GENTRY: And now Great Arts at Eastern. From the Portales campus of Eastern New Mexico University. I'm Jeff Gentry, Dean of the College of Fine Arts here on KENW, your Public Radio Network. Today my guest is Taylor Bassing, a student in the Department of Music at ENMU. Thank you for joining me today.
BASSING: Thank you, doctor Gentry.
GENTRY: Hey Taylor, you've been a senior, or you're a senior in vocal performance with a minor in personal financial planning. Is your family proud of your ambitious academic plan?
BASSING: Yes, they are.
GENTRY: I suppose they would because, you know, not everybody even has a minor, and so you, you're really balancing those academics really well. How did you learn about ENMU?
BASSING: So, when I was in high school, I came to choir camp, and I fell in love with the music program and the campus and Just made my decision from there.
GENTRY: Alright, well, you've been a fantastic contributor to this program as a vocalist in the Swanee Singers and other ENMU choirs. So, can you tell our listeners about the Swanee Singers and Jazz concert on February 17th?
BASSING: Yes, so it's a collaborative concert between The Swanee Singers, which is a group of six women, and the jazz band, and we have four selections that we're going to be performing collaboratively.
GENTRY: Yeah, that's fantastic, so I love it when we have that collaboration right where there's this ensemble and that ensemble, and you get together, which is very exciting. Can you tease some of the selections you might hear?
BASSING: Sure, one of the songs we're going to sing is Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and we've included some choreography in there. So, it's going to be a lot of fun. And we have our mashup that we actually created last semester, and we performed on tour. But we have not performed for an Eastern audience yet, so we are very excited for that.
GENTRY: Right, that was heartbreaking to me that we didn't get to see you last semester, but now it's all going to be. All at once, where we get to see- see your performances. and you mentioned collaborations with the jazz combos, how. How much fun is it when you actually get to be in the same room together for the first time?
BASSING: It's very exciting. It's a different energy for sure. A lot of times, I think vocalists can get used to just having a single instrumental accompaniment, and we make a lot of noise that we have a lot of fun,
GENTRY: Fantastic, and So what other projects do you have coming up this semester?
BASSING: I know we have an all coral night in Clovis coming up that is yet to be determined. What we're going to perform or the time, but that'll be exciting. A very good community collaboration.
GENTRY: Right, and then we have the musical. Little Women. Are you supporting that program?
BASSING: Oh, Yes, I am. I play Beth March.
GENTRY: Alright, very good one of the March sisters,
BASSING: Yes.
GENTRY: Excellent. Well, you know you've done operas. You've done musical performances in the past, and even the radio opera, our listeners probably remember that; right here on KENW, very exciting. So, am I correct that you and Julia Glunt are the veteran Sopranos of the group?
BASSING: Yes, and Cacey, Hennigan.
GENTRY: Casey Hennigan. So, all three of you have done Swanee singers for some time together.
BASSING: Yes, we have.
GENTRY: And So what kind of dynamic is that? Do you get to wear like maybe in a football team where you can kind of sense each other's moves and- and work even better together with the experience?
BASSING: I would say so. There's a good support system; we all have unique voices that, I think, makes our collaboration even better.
GENTRY: Good and tell our listeners when you are graduating.
BASSING: So, I will be graduating this May.
GENTRY: In May. Which is an on-time graduation which is very exciting, right? I know that the music program is a very ambitious one academically and then with your personal financial planning. Big kudos for- for those accomplishments.
BASSING: Thank you.
GENTRY: Alright, thank you, Taylor Bassing, for joining me on Great Arts at Eastern. The Swanee Singers and Jazz concert is on Thursday, February 17th, at 7:00 p.m. in Buchanan Hall at ENMU in Portales, New Mexico. You can also watch live on the Department of Music's YouTube page. And find all the Great Arts at Eastern coming up for this season at enmu.edu/FineArtsEvents. Thank you all for listening on KENW, Your Public Radio Network.
Jazz and Swanee Singers
Richard Schwartz, conductor
Buchanan Hall, Music Building (MB)
Thursday, February 17th | 7 p.m.
