Contributed photo
“I felt myself getting more confident and comfortable with what [I was] doing,” said Rebecca Boddie.
Stepping out in a sparkling purple dress, Rebecca Boddie enchanted the audience with song after song as she performed her senior recital on Wednesday, March 13. While it seemed effortless, this recital is the culmination of Boddie’s hard work.
“As a music education major, I have to give a recital that reflects the work that I have done in my lessons for my primary instrument; in my case, that is my voice,” said Boddie.
She continued, “Most—if not all—[of] the work that I have done with my voice coach, Jean Danton, was showcased in tonight’s recital.”
Practicing for the recital was intense, especially because the majority of her songs were either in German or French and were sung from memory.
“What I did was tried to recite the lyrics out loud whether I was doing homework or walking to class. If anyone had ever walked past me and I was talking to myself in German or French, that would be the reason,” said Boddie.
Boddie was able to keep a calm composure on stage, although she admits it wasn’t an easy task. She took comfort in a quote from her favorite composer, Eric Whitacre: “The terror of performing never goes away. Instead, you get very, very comfortable being terrified.”
She explained that she is both excited and nervous before any performance, but that her confidence grew during her recital on this particular night.
“I felt myself getting more confident and comfortable with what [I was] doing.”
Boddie captivated the audience from beginning to end, earning her a standing ovation before she performed an encore.
Boddie reflected on the evening, “After I got off stage, I felt like I was on top of the world. Any minor mistakes I made, I didn’t even care about at that point—which is uncharacteristic of me because I’m a perfectionist at heart who does get upset over tiny mistakes. But not tonight.”