Piano, Faith and Classical Music
Sean Kennard’s Outstanding Piano Performance at Lynn University
By Noah Barclay, Copy Editor
On Feb. 12, 2024, renowned pianist Sean Kennard performed a solo recital at Lynn University, in addition to a masterclass, providing people in attendance an unbelievable show with his grace and attention to detail.
“The inspiration for my music and my life is to glorify God through music,” said Sean Kennard, citing his inspiration.
This was well-perpetuated by a piece he performed reciting a religious story, written by a composer. An explanation before the start of this provided the crowd with information on how to follow the story. The sound of a plate breaking, the loudest pitch of the piano, quickly and loudly, yet gracefully shot through the ears of the crowd. The lower pitch of the piano was someone communicating with a woman. With all these noises and pieces put together, a story was to follow through the amazing piece.
“It’s nice to have a story like that to go with the piece and I think it makes it mean a lot more for the audience as well,” said Kennard.
Kennard, since the age of 10, has always kept up his love for piano. He felt that he knew what he wanted to do and that it never truly changed.
“It’s my faith in God and I feel that he called me to play music,” said Kennard. “That calling that I believe in has been very powerful to me, it can get me through difficult times and as well as triumphant times.”
Having knowledge of an instrument is a skill that takes practice, and can be a helpful tool, either for performance purposes, as a hobby or even helping one’s mental health. Kennard believes that having knowledge of an instrument is indeed a great skill. Not just piano, but instruments in general is a complete other language that must be learned through much practice, thus, making it such a triumphant and necessary skill for one’s literacy and knowledge.
“It’s a skill that’s kind of diminishing in our society I think,” said Kennard. “It used to be a lot more common for kids to just learn and play music as part of school.”
Kennard went on to state the benefits of playing an instrument.
“It’s like learning another language, you know,” said Kennard. “Music is a language and if you learn it when you’re young it does things for your mind and for your upbringing that you cannot get any other way. When you get older, especially, it’s something that involves your brain…it helps to stay sharp longer.”
Trio Barclay is an ensemble composed of violinist Dennis Kim, cellist Jonah Kim, who is a graduate of Lynn University, and of course, Kennard. The trio formed to create a unique musical experience. Founded in 2021, the groups mission it to make piano trios a memorable performance.
“I’ve been playing with them for so long,” said Kennard. “The three of us, the violinist as well, all went to Curtis, so although I met him a little bit later than the cellist, we have that same background in common and we’ve been playing together for a long time. This opportunity came up to form a trio at the Barclay theater.”
Kennard’s performance of many classical pieces, some dating back all the way to the 1700’s, was a breathtaking experience and his gracefulness with the notes and passion for it was extremely evident. To see Sean Kennard’s upcoming shows, visit SeanKennard.com.
