Marilyn Coles has made a career of performing in the opera houses of Europe and passing on the same operatic style to her students, but on Saturday the Eastern professor chose to deviate from her usual selections and instead focus on music closer to home.

Coles, a vocal music professor, took to the recital hall stage in the Doudna Fine Arts Center on Saturday in “An Evening of American Song” as part of the faculty recital series.

Selections from the concert included songs of well-known American composers and lyricists, including Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter and Duke Ellington— all favorites of Cole’s.

“I’m doing songs I don’t usually do in a recital,” Coles told the audience. “I made it full circle. I grew up singing these songs before moving into classical and now here I am singing these songs again.”

Many of Cole’s songs, such as “I Got It Bad And That Aint Good” by Paul Webster and Duke Ellington and “Mean to Me” by Fred E. Ahlert and Roy Turk, had a melancholy tone to them.

Coles said in spite of the grave tone, she had no intention of leaving the audience in tears.

“I only sing songs I really love. It just so happens all the songs I love are sad,” she said. “I try to throw an upbeat song in there to keep everyone from sobbing.”

Coles said she owed her ease of performance in part to her pianist for the evening Paul Johnston, the coordinator for the combo program, who flowed seamlessly into improvised segments as well as ended each song with a sense of somber finality.

“Johnny Carson once said to Tony Bennett that singing while standing alone on stage with just a piano has got to be about one of the hardest things to do,” Coles said. “I happen to think that singing with Paul Johnston at the piano is easy.”

Following the performance, Coles and Johnston left the stage and were met with praise outside of the recital hall.

Lucas Snow, a junior music major, said Cole’s opera voice blended well with the Americana set list.

“I thought going back to (songs) she loved as a child was a great selection,” Snow said. “It brought in color and a nice sense of character.”

Donna Hammond, a Casey resident, said Coles and Johnston even managed to make their style connect to audience members self admittedly not well versed in music theory and jargon.

“She did a great job and that Paul Johnston, is he great or what?” Hamond said.

Coles found some of her strongest praise from her own student Debbie Hunton, a Casey resident.

“She’s got the tone and she’s got the power,” Hunton said.

Andrew Crivilare can be reached at 581-2812 or at ajcrivilare@eiu.edu.