Oct 2021
BYU SCHOOL OF MUSIC Journal
Dr. Mark Ammons, Assistant Director BYU School of Music
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love the Fall season! It is by far my favorite. I love the brisk, snappy air, the beautiful fall colors, the smell of wood-burning stoves and fires in the fireplaces. I love watching the miraculous change from the season of growth and blossoming to the season of harvest in preparation for the cycle to begin once again. The practice of sowing seeds, cultivating them into tender seedlings, nurturing them into thriving and mature plants that produce grains, vegetables, and fruit, and finally, harvesting the wondrous “fruits of your labors” has been part of our lives since Adam and Eve. And, while many of us no longer subsist entirely on this way of life for the support of our families, we continue to employ thesame pattern of sowing, cultivating, and harvesting in our lives, regardless our profession.
Indeed, the law of the harvest is an eternal principle as is the cycle of sowing, cultivating, and nurturing that culminates in the harvest. We know that we are all now in the midst of the greatest Gathering and Harvest the earth will ever have. It is the final season, and the Lord is seeking to gather in all who will be the fruit of His vineyard. In the BYU School of Music, we continue to share our light and through that light, the Light of Christ. We are earnestly engaged in the Great Gathering. Please enjoy the bounty of this Harvest Issue of the School of Music Journal as we share the “fruits of the labors” of faculty, students, and alumni throughout the past months of hard work and “putting their shoulders to the wheel”. And by all means, feel free to share this bounty with others!
Sharing the Light and the bounty,
Mark
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Zémire et Azor
Building Renderings
Live from the Bell Tower
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Faculty Accomplishments
Alumni Accomplishments
Living Room Music
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Zémire et Azor The BYU Opera took on a time-honored tale called “Zémire et Azor,”during the month of October. The magical story of Beauty and the Beast is set as a French opera (sung in French with dialogue and supertitles in English) by André Grétry.
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New School of Music Building Renderings
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onstruction of the new School of Music building began June 15, 2020. Located at the south end of the parking lot and east of the BYU law school, the new building will take two years to complete with a planned completion date of Winter Semester 2023. The new building will house the BYU School of Music’s performance and academic space. “We are thrilled with the beginning of construction on this new building that we hope will bless students and the community at large,” said Ed Adams, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications. “The Church has a long history of supporting music and the arts, and this new building will expand upon the university’s commitment to producing inspiring and uplifting art.” The 170,000-square-foot Music Building will have four levels and feature more mid-sized spaces for practice and recitals, including practice rooms located on the upper floor. The cornerstone of the new building will be a 1000seat concert hall built in the vineyard style where the performance space is centralized with tiers of audience members rising above them.
Amber
Dahlberg Live from the Bell Tower
Faculty Accomplishments Jihea Hong-Park and Brent Wells “Over the summer, Jihea and I were brainstorming about ways we could collaborate. She introduced me to the works of Yun Don-Ju, one of the most famous Korean poets of the early 20th century. I composed a musical setting of one of his poems titled “The Marketplace” (scored for SSAA choir and piano). It was premiered by the UVU Women’s Chorus under the direction of Dr. Cherilyn Worthen with Jihea accompanying on the piano.”
Alexander Woods
Brian Harker Brian Harker teaches music history and theory. He is the recipient of the 1999 Irving Lowens Award for his article, “‘Telling a Story’: Louis Armstrong and Coherence in Early Jazz,” published by Current Musicology. His research interests include topics in jazz, blues, gospel, and other African-American musical genres. Dr. Harker’s new book, Sportin’ Life: The Story of John W. Bubbles, will be published in September 2021 by Oxford University Press.
Alexander presented the concert Positive Temperaments at BYU on October 27, 2021. My inspiration for this concert came from some research I did that our wellness can be improved by the specific vibrations of baroque music. My favorite quote from this article is “brain imaging research using electroencephalography found that Baroque music can bring about a balanced, stable, calm state of mind and improve learning efficiency.” The concert features the music of J.S. Bach, the most well-known and revered composer of the Baroque era. We will be performing his Cantata no. 4 (subtitled ‘Christ lay in the snares of death’) with School of Music faculty vocal soloists Diane Thueson Reich, Jennifer Youngs, Andrew Crane, and Robert Brandt. Cantata no. 4 is based on an Easter hymn by Martin Luther and is full of beautiful characterizations and depictions of Christ through music.
April Clayton April’s flute-viola-harp trio, Hat Trick, had a recording titled ‘The Garden of Joys and Sorrows’, which was composed by Sofia Gubaidulina, aired on BBC radio during the month of September. April met the acclaimed composer, Sofia Gubaidulina, in Paris in 2008. They were both faculty at a summer music program at the Ecole Normale de Musique. “She told me, through a translator, that she had written this trio, which was not very well known,” Clayton said. Sofia wanted April to take a look at it and consider performing and recording it.
“At the time, I couldn’t find any published recordings of it. Now there are a few, but we are proud of this one. We spent a long time putting it together as carefully as we could,” Clayton said. April’s trio, Hat Trick, recorded this late in 2014 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in NYC. It was released on Bridge Records in 2017. “We “received a nod” - (This is how guitarist Sharon Isbin told us to describe it) - at the 2018 Grammys. Our Producer, David Frost, won Classical Producer of the Year. Our album was one of 9 he recorded that won him the Grammy,” Clayton said. “We had to give permission for all of the Grammy judges to listen for free, as they considered where the Grammy should be awarded.”
Geralyn Giovannetti Recently, Dr. Geralyn Giovannetti, an oboe professor in the school, received a prestigious grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. The $19,300 grant, awarded to Giovannetti’s group CAN–AM Trio, will fund the group’s efforts in commissioning, touring and recording their music. The other two members in the trio include Sarah Hamilton from The State University of New York at Fredonia and Anna Mattix, the English hornist with the Buffalo Philharmonic.
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“I
Sharon Hinckley
graduated in 1958 with a special “Music Award of the Year” - a first in the music department - to add to the 72 concerts I was honored to perform in. As a piano and harpsichord performance major, I was the first to present “ancient music” on TV in Salt Lake City under the direction of Professor Homer Wakefield. I gave many solo recitals as well as orchestral and choral performances and accompanied visiting artists when Professor Carl Fuerstner was on tour. Later, I was privileged to teach piano and harpsichord at BYU. Today, I am still teaching piano, accompanying, and coaching students as they prepare for competitions and festivals. After graduation, marriage, and three children, I was honored to be the only American faculty member several Summers at the international, prestigious ‘Festa Musica Pro Munda Uno” In Assisi and Orvieto, Italy where I taught the piano ensemble classes and accompanied many visiting artists in classes and concerts. I’ve also enclosed a photo of my musical hobby: paper crafts. This display has been featured at the Three Creeks Library here in Vancouver, WA. They have also been featured at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Concerts as ongoing donations as a former board member. Music takes many forms and the arts are all connected! My years at BYU were exciting, exhausting, exhilarating and professionally demanding with the honor of studying with some of the best professors in the music world.
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Thank you, BYU, many ongoing years later as I continue spreading the gospel of music. You were and are the best!
Sharon Hinckley Class of 1958
Alumni Accomplishments
Jonah Hoskins Jonah was one of 11 finalists that had made it to the final round of Operalia, a competition founded by Placido Domingo. He tied for second place. Hoskins is from Saratoga Springs, Utah. Jonah graduated from BYU in 2020
Michelle Howard
“I recently released two singles— a BTS cover Save Me ft. Yahosh Bonner and Country Road ft. Dan Ankenman on guitar, a song that was licensed by Amazon for the original series James May: Our Man In Japan. I also performed for Cupbop’s VIP Korean Culture Festival. I had a solo performance accompanied by my sisters on harp and had a group performance with Yahosh and OBA Bonner with an instrument track OBA and I made together.”
Megumi Terry
Playing the violin has always been an important part of Megumi Terry’s life since she began playing at the age of four. Megumi is a doctoral student at the Florida State University School of Music. She is a fan of living composers and has made it her mission as an FSU doctoral candidate to spotlight female composers in her research.
Lyman McBride Lyman McBride (Trombone ’18) is a freelance musician and software engineer based in Utah. Mr. McBride is a winner of the International Trombone
Association’s Larry Wiehe Trombone Competition. Lyman was awarded one of the first-ever Young Alumni Fund grants from Curtis Institute of Music
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BYU
Tangents Percussion Q u a r t e t Presents
Living Room Music Tangents Percussion Quartet: Peyton Gleave Tanner Johnson Robert Oldroyd Nathan Winters BYU Tangents Percussion Quartet, with special guest, Daron Bradford, perform John Cage’s Living Room Music. This is an adaptation to the original work, which was intended to be performed in a living room setting using found objects within the room. For this rendition, the living room is the world we live in, and the found objects include wood, stone, and bone. It is a poignant reminder of how close we are to the natural beauty around us, and the amazing sounds we can hear from the simplest sources. We hope John Cage would applaud our creative approach to this work and we hope you enjoy the performance. This production was funded in part by a generous grant from The Laycock Center.
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A Call to All Alumni Join our “Let Your Light Shine” Initiative “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
We want to hear about your accomplishments! It is time to “Let Your Light Shine”, we want you to tell us about the great works you have done and are doing! We’ll take your “candle” and help it shine. Please email us at musicalumni@byu.edu
BYU School of Music Livestream Check out some of our upcoming livestreams!
BYU Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorus
de Jong Concert Hall November 5 @ 7:30 PM
Honors String Quartet Friday, November 5, 2021 7:30 p.m. MT
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