Four Wayne State College students are set to showcase their hard work and improvement during two junior-senior recitals this November, both at 7:30 p.m. in Ley Theatre. 

WSC Senior, Dusty Butler will be performing on the trumpet on Nov. 10 with her recital partner, Junior, Dalton Hazel, who will be playing the tuba. While Senior, Kelsie Hupp, a vocal primary, and her recital partner, Junior, Christopher Woerdemann, a piano primary, will be performing on Nov. 13.  

“It’s just a cumulation of all the hard work that we put in lessons, and it’s to spotlight how we have improved over our time at Wayne State,” Butler said. 

. “I think for me it’s just about showing the progress that I’ve made throughout my years in college,” Hupp said. “Since I did a lot of the songs earlier on, they’ve improved a lot since I did them my freshman and sophomore years. So, I think that’s really what I would like to show, the kind of growth that I’ve made.” 

Butler said she has had several downs throughout her college experience, including her dorm room in Anderson Hall flooding, but she hopes to show her perseverance as a part of her performance. “You can have all these adversities, but you’re still going to make it through,” Butler said. “If I can do it, you can do it.” 

Hupp and Butler have both prepared a wide range of works for their performances. 

“I’ll be singing a variety of music, mostly in foreign languages,” Hupp said. “I have a German set, a French set and then a Handel set, which is English and Italian.” 

Butler said she will be playing the E flat and C trumpets, alongside the standard B flat trumpet. “I think the coolest part about preparing for all of this is getting to play the different types of trumpets,” Butler said. “Before this, I had just played on B flat, but when you get to your senior recital, that’s when they’re like, ‘Play some fun ones too!’”  

“I just think it’s kind of crazy to think that I’ve gotten this far,” Hupp said. “My freshman year I was so terrified like, ‘Oh my gosh, one day I’m going to have to give a senior recital, and it’s like 30 minutes of singing, it’s so scary!’ and now I’m just super excited. I think I’m most proud of myself for being scared first, and then now I’ve grown so much that it’s not so much of a scary thing anymore.”