Jaden Stainforth ‘27
Staff Writer
On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6th and 7th, the College is hosting a weekend Winter Homecoming to welcome alumni and their families back to the Hill to enjoy a host of events. On the calendar for the weekend includes a dedication of the basketball court to Holy Cross legend Bob Cousy, class of 1950. Following this is a presentation by Michael Bonner, director of internal and executive communications for the college, regarding research about the College’s troubled past with slavery, among other events. Winter Homecoming also coincides with Holy Cross’s annual Giving Day initiative, as the school hopes to foster and spread purple pride.
Alongside these and many other activities, Julianna Stratton ‘26 and Brooks Scholar Robert Gardner ‘26 will be performing at the Cantor Art Gallery in the Prior Performing Arts Center Saturday the 7th at 12 p.m. Supported by the Department of Music at the College, they will be playing pieces that will explore the “complex themes of memory, political resistance, and the formation of identity through place and experience” according to Stratton. With Stratton on the cello and Gardner on the piano, they’ll be performing two pieces together. Dmitri Shostakovich and his “Cello Sonata” will be paired with a work from his student Galina Ustvolskaya titled “Grand Duet.” Hoping to make “classical music… more accessible for everyone” in the words of Gardner, the duo chose these works from the Soviet-era composers to craft a story of resistance in the face of great oppression. As the Soviet authoritarian dictatorship repressed any challenge to its rule, those against it had to be creative in their acts of protest. Gardner wrote to The Spire that he was “fascinated” by how composers “encoded their criticisms of Stalin’s regime” through music as the “consequences for speaking out were unspeakable.” Ultimately, Stratton hopes to carry out Ustvolskaya’s legacy and mission by performing music that is “genuine and strong” and that evokes the same turbulent emotions engendered through political repression and suffering. These two highly talented and gifted musicians are known for bringing dynamism, stunning pulchritude, and wondrous harmonies in all of their performances. Everyone from the campus community is invited to join them in this free concert as they seek to share an expression of the human experience through classical melodies.
If you cannot attend this concert on Saturday, make sure to check out other offerings from the Department of Music including a concert featuring the Brooks Scholars on Feb. 19th and a lunchtime jazz performance on Feb. 18th.
Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics
Copy Edited by Lauren Zerella ‘29
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