EMMA O’CONNELL / ASST. A&C EDITOR

Cierra Johnson and Sofia Aguayo commenced USD senior recitals with their piano performances on April 10 in the Founders Hall French Parlor. The 90-minute program reflected four years of dedicated musical study, highlighting the performers’ technical skills, varied repertoires and artistic voices. Johnson presented six classical pieces, and Aguayo performed seven. They concluded their recital together with a duet by Claude Debussy, “La fille aux cheveux de lin.”

The program included compositions by Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy — names that carry distinct weight, even to listeners without a formal background in music. Johnson performed “Grandes etudes de Paganini, no. 6 in a minor,” an infamously complex Liszt work that reimagines one of Nicolo Paganini’s most celebrated violin compositions for the piano. 

The audience melted into Johnson and Aguayo’s music as the two students put on a skillful and seemingly effortless show. However, each pianist’s journey toward and through an education in music was far from effortless. Mastery of a single composition can demand years of discipline, focus and persistence. Johnson spoke to this musician’s reality.

“Going through that process of finally getting such a long, difficult piece — sometimes ten or more pages with hundreds of measures — is really rewarding,” Johnson said. “And being able to play something that very few people on the Earth are able to play makes you feel like a part of a special and small community. It’s deeply personal to me.”

Those who have followed and supported    Johnson and Aguayo’s work far beyond this 90-minute performance tell their own story about the capstone recital. The recital was characterized not only by Johnson and Aguayo’s skill, but also by an audience that bore witness to years of artistic and personal growth.

Aguayo began studying piano with her teacher Mrs. Janet Jamison in kindergarten. Last Friday evening, Jamison sat in the front row, watching the culmination of her student’s journey in music. In a touching surprise, Aguayo performed two pieces from Jamison’s own senior recital. Afterward, Jamison heartfeltly spoke about Aguayo’s presence on stage.

“She doesn’t think about the music, she  just hears it,” Jamison said. “It just flows from her. I’m very at ease listening to her  because it   [the music] is her.”

Johnson’s performance — like Aguayo’s — also resonated deeply with those closest to her. USD senior Mackensey Speirs, Johnson’s roommate and long-time friend, shared  that Johnson’s playing carried meaning beyond its musical beauty.  

“I feel like her music and her performance is a testament to her personality,” Speirs said. “I can feel everything she’s feeling and portraying  as she plays the piano.” 

Other graduating music students will host their own recitals throughout April and into the month of May.

Johnson and Aguayo’s piano recital set the stage for   a  series of performances that each tell a personal story while also showcasing the USD music program as a whole.

Sofia Aguayo plays the piano, setting the stage for capstone performances. Emma O’Connell/The USD Vista