A word from Deaprtment of Music Chair, Dr Tracy Cowden
HONORING JK HODGES
Janice K Hodges' legacy continues through competition
FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSIC
Ensembles present their annual festival celebrating new works
UTSA LYRIC THEATRE
The Pirates of Penzance sails to UTSA
300TH ANNIVERSARY
Celebrating the life and works of Barbara Strozzi
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Celebrating Women's History with alumna Ashley Lucero
JOIN THE BIZ
Fourth annual Music Biz Day coming soon
CONTRIBUTORS:
Shelby Gorden - Graphic Designer
Cindy Solis - Senior Events Manager
Alissa Stolt - Editor
Thomas Buley
Danelle Etheridge
Dr. Kasandra Keeling
Paul Patinka
Dr. Stan Renard
Cindy Solis
Welcome to CADENZA
Showcasing UTSA Music
FRIENDS,
Walking through the Department of Music at this time of year is a feast for the ears! For me, hearing everything from the jazz ensemble rehearsing their recent swing concert to the Lyric Theatre preparing Gilbert & Sullivan is inspiring and exhilarating. We invite you to peruse this issue and decide what is on your “mustsee ” list this month!
We are honored to welcome composer Dr Kirsten Broberg and the SOLI Chamber Ensemble to UTSA as our distinguished guests for the Festival of New Music March 4-7 Evening concerts that week will feature dozens of faculty and students in performance, and the SOLI Chamber Ensemble’s performance of works from the SOLI Invitational Composition Contest promises to be truly special! Listening to music performed live for the very first time is a unique and meaningful experience. Read ahead for more information about this exceptional series of events.
Our Lyric Theatre continues its tradition of engaging productions with The Pirates of Penzance to close this month. You will have three opportunities to experience one of the most memorable shows that Gilbert & Sullivan wrote, and which actually premiered in the United States. Bring your family and friends to this swashbuckling musical adventure!
This issue features stories about the close connections we forge through our work in music, and the lasting impact of these relationships From the legacy of JK Hodges to the Concert Choir’s performance of works by current and former faculty, we are not only fostering the creation of new work, we are deeply engaged with each other and in community through this work I hope you enjoy this issue of Cadenza, and I look forward to seeing you at upcoming performances
Tracy Cowden
Roland K. Blumberg Endowed Professor in Music and Chair
THE LEGACY LIVES ON
In 1984, UTSA piano faculty member Dr. Janice Kay Hodges had the idea to start a pre-college piano competition focused on contemporary repertoire. She wanted the language of contemporary music to be as familiar to young musicians as the music of Chopin, Beethoven, or Mozart. With the help of the San Antonio Music Teachers Association, the first Contemporary Piano Competition was launched in February 1985 in the Arts Building at UTSA. For many young pianists across the state of Texas, this competition would be their first introduction to music that was written after 1940. When Dr. Hodges passed away in 1990, the competition was renamed the Janice Kay Hodges Contemporary Piano Competition in her honor
Fast forward 34 years and the competition is still the only one of its kind in the United States. It fills a vital educational purpose and over the years has featured music written by composers from all over the world, including pieces that require extended techniques such as playing inside the piano. Around 100 pianists, 4th grade through 12th, from all over Texas gather to compete for prizes each year. When the competition began, there was one piece assigned per level, but over time the repertoire choices grew to three selections per grade. The competition is still held at UTSA and it continues to be co-sponsored by the San Antonio Music Teachers Association
The music scores belonging to Dr Hodges were donated to the UTSA library by her family and the collection continues to grow as one of the most comprehensive libraries of contemporary music written for this level. The repertoire committee, made up of UTSA faculty and local piano teachers, strives to select music that has educational value, but is also accessible to young pianists and their teachers. We look forward to celebrating year 35 in 2020!
Pictured above :
Janice K Hodges
A WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH SPOTLIGHT: A WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH SPOTLIGHT:
A
S H L E Y L U C E R O , C O M P O S E R
This month, universities and cultural institutions around the nation, including our own, will plan events celebrating the contributions of women in varied fields. One such event in Columbus, Mississippi will feature a talented young composer and UTSA Department of Music alumna Ashley Lucero, (BA 2015, Masters 2018) has been invited to perform in the Music by Women Festival, going on March 7th through 9th at the Mississippi University for Women The festival is in its third year and happens in the historic Poindexter Hall on the campus
According to its website, the Music by Women Festival will include papers, presentations, lecture recitals, and performances all relating to the subject of music composed, taught, and performed by women. The festival will feature concerts of music written by women composers historically as well as in the present day.
On Thursday, March 7th, Lucero will be performing a ten minute work she composed entitled, "The Mariner's Tale –Theme and 3 Variations” (based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner). It is a piece that she describes stylistically as being, “influenced by multiple composers such as Leo Brouwer, Matthew Dunne, Antonio Jose, Paco de Lucia, and Manuel Ponce.” While at UTSA, she studied composition with Drs. James Balentine and Ethan Wickman as well as with Professor James Syler “I also consider [guitar area head] Dr Matthew Dunne to be my composition teacher,” she says
Of her own compositions, she states, “I do not compose in a stylistic manner, rather I focus on developing my own musical voice for all of my compositions ” She wrote the piece over the course of her graduate studies and, besides debuting it at the festival, has entered it in multiple competitions, both nationally and internationally, and has arranged for it to be performed in Dallas.
Lucero is a composer, performer, instructor, and music ambassador She has traveled to Texas, Colorado, South Carolina, California, New York, and Cuba as either part of the UTSA Guitar Ensemble, which she directed for two semesters, or the UTSA Department of Music guitar area She also taught at the grade school level and the collegiate level during her graduate assistantship at UTSA.
Currently, Ashley is an adjunct lecturer of music theory and guitar at the Baptist University of the Americas. When she is not teaching, composing, or entering her work in festivals and competitions, she performs around town and is a featured artist on the San Antonio Airport LIVE series. She also plays guitar in the lobby at the University of Texas Health Science Center of San Antonio every month for the patients. Ashley also teaches privately outside of the university and at the Keene Valley Guitarist Composer Workshop run by Dr Matthew Dunne in the Adirondack Mountains
For more information on Women’s History Month events at UTSA, click here.
To learn more about the Music by Women Festival, click here.
We are always experiencing and celebrating instances of newness in life. Here at the UTSA Department of Music, The Festival of New Music is a celebration of the newest concert music of our time. Each year, the festival focuses on a guest composer and/or a guest ensemble whose works are featured throughout the event. This year’s Distinguished Guest Composer is Dr. Kirsten Broberg, Assistant Professor of Composition and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of North Texas Along with a selection of performances, the Department of Music and the UTSA Women’s Studies Program will co-host Dr Broberg’s presentation, “Gender and Aesthetics in Contemporary Music” on March 7th at 11:30 AM in the Recital Hall.
Who are some key performers at this year's festival? A:
We have invited the SOLI Chamber Ensemble to be our Distinguished Guest Ensemble. They will be performing on Wednesday, March 6th. This is a very special program because it is the culmination of a several-month long composition competition and workshop involving composition students from UTSA, Trinity, UIW, and Texas State Several finalists will have their pieces premiered on this program The winners will be announced at this concert, and the audience will even get to vote for their favorite piece! In addition, an instrumental suite from my cantata, “Ballads of the Borderland,” will also receive its premiere Besides SOLI, we will have a chamber ensemble concert on Tuesday, March 5th featuring several faculty and student performers They will be performing music by Dr Broberg, our own Dr Prosser, Gwyneth Walker, and others Monday, March 4th will feature the University Band, and Thursday, March 7th will feature the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band That program will feature an extended work by Dr Broberg as well as a new piece by Professor Syler.
Q: Q: A: A:
What is your favorite thing about the Festival of New Music?
I love bringing so many students and colleagues together to work on this music It is a reminder of the vitality of what we do as composers, performers, and educators The great works of the past are still important of course, but they, too, were once new and spoke to the times of their creation Newly composed music of this quality speaks powerfully about the world in which we live I find so much of this music at once moving, powerful, challenging, mysterious, and emotional
Why do you think people should attend the Festival of New Music?
If you want to understand how the times in which we live with all of their challenges, complications, opportunities, and promises sound like when expressed in music, you should definitely attend!
I find that new music helps even the music by the classical composers we love like Beethoven and Mozart feel even more relevant We see all of these composers as part of a continuum that worked to make their art the best they could, worked under challenging personal and political circumstances, and labored the way we all do to put ‘bread on the table,’ as it were New music, to me, makes all music that much more relevant. Plus, it’s going to be a lot of fun!
The UTSA Festival of New Music will be taking place between March 4th and March 7th.
It's The Pirates of Penzance! Avast, Mateys,
Spring is here! The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, and the UTSA Lyric Theatre is working hard to prepare its latest production, The Pirates of Penzance. This comic opera, with music by composer Arthur Sullivan and libretto written by W. S. Gilbert, will have audiences sore with laughter. The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty is a tale of a young man, Frederic, who is accidentally apprenticed to a band of pirates. He leaves them after twenty one years, and meets Mabel, the daughter of the Major-General, and instantly falls in love with her Unfortunately, the Major-General disapproves of the swashbuckling company Frederic keeps and of having a pirate’s apprentice as a son-in-law Over the course of the show, the pirates and the Major-General discover that despite their differences, there are a few things they can all agree on.
Pirates is directed by Dr. William McCrary, who has directed the Lyric Theatre department since 2002. He began his college career as an acting major before studying music, during which he learned the most simply by performing. With this Lyric Theatre program, he is providing students with similar educational opportunities He hopes that the students involved will be able to learn and develop many different skills such as movement, stagecraft, and line delivery in the process of preparing this show, and that they will be proud of the subsequent product Dr McCrary loves the spoof-style humor that this opera and many other Gilbert and Sullivan productions utilize. They remind him of other comedic legends such as Monty Python or Mel Brooks.
The opera is double-cast, including undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom are from the UTSA Voice Area. The cast also includes one faculty member, UTSA Concert Choir director Dr Gary Mabry, who will play the role of Major-General Stanley Dr Eugene Dowdy will direct the pit orchestra - a reduced size string, brass, woodwind, and percussion ensemble.
Matthew Perez, one of the students cast as Frederic, was a member of the chorus for last spring’s production, Die Fledermaus, as well as a member of Opera on the Run in the fall, and is excited to have a lead role this semester. Playing the role of Frederic has opened Matthew’s eyes “to all that goes into an opera production” and he has “really come to appreciate the work that everyone does ” His experience is even better because he is able to act alongside one of his best friends, Victoria Becker, who will play Mabel. He hopes that audience members will keep an open mind when considering this opera, as its humor will appeal to all ages
Come and see this hilarious opera production at the UTSA Recital Hall on March 29th and 30th at 7:30pm and March 31st at 3:00pm Tickets are on sale now for just $10 If you have a love for music, a taste for comedy, and a desire to support the UTSA Department of Music, then The Pirates of Penzance is the perfect opportunity for you.
A 300TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION:
WOMEN IN HISTORY
On the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Barbara Strozzi (1619–1697), the UTSA Department of Music will be welcoming acclaimed Strozzi scholar Dr. Candace Magner to its main campus. Funding provided through UTSA Women’s Studies Institute “Women’s His Speaker Grant” has created this opportunity to celebrate the music of this important female composer.
Born in Venice, Barbara Strozzi’s fascinating legacy lives on through her large number of self-published works, collected into 8 opuses. Unlike her male contemporaries, Strozzi did not have luxury of a church position or wealthy patron to give her music acclaim and influence. Instead, she took it upon herself to publish and sell her own works to secure her place in the musical canon. Her life in Venice was also influential in that she had access to the members of the Accademia degli incognitit (Academy of the unknowns) and Accademia degli Unisoni (Academy of the like-minded), two elite maledominated groups of artists and poets centered in Venice. Strozzi would never marry but had several children and was known for lending money to male friends and charging interesting on its return, something almost unheard of at the time for a woman.
Dr. Candace Magner is perhaps the world’s leading expert in the music of Barbara Strozzi. Dr. Magner began her career as a vocalist and now plays plucked continuo in a number of early music ensembles. She is the creator, publisher, and general editor of the publishing house Cor Donato Editions, dedicated to the works of Barbara Strozzi, and has recently completed her editions of Barbara Strozzi’s entire catalog, which the John Peace Library at UTSA has recently purchased.
Dr. Magner will be visiting for a whirlwind two-day excursion in March. On the 19th, Dr. Magner will be working with two soloists, Shirlyn Davenport and Paige Henserling, a duet by Amanda Ronquillo and Jasmine Fernandez, and a women’s choir directed by graduate student Taylor Gusky. This event will take place in the UTSA Recital Hall at 11:30 AM. These students will be accompanied by student pianists Eymen Geylan and Ji Hyun Kim who have been working with Dr. Tracy Cowden, department chair, to develop their skills at realizing unfigured bass patterns in music. This masterclass will give the students the opportunity to experience real time feedback about performing early music.
On the evening of the 19th at 5:00 PM these same participants will be joined by other students and recent alumni to celebrate Strozzi’s legacy with a concert of her works. This recital will be hosted by alumna Nicole Cabello Medrano and Father Martin Leopold at St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Church. This space will more accurately imitate the performance aesthetics of the time and invite the community to join in celebrating this music.
On Wednesday, March 20th, Dr. Magner will be lecturing in the Music in Civilization classes at 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM about her work as a Strozzi scholar, her career as a singer and musicologist, and her advice for young musicians entering the field thinking about pursuing this kind of work.
It is very exciting that UTSA is able to host such an acclaimed scholar and offer these unique opportunities to its music students. Celebrating the diverse and powerful women in our musical past while encouraging the young women rising in the field is a testament to the inclusive experience that music can offer.
Celebrating Barabra Strozzi, our own female students, and the work of Dr. Magner is the perfect way to engage with the contributions of women this Women’s
THE UTSA DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC PRESENTS
STUDIO RECITAL PERCUSSION
STUDIO RECITAL
MARCH 19 // 7:30PM
UTSA RECITAL HALL
SHINING ON SURE NIGHT
Directed by Dr. Yoojin Muhn
Thursday, March 21, 7:30 pm UTSA Recital Hall
Featured by Nicola Porpora’s
Magnificat and other works by Ames, Britten, Lauridsen, Orbán, Piazzolla, Schubert, Thompson, & Tin
JOIN THE BIZ
Music Biz Day is a staple event founde coordinated by Dr Stan Renard, UTSA Assistant Professor and Coordinator o the Music Marketing program. Renard created the annual Music Biz Day with his students in the spring of 2016 to provide a forum where music industry professionals, musicians, and students could meet, learn from each other, an network. In its fourth year, Music Biz keeps growing exponentially and “is t largest free University-led music biz e the country”, says Renard.
“I moved to San Antonio four years ago from New England to start my job at UTSA I knew that I wanted to hit the ground running and connect with the regional music industry scene as quickly as possible. I thought: why not create a space where the local music in gather, network, and share ideas with our students? Wo awesome if our students could also secure internships an there and then? This is where I decided to get the studen the whole process of organizing the initial Music Biz Day. we reached out to about 60 panelists from San Antonio a the students really wanted to meet and more than half o said that they would love to come and share their story w students and I curated panel topics together and came u Music Biz Day brand. By total coincidence it happened to name for us. If you Google “music biz”, we are the secon loved that It was an organic and grassroot process. Fast years, Music Biz Day expects to attract close to 2000 attendees this spring and we will be hosting 30 vendors and 40+ panelists.”
RENARD TELLS US THE WHY OF MUSIC BIZ DAY:
This coming April, Music Biz Day 2019 will feature 8 panels with a range of topics on music professionalism, big data, music promotion, talent incubation, music advocacy, the history of the San Antonio music scene, artist and relations (A&R), a special Grammy U panel, and a roundtable networking session.
Keynote speakers will include Brandon Anthony, director of the Texas Music Office and Claire Kreger-Boaz, Senior Project Manager for NAMM Public Affairs and Government Relations and The NAMM Foundation.
On top of that, we will host a large scale drum circle generously sponsored by the NAMM Foundation. We are so excited about this new addition because our very own percussion faculty Sherry Rubins and the students from the UTSA percussion studio will be involved in the process. There is a lot to look forward to!
Music Biz Day is made possible thanks to the generous support of the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts, the UTSA Libraries, the UTSA Department of Music, Cedar & Oak Entertainment, the Aztec Theatre, the NAMM Foundation, The Mariachi Connection, Music Bridges Around the World, the Texas Music Office, the Recording Academy Texas Chapter Grammy U, the City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture, Scoremore Shows, and NAMM GenNext.
Hosted at our Downtown Campus in the Durango building on Saturday, April 6, 2019 from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm, Music Biz Day is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the garage by Int HWY 10 and Durango Lot on the day of the event and free breakfast is provided while supplies last. RSVP for free at www.musicbizday.utsa.edu or reach out directly to Dr. Stan Renard at 210-458-5324 or stan.renard@utsa.edu.
MARCH DATES
PAUL PATINKA
Graduate student Paul Patinka, tenor, performs an hour long recital accompanied on piano by Christine Debus 7:30PM - UTSA Recital Hall
