Senior Trinel Torian held his senior re-cital on Saturday, April 14, in Donovan’s Pub. A former member of the Colgate Resolutions, Torian is an active participant in Masque and Triangle and recently per-formed in Rent and the bi-annual Cabaret.

Donovan’s Pub was filled with friends and fans of Torian’s eagerly awaiting the 6:30 p.m. start of the show. When the time came, Torian, backed by three supporting vocalists, a bassist, a pianist and a drum-mer, launched into “Heard It Through the Grapevine” with such explosive first notes one wonders how that much sound can come out of so slight a person.

Torian may be slim and have a soft, languid way of speaking, but when he sings, his voice is all at once powerful, commanding and beautiful. He delivered a set list comprised of both contemporary and older artists, effortlessly traversing a broad range of delicate head voice and strong, low chest voice.

His program included artists such as John Legend, Adele, Alicia Keys and Ste-vie Wonder, but Torian made each song his own. For example, Torian performed “Summertime,” originally composed by Gershwin and frequently reproduced since, in a personal sort of jazzy-pop style unlike any other reproductions to show his individuality as a performer.

Throughout the performance it was clear that Torian was enjoying himself. He was so expressive while singing and very liberal with his movement. Many times between numbers he would pause, flash the audi-ence a huge smile and say sincerely how happy he was to have the audience there to experience his recital.

Torian featured many artists in his re-cital, but some favorites appeared to have been Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Alicia Keys, all of whom Torian said he really admired.

And then there was a Whitney Houston tribute. Torian was visibly moved when talking about his admiration for Houston, recalling how he learned of her death on his birthday, and declaring, “She played the soundtrack to my life.”

After the Whitney Houston tribute of “I Will Always Love You,” Torian’s back-ground vocalists, sophomore Karl Jackson and seniors Christie Flemming and Chloe Nwangwu (who Torian fondly referred to as KCC), performed an interlude piece and, after a few more amazing numbers, the recital was over.

Songs for You was truly an amazing pre-sentation of Torian’s talents as a vocalist. He demonstrated his incredible range in both vocal ability and musical style, and accomplished an incredible feat in design-ing, hosting and starring in his recital. In addition to background vocals by Jackson, Flemming and Nwangwu, Torian’s voice was supplemented by University Chaplain Mark Shiner on the drums, Mason Mc-Dowell on the piano and Reggie Seigler on the bass.

Contact Claire Aziz at [email protected].