THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Faculty NEWS This summer, Michael Davidson, associate professor of trombone, performed at the American Guild of Organists national convention in Kansas City, Missouri, in the final concert held in Helzberg Hall. Also, he performed a full-length recital with his trombone trio Drei Bones at the 2018 International Trombone Festival in Iowa City. The Drei Bones also recorded a CD, which included five commissions written for the group by composers John Cheetham, James Mobberley, Sy Brandon, Tom Davis and Paul Seitz. Abbey Dvor ak, assistant professor of music therapy and music education, was recently appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Music Therapy, one of the leading research journals in the field. Also, former KU graduate student, Kori Wells Sta ab, MTMME ‘17, and Dvorak had the paper “Perception of Music Therapy by Direct Care Staff of Older Adults with
October 2018
Intellectual Disabilities” accepted for publication in Music Therapy Perspectives. Mariana Far ah, associate director of choral activities, was named the new president-elect for the Southwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association. Deanna HansonAbromeit, associate professor of music therapy and music education, attended the World Association of Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) from May 26 to 30 in Rome, Italy. Her oral presentation, “Music-based Developmental Stimulation on the Developmental Outcomes of Three Medically Complex Long-term NICU Infants,” which described the framework of a clinical music intervention with a focus on the specificity of the music elements (e.g. rhythm, tempo, melodic contour,
timbre and dynamics) in relationship to the infants’ behaviors. Presentation of this project highlighted the value of clinical research to an international interdisciplinary audience. In addition, Hanson-Abromeit, Helen Shoemark from Temple University and Kirstin Georgeson, KU undergraduate music therapy major and Emerging Scholar, presented “Patterns and Trends of Music Interventions for Hospitalized Newborn Infants.” This research poster reported on a study that is identifying, interpreting, and organizing patterns and trends emerging from the current music intervention research with hospitalized infants for perspective on the relationship between infant characteristics, identified needs, specificity of the intervention content and outcomes. This project will make recommendations for reliable music intervention design as it relates to the developmental competence of the hospitalized infant. Hanson-Abromeit’s attendance at WAIMH was partially funded by the School of Music and the University of Kansas Center for Research (KUCR). Georgeson’s attendance was supported by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Studenty Opportunity Fund. Hanson-Abromeit also attended the International Congress of Infant Studies, from July 1 to July 3 in
Cover Photo: In July, the KU Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Dan Gailey went on a 13-day European Tour that included the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Jazz `A Vienne Festival in France and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. The ensemble featured Kansas City-based vocalist Deborah Brown and faculty Brandon Draper, percussion, and Steve Leisring, trumpet.
QuickNotes - October 2018 - music.ku.edu
Philadelphia. This conference provided an opportunity for professional development in research design, current trends in infant research and networking opportunities. Paul Laird, professor of musicology, presented two papers at musical theater conferences in May and June. From May 9 to 11, he attended the conference Reading Musicals: Sources, Editions, Performance at the Great American Songbook Foundation in Carmel, Indiana, where he presented the paper “A Set of Parts for a Scholarly Edition of Gypsy.” From May 31 to June 3 he was in Los Angeles for the conference Song, Stage & Screen: The Musical and Its Others, Then and Now, where Laird presented the paper “Stephen Schwartz, Nina Faso, and the Search for Diversity in Working.” Laird also chaired a session at this conference, which took place at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. His essay “Leonard Bernstein: The Communicator” was published in English and Chinese in the program book for the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra and Chorus for 2018-19. Steve Leisring, was a soloist and president of the jury for the Fuxin International Brass Festival and Trumpet Competition in Fuxin, China this summer.
Scott Murphy, professor of music theory, edited a collection of essays entitled Brahms and the Shaping of Time, which were published in June by the University of Rochester Press as part of the Eastman Studies in Music. The collection concludes with Murphy’s chapter analyzing the opening of the composer’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello. Frank Heidlberger, professor of music theory at the University of North Texas, calls the book a “mustread for all theorists and performers of nineteenth-century music.” In July, Murphy gave the talk “A Remarkable Non-Duplication of Stretto in J.S. Bach’s The Art of Fugue” at the 18th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music in Cremona, Italy. Matt Otto, assistant director of jazz studies, taught at the Milestones Youth Jazz Workshop in Frenso, California this summer.
Music Composition Professor Forrest Pierce’s Mirror Cantata, a new commission for the American Guild of Organists (AGO), was premiered by Charles Bruffy, the Kansas City Chorale and Elisa Bickers, DMA ‘10 in organ, as part of the 2018 AGO National Convention at Kansas City’s Helzberg Hall on July 2. Pierce’s work, a fivemovement cantata for soprano soloist, chorus and organ, was presented on opening night of the convention. A new Pierce commission for solo marimba, Raw Silk, was premiered by percussionist JiHye Jung at the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Tuscany, Italy and then given its American premiere at the University of North Texas on June 11. The work was recorded in July for Vic Firth. Also premiered at the Cortona Sessions was Prima Materia, for clarinet and alto saxophone, performed by Gregory Oakes and Geoffrey Deibel. Pierce’s The Sun and Other Stars, a CD of large works for strings, was released June 1 by New Focus Recordings. The disc features cellist Kivie Cahn-Lipman, soprano Charlotte Mundy and others. Paul W. Popiel, director of bands, conducted the top high school bands at Southwestern Oklahoma State University Music Camp in July. He also led four concerts with The Lawrence City Band at South Park in downtown Lawrence. In late July, Popiel attended the biennial conference of the International Society for the Promotion and Research of Wind Music in Wadgassen, Germany, where he was appointed to the Executive Advisory Board and Editor of their quarterly journal, Mittuelingsblatt.
In June, Scott Watson, professor of tuba and euphonium, was on the faculty of the North American Brass Band Summer School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he taught and performed with the summer school’s Brass Band and the famed Nova Scotia International Tattoo. In July, Watson joined Paul Stevens, associate professor of horn, as part of the Infinity Brass Quintet for three performances in both the Cape Cod and Martha Vineyard chamber music festivals, where the group has performed for 15 years. Infinity Brass Quintet is pictured above.
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Ketty Wong, associate professor of enthnomusicology, had a productive summer of research and academic presentations in Ecuador and China. She was the keynote speaker for the Third Symposium of the Latin American Institute for Research in the Arts (ILIA), held at the Universidad de las Artes in Guayaquil on June 19 to 21. Her presentation examined the role and significance of academic composer Luis Humberto Salgado in Ecuador. She also taught classes at the institution and was invited to the television program “Sin límites ni fronteras” (Without limits or borders) for a 30-minute interview about her research on Ecuadorian music (Wong is pictured above, on the right, with the host). In Beijing, Wong presented the paper “Shaping Gender Roles through Salsa Dancing in China” at the Third Forum of the International Council for Traditional Music, which took place at the Central Conservatory of Music from July 11 to 14. She also conducted research in Shanghai and Harbin for her book project on the reception of ballroom dancing in China. The KU Libraries exhibit Documented: Perspectives on Migration and Creation features items and photos from KU School of Music faculty and students, including Jazz Studies Director Dan Gailey’s work Palos Nuevos, Kevin Walczyk’s Freedom From Fear, which the KU Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble I premiered at the Kennedy Center in April under the direction of Paul W. Popiel, director of bands, and a paper by Nick Waldron, a doctoral student in conducting. The exhibit will be on display in the Watson Library’s Haricombe Gallery until January.
NEW FACULTY The KU School of Music welcomed four new faculty this fall: Carolyn Watson, Daniel Velasco, Boris Vayner and David Colwell. Carolyn Watson comes to KU as the new director of orchestral activities and will conduct the KU Symphony Orchestra. Formerly the director of orchestral studies at Texas State University, Watson was a major prizewinner of the 2012 Emmerich Kálmán International Operatta Conducting Competition in Budapest, Hungary, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival. Watson has conducted orchestras throughout Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonic in Interaktion. She was one of six conductors to be selected for the elite Dallas Opera Institute for Women Conductors and has participated in master classes with Marin Alsop, Peter Eötvös, Yoel Levi, Martyn Brabbins and Alex Polishchuk. From 2013-15 she was the music director of the Interlochen Arts Academy
Orchestra and has also conducted the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra since moving to the U.S. in 2013. She is the recipient of the Brian Stacy Award for emerging Australian conductors, Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Prize, Opera Foundation Australia’s Bayreuth Opera Award and Berlin New Music Opera Award. Watson holds a PhD in Performance (Conducting) from the University of Sydney. Daniel Velasco has been named assistant professor of flute. Before coming to KU, Velasco was appointed to the faculty at the University of Akron in 2016. Velasco is the first prize winner of the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition, WAMSO Minnesota Orchestra Competition, MTNA Young Artist Competition and Claude Monteux Flute Competition; the second prize winner of the William C. Byrd Competition; and finalist at the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh International Competition. He has been a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador, Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Luciano Carrera Chamber Orchestra, University of Akron Symphony Orchestra and University of Akron Wind Ensemble. An active freelancer, Velasco has been a member of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Symphony, and has performed with Boca Sinfonia, Michigan Philharmonic, Akron Symphony and Pittsburgh Opera. He performs with the Solaris woodwind quintet and is a founding member of the Miami-based NuDeco Ensemble. Velasco earned a doctoral degree from the University of Miami-Frost School of Music and holds degrees from the University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin and University of Northern Iowa. Boris Vayner has been appointed as an assistant professor of viola. Vayner joined the KU faculty as a lecturer in 2017. Previously, he had severed as adjunct faculty and a member of the quartet-in-residence at Wichita State University. Vayner students have gone on to win concerto area competitions as well as local and national chamber music competitions. At Wichita State, Vayner was the founder and director of the Suprima Chamber Orchestra; and he successfully led the orchestra to performances in Russia and at Bargemusic in New York, where they collaborated with violin prodigy, Jonathan Okseniuk. Originally from Novosibirsk, Russia, Vayner has enjoyed a diverse career in music as a violist, educator and conductor. A member of the Grammy-nominated St. Petersburg String Quartet since 2005, he has toured throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The highlights of his career include performances at Lincoln Center, Library of Congress, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, Dublin National Concert Hall, London King’s Place and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Great Hall. He is also a member of the St. Petersburg Piano Quartet that debuted in New York in May 2014.
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Vayner holds a bachelor’s degrees from Novosibirsk Music College and Novosibirsk State University and master’s degrees in viola performance from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the New England Conservatory. He is currently pursuing a DMA in orchestral conducting at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. David Colwell is a visiting assistant professor of music violin at KU. From 2011 to 2018, Colwell served on the faculty of State University of New York at Fredonia and attained the rank of associate professor. Prior to that appointment, he was a member of the University of Virginia performance faculty. Colwell enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Middle East. He has given recitals and masterclasses at Eastman School of Music, Cornell University, McGill University, Swarthmore College, Ithaca College, California State University-Fullerton, Buffalo State College, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, the Deià International Music Festival (Spain) and the Palau March Summer Concert series in Palma de Mallorca (Spain). Concerto engagements have included the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra and the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra. Colwell earned his undergraduate education in native Canada at the University of Alberta. He completed his graduate degrees at Yale School of Music.
STUDENT NEWS KU voice and opera students Whitney WELLS and Daniel Loganbill and piano student Jonathan Young performed in Opera in the Ozarks this summer.
Anna Menendez, an undergraduate music therapy major, received th 2018-19 Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies Scholarship for Musicians With Special Needs. Menendez received the scholarship based on her musicality, selfless act of giving and dedication to Sigma Alpha Iota. KU voice and opera students John Meyer, Mackenzie Phillips, Anthony Rohr and Reno Wilson performed at the Seagle Music Colony in New York this summer. Philips and Wilson are pictured in a production of Candide.
Jennifer Potter, a doctoral student in music education, attended the Orff Schulwerk Teacher Certification Program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas from July 16 to 27. She completed Level 3 training and is now an American Orff Schulwerk Association Certified Orff Teacher. Mary Beth Sheehy, a PhD student in musicology advised by Paul Laird, took part in the conference Song, Stage & Screen: The Musical and Its Others, Then and Now, where she presented the paper “Ziegfeld’s ‘Folly’: The Music and Performance Styles of ‘Exotic’ Comedy Songs in the Follies of 1907.” The conference took place between May 31 and June 3 at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in Los Angeles.
Members of the KU Basketball Band and Marching Jayhawks performed for the Mario Chalmers 10th Anniversary Golf Tournament at the Jayhawk Club Golf Course on July 23. Formed by the former KU men’s basketball star and NBA player, the Mario Chalmers Foundation has a mission to create and support community-based programs that encourage the positive development of youth through sports and education and fund initiatives for breast cancer research and treatment.
ALUMNI NEWS R affaele Cipriano, orchestral conducting ’18, joined the musical staff of Sarasota Opera in Florida for October and November, as assistant conductor and coach for the productions of Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Britten’s The Little Sweep. In August, he was the music director and coach for the Lawrence Opera Theater production of Verdi’s La Traviata, which featured many former and current KU singers.
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Tar a Curtis, DMA ‘14 in vocal performance, performed the role of Hannah After in As One, a production of Opera on the Avalon in Newfoundland,
Canada. In a review in The Western Star, Wendy Rose wrote, “Curtis and (Andrew) Love’s impeccable performances were deeply moving, their amazing vocal capabilities beautifully complementing this impressive, inspirational and intentionally unnerving production.” Kristee Haney, DMA ’14 in voice performance, was cast in New York City’s production of Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain, which ran in May and June at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The New York Classical Review noted that she “charmed with her motherly concern as Mrs. Beers.” Haney also performed the role of Mercedes in New York City Opera presents Carmen at Bryant Park. Etta Fung, DMA ’15 in voice performance, performed the role of Amour in Gluck and Berlioz’s groundbreaking opera Orpheé in a co-production from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Opera Columbus and Toronto’s Against the Grain Theatre. In a review, Opera Today noted “Soprano Etta Fung performed the miraculous feat of not only singing Amour with charm and verve, but also by simultaneously clutching, twisting and cavorting around and about two billowing cloths in a display of aerial artistry. Ms. Fung was roundly and rightly cheered for such a daring flight of fancy.” Erik Mahon, DMA ‘18 in trumpet performance, has been appointed assistant professor of jazz studies and trumpet at Morningside College in Iowa. Madelyn Moore, DMA ’14 in clarinet performance, was appointed visiting assistant professor of clarinet at New Mexico State University. Martin Morley, BM ’78 and MM’81 in piano performance, was the featured soloist in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in California concerts with the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra in May.
seclusion, and strength on Sept. 12 at Swarthout Recital Hall. Inspired by poet Emily Dickinson, the work was conceived by Stoner-Hawkins and originally performed at Skidmore College. The production also featured Anne Jennifer Nash, faculty member Ellen Sommer, piano, and KU Voice and Opera Students Sar ah Hennessey, Daniel Loganbill, Kelly Southworth and Neal Long. Stoner-Hawkins and O’Connell Campbell studied under Joyce Castle, Distingushed Professor of Voice, who is pictured above with the performers. Elizabeth Sallinger, PhD ’18 in musicology, attended the conference Reading Musicals: Sources, Editions, Performance at the Great American Songbook Foundation in Carmel, Indiana, where she presented the paper “Keeping Score without a Score: The Study of Orchestration without Access to Musical Text.” Sallinger’s KU advisor was Paul Laird. Ryan Webber, MM ‘13 trombone performance, is a teaching adjunct at Bemidji State University. He teaches low brass lessons, trombone choir and brass methods.
Upcoming Events OCTOBER OCT. 8
KU WIND ENSEMBLE & SYMPHONIC BAND* 7:30 p.m. | Lied Center
OCT. 8 VISITING ARTIST SERIES: George Speed, double bass 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall OCT. 11 VISITING ARTIST SERIES: William Waterman, tuba 5 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall OCT. 18 VISITING ARTIST SERIES: Ayano Kataoka, percussion 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
Jánis Porietis, DMA ‘13 in trumpet performance, performed as a soloist in the Latvian National Song festival in front of tens of thousands and on Latvian live TV. Watch the performance>> Alumnae Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins, MA-DMA ‘10 in voice performance, and Sharon O’Connell Campbell, MAGFDMA ‘18, in voice performance, returned to Murphy Hall to perform Sister Show Me Eternity: Musical scenes of sisterhood,
OCT. 21
DOUBLE REED DAY CONCERT 5 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
OCT. 22
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: Daniel Velasco, flute; Boris Vayner, viola; & Erin Wood, harp 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
OCT. 23
SUNFLOWER BAROQUE 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
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OCT. 24
KU JAZZ COMBOS 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
OCT. 26 KU CHOIRS: CONCERT CHOIR, WOMEN’S CHORALE, UNIVERSITY SINGERS 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall OCT. 26 BALES ARTIST SERIES: Emanuele Cardi, organ 2:30 p.m. | Bales Organ Recital Hall* OCT. 28 COFFEE WITH BEETHOVEN: Steven Spooner, piano 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall OCT. 28
KANSAS VIRTUOSI 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
OCT. 29
GRADUATE HONOR RECITAL 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
OCT. 30 NOVEMBER
KU CHOIRS: CHAMBER SINGERS & COLLEGIUM VOCALE 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 4
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: MICHAEL COMPITELLO, PERCUSSION 2:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 4
KU WEST AFRICAN DRUM ENSEMBLE 5 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 4
KU JAZZ ENSEMBLE I WITH MATT OTTO, SAXOPHONE 7:30 p.m. | Burge Union
NOV. 5
VISITING ARTIST SERIES: ROBERT BENTON, EUPHONIUM 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 6
NEW MUSIC GUILD 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 7
CELLO STUDIO RECITAL 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 9
KU WIND ENSEMBLE* 7:30 p.m. | Lied Center
NOV. 10 KU DAY OF JAZZ IMPROV 8 a.m. | Murphy Hall NOV. 11 KU @ THE KAUFFMAN: KU SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 7 p.m. | Kauffman Center Free tickets at kauffmancenter.org or 816-994-7222 NOV. 12 KU JAZZ ENSEMBLES I & II 7:30 p.m. | Lawrence Arts Center Tickets available at lawrenceartscenter.com or 786-843-2787 NOV. 13
KU BRAZILIAN STEEL BAND 6:30 p.m. | 130 Murphy Hall
NOV. 13
KU SAXOPHONE QUARTETS 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 17
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: Teng Fu, piano 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 19
KU HORN & TROMBONE CHOIRS 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 25 COFFEE WITH BEETHOVEN: Steven Spooner, piano 2:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall NOV. 26
A TRIBUTE TO DELORES STEVENS 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 27
INTERGENERATIONAL CHOIR CONCERT 5 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 27
BRASS CHAMBER MUSIC 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
NOV. 28 VIOLA STUDIO RECITAL 5 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall NOV. 28 FLUTE STUDIO RECITAL 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall NOV. 30
VESPERS ON THE ROAD 7:30 p.m. | Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center
Call 913-469-4445 for free tickets
DECEMBER DEC. 1
SAXOPHONE STUDIO RECITAL 9 a.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
DEC. 2
PRE-VESPERS 1:30 & 6:30 pm. | Bales Organ Recital Hall
DEC. 2
94TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY VESPERS* 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. | Lied Center
DEC. 3
KU TUBA/ EUPHONIUM CONSORT CONCERT 5 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
DEC. 3
KU PERCUSSION GROUP 7:30 p.m. | Swarthout Recital Hall
DEC. 4
KU CHOIRS: BALES CHORALE 7:30 p.m. | Bales Organ Recital Hall
DEC. 6
OPERA WORKSHOP: AMAHL AND NIGHT VISTORS 5 & 7:30 p.m. | Baustian Theatre
DEC. 6
COLLEGIUM MUSICUM 7:30 p.m. | Bales Organ Recital Hall
DEC. 6
KU SYMPHONIC & UNIVERSITY BAND 7:30 p.m. | Lied Center
All events subject to change. Please visit music.ku.edu for the latest event information. Admission is free unless otherwise noted. * Tickets available at the Lied Center Ticket Office.
QuickNotes - October 2018 - music.ku.edu