On Math and Music Pianist Yan Pang (PhD, composition, student of Alex Lubet and Guerino Mazzola) went from despising math to writing a book with Guerino Mazzola and Maria Mannone (PhD, composition, student of Alex Lubet and Guerino Mazzola) about math and music. As a young student at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in China, her focus was piano performance with no deep love of math. Discovering a passion for composition, she moved to the United States to pursue her studies in both areas. At the U of M School of Music, she enrolled in Professor Mazzola’s Music Informatics Seminar and her life changed. “There is a great deal of math and physics
presented her paper, “Visualizing Radiohead: A Fan-Made Video Goes Mainstream,” at the Filmic Ethnomusicology panel. The topic of the paper was the audiovisual effects of a fan made video by animator Gaston Vinas of the song 2+2=5 by Radiohead. Dennis A. Hawkins, Jr. (DMA, wind conducting, student of Craig Kirchhoff, Jerry Luckhardt, and David Baldwin) was selected to attend Encountering Music: A Forum for Conductors at the New England Conservatory in June 2015. Hawkins also had his research published by the International Women’s Brass Conference during the Spring 2015 semester titled, “Perceived Gender Associations and First-Hand Accounts of Gender-Atypical Trumpeters: A Summary
32
University of Minnesota School of Music
in Professor Mazzola’s seminar. For the first time, I had to be academically brave. I couldn’t be shy. Professor Mazzola’s mantra is, ‘If you don’t understand, you have to ask. If you have questions, you are thinking. This is our goal.’” During the seminar, she started seeing music in different ways. Musical concepts that were one-dimensional became fourdimensional. Before she practiced technique, now she visualizes notes on the page as actions or gestures, like dancing feet. When composing, she started to view her work more logically and was thoughtful about her technique and motivation. This new way of thinking has not only found its way into her composition and playing, it
of a Qualitative-Based Study Concerned with the Musical Experiences of Three Female Undergraduate Trumpet Players at Youngstown State University.” Jonah Heinen (BM, vocal music education, student of Adriana Zabala and Matthew Mehaffey) was one of four undergraduates chosen to partake in the collegiate conducting master class at the Northwest American Choral Directors Association Conference in Seattle, WA (March 3–6, 2016). The master class was held by Scott Anderson, director of choral activities at Idaho State University. Po-Hsuan Ho (MM, voice, student of Wendy Zaro-Mullins) won third place in the Minnesota
Left to right: Maria Mannone, Guerino Mazzola, and Yan Pang
has become a part of her teaching. In her role as teaching assistant for the History of Rock course, she was able to connect with students with engineering backgrounds by speaking in a science-friendly way, such as sharing images of sound waves to explain complex musical concepts. After teaching and using Mazzola’s theories, Pang suggested that they write their own reader-friendly textbook that approaches musical topics in a mathematical light. The book combines traditional thinking and contemporary research. The book, Cool Math for Hot Music: A First Introduction to Mathematics for Music Theorists (Springer International Publishing), was published in August 2016.
National Association of Teachers Competition's Graduate Division in November at St. John's University in Collegeville, MN. Madison Holtze (BM, voice, student of Wendy Zaro-Mullins) was the youngest of six finalists competing in the College Division of Classical Singer’s National Competition held in Chicago. She was awarded a full scholarship to the Oklahoma City University Vocal Arts Institute. Holtze won first place in the Minnesota National Association of Teachers Competition’s Classical Division and first place in the Minnesota National Association of Teachers Competition’s Musical Theatre Division in November 2015 at St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN.