Feb. 14, as we all know, was Valentine’s Day and Park University wasn’t left out of the celebration. The International Center for Music held a concert that night in Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel.

The event had performances from Park music students. Simon Karakulidi, a senior music major and pianist, opened the concert with Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Les Adieux” and Frédéric Chopin’s “Etude in A Minor, op. 25, no. 4.”

The performance was followed by another piano performance by Anastasia Vorotnaya, ICM graduate student and pianist, who played “Moments Musicaux” by Sergei Rachmaninoff and “Transcendental Etude No. 10,” also called “The Appassionata,” by Franz Liszt.

The event also had performances of “Salut d’Amour” (love’s greeting) by Sir Edward Elgar and “Concerto in D Minor for Viola d’Amore” by Antonio Vivaldi from Peter Chun, an ICM adjunct faculty member. He played a special instrument called the viola d’amore, which has extra strings, called resonance strings, that vibrate in response to the vibrations of strings around them.

Other performances include a violin performance of “Meditation” from the opera “Thais” by Jules Massenet, performed by David Horak, a junior music major. Alfiia Mansurova, ICM graduate student and violinist, played “Vocalise” by Rachmaninoff.

ICM graduate student and violinist Orin Laursen played “Sospiri” by Elgar, “Intermezzo” from the opera “Cavalleria Rusticana” by Pietro Mascagni and Fritz Kreisler’s “Liebesfreud,” or joy of love. Each performance was directed by Steven McDonald, ICM director of orchestral activities.

The quiet ambiance of the chapel, while the performers displayed their craft, was very peculiar and for someone who hasn’t been in such an environment or to a concert in a long time, it was a beautiful experience.

I particularly enjoyed the group performance when everyone played their instruments with such an energy that filled the room. The soothing sounds from the instruments filled the air as people watched with an undivided concentration so much that any form of distraction could be easily recognized and pointed out.

The events had lots of people in attendance from Park students, performers’ parents and relatives, and Park alumni. Everyone who walked in through the door of the Graham Memorial Chapel was welcomed with heartwarming smiles and welcomes at the door and handed the program for the evening.

The 60-minute program had me wondering where the time had gone when the music director announced that it would only be right to listen to a song that has the word ‘valentine ‘in it to wrap up the evening. To close, they played “My Funny Valentine.”

It was a beautiful concert that left me checking the back page of my program looking for details of upcoming ICM concerts.