Trombonist Cory Mixdorf and pianist Joni Chan lit up the Florence Kopleff Recital Hall with their smooth notes at a late Monday night recital. Mixdorf began the performance with an improvised charade, by pretending not to recognize the trombone.
“I thought it might make it more entertaining,” he said to the audience.
On most pieces, he was accompanied by pianist Joni Chan, who has performed across the United States, Canada, and Hong Kong, and teaches at Vincennes University.
The two-man show flew through the notes smoothly, projecting playful, quick-paced notes and somber, powerful notes, the dedication evident by the drops of spit that spouted from the trombone’s end.
“What I like most about performing is being able to convey a musical story to an audience,” said Mixdorf. “That’s really what performing is all about.”
One of the better pieces of the performance, “The Song of King David”, told of the trials and battles King David fought on his path to becoming King.
“It’s reflective of the boy he was,” Mixdorf said.
The team continued to float through the slow, sappy “Song to the Moon” from “Rusalka”, a tale similar to “The Little Mermaid”, and ended with the upbeat “Bone Man Walking”, leaving the audience on a playful note.
