UNIV ERSITY NEWS premiered by Mélomanie, the Wilmington-based ensemble for which Reighley is co-artistic director and co-founder. The quintet connects Baroque music with contemporary works performing on both period and modern instruments. Reighley co-produces its concert series at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts. The group also worked with University of Delaware composition professor Jennifer Margaret Barker to create a unique educational opportunity. “Composition students wrote pieces for members of Mélomanie which were then critiqued, performed and recorded in a master class setting. One of the young composers’ compositions was selected to be performed for one of the ensemble’s series concerts.” Reighley has been teaching WCU students as the University’s flute professor since 2005 and has been part of the Quintsylvania Winds, the WCU School of Music’s faculty woodwind quintet, since its debut performance at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in May 2008. Her strong commitment to music education brings her to regional schools for concerts with the Quintsylvania Winds and the Delaware Symphony Arts in Education program, as well as master classes in schools and at the Music School of Delaware. Of her role at West Chester, she says, “I enthusiastically prepare future performers and music educators. My University students have won full-time positions with the United States Coast Guard Band, the United States Army Field Band, regional orchestras and theater orchestras. They have been hired in public schools throughout the Northeast and been accepted into prestigious graduate school music programs, including the Boston Conservatory, NYU, The Hartt School of Music, and Temple University.” Reighley will use the grant funds to commission two compositions she will premiere at her solo recital and to acquire new instruments. Her concert will be held Sunday, Sept.13, at 2 p.m. at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington. “It will feature works that were written especially for me [by] Delaware composers Mark Hagerty, Jennifer Margaret Barker, Ingrid Arauco and Chuck Holdeman. Chuck will be writing a piece for me for piccolo. I will also premiere a piece by Brazilian composer, Sergio Roberto de Oliviera, who is writing a piece for baroque flute and harpsichord. Works by the other composers mentioned are written for flute or alto flute and harpsichord and solo alto flute.”
Sophomore Accepted into Prestigious Summer Medical Program WCU pre-med student Denston Carey, Jr., managed a heavy 19-credit course load this semester, and his summer will be no less intense. He is one of
only 10 students accepted into Thomas Jefferson University’s Summer Training and Enrichment Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP). The sophomore from Trevose, Pa., joined WCU’s pre-med program last fall and is majoring in cell and molecular biology. He calls West Chester’s pre-med program “impressive. … It’s smaller than other schools, and that’s allowed me to get to know my professors on a first-name basis.” That’s a major factor in why West Chester is the right fit for him, Carey says. Carey is the current recipient of WCU’s pre-med program scholarship and is maintaining a 4.0 GPA. The highly competitive STEP-UP program is oriented toward college juniors and seniors who are underrepresented in medicine, come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and intend to apply to medical school. It is an intensive eightweek program that requires pre-med students to dedicate 40 hours per week to the experience, which provides them with skills and support to enhance their qualifications to successfully apply to medical school. The curriculum includes Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) prep courses, comprehensive workshops, educational sessions, 60 hours of clinical shadowing, and medical skills workshops. Carey, who is also a psychology minor, was accepted to both Jefferson and a similar program at the University of Pittsburgh – a significant accomplishment for a youth entering college as an undeclared major. He chose Jefferson’s program for the 4 WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY
Denston Carey
amount of free MCAT course prep work, noting, “They tell you what you need to know to successfully apply to medical school.” Pre-med advisor Stephen Zimniski speaks highly of Carey’s drive and determination. The serious, soft-spoken student had already begun looking for summer programs and shadowing for medical school at the time that the STEP-UP offer became available. He volunteers at Chester County Hospital once a week and works with incoming freshmen through the University’s Brother to Brother program, which helps smooth students’ transition to college. Since he was in high school, Carey says he’s been interested in the sciences, enjoying the challenges they pose, and knew he wanted a major that involved medicine. He chose cell and molecular biology because he wanted a deeper understanding into biology. He intends to study neuroscience in medical school on his way to becoming a neurologist. As his journey intensifies, he is looking forward to this summer’s hard work, anticipating not only the MCAT prep and clinical shadowing, but also getting to know the doctors at Jefferson Hospital.