Cadenza | Opus 30

CADENZA UTSA DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC | MAY 2021

Opus 30

STAYING UPBEAT

We kept the pace by making music happen

CONTENTS 03 04 06 10 15

WELCOME A word from Department of Music Chair, Dr. Tracy Cowden

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Dr. Jin Ha Park on her musical journey from South Korea to UTSA Music

MUSIC BUSINESS AT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL Summer institute provides insight to students and music educators on the world of music business

YEAR IN REVIEW Take a look back on the 2020-2021 school year

MARCHING INTO MAY Professors share their favorite musical marches to usher in the new month

CONTRIBUTORS: Jason Guzman - Graphic Designer Cindy Solis - Senior Events Manager Rebekah Alegria - PR Assistant/Editor Warren G. Mize Dr. Stan Renard

Welcome to

CADENZA

Showcasing UTSA Music

FRIENDS, Welcome to the May 2021 issue of Cadenza on behalf of the Department of Music, and our final issue of the academic year! This has been a busy month of concerts, which we hope you have enjoyed watching online. If you’re still hoping to catch up, there are recent performances available for viewing on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. There are just a few more upcoming concerts announced in this issue, as well! We are looking forward to celebrating the accomplishments of our students at our annual Extravaganza ceremony on Friday, May 7th at 7:00 p.m. This will be streamed to our YouTube channel – please join us and comment in the chat box! As always, to keep up with music faculty, staff, and students, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram.

Our tradition for this final issue of the year is to include a pictorial year in review. We hope you enjoy this feature; it always makes us a little sentimental about how we will miss seeing each other over the summer!

This issue also features an alumni spotlight on Jin Ha Park, as well as announcements about our summer camp and workshop offerings.

I am delighted to share that two of our faculty were recipients of awards at the UTSA Excellence Awards Ceremony on April 20th: Dr. Drew Stephen received the President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching, and Dr. Jennifer Beavers received the Richard S. Howe Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. Congratulations to both!

We are very proud of the excellence demonstrated by our faculty.

As always, one of our primary purposes of Cadenza is to connect with you! To our alumni, in particular, we invite you to submit your news and reconnect with your UTSA Music friends. We would love to hear from any of you with any feedback about Cadenza and Department of Music events; please reach out to us at music@utsa.edu with questions and comments. We are grateful for all of you who support the work we do to learn and share music with those around us. We wish you all a wonderful summer, and look forward to reconnecting in September!

Tracy Cowden Roland K. Blumberg Endowed Professor in Music and Chair

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: DR. JIN HA PARK This month’s Alumni Spotlight shines brightly on Dr. Jin Ha Park (‘02) a piano performance major originally from South Korea. Dr. Park was recruited as an undergrad during a performance tour and masterclass in her home country while she was still in high school.

Dr. Park recounts being a new recruit to the department where the only common language she shared--at first--was music.

How did you come to attend UTSA? I met Dr. Elisenda Fábregas when she was on a performance tour in Asia. She gave a Masterclass at Sunhwa Arts High School which is a sister school of Kirov Academy of Washington DC. I could never forget Fábregas’ meaningful Masterclass and decided to study with her at UTSA from South Korea.

What was your greatest takeaway as a student of Dr. Fábregas ?

I am forever grateful to Dr. Fábregas for her teaching, support, and guidance. During my years at UTSA, every lesson with Dr. Fábregas was inspiring. I won the 1st prize at the TMTA (Texas Music Teachers Association) Competition and was accepted at the prestigious music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, and Piano Texas International Festival with scholarships.

It was all possible because of Dr. Fábregas’ great teaching and tremendous support. I spoke no English when I came to UTSA in 1998

and she took care of me like her daughter.

Dr. Fábregas also introduced me to many wonderful people including Mr. Arthur and Mrs. Ruth Jean Gurwitz, Mr. Kenneth Michael and Mrs. Cynthia J. Absher, Dr. Jae Yoo, and Dr. Soogi Oh who have also supported my musical career. Dr. Fábregas is currently a Visiting Professor at Kyung Hee University in Korea. I had the privilege to perform her piano works in Korea, Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, and the U.S. After graduating from UTSA, where did you continue your studies?

I continued my graduate studies at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and Seoul National University.

I received my DMA from the University of South Carolina in 2013. I also studied at École Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot” through the International Certificate for Piano Artists program.

What is your current position and how long have you been there?

In my current position as a Chair of the Piano Department on the faculty of Kirov Academy of Washington DC, I maintain a studio of pre-college level piano majors. I teach Music Theory, Music History, World Music, and Music Appreciation for music, ballet, and academic students. I also serve as a Chair of YMIC International Music Competition in Washington D.C. YMIC (Young Musicians Inspiring Change), established in 2010, is a non-profit musical organization in the metropolitan DC area. YMIC hosts numerous musical activities, including the Washington National Youth Competition, Metropolitan Music Festival, International Music Competition as well as several Benefit Concerts each year.

In 2018, YMIC received a recognition award from Larry Hogan, the Governor of the State of Maryland, for providing student musicians an opportunity to share the joy and a positive impact in the community (https://www. ymicglobalcompetitions.org/).

How did you get involved with the Music Fest Perugia?

I founded and direct the Music Fest Perugia in Seoul, a weeklong program for highly talented pre-college and college pianists from all over the world. I was invited to serve as a faculty member at Music Fest Perugia in Italy and asked to organize a satellite festival in Asia.

As the festival is financially self-supported, I have raised over $30,000 in gifts and prizes, and festival competition winners got invited to perform with the Romanian Orchestra in Seoul, Korea. The festival has maintained significant international visibility among professional pianists and students alike (www. musicfestperugiakorea.net). I also serve as an Associate Director of the Colorado International Piano Academy & Festival (www. cipaf.org).

What was your greatest achievement while studying at UTSA? What was your greatest challenge?

When I arrived at UTSA in 1998 as an international student from Korea, I was overwhelmed by the support from UTSA students, professors, and staff. When I finished my second year, I was finally able to speak, read, and write [English]. I am very thankful to so many great music professors, including Dr. Deborah Schwartz-Kates, Dr. Eugene Dowdy, Dr. David Heuser, Dr. Gary Mabry, Ms. Christine Debus, Dr. Kasandra Keeling among many others as well as Ms. Cindy Solis in the music office. I learned and grew so much as a professional musician at UTSA. I was required to take core courses such as American History, American Politics, Economics, Biology, Astronomy, Algebra, Texas History, and Texas Politics. It was extremely challenging for me to take core courses but I became a well-rounded musician.

“When I arrived at UTSA in 1998 as an international student from Korea, I was overwhelmed by the support from UTSA students, professors, and staff. ”

Launching a Music Business Program at Your High School

by Warren G. Mize and Dr. Stan Renard

Yamaha is sponsoring a Summer Institute for High School Music Business Education through the University of Texas at San Antonio, July 6-8, 2021, for professional music educators.

Presented virtually, music educators nationwide will gain insight into how to start a High School Music Business program. The Institute will feature Dr. Warren Mize and Dr. Stan Renard along with Yamaha Music Business and Entrepreneurship Master Educators from across the nation. For more information and to register, click here.

East Central High School: How It Started There is a growing industry which includes marketing, promotion, technology, law and general music business that is a wide-open job field for our students. When an objective look was taken at the music programs at East Central High School (ECHS) in San Antonio, Texas, it became clear that a music business program could be designed that would meet the needs of the music students and at the same time, reach out to a significant segment of our campus population to those who longed to learn about music, but who were not musicians.

Many students dream of becoming performers, but because it is so highly competitive, that world can be brutal and disheartening. Others choose to follow in the footsteps of their favorite music teacher and pursue a degree in music education.

There are others who love music but are just not interested in either of these two careers and, of course, as much as all of these young people might enjoy music-making, some just do not possess the skillset to establish a career that requires an advanced level of performance abilities.

Interestingly enough however, there is a plethora of careers in the music field that current students may know nothing about that could be “just the ticket” to allow them to discover a rewarding career by combining their love of music with the business of music. In fact, there are undoubtedly a number of other students who have not chosen (or been able) to participate in the existing music program who would still love to learn more about these possibilities. It can certainly be agreed upon that performers and educators have careers that are focused on actual music-making, but can one also have a career in music yet not be a practicing musician as part of their day-to-day responsibilities?

The answer is a resounding YES!

It all started when a group of students approached me to ask if they could use the choir room for what would eventually become the afterschool Musician’s Club. In the process of agreement, I became the sponsor of this fledgling group of garage band musicians. Each Thursday, we met for an hour after school. These students were passionate about the music industry.

Before too long, I started to notice that these students were sharing PowerPoint presentations on how to get a gig, what to do when negotiating money for performing, how to travel with the gear and many other topics pertinent to music business.

Eventually, the students planned a weeklong

music festival that took place each morning before school. It featured a variety of bands and solo artists representative of a myriad of diverse styles.

The choir room became the performance venue, which was packed for five full days, and the music emanating from “the scene” was mostly original material written by the members of the Musicians’ Club.

Attending UTSA’s Music Biz Day Conference The students were ecstatic when the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) invited us to their Music Biz Day Conference. This event became the catalyst for accelerated conversation on the subject of developing a high school curriculum for Music Business and Entrepreneurship. This was when I fully realized how much our students were hungry for structured classes such as these. Each ECHS student who attended the conference wrote a reflection on their experiences. One particular student summed it up best when he wrote: Getting to hear from so many people who have a passion for music and who have had success in a career they love was amazing, especially because a lot of times pursuing a career in music is discouraged. Plenty of times, I’ve heard people say that I would have more success in another field, but hearing about how through passion, dedication and hard work, finding success in this field is possible. It’s made me even more excited about the possibilities in my future.

bring in students from throughout the entire campus. Today, the ECHS Music Business and Entrepreneurship program continues to expand, even in the unique climate of the past year. We are continuing to add new classes to supplement our two-year music business curriculum and still, the students keep coming. Many of our graduates have entered the music industry directly from high school and others have chosen to continue their music business studies in college.

Music business education is adaptable to any demographic profile and molds to meet existing needs in a school or district. In addition, music business education is cross-curricular and also addresses the skillsets taught in the STEM pathway.

Finally, remote learning is probably here to stay — at least in part. Music business education works on a digital platform just as easily as in person. Unlike a traditional music class where directors have scrambled to create a way to teach and assess a performance-based class virtually, music business is interactive and frees the teacher to design lessons that can be assimilated through a variety of mediums.

ECHS’s Music Business and Entrepreneurship Program — A Success!

Subsequently, I invited Dr. Stan Renard, coordinator of the UTSA Music Marketing Program to help us kick off the newly designed music business course that would begin the very next school year.

Nearly 400 ECHS students expressed a high interest in taking the class. It was settled! After going through the necessary administrative hurdles to put a new class on the list of course offerings, the program was launched!

Moreover, what if such a program could not only become an enhancement to any music program, but also serve as an attractive option to students and thus bring into the fold the very group of students who otherwise would never have been part of the more traditional music coursework?

Any student who is savvy in music or production, creates music on a laptop, plays in a garage band or has the desire to learn these skills, would now have a home in a much more comprehensive music program that will lead to a mosaic of experiences for all.

In these few short years, we have seen our program

Reprinted with permission.

Fall 2020 started off with a fraction of #UTSAMUSIC students, staff, and faculty returning to campus. With COVID-19 protocols still firmly in place, music students and faculty performed inperson, masked, and from the Recital Hall stage. These live-streamed concerts debuted in October and continued throughout the spring 2021 semester. This year the Department faculty continued to publish, conduct research, and be acknowledged as top-notch educators despite the pandemic.

And in a year where technology reigned and the tech-savvy lorded over gizmos, gadgets and apps, our crowning musical achievements proudly premiered on YouTube, Zoom, and Facebook! We found a way to make music and share music during a challenging and socially distant year. Here is a glimpse of what the 2020-21 academic year looked like for us.

The Fall 2020 semester made socially distanced rehearsals possible for some specific ensembles. Here Troy Peters conducts the first in-person rehearsal of the UTSA Orchestra in August.

Professor Gary Poffenbarger, seen here with student Elijah Alonzo took advantage of the nice weather during the fall and spring semesters to teach al fresco.

In October the UTSA Percussion Ensemble was the first group to perform in the Recital Hall and be livestreamed via our Facebook page. The Orchestra also live-streamed in the fall as did the Jazz Combos, the Mariachi Los Paisanos, and the Guitar Ensemble.

Professor John Nix was interviewed by recent alum Paul Patinka on the PAVA Pan American Vocology Association’s newsletter, Informant.

Click here to read!

The 2020 edition of our holiday music spectacular, Winterlude premiered as a compilation video on YouTube in December.

Thank you to the faculty, students, and Gerard Bustos for making it happen!

This year’s Southwest Guitar Symposium and the North American Saxophone Association conference both went online for their respective events in March.

The UTSA Lyric Theatre went “Hollywood”, by creating a polished film version of the fall production, “Speed Dating” which premiered on our YouTube channel in December. Not to be outdone, the spring production of “Ladies’ Night” was recorded in front of a live audience at the Woodlawn Theatre in February and premiered (on video) in April. The Lyric Theatre directors Drs. William McCrary, Jourdan Laine Howell and Michelle Pietri also pulled off a technological feat by live streaming three back-to-back one-acts from three different local venues as part of the “Noche Española” production in late April! All can be seen on our YouTube channel or Facebook page.

The Spirit of San Antonio (SOSA) Marching Band under the direction of Ron Ellis and Mike Steiner met for its first rehearsal of the 2020 Roadrunner Football season in August.

The #UTSAMusic voice faculty created The Virtual Vocal Arts Series, a thematic series of recitals in the fall and spring semesters featuring pre-recorded student performances.

The first recital, “Deep River: An Afternoon of Spirituals” debuted on October 18 with an introduction by Dr. George Shirley the first African-American tenor and second AfricanAmerican male to sing leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera. The series can be found on our YouTube channel.

Music marketing major, Rolando Ramon was asked by Musical Bridges Across the World to participate in a concert focus group for their February concert, Harp vs. Harp. His review was published on the MBAW website.

Click here to read!

Dr. Steve Parker was featured in a New York Times article announcing the 5 finalists of the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition.

Click here to read!

On March 4, the #UTSAMUSIC department successfully raised over $2,000 during our “Marathoncert‘’ a 6-hour long concert benefiting staff and students affected by Winterstorm Uri in February. Dr. Tracy Cowden’s brainchild involved live and prerecorded performances by ensembles and faculty with a special introduction by UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. Vinnie Barerra supervised the live production with the assistance of a crew of student sound techs: Evan Feist, Joel McMinn-Reyna and Elias Hudson.

James Syler was featured in the Research UTSA Knowledge Enterprise Newsletter in March.

His new composition Symphony No. 2 was recorded by the Arkansas Tech University Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

The UTSA Graduate School’s 2020 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award was presented to Emily Myers in April. Julieta Garcia Reyes was awarded the 2021 ULA Outstanding Graduate Student Selection in April and Joe Samuel was awarded the 2020 Outstanding Capstone/Project Award.

The first-ever UTSA Giving Day kicked off on April 6 with the UTSA Pep Band getting things going. This fundraiser was a blowout for the Friends of Music and SOSA which raised $7,685 and $21,706, respectively. Three hundred and eighteen donors showed us their ‘Runner pride!

In April The UTSA Flute Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Rachel Woolf got festive as they recorded their entry into the 2021 National Flute Association competition.

Dr. Jennifer Beavers was awarded the prestigious Howe Teaching Award and Dr. Drew Stephen won the Teaching Excellence Award during the annual UTSA University Excellence Award ceremony in April.

UTSA MUSIC MARCHES INTO MAY! After a very unconventional and unprecedented 2020-2021 school year, #UTSAMUSIC continues to march on with confidence, valor, and with high hopes for the future. As we begin to put the chaos left by COVID-19 behind us, we move towards the normalcy of in-person and live performances in the Recital Hall. In celebration of this long awaited march into regularity, we polled a few dedicated members of the #UTSAMUSIC staff on which musical march is near and dear to their hearts.

Dr. John Zarco

Director of Instrumental Ensembles My all-time favorite march to perform and listen to would have to be “Semper Fidelis” by John Philip Sousa. For me, it has such a rousing, measured quality to it. The lines have direction and the counterpoint is clear and well-crafted. I also love how the beginning builds up to the 2nd strain; it kind of bursts open at that point. Honestly, I can’t remember where I first discovered this piece, but it is featured a bit in the opening credits of “A Few Good Men” and I’ll bet that helped turn me on to it when I was younger. I loved that movie!

Dr. Steve Parker

Professor of Trombone and New Media I would have to say that my favorite march has to be “Composition No. 19” by Anthony Braxton. Fun fact, it was actually written for 100 marching tubas! I got to know the piece when we produced the concert in 2014 for the SoundSpace series at the Blanton Museum of Art. Many of our #UTSAMUSIC trombone, euphonium, and tuba students participated, among others.

Gary Poffenbarger

Professor of Tuba and Euphonium It is very tough to choose just one march! The obvious choice is “Stars and Stripes” by John Philip Sousa. After performing and recording it thousands of times and ending almost every concert with it, I still think it’s brilliant, but I would have to ultimately choose “Joyce’s 71st New York Regiment March” by Thornton Barnes Boyer for many reasons. It’s one of the most interesting tuba parts in a march. It was also a memory march for the marching band once I joined the Air Force. Since then, I have done my own arrangements of the march for brass quintet and I did an arrangement for the UTSA Boom Squad, which we have performed several times. The first time I heard this march was actually sight-reading when I won the job at The USAF Academy Band. That was challenging!

MUSIC BUSINESS EDUCATION SUMMER INSTITUTE

THIS SUMMER JU L Y 6 -8 , 20 21

S P O N S OR ED BY

| OPERA ON THE RUN

A light-hearted musical for children about food allergies, empathy, and friendship.

Based on the book

by Wendy McClure Sheila Reiner, playwright Darrin Newhardt, composer

CAST: Tori Becker (soprano), Shirlyn Davenport (soprano), Kyree Harrison (baritone), Jared Kellman-Medina (baritone), Jessica Morales (mezzo soprano) STAGE DIRECTOR: Michelle Pietri MUSIC DIRECTOR: Darrin Newhardt

MAY

DATES 03 GUITAR ENSEMBLE

Watch the livestream event at 5pm via the #UTSAMUSIC Facebook page

07 EXTRAVAGANZA 2021 The department’s annual award and recognition ceremony to end the 20202021 school year

10 EXAM WEEK

May 10 through May 14 is exam week!

Good luck!

SEE YOU IN THE FALL! STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE UPCOMING SEMESTER AT UTSA MUSIC MUSIC.UTSA.EDU

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