Men’s hockey season update

By Katie Krull

Feature Editor

Andrew Ketterer makes a pass during the Cardinals' win over Lake Forest on Saturday, Nov. 30. Photo by Chris Ebert.

The Saint Mary’s University Men’s Hockey team is heading into their season break with a conference record of 1-3 and an overall record of 5-6.

The Cardinals had their home opener against Saint Thomas University, where they sported Veteran’s Day jerseys in honor of those who served. Although the game resulted in a tough loss, the Cardinals played hard with good execution early on in the game.

Honorable Mention All-MIAC player Bobby Thompson said, “Our season goal is to be above .500 before break, and overall we are, at the minimum, looking to split with conference teams in order to make the play-offs.

The Men’s Hockey team will return on Jan. 10 with a nonconference game against Concordia University of Wisconsin, then continue with the MIAC conference season.

Thompson said so far the season is a success. “We are a lot father then we have ever been, and we are all starting to come together as a team,” he said.

Salvation for Syria event raises awareness

By Katy Teske
Cardinal Staff

Dr. David Lynch speaks to students about the situation in Syria.
Photo by Mae Yang

Approximately 70 students attended the Salvation for Syria event on Friday, Nov. 8 to hear Dr. David Lynch speak about the status of the war in Syria.

Lynch, a political science professor and chairman of the social science department at Saint Mary’s University, was invited to speak on the subject by the Peace and Justice Club. Although Lynch does not specialize on the Middle East, he agreed to speak because of his interest in the present state of Syria, especially the difficulties facing the humanitarian efforts trying to get to those who are need of aid.

Lynch said, “The United Nations estimated 40 percent of Syria in dire need of aid.” Right now, the death toll has reached 110,000, and there are 2 million refugees, according to Lynch. With winter coming, the urgency to help these refugees increases, he said. However, humanitarian efforts are prevented from reaching many of these people because of the constant fighting and disagreement in the Middle East.

Syria, made up of a mix of many different religions and ethnic groups, has been under the rule of the Assad Regime since 1971. Since the Arab Spring hit Syria in March of 2011, the opposition has been fighting to overthrow the regime. The Assad Regime has used violence to maintain their position of power ever since it took control, and they view staying in power as means for survival.

As Lynch states, “There is no one opposition.” While the opposing forces are trying to overthrow the Assad Regime, they are also fighting battles among themselves. The United States is aiding the opposition, but there is no single leading group to speak for all of the opposing forces. It would be “impossible to untangle the opposition,” said Lynch.

The complexity of the situation leaves us observing with the fear that the conflict will spread to include additional countries, even forcing the United States to become more involved in active warfare. Lynch worries about not only the possibility of it escalating, but also the problems facing humanitarian efforts attempting to assist those in need of aid.

Students volunteer in Winona on Make a Difference Day

By Kelsey Hulbert
Copy Editor

Students rake leaves on National Make a Difference Day.
Photo by Courtney Euerle

Over 150 students from Saint Mary’s University took part in Make a Difference Day to rake leaves, paint, wash windows and beautify the Winona community on Saturday, Oct. 27.

Students helped out at over 30 sites including the Winona Visitor’s Center, the Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka, various homes of Winona residents and the first ever visit to Herbal Turtle Farms – an organic farm that specializes in various gourmet mushrooms.

Make a Difference Day is part of an overall SMU effort to engage students with the city of Winona so they understand how to be a good citizen and neighbor.

“Make a Difference Day is a great way to get outside your bubble and enjoy the nice fall weather, meet new people and put forth a good name for SMU,” said Lucas Sansovich, SMU junior.

Make a Difference Day is recognized as a national celebration of neighbors helping each other. The annual event was created by USA Weekend and takes place the fourth Saturday in October.

Ballroom Dance Club competes

By Regina Barbosa

Editor-in-Chief

Two couples from the Ballroom Dance Club at Saint Mary’s University placed in the top five at the Badger Ballroom Dancesport Classic on Saturday, Nov. 9, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“It was a huge competition,” said senior Gus Wiggert. There were dancers from University of Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Iowa, St. Olaf, Carleton, UW-Madison and some other schools, he said.

Dance couple Sarah Leitzke and Wiggert placed third in newcomer waltz, and couple Abi Osborne and Wiggert placed fifth in newcomer mambo.

“The interesting thing about it is that these aren’t choreographed routines we do. There’s a set number of moves that we have to use,” said Wiggert. “You’re judged on everything from the actual execution of your moves, to simply your floor presence,” he said.

“[The judges] really want to see if you can create the feel of the dance, as well as doing the moves,” said Osborne.

It was the club’s fourth time ever at a dance sport competition, and first time at such a large one. “In every heat that we competed in, there were about 60-70 couples,” said Wiggert.

Different dancer categories ranged between newcomer, bronze, silver, and gold. The newcomer category is reserved for those who have been dancing under six months, bronze for over six months and silver and gold are for more serious dancers, according to Leitzke.

“All of our couples danced newcomer and bronze,” said Osborne.

“As a club, we just started competing,” said Wiggert. “We are geared much more towards the social dancing,” he said.

“We’re not looking to be professional dancers,” said Osborne, who encourages people to give SMU’s Ballroom Dance Club a try. “This is something to take advantage of,” she said.

“It’s a fantastic club,” said Leitzke, “and it’s worth going to at least once.”

The Ballroom Dance Club meets in the dance studio on Tuesdays at 7 p.m.

iPath: Undeclared Majors Retreat a success

By Skylar Finkelstein 
Cardinal Staff

Students finger paint during the Art of Your Life Exercise.

The Student Success Center’s new iPath Undecided Majors Retreat, hosted Nov. 9, aimed to assist students to discover their true self, according to Chris McClead.

Despite a small attendance, the retreat was successful, and all who attended expressed feeling more comfortable and confident in the major they choose, said McClead. Staff from the student success center joined efforts to make the iPath a meaningful journey. 

A range of activities including defining one’s top four values and finger painting current and future self-portraits were designed to help students during the retreat.

A game was played where the participants would write down 16 values they held and had to slowly rip up the different pieces of paper with their values on them until they were left with one.

McClead led the final activity, which involved finger painting. Retreat coordinator Charlie Ness applauded his effort by saying, “Chris added a nice flavor to the day with adding The Art of Your Life” component.

The student success center recognizes that research proves that freshmen and sophomore college students need guidance when deciding what to major in.

According to Ness, the retreat is meant to be a day of discovery and guidance. “When we work with a student, we are often learning who they are at the same time the student is. So we can step back and provide the big questions, and allow space for students to answer in whatever way resonates with them,” she said.

Retreat coordinators Jackie Baker and Mitchell Lawson walked students through the six-step process to finding a college major.

The efforts made by staff seemed to pay off. The students walked out of the retreat with a new perspective of what to major in, but more importantly a more individualized self-identity.


Students are encouraged and welcomed to set up appointments with the Student Success Center staff to receive advising on proper steps to take while enjoying their college years. A similar retreat will take place during the upcoming spring semester.

Future Alumni Committee hosts first Cardinals Give to the Max week

By Samantha Borawski
News Section Editor

Photo by Dana Testa

A penny war, an email campaign, a scavenger hunt and a price-tagging competition were events hosted by Future Alumni Committee throughout Nov. 10-14 to mark the first ever philanthropy awareness week for Saint Mary’s University. 

The philanthropy week and events were created to educate students about the importance of giving back, not only to their community but to Saint Mary’s as well.

The week-long penny war raised $123 for Give to the Max Day. An email campaign alerted family and friends about other events including a scavenger hunt on Tuesday, where students had to take pictures of the buildings and spaces on campus that have been named to recognize some of our loyal benefactors, and a price tagging event, where different items around campus had prices on them to help understand the costs of items on campus that we take for granted.

The movie “The Human Experience,” which is in direct relation to the idea of philanthropy, was shown on Wednesday and there was also a volunteer opportunity to show that anyone can give back in ways other than monetary contribution.

Finally, Thursday, Nov. 14 was the Give to the Max Day event in which SMU competed against other non-profit organizations to raise the most money for their organization.

The event, held in the Cardinal Club, promoted Give to the Max Day by showing a live feed of the event on televisions and had an information table to raise awareness for those in attendance.

According to the Institutional Research Fact Book 2012-2013, SMU’s operating budget for all programs, both graduate and undergraduate, is $63 million, but tuition and fees only covers $49 million of that budget.

This is where the Saint Mary’s Fund comes in. For those who do not know, the Saint Mary’s Fund is the university’s main lifeline to fund the daily living and learning that happens in all classrooms, both graduate and undergraduate. Without the Saint Mary’s Fund, the university could not open the doors, turn on the lights, or admit or graduate a single student.

Future Alumni Committee President Kenzie Corrow said, “I hope that Cardinals Give to the Max Week has shown undergraduates why it is so important that after they graduate they ought to give back, to Saint Mary’s as well as other charities or non-profits they are involved with too.”

Conner Ellinghuysen, member of Future Alumni Committee said, “I hope people had fun and have a better understanding about why we should thank donors.”

Dance Marathon meets kids at Gundersen Lutheran

By Kate Bailey

Cardinal Staff

Students at Saint Mary’s University were given the opportunity to meet with child cancer patients Gunderson Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, Wis., on Nov. 17, 2013.

“My favorite part of the day was seeing one of the children at the hospital. She was playing with her toy train. She was happy to see us, but too shy to say anything. Her parents, on the other hand, were overjoyed to see their daughter smile and were thankful that we were able to give her our full attention,” said Nicholas Korchak, president of the SMU Dance Marathon.

During the visit, students were given a tour and met the children in the game room. According to Korchak, the game room is an important place for the children to go and play during their stay.  

The visit to Gunderson Lutheran was in preparation for the second annual fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital’s on Feb. 1, 2014. The fundraiser aims to provide children with the medical attention they need.

The fundraising event will feature a talent show by children from Gunderson Lutheran, and will take place in the SMU Recreation and Athletic Center from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Admission is free. Donations and proceeds will directly benefit Gunderson Lutheran Hospital in providing meal tickets for the families, medical equipment, medicine used for their treatments and other needs the hospital may need.

Students can purchase a shirt or donate money. A table with more information will be set up on Nov. 13, 2013 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m in the Toner Center.  

“Remember, 100% of all the money raised goes directly to the kids and their families!” said Dance Marathon Advertising Chair Catie Deysach. “By participating in Dance Marathon, you are helping children in hospitals and their families receive the care they need in order to get better.”

Students meet with public relations professionals

By Kaeli Todd

Cardinal Staff

Photo by Dean Beckman

Members of the Saint Mary’s University Public Relations (PR) & Business Club traveled to Minneapolis on Wednesday, Nov. 13 for a networking event and panel discussion featuring local public relations professionals.

The Minnesota chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) hosted “PR with the Pros: An Evening Discussion about the Future of PR,” in the Cambria Gallery.

Allison Halvorson, a senior at SMU and the secretary of the PR & Business Club, was very impressed by the discussion. “The event consisted of many individuals who have worked in the PR industry for numerous years,” she said. “The members of the panel had personal stories about their careers in PR and ways to make yourself a valuable PR professional.”

According to the Public Relations Society of America, the Twin Cities and metro-area has one of the most impressive public relations industries in the nation. Some of the most prominent names in PR attended the panel discussion to give advice to young PR hopefuls. 

“The best advice I took from the event was to take risks,” said Halvorson. “One will never know change until they change what they do. I also learned that it is alright to fail, everyone does it. You just have to learn from your mistakes and hopefully not make them a second time.”

Halvorson was one of nine SMU students who attended the panel. She recommends that young PR students take the initiative to experience events like this one. 

“I would definitely recommend other PR majors or those possibly switching to PR to attend events similar to this one,” she said. “PR really is all about networking, and these events definitely provide that opportunity if students are willing to attend.”

Under-Told Stories Project panel on human trafficking

By Mary Nordick

Cardinal Staff

The Under-Told Stories Project hosted a panel discussion on Nov. 13, to bring awareness to the issue of human trafficking in Minnesota.

The Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership and SMU sponsor the Under-Told Stories Project,  which is dedicated to raising awareness of under-told global issues, and is broadcasted by PBS News Hour.

The panel was moderated by Fred de Sam Lazaro, the director of the Under-Told Stories Project. Lazaro is a journalist who travels all over the world reporting on these issues.

The panelists talked about the rapid spreading of human trafficking cases in Minnesota. This is an issue that is widespread but not widely known. “Victims do not always come forward right away,” said panelist Michelle Garnett McKenzie, advocacy director at the Advocated for Human Rights.

“This year in Minnesota there have been 612 cases of human trafficking and 400 convicted,” said panelist Dennis Cusick, executive director for the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute (UMCPI).

The panelists talked about how Minnesota is one of the most affected states by human trafficking. Even closer to home than we think, Rochester is one of the major cities in Minnesota with high human trafficking numbers.

Panelist, and director of outreach for the Assisi Heights Spirituality in Rochester and member of the SE Minnesota Committee for Human Trafficking, Sister Marlys Jax is trying to help raise awareness in Rochester about this growing problem. “There are 300 homeless children in Rochester every night. Young adults can be recruited by these sex traffickers,” she said.

The panel talked about how there are more and more victims each day.

Junior Emily Trudeau said, “I had no idea that human trafficking was so widespread, the panel definitely brought this to my attention. I want to find a way to help raise awareness to this growing issue.”

Witness for peace: Drugs, guns, US policies in Mexico

By Jesus Martinez
Managing and Advertising Editor

Francisco Cerezo shared his experience of human rights violations.

A first-hand victim and activist came to Saint Mary’s University to share some of the human rights violations that millions of Mexican citizens, including himself, have increasingly endured due to implemented U.S. policies in Mexico. 

Francisco Cerezo, one of the founding members of Comité Cerezo, a Mexican human rights organization, said that he and two of his brothers were “unjustly” imprisoned for peacefully protesting against the Mérida Initiative.  According to Cerezo, they were in a federal prison for over seven years, where they were tortured physically and mentally.

According to Cerezo, the Mérida Initiative: Expanding the U.S./Mexico Partnership has been the primary cause for the increase in violence, political repression, and human rights violation in Mexico. The initiative seeks to expand and deepen both countries’ cooperation to maximize the effectiveness of disrupting organized criminal groups, strengthen partnership between the U.S. and Mexico, build a stronger border control, and to build strong and resilient communities in Mexico, said Cerezo. 

According to Cerezo, the Mérida Initiative is supposed to reduce violence and political repression in Mexico by strengthening human rights, providing and training Mexican officials with a specific code of conduct that treats citizens fairly. 

“Unfortunately, the initial intents of the initiative have backfired for both parties,” Cerezo said. “In reality, Mexico is being militarized by the U.S. in an attempt to have control in Mexico.” The fight on drugs has actually created a new conspiracy in Mexico, Cerezo said. 

The alleged conspiracy is that Mexican officials with the help of the U.S. have been forcefully disappearing people, Cerezo said.

“Blackhawk helicopters have been spotted being used inappropriately to stop peaceful protests against the initiative,” said Cerezo. “Mexican officials react violently against protestors.” 

Cerezo presented a video and a series of pictures where Mexican officials put a bag over an activist’s head to hide his identity after attacking him violently and prosecuting him for peacefully protesting against the U.S. and its initiative with Mexico. According to Cerezo, the U.S. is hurting Mexico more than it is helping it.

“Witness for Peace has made all of this possible,” said Cerezo. “The organization’s mission is to expose the effects that U.S. involvement has on Latin American countries, especially when it comes to military aid.” 

Cerezo urged students to join Witness for Peace, receive frequent action alert emails, and spread the word. He said, “You can join the team and fight for justice in Latin America.”

SMU community attempts sustainable living

By Katie Krull
Feature Editor 

Saint Mary’s University students and faculty are attempting to live more sustainably.

Individuals live sustainable lifestyles by taking shorter showers, turning off the lights, and saving paper in general.

Senior education major Sarah Jansen reuses her lunch bag when she brings her lunch to her student teaching classrooms. “I figure the less I throw away, the more money I save, and I like that I’m not adding as much to a garbage dump somewhere,” she said.

As a whole, there is a “Sustainability Forum” that meets four times a year consisting of a panel of students and faculty working together to discuss more sustainable lifestyles at SMU. 

Along with the individual efforts to live sustainably, there are many courses where professors have decided to “go paperless” to save on energy and paper.

Professor Dean Beckman utilizes Blackboard’s assignment submission feature to keep assignments organized, save paper and stay healthy. He said, “It’s nice during the cold and flu season to have papers electronically submitted, so I’m not catching and spreading germs and viruses through grading.”

Chartwells has also made the effort to be sustainable by eliminating the use of trays, buying local products, and utilizing reusable to-go containers.

Environmental biology professor Josh Lallaman believes that “education is the big opportunity, just to educate our students in our classes just to be aware of simple things they do.”

A rewarding internship experience in Sierra Leone

By Jesus Martinez

Managing and Advertising Editor

Ibraham Dickey teaches children in Siera Leone.

Ibrahim Dickey completed an education internship in Freetown, Sierra Leone in West Africa, at All As One Children Center (AAO), the orphanage where he was adopted from 10 years ago. 

Dickey, a senior majoring in cross-cultural studies, said that his duties as an intern at AAO included teaching and developing recreational activities for the orphans. “Teaching these kids was probably one of the toughest challenges in my internship,” said Dickey. “I found myself having to use my native tongue, Krio, to explain to these kids exactly what I was trying to teach them.” 

According to Dickey, the education system in Sierra Leone is not as advanced as the United States. Dickey said that he was teaching a sixth grade level class at a fourth grade level. He said that the linguistics course that he took at SMU with Jane Anderson, Ph.D., really helped facilitate his teaching.

“Even though teaching these kids in English was hard, I was at the same time reassured that I’m on the right track with my studies,” Dickey said. “This internship was beneficial in the sense that I now know that I can and enjoy working with kids.”

“When it came to the recreational activities, I realized that I am so Americanized that I forgot how much simple the outdoors can be,” said Dickey. “You don’t see kids play outside in the U.S., you see them inside playing video games.”

Dickey mentioned that his favorite part of the internship was spending time with the kids at the orphanage. He said that everyone was very welcoming, even if they did not know who he was. The only downside of the internship was seeing lot of the younger kids be sick because of the rainy season, Dickey said. 

Dickey said that he connected with the kids at the orphanage because they shared a lot of the same struggles. He said some of them did not have parents or relatives to care for them, so they were sent to AAO. “They treat each other like family,” said Dickey. 

“I use my experience as motivation,” said Dickey. “Always be thankful for being alive because someone out there has it worse than you.”

Insights: What the seminarian life is like

By Wilson Kubwayo
Cardinal Staff

Photo by Wilson Kubayo

The top priority of an Immaculate Heart of Mary seminarian’s life is prayer, which is one of the four pillars of formation. This spiritual pillar includes private prayer and public prayer.

Private prayer requires a seminarian to spend an hour each day in personal prayer. On the other hand, public prayer, such as Mass and Liturgies are mandatory to attend each day.

The seminary offers seminarians retreats throughout the school year that helps with pastoral discernment. “A retreat gives the opportunity to spend time and focus on prayer. It takes away all the distractions of school work and allows one to concentrate on his relationship with God,” said seminary rector Monsignor Thomas Melvin.

There are a variety of retreats that are offered to seminarians that are in different stages in their spiritual life. A retreat about learning how to pray and how to have a deeper relationship with God is available to first-year and second-year seminarians. For third-year and fourth-year seminarians, a retreat about spending time with God aims to help them discover their own vocation.

“I really enjoy seeing Seminarians mature and grow in their spiritual life as men and disciples of Jesus Christ,” said Msgr. Melvin.

Other priorities of a seminarian’s life are life of study, taking care of academic work; fraternity, spending time with the other brothers and growing together by learning from each other; and life of service, learning how to serve other people in doing pastoral works and house jobs.

Each seminarian is assigned a pastoral work and a house job at the beginning of each year. Pastoral works help to serve communities, and is divided by class.

There are a wide variety of pastoral works ranging from visiting the nursing homes, substituting or teaching at schools, visiting the prisons and the Little Buddy program here at campus.

Similarly with pastoral works, house jobs help to serve one another and live as brothers. House jobs include cleaning the stairs, bathrooms, halls, and dishes. Each seminarian is required to spend a few hours a week doing both pastoral works and house jobs.

An IHM seminarian is also required to dress a certain way throughout the school year, making it easier for others to distinguish him as a seminarian, and helping him with his discernment by living as a public person.

Review: Blue Angel 2013 a great show

By Ena Moats
Cardinal Staff

Phi Mu Alpha brothers singing the final song at the 2013 Blue Angel concert.
Photo by Janie Maki

     Good music, good people, and overall good vibes made this year’s Blue Angel, hosted by Phi Mu Alpha Nov. 8-9, a truly enjoyable show, and well worth the six dollars charged to many student accounts.
     The hosts of the night, Director of Student Activities Lance Thompson and Director of Residence Life Brendan Dolan, provided many laughs along with their introductions of the real stars of the show: 20 musical groups made up of Saint Mary’s University students.
     The wide variety of acts showcased students of all ages. From President of Phi Mu Alpha Miles Dunna’s performance in “Halfway to Miley,” and Oldie Moldie All-Stars, to first-year student Elliut Fonseca’s contributions in “A Girl, a Guy, and a Guitar” and “Orange,” each was an example of the broad extent of talent that stretches across the campus.
     Fonseca said it was a little intimidating at first to perform in front of his peers, “but it was also an honor,” he said, “especially considering that only a few freshmen got into the show.”
     Popular titles that were covered in the show included “Royals” by Lorde, “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, and “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon, among others. The final song of the night was sung by all the members of the male music fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha, to end the night with a feeling of community and brotherhood.
     All performances were entertaining for the large crowds, especially for those lucky audience members who were chosen from a raffle to sit in the best seat in the house: a big comfy couch.
     Alice Kaiser, a well-known Chartwells employee, was invited to sit on the honorary sofa for the ten o’clock show on Saturday. Alice commented on her position saying, “I just felt so loved.” Her favorite part of the night was the closing act with the Oldie Moldie performance, because she loved jamming to music from her own era.

     Others who attended the show could be seen doing a similar sort of jamming in addition to dancing, singing and laughing in the Blue Angel atmosphere.

Modern adaptation of classic satire hits the Page

By Paul Schmitt
Arts & Entertainment Editor

Photo by Jason Underferth

The Page Theatre recently underwent a Russian invasion the weekend of Nov. 7-10 with the student performance of “The Government Inspector.”

The play, written in 1836 by Nikolai Gogol, is a satire that revolves around the corruption of the citizens of a small provincial town in Russia as they spiral into a frenzy caused by the rumored surveillance of their town by an incognito government inspector. The SMU Theatre Department, however, used a script adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher in 2008.

“The play still takes place in 1836, but the language is very accessible,” said guest director Gale Childs-Daly, who came to department for the semester with experience text coaching for Winona’s Great River Shakespeare Festival.

Childs-Daly noted that one of the most difficult aspects of directing the show was working with such a young cast, since most of the performers were only freshmen or sophomores. Still, she said they were doing “very well,” when asked a day before opening night.

Though working with an unfamiliar director can be challenging, many of the performers seemed to appreciate it. Alex Green, a senior SMU Theatre major, who played the role of the Mayor in the production, said “working with a guest director is really great, because it gives us the opportunity to work with someone different, which is part of the main reason to be a theater major at all.”

Brian Pipal, a senior SMU Theatre major who made his role as Hlestakov his senior project, affirmed Green’s opinion, and said that one of the most challenging parts of the play was the humor. “I normally have trouble with comedic timing,” said Pipal, “and when you run a show a hundred times with no audience to laugh, it’s hard to see where you’re at.” 

Judging by the amount of laughs the play received from the audience, he had nothing to worry about. The adaptation modernized much of the humor in Gogol’s original, and added slapstick humor, jokes about sexuality and the stardom, and dance routines between scenes, all of which were relatively well-received by the audience.

Leung and Kirk showcase their talent

By Ena Moats
Cardinal Staff

A crowd filled the Figliulo Recital Hall on Sunday, Nov. 10 to watch the performance of Saint Mary’s University faculty members David Leung, Ph.D., and Ned Kirk, Ph.D.

Leung impressed the audience with his skills on violin and Kirk, similarly, on piano.  Both musicians conveyed their knowledge and passion of music through these instruments, performing four pieces by various composers including Beethoven, Schubert, Diamond, and Franck.

The audience, made up of both students and community members, was braced for the first composition, Sonata in C minor, Op.30, No.2, with a warning from Leung, who said, “It’s going to get loud, so get your helmets on.”

This piece conveyed the feelings and events of the early Napoleonic era around 1801, complete with cannon fire and the clomping of horse hooves.  The audience was able to visualize these elements through the highs and lows, which were produced by the combination of violin and piano.

The performers truly captured the essence of each and every song, staying true to the idea that music tells a story. Kirk and Leung told these stories in a way that would surely bring pride to the composers.  

These musicians’ abilities in both technical skill and interpretation stunned the crowd, and reminded the community to appreciate the phenomenal talent to which it is exposed.

Winona resident and concert attendee Julie Chaisson said, “I believe the talent here is world-class.”