Manuscript The magazine of the Northeastern State University Department of Music Spring 2020
Contents 2 Welcome
Features 3 5 7 9
Guest Artists NSU @ OkMEA Festivals and Workshops University Singers and Opera Workshop take on DFW 11 “Can’t stop the Music” (AKA NSU Music during a global pandemic) 13 Student News 14 Alumni Feature 15 Faculty News 17 Endowments, Scholarships, & Donors
Welcome
FROM THE CHAIR
Spring 2020 has truly been a “novel� semester - one unlike anyone could imagine. The semester was progressing along with a wonderful momentum and many great things happening on campus and off. Spring break was a welcomed respite for many and there was excitement to return and finish strong with academics, performances, and guest artists. Seemingly in an instant, the coronavirus global pandemic reached the United States and halted all plans. Campus closed and courses moved all online. For some disciplines, this transition was smooth and easy. For disciplines like music that rely on tactile, synchronous, collaborative delivery, this was a devastating blow. However, music faculty and students are creative and adaptive by nature. While we were unable to meet in the normal ways, I want to thank the faculty and students for their willingness to turn on a dime in an untenable situation. We were able to continue offering the highest level of music instruction in the music core, applied lessons, and ensembles. It certainly looked and felt different for all of us, but I am so pleased that the NSU Department of Music was able to continue the positive impact on students academically and intrinsically. I invite you to read on in the pages that follow and celebrate with us why it is always a good day to be a RiverHawk! Stay safe and be well. Sincerely, Jeff Wall
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GUEST ARTISTS AT NSU MUSIC The NSU Department of Music hosted several guest artists this spring 2020 semester. These artists are experts in their respective fields and instruments and collaborated with music faculty to bring their talents and expertise to our students and the community. Soprano, Kathryn Frady joined Dr. Whitney Myers in a recital of vocal music inspired by the works of Shakespeare on January 19th. Frady is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Marble City Opera Company in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Dr. Elizabeth Robinson was invited by Dr. Laura Pillman to masterclass the flute studio and perform a flute recital on January 21st. Dr. Robinson serves on the faculty at Missouri Southern State University.
Lyndon Meyer joined NSU Vocal Faculty, Drs. Whitney Myers and Christian Bester for the 2020 Vocal Festival as collaborative pianist and vocal coach on January 26 & 27. Meyer is a Tulsa-based conductor, vocal coach, pianist, and organist. He serves the Tulsa Opera as chorusmaster, assistant conductor, principal pianist and vocal coach. You can read more about Vocal Festival on page 7.
Dr. Justin Cook joined the NSU Instrumental Faculty for the 2020 Instrumental Festival held on February 3rd. Dr. Cook is assistant professor of music at University of Central Arkansas. You can read more about Instrumental Festival on page 8.
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Also joining the NSU Instrumental Faculty from University of Central Arkansas for the 2020 Instrumental Festival was Dr. Kelly Johnson. She is associate professor of clarinet and principal clarinetist with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. You can read more about Instrumental Festival on page 8.
NSU Jazz Studies welcomed saxophonist and recording artist, Dr. Pete Carney to masterclass and perform with the NSU Jazz Ensemble on February 8th. Carney is Director of Jazz Studies at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.
The NSU Choral area welcomed composer, vocalist, and conductor, Fahad Siadat from Los Angeles on February 10 & 11. You can read more about Fahad and his work with NSU students on page 7.
Dr. Demar Woods from the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, was invited by Dr. Ben Hay for a masterclass with the trumpet studio on February 13th.
Jazz funk band, “Naughty Professor,” was this year’s NSU Green Country Jazz Festival guest artists. You can read about their work with NSU students on page 8.
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NSU at the Oklahoma Music Educators Association conference Eight NSU students rehearsed and performed with the OkMEA Intercollegiate Band, under the direction of guest conductor, Dr. Jack Stamp in Tulsa on January 16th. Logan Edwards, clarinet Kaitlyn Ryan, clarinet Jackson Washburn, trumpet Timothy Caputo, trumpet Andrew Pearson, trumpet Sean Melton, trumpet Lilly Lewis, trombone DeNario Shoates, horn
Dr. Anne Watson leads a clarinet sectional with members of the OkMEA High School All-State Band.
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Part of our role at OkMEA is to recruit future RiverHawks and make connections with educators across the state. Here, Drs. Clark Gibson, James Lindroth, and Benjamin Hay pose for a picture in our NSU booth in the exhibit hall.
Vocal Music Education major, Lissie Franklin, helps in the NSU exhibit booth to recruit future RiverHawks. She was awarded conference registration and lodging as an exemplary music education student representative. She was exposed to methods, interest sessions, and concerts in exchange for her recruiting efforts.
NSU Music hosted a music alumni gathering at Andolini’s Sliced in downtown Tulsa during the OkMEA conference. We had lots of fun chatting and catching up with these NSU alums. We hope to continue offering a gathering every year at OkMEA for music educators and area music alumni.
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Festivals & Workshops Vocal Festival with Lyndon Meyer
Guest artist, Lyndon Meyer, works with NSU vocal students in masterclass. He also performed a collaborative recital with Dr. Whitney Myers and Dr. Christian Bester.
Fahad Siadat, composer-in-residence
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Los Angeles based composer, Fahad Siadat, guest lectured in Music Theory IV, Music Arranging & Technology, Advanced Choral Conducting and led clinics with the choral ensembles. He performed a solo recital for voice and electronica and helped the University Singers work on a commissioned piece titled, “The Analogy of Being.�
Instrumental Festival with Justin Cook and Kelly Johnson
NSU Instrumental Faculty and guest artists, Justin Cook and Kelly Johnson worked with area high school students for the 2020 Instrumental Festival held February 3rd. Faculty and guest artist recitals and masterclasses are a part of the regular offerings of this festival to make connections and increase skill.
Green Country Jazz Festival
The 53rd annual Green Country Jazz Festival was a great success this year with guest artists and clinicians, Naughty Professor. Other guest judges included Edwin Garcia, Michael Bremo, Whitney Ashe, and Nick Schroeder. High schools involved included Tahlequah, Claremore, Sand Springs, Ft. Gibson, Holland Hall, Victory Christian, Madill, Verdigris, Wagoner, Muskogee, Coweta, and Oologah. Special thanks to Megan Gasca and Cheryl Nobles for their help behind the scenes. The students of the NSU Jazz Ensemble also deserve credit and recognition for their hard work and performance.
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University Singers and Opera Workshop Take on DFW The University Singers and Opera Workshop ensembles had a small tour planned together when the call came in inviting them instead to sing at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas as part of the North Texas Metroplex Childrens Chorus’ annual concert. It was a wonderful opportunity to sing as prelude ensembles for their concert in a fantastic venue for a very appreciative audience. Under the direction of Drs. Jeffery Wall and Whitney Myers, the ensembles made a full recruiting and retention tour out of the trip with high school stops and excursions for NSU students. Along the way, they stopped to recruit at Moore High School, Horn High School (Mesquite, TX), North Mesquite High School, and Flower Mound High School. In addition to performing at the Meyerson, the ensembles also performed a full concert at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth. Excursions included stops at the Perot Museum of Natural History and Reunion Tower. The NSU students represented our university, our college, music department, and state very well. Special thanks to collaborative pianist, Farren Mayfield.
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“Can’t Stop the Music” (AKA - NSU Music during a Global Pandemic) COVID-19 certainly put a halt to many of our lives. It especially disrupted collaborative music teaching and music-making. Despite campus closing early, learning continued through the end of Spring 2020 semester via several creative distance learning measures put in place by our fantastic music faculty. Kudos to all the students that perservered through the end of the semester in alternate learning delivery methods for which they did not sign up. Here, we will feature just a small sampling of the innovative ways that learning continued.
The end of semester brought many challenges. One of those challenges was how students sheltering in at home could practice for piano classes without access to a piano at home. Piano professor, Dr. Ron Chioldi, collaborated with Saied Music of Tulsa and the College of Liberal Arts to arrange for electronic pianos to be delivered to students’ homes so that they could continue their studies. Thank you, Saied!
Dr. Ben Hay provided weekly meetings and playing sessions for the NSU trumpet studio and wider trumpet community by offering weekly warm up and playing sessions via Facebook Live and Zoom. He focused on fundamental playing techniques and also invited guest collaborators like, Ryan Beach (principal trumpet for Alabama Symphony Orchestra) and Joe Gray (Associate Director of Bands and trumpet instructor at the University of North Alabama).
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The NSU Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Clark Gibson, performed “Nutville” arranged by Greg Hopkins as a virtual performance piece via cell phone recordings from across Oklahoma. You can find the recording on our Facebook Pages by searching for either NSU Music @nsumusic or NSU Jazz Lab @jazzlab. “In the last 20 years, the home studio has become a crucial component of any musician’s recording career. In this way, the recent social distancing has forced the music students in the NSU Jazz Ensemble to create art in a way that is relevant to the modern day music industry.” Here are the secrets to creating this video: -The students recorded two rounds of their piece on their personal devices. The first was a practice run that Gibson gave instruction on; the second was the final round. -To keep to one beat, students listened to a recorded version of the music in their headphones. -For editing, Gibson imported the files into Logic Pro X, where he could edit and improve on the sound of the phone recordings through EQs, compressors and other sound plug-ins. -Gibson then used Adobe Premiere to edit the video portion. -Audio and video were combined in Logic Pro.
While the NSU Chorus would normally be singing together, they used the time online to explore various choral topics from experts in the field. Calling it the “NSU Virtual Choral Cafe,” the Chorus welcomed, Dr. Gene Peterson from California Baptist University; Composer and Editor, Susan LaBarr; Dr. Cameron LaBarr from Missouri State University; Dr. Christopher Harris from Arkansas Tech; and Dr. Gary Packwood from Mississippi State University.
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Student News Congratulations to Brady Hacker on the accomplishment of receiving the Bachelor of Music Education degree from NSU this Spring 2020. While we are disappointed we could not celebrate face-to-face with him, we are excited to see what the future holds for Brady as NSU Music alumnus.
Jace Davison (saxophone) and Brennan Marcotte (trumpet) were able to perform their student recitals this semester, but several others were cancelled and rescheduled due to COVID-19 campus closure. We look forward to hearing these students perform in the Fall semester. Timothy Caputo, trumpet Jackson Washburn, trumpet Jacob Martin, percussion Kaitlyn Ryan, clarinet Kelli Martin, saxophone The NSU Pep Band supported the Men’s Basketball Team as they competed in the MIAA tournament in Kansas City.
NSU Music students Kelli Martin and Logan Blunt (among others) assisted music faculty to recruit future RiverHawks during Admissions & Recruitment’s event “RiverHawk Jam”
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Alumni Feature Congratulations to Jeremy Williams, band director at Wagoner High School. He received the honor of Wagoner Teacher of the Year.
Bobby Asher has been appointed as Performance Director at Duke Performances - the professional performing arts presenting organization at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina
Tiffany McGrew has been named a Quarterfinalists for the 2021 Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy / GRAMMYs and the GRAMMY Museum. The winner of this award will have the opportunity to attend the 2021 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Tiffany just has served as a vocal music teacher for Bixby Public Schools for 13 years and begins a new journey as a 6-12 vocal music teacher for Deer Creek Public Schools in Edmond.
Austin Stunkard recently graduated from UCO with a Masters in Music and released his first solo album, Zingo. Congratulations, Austin.
Congratulations to Trevor Downey for graduating this spring from OU with his Masters of Music degree.
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Faculty News Dr. Christian Bester led masterclasses with Missouri Southern State University, Eastfield College (Mesquite, TX), Checotah High School, & Muskogee High School. He played the role of Gianni Schicchi in Heartland Opera’s production. He also performed recitals for the German Society of Tulsa and Eastfield College. He adjudicated the vocal competition for the College Music Society.
Dr. Ron Chioldi continued his work as co-author of the group piano textbook for college and universities titled, Keyboard Musicianship, Book 2, 11th edition with Stipes Publishing.
Dr. Clark Gibson continued many recruiting activities at various high schools and community colleges in addition to his active playing schedule. He also began a jam session night at Duet Jazz Club in Tulsa. He coordinated the 53rd annual Green Country Jazz Festival.
Dr. Ben Hay served as a panelist for the 6th Annual International William Adam Trumpet Festival in June.
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Dr. James Lindroth judged the OSSAA Band Solo & Small Ensemble Festival and the OSSAA Large Group Band Festival. His article was also published by the Percussive Arts Society in their Rhythm! Scene Blog.
Dr. Whitney Myers performed recitals for the Marble City Opera Company, East Tennessee State University, the German Society of Tulsa, and Beethoven Club Memphis. She performed a Shakespeare inspired recital with soprano, Kathryn Frady. Dr. Myers served as site coordinator for the OSSAA Vocal Solo & Small Ensemble festival as well as the OSSAA Choral Large Group Festival. She led the NSU Opera Workshop on a performance tour with the University Singers to DFW to perform at the Meyerson Symphony Center for the North Texas Children’s Chorus as prelude ensemble.
Dr. Bryan Raya served as guest conductor and clinician for the 13th annual Okmulgee County Honor Band.
Dr. Jeffery Wall led the University Singers on a performance tour with the NSU Opera Workshop to DFW to perform at the Meyerson Symphony Center for the North Texas Children’s Chorus as prelude ensemble. He served the Southwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association as Liaison for Performing Group Exchanges at the February conference in Little Rock, AR. Wall continues his work as College/University Repertoire & Resources Chair for the Oklahoma state chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.
Dr. Anne Watson, as a member of Ironwood Trio, released their first CD, titled Destiny. The recording features works commissioned by the Trio members. The CD is available through Potenza Music, https://potenzamusic.com/product/destiny/
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! NSU Music Support Gifts to support the music program through the NSU Foundation play an important role in the lives of our music students. Whether for the Music Scholarship Fund or for music programming, your investment, regardless of the amount, will help our music program remain strong and vital. Please make out your check to the NSU Foundation, marked for the Music Scholarship Fund or music programming and send it to: Dr. Jeffery Wall, Department of Music, 605 N. Grand Avenue, Tahlequah, OK 74464. Thank you. Endowed Music Funds Dr. Mark S. Bighley Music Scholarship Donald E. & Martha Sory Blair Music & COLA Scholarship Joe Davis & Jacob Farinelli Memorial Scholarship Frances Fite Memorial Jazz Scholarship Kappa Kappa Psi Band Fund
Thelma Parker Memorial Scholarship Robert Glenn Rapp Foundation Music Scholarship Dr. William J. Rauch Band Scholarship Clare M. Stroup & Thomas E. Stroup Memorial Scholarship Lou Summers Memorial Vocal Scholarship
2019-2020 NSU Music Contributors Reflected below are donations January 2019– May 2020 Please let us know if we have accidentally left off a donor or placed someone in the wrong category. $50,000+ $25,000+ Donald & Martha Blair Max McCullough $10,000+ Dr. Diana Metzger $5,000-$9,999 Cherokee Nation Dr. William J. & Norene Rauch $2,000–4,999 Bob & Kathy Daniel Danna and Tim Grear Family Fund Betty Jo Hays Patsiann Smith ONEOK Foundation, Inc.
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$1,000–1,999 Anonymous Ernst & Gaye Bekkering Mark Bighley Mike & Robyn Dill David & Robbi Rader John Yeutter $500–999 Mike & Cindy Chanslor $250–499 Virginia Davis Judith Sherman Steve & Penny Turner Anne Watson $100–249 Ken & Rhonda Beard John Benge Inez Bershad Doug & Erica Caputo Pamela & Mark Fly Elizabeth Higgins
David & Sandra Laney Donna & James Lewis Farren & Gail Mayfield Cheryl Nobles Julia Olsen Donna Roberson Anne Santorelli David & Adele Shackelford Ann Sheldon Belinda Sosi Eva Trevathan Lenore Wilson $1–$99 Anonymous Sharon Armstrong Dr. Sara Brown Abigayle Carson Robert Cree Keith & Sara Dunlap Wayne & April Felts Dr. Christopher Flavin Connie Foster Terry & Maria Foster
visit www.nsumusic.com to give
Kathleen Frank David & Laura Franklin Glen Gay Delena Goss Phil & Lori Green Lavonda Hartgraves G.W. & Carolyn Hutcherson Janice & Mark Keeley Debbie & Mike Landry Gail Little Lori Martin Fred Monachello Criss Pearson Danny Pearson Aletha Rodgers David & Monica VanDonkelaar George & Rosilyn Warren Marty Wenger