2014–15 Music at Gordon

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Highlights 2014–2015

It has been a wonderful year for the Department of Music at Gordon!

I was honored to come on board as Department chair in July 2014 and am truly excited about the future of music at Gordon College. Some highlights from the year so far are included in this photo newsletter. Please enjoy these snapshots: meet some of the new faces in our Department, become familiar with our students’ activities, and learn about the many special events we host.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Phillips Music center in the near future!

Dr. Sarita Kwok Chair, Department of Music

Acclaimed Korean pianist Eunhae Grace Lee joined the Gordon Department of Music faculty last fall. She is seen here coaching cellist Jeffrey Bianchine, a junior music education major.

Dr. Alton C. Bynum and his wife Judith are honored

by President D. Michael Lindsay at a concert commemorating the naming of the Alton C. Bynum Recital Series at Gordon College. Instrumental in the development of the music major at Gordon College, Dr. Bynum served on the faculty and as chair of the Department of Music from 1964 to 1999.

During Musicianship, a weekly master-class in which students develop their performance skills in a supportive peer environment, Dr. Kwok gives constructive feedback to student performers.

Talented Dutch guitarist Robert Bekkers joined the Gordon Department of Music faculty in fall 2014. He is seen here teaching junior Andrew Kang, an economics and history double major who plays in Gordon’s Chapel band. Andrew is studying the guitar to enrich his musical knowledge.

The Arabella String Quartet perform an innovative program of short works

by Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Wolf, Turina and Shostakovich in the Alton C. Bynum Recital Series. This sold-out October 2014 concert was the first performance on Gordon’s campus featuring new department chair Dr. Sarita Kwok (center), along with (left to right) Julie Eskar (Concertmistress, Danish National Chamber Orchestra), Ettore Causa (Professor of Viola, Yale School of Music), and Dr. Kwok’s husband, Alexandre Lecarme (Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist).

For more than a decade, there has been a 100% placement rate for Gordon music education majors upon graduation. Dr. Sandra Doneski (pictured below in a community workshop), Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Music Education, is President-elect of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association.

With world-class performing artists visiting the Gordon campus frequently, Department of Music students have the opportunity to interact with these artists in a master-class setting. Senior music education student Jacob Seipt enjoys time with saxophonist Dr. Todd Goranson, Associate Professor at Messiah College and member of the awarding-winning ensemble Triforia Winds, which performed at Gordon in October 2014.

The Gordon Symphony Orchestra performs its fall concert under the baton of acclaimed music educator Dr. Walter Pavasaris in November 2014.

The Gordon College Christmas Gala has been an integral part of ‘Christmas at Gordon’ for nearly a quarter of a century. A special occasion in which 150-plus Gordon undergraduates join with the Children’s Choir to share the gift of music and celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Gala is the largest Christmas celebration on the North Shore. For the last two years, both evenings of the Gala have sold out and this Christmas (2015) will mark the 25th anniversary of the Christmas Gala.

Robert Blocker, the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music at Yale University and an internationally renowned pianist, educator and administrator, inspires and encourages students in a master-class this February.

Dr. Sarita Kwok traveled with President D. Michael Lindsay to Korea and Hong Kong in December 2014. Dr. Kwok gave numerous violin and chamber music master-classes.

Dr. Kwok (left) is pictured in Hong Kong with students from St. Paul’s Coeducational College, and their music director, Mr. Warren Lee.

As part of the Alton C. Bynum Recital Series, Dr. Blocker performed works by Bach, Mozart, Poulenc, Debussy and Beethoven.

The Student Music Council (majors from all three degree programs—performance, music education, and B.A. in music) encourages collegiality in our department through events including chamber music reading sessions, caroling, a Christmas party, and student performances at homeless shelters and retirement homes. Council Members (left to right): Jarron Vanceylon ’17, Alec Sennott ’18, Emily Bartz ’17, Nicholas Southwick ’15, Rebecca Welke ’16, Marissa Smith ’16 and Jacob Seipt ’15.

In April, Music Education faculty and students provided music workshops for children enrolled in the Salem YMCA after school program, and two weekends of Music Mania, a community music workshop for children Pre-K to grade 6.

Students are introduced to musical theater, symphonic music, theory, world music, and listening. More than 200 children participated in music workshops at the Phillips Music Center over a twoweek period. Pictured here is Mrs. Mary Correia, an invaluable mentor and advisor for Gordon music education students enrolled in their pre-practicum and practicum teaching experiences.

The ever-popular Coy Pond Piranhas directed by Dr. David Rox present their spring Jazz Ensemble concert, filling Phillips Recital Hall with an enthusiastic audience. The Jazz Ensemble features both Department of Music students and members of Gordon’s faculty and staff, including avid “jazzers” Professor Jim Zingarelli (art) and Associate Professor Graeme Bird (linguistics and classics).

Metropolitan Opera soprano Katherine Whyte graced the stage of Phillips Recital Hall, presenting a recital of works by Mozart, Rachmaninov, Berg and show tunes by Gershwin, Kurt Weill, and William Bolcom for the Alton C. Bynum Recital Series. Our multi-faceted Department of Music Assistant Professor Dr. Jamie Hillman joined her on the piano for this performance.

The Gordon College Women’s Choir, directed by Prof. Faith Lueth and accompanied by Dr. Grace Lee, sing at a private concert in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Phillips, through whose generosity the Phillips Music Center was built in 2000.

Ms. Whyte shared invaluable advice, professional tips, musical suggestions, and personal anecdotes with star-struck voice students of the Department of Music. Five vocalists were selected to sing in a master-class for Ms. Whyte. Pictured here with Ms. Whyte in the master-class is Jonmichael Tarleton ’15, a music performance major.

Our highly regarded music education faculty and students presented, organized and chaperoned at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association All-State Conference in Boston this past March.

The MMEA collegiate chapter president this past year was Joanna Martell ’15 (third from left), who was a music education major at Gordon. Joanna was the recipient of the Promising Young Music Educator Award at the Conference, and was one of a number of collegiate ambassadors from our program who represented Gordon at its best.

The Gordon College Men’s Choir teaches the body percussion part of Lead Belly’s “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy” to its audience at the Community of Song concert at A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel. In the fall, the choir enjoyed a day of collaborative workshops and performances with the choirs at Lexington Christian Academy and also participated in the Providence Singers Young Men’s Choir Festival at Rhode Island College.

Nine student chamber groups performed in a marathon-length chamber music recital on May 4, 2015. Pictured here are Briana Moonan ’16 (music education), Nate Stowe ’16 (music performance), and our outstanding trumpet instructor and chamber music coach, Dr. Bobby Thorp, who joined the Gordon Department of Music last fall. Dr. Thorp has performed across the globe with his incredibly popular group Synergy Brass Quintet.

GORDON COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC Wenham, Massachusetts

Dr. David Rox (left), longtime Department of Music faculty member and director of the Gordon College Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble, is honored at the Spring Pops concert with the Chrisman Lifetime Achievement Award from the New England Concert Band Association.

In addition to numerous chapel services and on-campus performances like the one pictured below, the Gordon College Choir sang in a Sunday morning worship service at Grace Chapel Lexington (the largest church in New England), and was one of ten collegiate ensembles from Massachusetts and New Hampshire invited to participate in the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association’s Intercollegiate Choral Festival. The choir was also invited to sing at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Day of Remembrance ceremony. This annual ceremony for health care professionals, social workers and law enforcement remembers the lives of children who have died due to neglect or abuse.

LEARN MORE www.gordon.edu/music