Baccalaureate Service Program

Program

Prelude

Benjamin K. Keating ’25, organ

Land Acknowledgement

Noemi Delgado, Director of Accessibility Services

Musical Selection

Vesper Sparrow | Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980)
8AVES
Tanvi Thatai ’25, soprano
Sarah K. Ruiz ’26, soprano
Ava K. A. Wadia ’26, alto
Sam Dill ’25, alto
Benjamin K. Keating ’25, tenor
Matthew J. Carlson ’25, tenor
Alexander Z. Alden ’25, baritone
Curtis R. Anderson ’25, bass

Call to Prayer

Reeshi Bhattacharjee ’25 and Shreeya S. Tilva ’25 – Hinduism
Nazlee D. Harunani ’25 and Fariah Jannat ’25 – Islam
Danielle C. Bruce ’25 – Judaism
Madeline N. Markham ’25 and Allison A. Juárez Wunderlin ’25 – Christianity
Miranda R. Lawson ’25 – Paganism

Jazz Trio

April | Reese Pike (b. 2002)
Reese Pike ’25, piano
Vivian Shanley ’26, bass
Owen E. Finch ’25, drums

Welcome and Introduction of the Speaker

Laurie A. Carter, President of Lawrence University

Address to the Class of 2025

Robert McDonald ’73

Jazz Trio

Wheatland | Oscar Peterson (1925–2007)

Closing Reflection

Terra Winston-Sage ’00, Julie Esch Hurvis Dean of Spiritual and Religious Life

Postlude

Helen Y. Panshin ’25, organ

Robert McDonald ’73

Robert McDonald ’73, an accomplished pianist on the world stage, will address graduates at the 2025 Baccalaureate service and will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music Arts degree.

McDonald has been a sought-after pianist for decades, performing in concerts and presenting masterclasses around the world. He has performed and recorded with Isaac Stern and Midori, as well as with numerous high-profile ensembles.

He is on the faculty at The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he holds the Penelope P. Watkins Chair in Piano Studies. He has been the recipient of the gold medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition, the top prize at the William Kapell International Competition, and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award. In addition to being the artistic director of the Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico, he has participated in the Bergen, Lucerne, and Salzburg festivals in Europe, the Four Seasons, Marlboro, and Brevard festivals in the United States, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, as well as at the Banff Center in Canada and the Music Academy of the West.

McDonald holds degrees from Lawrence, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Juilliard. He has taught at Juilliard since 1999 and the Curtis Institute since 2007. He was honored by Lawrence in 1990 with the Nathan M. Pusey Distinguished Achievement Award and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music in 2018.

In advance of a 2022 performance at Bowling Green State University, McDonald talked about how his Lawrence experience prepared him for what was to come. It was the first time, he said, that he had role models for a life in music.

“The Lawrence experience set me on the right path,” he said.

He continues to stay connected to Lawrence. When the Conservatory of Music took its 150-year celebration to New York City during the recent spring break—11 students spent four days in NYC attending masterclasses, one-on-one sessions, and performing at Manhattan School of Music—McDonald was among the alumni working with the students.

ASL Interpretation provided by ASL Partners, LLC

Music Acknowledgement

Vesper Sparrow was commissioned and premiered by Grammy award-winning vocal octet Roomful of Teeth in 2012. The work was inspired by Sardinian “cantu e tenore” vocal techniques and includes an imitation of the call of the vesper sparrow. Farnoosh Fathi’s poem Home State weaves in and out of the texture. The work was recorded for Roomful of Teeth’s Grammy-nominated album Render.

Production Acknowledgements

A very special thank you to the following: Alvina Tan ’06 and Brent Hauer ’10 for their assistance with production. Andrew Mast and Daniel E. Schwandt for organizing our musicians.