Re-recording "Love to me" by Adam Guettel: an Auto-Ethnographic Performance-based Exploration

Level of Education of Students Involved

Undergraduate

Faculty Sponsor

Katharina Uhde

College

Other

Discipline(s)

Music, Music History, Musicology, History

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-30-2026

Abstract

This research centers on re-recording "Love to me" from the musical The Light in the Piazza (premiered in 2003) by Adam Guettel (1964). I will be comparing a recording from 2024 (staged musical version) with a concert version (voice and piano) I recorded this spring of 2026.

My research question is: "What makes the November 2024 live recording of 'Love to Me' (musical version, 2-min excerpt, 1:40:42 -- 1:41:46) feel emotional for me? can the creation of a recording of the concert version of the same piece throw light on why the excerpt in question is so impactful for me?" My methods of investigation are practice-based, qualitative, music-theoretical, and auto-ethnographic. This research is based on my practice journal (February-March2026), the finished re-recored version (recored in February 2026), the 2024-recording, and an exegesis (assessment) of the 2024-recording and the re-recorded version.

During the process of this research -- 16th of January to March 2023 -- the goal was to inquire into the aspect of the emotional quality of the passage in question via an open-ended approach which lets the evidence speak as the observation unfolds so that insights may emerge and eventually congeal toward enlightening my research question.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

I was born on August 20, 2005. I am currently studying music with a vocal focus. I grew up around music, but specifically musical theater. I’ve played many roles, which include: Dmitry in Anastasia, Prince in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Cliff in Cabaret, and Fabrizio in The Light in the Piazza. Theater is my life, and I wanted to study a piece of music that has affected my life and ask the question of why. 

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