UCA Department of Music Brochure

BLAKE TYSON

Music DEPARTMENT OF

Music

AT UC A

The UCA Department of Music is an artistic community of more than 200 music majors who are preparing for careers in a wide variety of music professions. Ensemble opportunities abound for all UCA students and include the electrifying Conway Symphony Orchestra, the spirited Bear Marching Band, and the award-winning UCA Choirs, as well as numerous other large and small chamber ensembles.

UCA music ensembles have traveled to Spain, Japan, England, Italy, China, and Austria, with appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. UCA Music also plays an important role locally through the Community Music Division, and countless student and faculty performances in the central Arkansas region make UCA a true center for the arts in the state.

The Department of Music boasts a large faculty of internationally recognized artists and educators, who have studied at the most prestigious universities and conservatories in the world. With a specialist for every aspect of the music curriculum and so many local and international opportunities, the Department of Music makes it possible for students to reach their highest potential.

DEGRE E S OFFER ED UNDE RGR ADUAT E DEGRE E S • • • • • • • • • • •

Bachelor of Arts in Music Bachelor of Music in Composition Bachelor of Music in Jazz and Studio Music Bachelor of Music in Performance – Instrumental Studies Bachelor of Music in Performance – Piano Studies Bachelor of Music in Performance – Vocal Studies Bachelor of Music in Piano Pedagogy Bachelor of Music Education – Instrumental Studies Bachelor of Music Education – Piano Studies Bachelor of Music Education – Vocal Studies Minor in Music

GR ADUATE DEGRE E S • • • • • • • •

Master of Music in Music Education Master of Music in Instrumental Performance Master of Music in Piano Performance Master of Music in Vocal Performance Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting Master of Music in Choral Conducting Master of Music in Music Theory Graduate Certificate in Music (Professional Studies)

For detailed information regarding each degree, please refer to the Undergraduate Bulletin or Graduate Bulletin found at uca.edu/ubulletin.

The University of Central Arkansas Department of Music is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music.

WINDS AND PE RCUSSION •

With a wide variety of ensembles, students can participate in ensembles that perform classic literature, as well as commissions and other contemporary repertoire.

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Instrumental students have recently won the American Trombone Workshop Solo Competition, the Delta Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, and the Solo Woodwind and Brass Winners of the Arkansas Music Teachers National Association Competition. They have also been accepted to the Belgian Clarinet Academy and the Inside:Outside Retreat at Wooten Woods.

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Instrumental ensembles have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the College Band Directors National Association Convention, the North American Saxophone Alliance, the International Horn Symposium, the International Trombone Festival, American Trombone Workshop, and the United States Army Band’s Tuba-Euphonium Workshop.

Instrumental faculty are internationally renowned teachers and clinicians, sponsored by such companies as Malletech, Zildjian, Conn Selmer, S.E. Shires, Willson, and Pyware. UCA music faculty guest conduct numerous bands and honor groups, and they serve as officers for the International Tuba Euphonium Association, International Trombone Conference, American Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association, and Arkansas Music Educators Association.

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Faculty are internationally renowned performers who have won the Golden Classical International Music Competition, the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Competition, Myrna Brown International Artist Competition, the International Trombone Competition, and have been named Arkansas’ Best Classical Musician.

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Instrumental faculty have performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Boston Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Texarkana Symphony, Brass Band of Battle Creek, Keith Brion’s New Sousa Band, Monarch Brass, and Athena Brass Band, along with numerous national Broadway touring shows.

ENSEMBLES • • • • • • • • • • • •

Wind Ensemble Symphonic Band University Band Bear Marching Band Purple Rage Pep Band Conway Symphony Orchestra Jazz Repertory Band Studio Jazz Band Jazz Sextet Flute Choir Clarinet Choir Saxophone Choir

• Double Reed Ensemble • Woodwind Ensembles • Trumpet Ensemble • Horn Ensemble • Bear Bones • Natural Slides • Tuba Euphonium Krewe • Brass Quintets • Brass Choir • Percussion Ensembles

ORC HE ST R A AND ST R ING S •

Students have the invaluable experience of sitting side-by-side with music faculty and top professional players to form the Conway Symphony Orchestra, a regional semi-professional orchestra permanently “in residence” at UCA. Students in the UCA Chamber Orchestra perform in opera productions, collaborate with composers on new works, and have recorded original soundtracks for full-length films.

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Students participate in weekly lessons and masterclasses, often with international caliber artists.

The faculty works as a team to coach the string quartet-based chamber music program and the double bass ensemble.

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The guitar program has diverse opportunities for study, including private lessons, guitar ensemble, and jazz studies.

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The UCA string faculty features internationally known artists who perform and teach both regionally and around the world, including appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, National Symphony of Taiwan, Shanghai Philharmonic, Aspen Music Festival, Interlochen Center for the Arts, American String Teachers Association National Conference, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and at Carnegie Hall.

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Noteworthy student accomplishments include an undergraduate student and a UCA student string quartet competing in the national finals for the MTNA Music Competition, an alumnus winning a full-time position with the Arkansas Symphony, and many graduates securing teaching positions in the state and around the world.

WINDGATE CENTER FOR FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS The Windgate Center will serve as another venue for UCA Music, and will feature a state of the art concert hall that will be home to the UCA band and choir programs, as well as the Conway Symphony Orchestra. The building will also feature a large rehearsal space, percussion suite, and faculty offices.

SNOW FINE ARTS With a beautiful Recital Hall and multiple large rehearsal spaces, Snow Fine Arts is also a home to UCA Music. The building also features academic classrooms, faculty offices, and Bear Marching Band facilities.

PI ANO •

Students participate in weekly lessons, performance classes, and general recitals. Guest artists, public performances opportunities, competitions, and pedagogy classes contribute to our piano majors’ experience.

Casadesus, Joanna Hodges, Concert Artist Guild, and International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition.

They have also authored books and articles and are active performers, recording artists, clinicians, and adjudicators.

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The piano program includes students from around the world, including the U.S., Canada, China, Japan, Greece, Malaysia, and Bulgaria.

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Collaborative piano under the direction of our outstanding faculty provides students with experience in accompanying and chamber music.

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Students have won top prizes in the East-West Artist Auditions, the Clara Wells International Piano Competition, and numerous MTNA competitions.

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UCA Music is generously supported by the Friends of Music, and the Department is in the final stages of becoming an All Steinway School.

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UCA piano faculty have been top prize winners in competitions that include the Busoni, Kapell,

GR ADUAT E STUDIES • The Department of Music maintains an enrollment of approximately 40 diverse students throughout the year, pursuing degrees in performance, conducting, education, and theory.

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Graduate students may hold Graduate Assistantships in band, jazz, choir, orchestra, education, theory, recording, and applied areas.

• Graduates of the MM programs hold positions at the University of North Texas, University of Wisconsin – Madison, University of Northern Iowa, Furman University, Eastern Michigan University, and Texas Women’s College.

CHOI R AND VOICE •

The UCA Choral Division is committed to the personal and musical growth of each singer, as well as the enrichment of both students and audience members.

The ensembles perform advanced choral literature from a wide variety of time periods and genres, and choir members come from a variety of disciplines and majors across the university. There is a place for every singer in the UCA Choirs.

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UCA Choral ensembles have been selected to sing for the American Choral Directors Association National and Regional Conventions, the Arkansas All-State Music Conference, and are frequently invited to perform at Carnegie Hall and venues throughout Europe.

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The UCA Opera has staged such works as The Marriage of Figaro, Hansel and Gretel, and Amahl and the Night Visitors. They also commissioned and gave the world premiere of Lori Laitman’s first opera, The Scarlet Letter.

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Vocal faculty are internationally known artists, who have won numerous national, regional, and district Metropolitan Opera awards. They have won opera and musical theater categories of the American Protégé International Competition, the Rochester International Vocal Competition, the Golden Voice of America Competition, and the Luciano Pavarotti/Opera Company of Philadelphia International Competition.

Vocal faculty have performed with Opera Grand Rapids, Sarasota Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Denver Symphony, and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

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Voice and choir faculty are immersed in education and service, having conducted the Voices of Central Arkansas Children’s Choir, along with numerous clinics and honor choirs. They also serve as officers in the Arkansas Music Educators Association and the Arkansas affiliate of the American Choral Directors Association.

UNMATC H ED OPP ORTUNIT IES T h e un i que com bi n at i on of

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The Community Music Division is also home to numerous camps and instructional programs, including the award-winning Voices of Central Arkansas Choirs for grades 3-12. The division also offers outreach and community music partnerships.

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The Steinway Piano Gallery in nearby Mayflower combines a piano showroom, performance venue, repair center, and recording studio for unprecedented student experiences.

U C A’ s s u p e r i o r m u s i c p r o g r a m s , per f or m an ce f aci l i t i es , an d pr ox i m i t y to so many v enues and ar t s creates unmatched oppor tunit ies.

UNM ATC H E D OPP ORTUNI T I E S •

The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences operates an “Artist-in-Residence” program that brings professional artists, writers, and musicians from around the world to campus to work directly with students. Musicians have included Pancho Sanchez, Wynton Marsalis, the American Boychoir, VOCES8, David Gillingham, the Brentano String Quartet, and numerous others.

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The Baum Guest Artist Series provides funding for professional artists and educators to visit campus, and a relationship with the Oxford American allows students to experience jazz from touring professionals.

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UCA’s Reynolds Performance Hall is home to “Public Appearances,” which includes numerous pops concerts, Broadway shows, and classical and jazz artists every year. Recent celebrities and performers have included Gavin DeGraw, the Temptations, Gladys Knight, Kevin Eubanks, Glen Campbell, Spike Lee, and Wynton Marsalis. Tours have included Cats, Cabaret, Legally Blonde, and Rent, along with the Russian National Ballet, Sowetto Gospel Choir, and the National Symphony Orchestra.

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UCA is home to one of the oldest music camps in the nation.

The camp hosts over 500 high school students and nearly 1000 middle school students each year, providing leadership opportunities to UCA students.

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Music Camps for students and teachers. UCA also hosts the Arkansas Choral Connection Choir Camp, the UCA Summer Strings Camp, Music Theory Bootcamp, and various professional development workshops for music educators, overall reaching over 1,000 potential future musicians.

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International connections abound with students from Bolivia, China, England, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Existing partnerships with East China Normal University and Bolivia’s Orquesta Filarmónica de Santa Cruz de La Sierra allow international students to study at UCA and provide UCA students opportunities to study and perform abroad.

The Norbert O. Schedler Honors College at UCA has become one of the most full-featured honors programs in the nation. UCA also offers a University Scholars Program, and an Honors in the Majors Program. Through these programs and other individual directed studies with faculty, music students have presented all over the world, including the International Society for Music Education in Greece, the National Association for Music Education, and the College Music Society. Students have also had their work accepted into international publications, including Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, and the International Journal of Music Education.”

ACADE M IC AND T E AC HING EXC ELLENC E • UCA Music boasts a large faculty of specialists who are experts in the performance and academic content areas they teach.

• Academic faculty are scholars in their areas of music theory, music history, and music education, and they have published articles in numerous regional, national, and international journals.

• Music education faculty specialize in instrumental, choral, elementary, technology, and graduate music education, and they are leaders in professional organizations, such as the College Music Society, National Association for Music Education, and Arkansas Music Educators Association.

• Music education students have been named winners for best student papers and research presentations at regional conferences, and they have presented and published research at the national and international levels.

STUDE N T SUCCESS Throughout their study at UCA, students are well supported with healthcare facilities, wellness resources, professional development, subject-specific advisors, career services, housing and meal plans, scholarships, and financial aid.

UCA graduates are frequently admitted to top-tier graduate programs, including Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, Manhattan School of Music, University of North Texas, University of Miami, and San Francisco Conservatory, where one alumnus has won the prestigious Highsmith Composition Competition.

UCA graduates hold active and rewarding careers in music. UCA music alumni have performed on Broadway, at the Kennedy Center, and in Carnegie Hall. They are members of such ensembles as the Shangai Philharmonic, Harrington String Quartet, and Dallas Opera.

UCA alumnae are internationally renowned stars. Soprano Kristen Lewis has performed at the famed Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, l’Opéra de Paris, Berlin State Opera, Arena di Verona, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Dallas Opera, just to name a few. She has won numerous international awards, and began the Kristen Lewis Foundation to help provide scholarships for rising opera stars. Soprano Micaëla Oeste has performed with the LA Opera, Washington National Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and American Symphony Orchestra. She has toured with Placido Domingo throughout the world.

UCA alumni hold prestigious teaching positions at University of North Texas, Furman University, University of Wisconsin, Texas Woman’s University, University of Northern Iowa, Central Michigan University, and University of Central Arkansas.

The music education program boasts a nearly 100% job placement rate, with teachers earning school and district Teacher of the Year awards. Two music education alumni have been named quarterfinalists for Grammy Awards. UCA is the place to be for music education!

To receive more information regarding our programs of study email music@uca.edu or call (501) 450-5750.

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University of Central Arkansas | Department of Music Snow Fine Arts Center | 201 Donaghey Avenue | Conway, AR 72035 facebook.com/MusicUCA | uca.edu/music | (501) 450-5750