place in Roshong Recital Hall. The Dec. 5 program featuring Greg Hoch has been canceled because of scheduling conflicts.
The format is a lecture recital with each of the Trio’s members speaking about Shostakovich’s life, his trials under Stalinist oppression and about the music itself. This is a rare opportunity to attend a college seminar given by FLC faculty on one composer and one work.
“The piece was dedicated to Shostakovich’s close friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, whose death in February 1944 affected Shostakovich profoundly,” Silvers said. “His Jewish identity, combined with the backdrop of World War II, influenced Shostakovich’s compositional process.”
Silvers will introduce the program and give a short biography of Shostakovich. Then Jetter and Quist will join him in brief discussions about each movement. Quist will offer a conclusion and open a Q&A session before the trio will perform the entire Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor.
To say this is a rare opportunity to hear professional musicians with a passion for Shostakovich’s life and music give a one-hour lecture-recital, is an understatement. Trio members have titled the evening: “In Memoriam: Shostakovich and Soviet Trauma.”
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
