Musicians fill Norm Asbjornson Hall with the sound of spring

Beginning at 12:50 p.m. sharp on Friday, March 19, Hayden Pritchard, an engineering major and music minor, and his instructor Gregory Young, Ph.D., professor of clarinet and composition, filled the east atrium of Norm Asbjornson Hall with all three movements of Franz Krommer’s famous 1803 concerto. Pritchard, a clarinet player for nine years, began working with Young three years ago when he was still in high school. “I usually am [a college professor], but when a bright shining star comes along...” Young remarked, ending with a warm, reminiscent laugh from both Pritchard and Young. Pritchard began playing the clarinet when he was young, after his sister switched from a clarinet to a flute. Suddenly he remembers, “there was a clarinet in the house, so I went, ‘welp, maybe I’ll try that!’ And I stuck with it.” Young and Pritchard both grew up in equally polymathic households, receiving parental encouragement in academic as well as musical pursuits. “My parents are both chemists but very interested in music. I started piano when I was five, so I don't know if I had a choice,” Young joked as he described his musical upbringing. Pritchard explained his choice to remain a mechanical engineering major while still being a talented musician. “I think it's good though to use multiple parts of your brain,” he said. “I have a lot of numbers floating around in my brain. I think I’d like to keep that part of my brain engaged.”

Young, primarily a clarinet player himself (but talented in piano nonetheless), accompanied Pritchard on piano, taking multiple solo breaks and grounding their duet in a tantalizing, playful game that seemed to find its way into every corner of the atrium. “We love playing up here because it's a good acoustic, so it brings out quite a bit,” Young said of Norm’s second floor. For two longtime friends who see each other as much in the classroom as on the ski and bike trails, they appeared to understand each other’s playing styles perfectly and never seemed to make a mistake, staying in perfect time with one another. Finishing their performance to the applause of 20 audience members, Pritchard and Young took a bow and continued on with their day, acting like they didn't just make the Norm’s east atrium sound like Carnegie Hall (which they had).

Pritchard and Young’s performance was just one in part of an on-going series of pop-up performances by musicians that take place every week in varying locations around campus. Pritchard took part in a pop-up performance last semester with the woodwind quartet, which he is a member of. Similarly, Young took part in a pop-up performance last fall with Dean Ilse-Mari Lee, Ph.D. of the honors college, and professor Elizabeth Croy. The next pop-up performance will take place on Friday, March 26, at the same time and place, with professor Julie Gosswiller and accompanying piano players. This is my first pop-up performance viewing, and while I plan to attend some more in the future, I can already predict Young and Pritchard will remain my favorite.