Listen Fall 2014

LISTEN DEPAUW UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC

FALL 2014

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“Dvorák and America” Festival Brings Campus Together Through Interdisciplinary Project The DePauw School of Music is thrilled to welcome cultural historian and acclaimed author Joseph Horowitz and internationally renowned bass-baritone Kevin Deas to campus this fall for our Dvořák and America Festival. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the festival will take place from Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2014, with a preliminary visit from Horowitz Oct. 13-15.

Horowitz, the festival’s artistic consultant and visiting historian, is a teacher, author and one of the most prominent and widely published writers on topics in American music. As an orchestral administrator and adviser, he has been a pioneering force in the development of thematic programming and new concert formats, and he is credited with coining the term PostClassical Music as a moniker for art music of today. Horowitz will be joined

by Kevin Deas, bass-baritone, who will

perform several settings of AfricanAmerican Spirituals.

The Dvořák and America festival focuses on the brief period that Antonín Dvořák served as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City (1892-95), during which time he composed his best-known symphony “From the New World,” as well as his best-known string quartet and concerto. Incorporating both “Negro melodies” and the “Indianist” movement in American music, he regarded

African-Americans and Native Americans as iconic peoples who could help define a national music, a sound all Americans would recognize as uniquely their own.

Not only did Dvořák’s works reflect common American experiences of poverty, immigration and severe economic recession, but his story also intersects with the slave trade, plantation song and Indian Wars. Likewise, he was inspired by Buffalo Bill (whose “Wild West” Dvořák attended) and Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha” (in the 1890s, still the most-read work of American literature, which Dvořák adored), and by such iconic American painters as Church, Bierstadt and Catlin (whose nearest musical equivalent is the “New World” Symphony). Dvořák’s American sojourn furnishes a distinctive opportunity to offer fresh insights and new value for the music field through cross-disciplinary public programming on these themes.

Four major concerts will take place over the course of the festival. During Horowitz’s preliminary visit, the DePauw University Orchestra and DePauw University Wind Ensemble will present a lunchtime pop-up concert titled “Dvořák’s Two Faces,” with performances of Dvořák’s Serenade and American Suite. During the week of Oct. 27-Nov. 2, a multitude of student and faculty performance events will be offered, including three concerts: (Continued on page 2.)

Fall 2014 I 1

Ken Owen ’82

With market pressures facing the world of classical music, “Even top conservatories are today encouraging their students to think innovatively,” notes The American Conservative. Its Sept./Oct. issue includes an article headlined “Making Classical New: Young musicians take an entrepreneurial approach to the canon.”

“Indiana’s DePauw University, which features one of the nation’s top music schools, has recently designed an entrepreneurial arts program called the 21st-Century Musician Initiative,” writes Gracy Olmstead. “According to the university’s website, the program is a ‘complete re-imagining’ of what it means to be a classical musician.

They want students to become flexible and entrepreneurial, to ‘find musical venues and outlets in addition to traditional performance spaces, develop new audiences, and utilize their music innovatively to impact and strengthen communities.’ Students can attend workshops in marketing and learn business skills. Senior recitals must not only feature excellent artistry – they must 2 I Fall 2014

also be personally produced. Students track down their own venues, order their own programs and do their own marketing.”

The piece includes comments from Greg Sandow, music critic, composer and member of the graduate studies faculty at Juilliard, who has served as a consultant to the DePauw School of Music. Olmstead writes, “Though these innovative classes are not required, Sandow says they have been very popular and admissions at the university ‘shot up’ as a result. ‘Students are more than ready for this,’ he said. ‘They’re thinking entrepreneurially already, thanks to the wonderful climate of entrepreneurship in our world these days.’ ” Access the complete article at the publication’s website, www.theamericanconservative. com. Sandow also discussed DePauw’s innovative program on the July 22 edition of NPR’s Diane Rehm Show. A $15 million gift from Judson C. and Joyce (Taglauer ’75) Green ’74 last October launched the 21stCentury Musician Initiative (see Listen, Fall 2013).

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21CM is “Making Classical New”

Dvorák (Continued from page 1.)

“Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) and the ‘Indianists’ Movement Concert and Discussion: An exploration of 19th-century Native American melodies and the American Identity” (Oct. 30); “Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) and ‘Negro Melodies’ Concert and Discussion: An exploration of 19th-century AfricanAmerican Spirituals and the American Identity” (Nov. 1); along with a gala closing concert, including a multimedia presentation of Dvořák’s popular “New World” Symphony (Nov. 2).

In addition to the concerts, Horowitz will lecture and make several classroom visits – both on the DePauw campus, to the School of Music and College of Liberal Arts, and in the Greencastle community.

“The Harry Burleigh Show,” a lectureperformance exploring the relationship and contributions of American musician Harry Burleigh to Dvořák’s work, will be presented by Horowitz and Deas, for students from all over Putnam County, in two performances at Greencastle High School on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

In an effort to make this a truly interdisciplinary festival, there will be several events throughout both visits that intend to bring the College of Liberal Arts and School of Music together. In collaboration with The Prindle Institute for Ethics’ series on cultural appropriation, we will participate in a dinner focused on cultural themes in Dvořák’s and contemporary music on Monday, Oct. 13.

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, there will be a discussion titled “Dvořák and the NFL,” which will draw connections between the issue of cultural appropriation within the context of Dvořák’s time and the recent controversy with the Washington football team. There will also be a panel on Friday, Oct. 31, featuring faculty from the DePauw English literature and history departments discussing cross-curricular programming in the humanities, including discussion of Dvořák’s music and the themes surrounding it.

Be a Mentor to a DePauw Music Student Noel L. Hayashi ’68, HAYASHI Creative Resources Recently, I sent you a letter inviting you to participate in a new Mentoring Program launching this fall as part of the 21CM Initiative. Over the years, I have enjoyed meeting DePauw music students and hearing about their career aspirations.

I always find them open to advice and eager to learn from my experience. Those encounters were the inspiration behind this program.

When I graduated from DePauw with a bachelor’s degree in applied violin, I had no idea how I would earn a living. I’m not implying that, had I been fortunate enough to have a mentor back then, I would have had all the answers. But, I would have hopefully been given the assurance that it was okay not to know. That, in itself, would have been a gift. As it turns out, my DePauw years prepared me for a fascinating journey that keeps surprising and delighting me almost a half century later.

My Story I never felt an aptitude toward teaching, and I knew from an early age that my prospects of ever being a solo performer were limited by a lack of discipline, coupled with an insecurity that made public performances unbearable. But music was, and still is, my greatest passion.

After college, I spent several summers working at Interlochen, where I had gone to camp as a child. It was there, as a 12-year-old camper, I realized it was unlikely I would ever be more than just an average violinist, and average was not part of my game plan. While working in various offices, I discovered I was quite good at administrative work and being in that environment, surrounded by the arts, was heavenly. I thought to myself, how great it would be to do work that I was actually good at, in an environment that fed my spirit. (Coincidentally, it was during one of those summers that I befriended Orcenith “Gino” Smith, who was a 16-year-old

camper at the time. We worked in the same office, and he remains an important link in my professional network.)

So I moved to Michigan to work yearround at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. After nine years as director of special events, I spent the next nine years in Amherst, Mass. Jobless when I arrived, I accepted an unpaid internship with the University’s Arts Extension Service (headed by Robert Lynch, currently the president/CEO of Americans for the Arts – another important contact), where I handled publicity for a regional arts festival. Soon after, I landed a job as director of marketing at the UMass Fine Arts Center. It was there that my love for, and knowledge of, the performing arts expanded to include not only music, but also dance and theatre. After dissecting hundreds of promotional press kits – which back then consisted of pages of dreary descriptive text and grainy 8x10 photos – I distinctly remember thinking: “Artists really need help promoting their work. I’d like to help them.”

I landed next in southern California, directing the marketing at two theatres, both presenting venues, honing my marketing skills, but all the while itching to work for myself. On the verge of branching out on my own, circumstances

led me to New York City. Recognizing the folly of starting my own company at age 50 in a city where I knew no one, I accepted a job as director of marketing for the Paul Taylor Dance Company. I used that experience as a springboard for starting my own arts marketing firm in 1998. During that time, I handled the marketing for Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Ethos Percussion Group and several solo artists. Then in 2003, with my husband (also an arts administrator), I cofounded The Center for Creative Resources, offering services in management, marketing and fundraising.

For the next eight years, we consulted with hundreds of musicians, dancers and actors and produced concerts at venues, including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Three years ago, our work brought us to San Francisco, where I happily serve as marketing director for the Berkeley Symphony and managing director of PUSH Dance Company. I credit my liberal arts education and the nurturing environment at DePauw for opening my eyes to all of life’s possibilities.

I know you have a similar story. DePauw’s School of Music wants to connect you with undergraduates so that they, too, can benefit from the wisdom of your years.

Please join me in this exciting effort.

Email me at hayashi17.arts@gmail.com, and we can get started.

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Band Releases Ninth CD This fall, the DePauw University Band will unveil its ninth compact disc as part of its CD Recording Project. The newest recording, titled United Artists, will be published and distributed internationally

by Mark Custom Recording Service, which has named it to its exclusive Mark Masters label. “The quality of our recording, judged by our publisher and being named to its select Mark Masters label, means that we’ll be distributed and promoted alongside recordings of world-renowned ensembles, such as the United States Marine Band, United States Air Force Band, Dallas Wind Symphony and Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra,” said Craig Paré, professor of music and conductor of the University Band.

“This compact disc represents a wonderfully creative collaboration between our talented undergraduate School of Music musicians and four of my esteemed faculty colleagues: Carla Edwards, organ; Eric Edberg, cello; Randy Salman, clarinet; and Jim Beckel, who contributed an original arrangement to our recording. In addition, Suzanne Hassler, coordinator for music marketing and publications, designed and created the CD artwork. I am thrilled about the performances, and I believe that this is the best of our nine recordings.”

The repertoire includes United Artists

by Kenneth Fuchs, Avelynn’s Lullaby

by Joel Puckett, Variations on “America”

by Charles Ives and Aurora Awakes by John Mackey. School of Music faculty are featured in Tramonto: Romanza for Cello and Wind Ensemble by Luis Serrano Alarcón and Toccata (Moto perpetuo) from Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante.

Copies of United Artists, along with other DePauw University Band CDs, will be available through retail outlets such as Amazon. com, iTunes, Tower Records, ArkivMusic and through the Naxos Music Library, as well as the Mark Custom Recording Service website (www.classicsonline.com/Mark_Records).

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Two Americans in Paris: Seniors Make European Debuts Seniors Kevin M. Smith and Rachel L. Robin will make their solo recital debuts this fall in Paris, France, at the invitation of a prestigious presenter for rising young artists, the Fondation des Etats-Unis.

While studying abroad during spring semester 2014, Smith, a saxophone performance major and student of professor Scotty Stepp, participated in a competition near Paris. In the audience that day happened to be DonPaul Kahl, a member of the Franco/ American foundation. Impressed with the performance, Kahl approached Smith about the possibility of returning to play for his organization later in the year.

After a few follow-up conversations, the foundation made an unexpected offer – not only for Smith but also for another artist of his choice – to join the roster of its 2014-15 cultural program.

Elated with the idea of performing for the first time on the European continent, Robin, a two-time winner of the annual DePauw University Concerto Competition, agreed to share the recital with the talented saxophonist. The senior piano performance major, a student of DePauw faculty pianist Amanda Hopson and professor May Phang, has played extensively with Smith during her previous three years at DePauw. For their joint program in Paris, on Nov. 14, they plan to present musical selections encompassing several genres, from avant-garde saxophone music such as Paganini Lost by Jun Nagao, to 1950s French light classical by Paule Maurice, to masterworks such as the Barber piano nocturnes.

Fondation des Etats-Unis, a remarkable 84-year-old institution, fulfills several valuable services for Americans studying in Paris: a private residence at which exceptional visual art and music students

may live and work, an academic resource for American students and a cultural exchange program, the cornerstone of which is Portes Ouvertes aux Nouveaux Talents (PONT). The primary purpose of this latter service is to bring American arts to Paris and provide American artists a chance to jumpstart their careers with European debuts. Through these showcase opportunities, the organization helps bridge the gap between an emerging artist’s final years as a student and first years as a young professional.

These two seniors from DePauw School of Music are excited to present their work to a Parisian audience and are grateful for Fondation des Etats-Unis and for DePauw’s support, which allows them to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity.

LISTEN – Fall 2014 DePauw University School of Music Editor: B. Suzanne Hassler Student News Editors: Stephen A. Johnson ’17 and Tyler D. Benware ’15 Graphic Design: Kelly A. Graves Contributors: Tyler D. Benware ’15, Patrick Evans, B. Suzanne Hassler, Noel Hayashi ’68, D. Mark McCoy, Ken Owens ’82, Craig T. Paré Photography: Tyler D. Benware ’15, Kristin Champa ’91, Marilyn E. Culler, B. Suzanne Hassler, Larry G. Ligget, Linda Striggo Special thanks to C. Matthew Balensuela, Janice E. Bagwell, Marilyn E. Culler, Steven R. Linville ’06, Theresa “Terry” A. Noble ’03, Elleka A. Okerstrom ’14, Scott Perkins, Misti Shaw, Emily Smith ’13, Kevin M. Smith ’15

Jason Robert Brown’s Parade Challenges Students, Community Tyler D. Benware ’15

“Look there, my Lila, they call me to tell it: the lives that we led when the Southland was free,” sings an old Confederate soldier, setting the stage for the musical Parade, a show that delves deeply into the racial, religious and political tensions in America during one of the nation’s most troubled times.

School of Music and College of Liberal Arts students and faculty have been hard at work this fall creating a memorable co-production with the Department of Communication and Theatre (and with support from The Prindle Institute) that both entertains and engages the community. This year’s musical by Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown challenges students like never before. Parade, set during the early 20thcentury in Atlanta, presents the historical account of the trial and subsequent lynching of Jewish factory superintendent Leo Max Frank. In 1913 Frank was accused and improperly convicted of the murder of 13-year-old factory employee Mary Phagan. This dramatization sheds light on a number of relevant issues, including anti-Semitism, racism, yellow journalism and political corruption.

a year ago with the idea to do the show.

When asked why he suggested this particular work, Linville responded, “Parade presents a lot of challenges that we as a School of Music, and we as a theatre are ready to take on. It’s hard music, and it really presents some acting challenges.” Rehearsals began in late spring. Students have responded positively, showing a great deal of enthusiasm for the project and seriously reflecting on the show’s significance.

The rehearsal process had been similar to past DePauw productions until the creative team and the cast were forced to

consider the magnitude of the theatrical performance. “This is one of the few times that we’ve done a real story,” Linville said.

“I think people could really be moved by seeing Parade to try and make a change, or it could anger some who come to see the show. Either way that’s good; it gets people to converse and communicate.”

The directors, cast, 10-piece orchestra, set designers and costumers are combining forces to create a truly unique experience.

DePauw continues to establish a rich tradition of opera and musical theatre, bringing in outside artists who encourage bold ideas. The production is scheduled to run Oct. 9-12, 2014. Jason Robert Brown originally planned to be directly involved with production, but scheduling conflicts on Broadway prevented him from visiting during the fall term. Brown will travel to DePauw for a two-day residency, March 6-7, 2015.

Music Director Steven Linville ’06 approached Professor Good more than

Photo by Tyler D. Benware

Director Tim Good is determined to emphasize the “here and now” factor of the show’s many messages. To accomplish this, he has considered several aesthetic choices, such as projecting images of downtown Greencastle, eliminating the use of the Confederate flag (which Good suggests places the show in a foreign, outside context) and assembling an authentic display outside of the auditorium. “The goal is to get to something deeper than ‘racism is bad,’ to implicate ourselves in the problem rather than say it was long ago and far away,” the director said.

Julie A. Strauser ’16 and Joseph R. Leppek ’15 rehearse “All the Wasted Time” from Jason Robert Brown’s musical Parade on the Moore Theatre stage.

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New Partnership Benefits Indianapolis Region The DePauw University School of Music is teaming with New Amsterdam Presents, the parent company of the record label for the school’s Green Guest Artist Roomful of Teeth, and the Marianne Tobias Music Program at Eskenazi Health, a leading health care provider in central Indiana, to form a new and unique partnership that will bring contemporary music in the Indianapolis region to the widest possible audience.

Guest Artist, the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, has experienced a recent rise to global acclaim, which included a performance at the Grammy ceremony and a Pulitzer Prize for composer-member Caroline Shaw (for her Partita, written for and performed by the ensemble), making them an ideal example of how a selfdeveloped new music project can have an enormous impact.

Roomful of Teeth is on the roster of New Amsterdam Presents, whose subsidiary label, New Amsterdam Records, also released Roomful of Teeth’s debut recording. In the coming season, New Amsterdam is embarking on an ambitious new programming model, of which Indianapolis is the first example, emphasizing “regional hubs” that can share resources to create new opportunities for visiting ensembles and a greater sense of partnership among neighboring institutions.

The three organizations – an institution of higher education, music series in a public health care system and new music artists’ service organization – will coordinate their resources to increase the impact of visiting musicians, create new opportunities for local artists and provide numerous points of access for audiences in a variety of locations.

“Increased coordination between institutions will provide greater opportunities for both artists and presenters,” said Judd Greenstein, composer and co-director of New Amsterdam Presents. “By sharing ideas and resources among different organizations early in the planning stages, we will offer a greater capacity for artists to reach multiple audiences and have a substantially greater community impact, with greater efficiency for the organizations themselves.”

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This new partnership intersects with new programs in each of the three institutions. DePauw recently launched the 21st-Century Musician Initiative, a campuswide effort to help prepare musicians for the realities of today’s musical world. D. Mark McCoy, dean of the DePauw School of Music, describes the program as “a complete re-imagining of the skills, tools and experiences necessary to create musicians of the future instead of the past – flexible, entrepreneurial musicians that find diverse musical venues and outlets in addition to traditional performance spaces, develop new audiences, and utilize their music innovatively to impact and strengthen communities.”

As part of this initiative, DePauw plays host to contemporary music ensembles that reflect, in their own practice, the values and skills that are being learned by the student body. The Sept. 6 Green

The American Conservative cites DePauw’s 21st-Century Musician Initiative in an article in its latest issue, “Making Classical New: Young musicians take an entrepreneurial approach to the canon.”

Read more on 2.

Faculty News B. Suzanne Hassler, editor The appointment of Eric Edberg as the 2014-19 Cassel Grubb University Professor of Music was announced in May. In 1988 he succeeded Grubb as DePauw’s cello professor. Edberg recorded an album this summer with Latin Grammy Award winner Fernando Otero, which will be released in 2015, and also gave concerts with faculty pianist Claude Cymerman, Japanese pianist Taka Kigawa and at the New Harmony Music Festival with saxophonist George Wolfe. The founding artistic director of the Greencastle Summer Music Festival, Edberg was recognized for ten seasons of organizational work at a GSMF concert this summer, during which Mayor Sue Murray read a proclamation declaring July 23 as Eric Edberg Day in Greencastle.

Kerry Jennings was engaged for two recording projects this summer. In Norfolk (Va.), he recorded the music of Michael John Trotta for the disc Mystical Voices. At Brick Road Studios in Scottsdale, Ariz., he recorded the song cycle If I Shall Ever Return Home: Seven Chinese Poems by David Arbury for his disc Alchemy. Both CDs are scheduled for release in 2015. During the spring term, Jennings performed a recital of contemporary American music; presented a master class at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music in Gettysburg, Pa.; judged the NATS Artist Awards competition at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City; and performed Vaughan Williams’s Four Hymns for Tenor, Viola, and Piano with the Houston Camerata.

He will return to Houston in November for Mozart’s Waisenhausmesse and to record the tenor solos for the Camerata’s premier recording of Fonseca’s Missa Afro-Brasileira. His summer activities concluded with an invitation from Dolora Zajick to attend the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, where he had the opportunity to attend classes,

observe workshops and teach at this oneof-a-kind training program. In addition, Jennings was invited to be one of the national guest artists to write articles and concert previews as part of a music advocacy initiative by The Indianapolis Star and Classical Music Indy.

In May 2014, pianist Wonmin Kim performed with members of the world-renowned Sejong Soloists at the Seoul Art Center, Korea, on a concert called “Encounters Between Felix Mendelssohn and Johann Wolfgang Goethe.” From June 23-July 19, she participated as artist faculty at the IU Jacobs School Summer Festival. Concert highlights included a performance of Smetana’s Piano Trio with her sister, Wonji Kim (violin), a faculty member at the Mozarteum Salzburg and Oberlin Conservatory Professor Amir Eldan (cello), along with violin sonatas by Elgar and Janácek. She looks forward to returning to the IU festival in summer 2015.

DePauw voice faculty member Valentin Lanzrein and his coauthor Richard Cross, from Yale School of Music, received a contract with Oxford University Press to publish Singer’s Guide to German Diction.

The estimated date of publication is 2016.

In July faculty composer Scott Perkins backpacked in and wrote chamber music inspired by Denali National Park in Alaska as a participant in Composing in the Wilderness, a program sponsored in part by Alaska Geographic and The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. After a week of wilderness hiking with other composers and scientists, Perkins composed his Three Denali Sketches in three days, after which it was premiered at the festival. A month earlier, his newest choral work, Benedictus, received an enthusiastic premiere at the national convention of the American Guild of Organists, which commissioned the piece for the biennial event and drew thousands of church musicians from around the world.

Faculty flutist Anne Reynolds performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 with Maestro Raymond Leppard and colleagues at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the opening of the Christal DeHaan Center in Indianapolis.

Caroline B. Smith, professor of music and voice area coordinator, judged the National High School Competition Finals, with adjudicators from Eastman and New England Conservatory, at the 2014 National Classical Singer Convention in San Antonio, Texas. While attending the conference, she presented both a master class with prospective high school vocalists and a session for parents on college auditioning.

Smith has also been invited by Classical Singer to join a delegation of university teachers traveling to China in spring 2015 to adjudicate and audition Chinese students. In spring 2014, she organized and judged the regional Classical Singer competition held at DePauw University.

Assistant Professor of Music Bonnie Whiting gave a performance at New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival in June, featuring works for voice, percussion and electronics. Whiting also led workshops and gave a concert at Sam Houston State University’s Summer Percussion Academy; was a member of the ensemble-in-residence at The Walden School in New Hampshire; and published a chapter (“The Speaking Percussionist as Storyteller”) in Routledge Research’s 2014 compendium The Modern Percussion Revolution: Journeys of the Progressive Artist.

“Otte and Whiting played their various percussion instruments with flexible, organic alertness to each other as well as to the recorded music … [T]heir movements on and around the stage and each other mimicked, replicated and illuminated the conversation of recorded and live music, making it feel multidimensional, more like musical choreography than just alternating kinds of sound.”

– J. B. TEREPKA, Theatre Scene, June 26, 2014

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Student News

Aradia Ensemble. Beckemeyer is a fiveyear, double-degree candidate (vocal performance track and mathematics) and a student of Caroline B. Smith.

Maureen A. Bailey ’16 (horn, music business emphasis) had the pleasure of working near her hometown of Fort Collins as a summer intern with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Denver. She was involved with the symphony’s development, marketing and artistic departments. By reaching out to local businesses for CSO’s annual 5K fundraiser and helping organize an innovative, new concert series, she immersed herself in the real world as a 21st-century musician.

Tyler D. Benware ’15 (oboe) completed an administrative internship last summer with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, where he worked directly with executive director Dana Hudson Stone ’05. He sold season subscriptions, monitored ticket sales, helped prepare the musicians’ contracts, and contributed to the orchestra’s marketing and publicity efforts. Benware is an oboe student of Leonid Sirotkin and assistant to marketing coordinator Suzanne Hassler.

Stephen A. Johnson ’17 and Tyler D. Benware ’15, editors

Blake C. Beckemeyer ’17 (tenor, vocal performance) performed with the Halifax Summer Opera Festival this summer. He was chosen to sing the role of Pluto from Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld for the mainstage production, and in a special gala concert, he sang the role of Tony in the Quintet from Bernstein’s West Side Story and “Two Nobodies in New York” from [title of show]. He was also selected to perform in a master class with Kevin Mallon, director of the Toronto-based

Sara V. Blanton ’16 (mezzo-soprano, vocal performance), a student of Pamela Coburn, was chosen to sing the role of La Maestra delle Novizie in Puccini’s Suor Angelica this past summer with the Tuscia Music Festival in Viterbo, Italy.

Anna B. Gatdula ’15 (soprano, vocal performance) received the Frank W. Howes Summer Grant to do research in the periodical archives at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts in Lincoln Center this past summer.

Select members of the DePauw University Orchestra chosen for the DePauw Chamber Symphony will be touring in Austria in January 2015. Performances in Vienna and Salzburg’s famed Mozarteum are just part of the concert tour itinerary being planned. The student Chamber Symphony, under the direction of Orcenith Smith, has toured extensively in the United States and abroad, including travel to Japan, Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy every other year since 1975.

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Gatdula studied the reception of Gustav Mahler’s conducting tenure at the Metropolitan Opera House and the New York Philharmonic Society. Her research culminated in a paper analyzing the effects of the Wagner-Hanslick Romantic debate on American classical music reception. After realizing that seven hours a day in a library is fun, Gatdula plans to pursue a doctoral degree in musicology.

She is a student of Kerry Jennings and is sponsored academically by Matthew Balensuela.

Brittny A. Goon ’17 (soprano, vocal performance) was chosen to sing Fiona in Shrek for 11 performances with the Elkhart Civic Theatre in July and August.

Goon is a student of Pamela Coburn on the vocal performance track.

Dana E. Hart ’16 (soprano, vocal performance), a student of Caroline B. Smith, attended the 2014 Bay View Music Festival in Petoskey, Mich. The intensive program focused on solo vocal and opera scenes training. In the culminating opera scenes concerts, Hart sang Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Meg (Adamo’s Little Women), Mercédès (Carmen), Bianca (The Rape of Lucretia) and the First Lady (The Magic Flute).

She recently sang the role of Ramiro in DePauw’s production of Mozart’s The Secret Gardener.

Joseph R. Leppek ’15 (tenor, vocal performance) spent eight weeks at the Aspen Music Festival taking classes in acting, practicing Alexander technique, performing in scenes from Britten’s Billy Budd as the Novice and Vanessa as Anatol, and studying with W. Stephen Smith.

It was the second summer that he was selected to attend the Aspen Music Festival. He performed the lead tenor role of Dorian Gray in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, the tenor soloist in Other Love Songs and as a member of the chorus in Carmen.

Leppek is singing the male lead in the fall DePauw musical production of Jason

Federico Mattia Papi ’15 (cello), a student of Eric Edberg, spent the summer interning with the artistic department of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He assisted with research for the creation of a new Beyond the Score series concert dedicated to Pierre Boulez. He also helped the department with other research-based tasks and contractual work concerning the orchestra’s guest artists.

Yazid T. Pierce Gray ’16 (baritone, vocal performance), who studies with Caroline B. Smith, was selected through a competitive preliminary round to be one of 14 semifinalists in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Collegiate Competition in the Musical Theatre category for all undergraduates.

He also performed in the Greencastle Summer Festival Series. Pierce Gray is currently singing the role of Jim Conley in the fall DePauw musical Parade.

Sarah J. Pistorius ’17 (mezzo-soprano, vocal performance) was one of 14 semifinalists in the collegiate women’s classical division selected through an online preliminary round for the National Association of Teachers of Singing Collegiate Competition in Boston this past July. Pistorius also won a $1,000 scholarship from the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as an Artist-in-Training alumna.

Additionally, she was chosen by judge Erie Mills to have a private coaching with Mills. Pistorius is a student of Caroline B. Smith, pursuing a vocal performance major.

Angel N. Riley ’18 (soprano, vocal performance), a student of Pamela Coburn on the vocal performance track, sang with the Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis. Riley received the top scholarship from the Artist-inTraining Program of the St. Louis Opera Theater, which earned her the honor of singing two arias with the orchestra.

Julie A. Strauser ’16 (soprano, vocal performance), a student of Caroline B. Smith, was selected through a competitive preliminary round to be one of 14 semifinalists in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Collegiate Competition in the Undergraduate Classical Women’s category that she competed in this past July in Boston.

Strauser was also selected for the Bay View Music Festival Summer Opera and Aria Recording Seminar (SOARS) Program, where she performed in scenes from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro

(Susanna), Adamo’s Little Women (Amy), Bizet’s Carmen (Frasquita) and Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia (Lucretia). At the festival, she sang in the art song recital and participated in a solo professional recording session. Strauser also performed in the Greencastle Summer Music Festival series and singing the lead role of Lucille in the DePauw musical production of Parade this fall.

Photo: Suzanne Hassler

Robert Brown’s Parade and studying with Caroline B. Smith.

Welcome Class of 2018 Patrick Evans, director of admission The 53 students who constitute the School of Music’s Class of 2018 arrived on campus with excitement, energy, commitment and exceptional talent. They come from 19 states and four countries (eight if you count countries of birth or schooling), and they have already formed a strong community of friendship, musicianship and hard work. Their average GPA is 3.8, and 30 percent of them identify as students of color. Even before their arrival here, they were winners of national competitions, founders of string quartets and jazz combos, leads in musicals and operas, drum majors, first chairs, concerto winners – not to mention community leaders, organizing concerts to raise funds for soup kitchens, families in need and classmates with serious illnesses. We are involving them in recruiting current high school seniors for the School of Music class of 2019. If you know high schools with strong music programs or particular students who might be a good fit for the School of Music at DePauw, please drop me a note at patrickevans@depauw.edu.

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Alumni News B. Suzanne Hassler, editor

Adam M. Bodony ’08 was named artistic director of the Bloomington (Ind.) Symphony Orchestra. Bodony, who was selected from a pool of more than 60 applicants, took over his new duties this fall as the orchestra began preparing for its 45th season. In addition, he serves as executive director and artistic director designate of the New World Youth Orchestra, headquartered in Indianapolis, and assistant conductor of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, an assemblage of young musicians from around the world who play a summer concert series in Columbia. His training in conducting and trombone performance was accomplished at DePauw, IU’s Jacobs School of Music and the St. Petersburg Conservatory. As a trombonist, Bodony periodically plays with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Carl E. Frank ’10 will sing Morales this season with Opera Grand Rapids; solo with Bach Collegium Ft. Wayne; sing two concerts with Chicago a cappella (a one-per-part, nine-voice ensemble); and sing Handel’s Messiah with Bella Voce and the Callipygian Players. He will perform a choral series called “Quire and Place” with the William Ferris Chorale at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and sing an Arts and Armor program of “armed man” masses and battle music with Schola Antiqua of Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Arms and Armor Gallery. Carl and Lindsey Adams Frank ’07 also recorded recently with GIA and World Library Publications. Before completing a M.M. degree in vocal performance at University of Michigan with Stephen Lusmann, Carl studied with Caroline B. Smith at DePauw; Lindsey is a former student of Vergene Miller and Pamela Coburn.

Leslie R. Koehlinger ’79 was elected to the board of directors of Recovery Health Services, which provides senior housing 10 I Fall 2014

School of Music alumni, W. Timothy Miller ‘89, Douglas B. Wood ‘74 and Christopher T. Cantwell ‘89 discuss the 21st-Century Musician Initiative at the School of Music reception during Alumni Reunion Weekend.

services for aging adults. She has been an executive-level advisor and strategist for both nonprofit and for-profit entities for nearly 15 years. Koehlinger, who earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from DePauw and M.B.A. degree from San Jose State University, was a music education major at DePauw.

Blake S. Lampton ’14, a former student of Kerry Jennings, has been cast in the baritone role of Peter in the Cincinnati Conservatory’s mainstage production of Hansel and Gretel. Performances will be Nov. 20-23, 2014.

Marjorie Needham Latzko ’52 was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. As an undergraduate at DePauw, Latzko was a piano major, sang in the choir and was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She left college after two years to join The Chordettes in summer 1953, later returning and earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

After retiring from show business, she dedicated herself to helping people in the Hudson Valley. Among other things, she was the first executive director of the Orange County Youth Bureau, served as executive director of the Orange County Citizen’s Foundation and local United Way, was founder and first president of the Middletown Council of Community Agencies, and was honored as New York State Youth Bureau Director of the Year.

Steven R. Linville ’06 produced, directed, conducted and performed in a series of

five one-act operas with Intimate Opera of Indianapolis. The production included the Midwest premieres of Cake by John R. Chittum ’06 and Charon by DePauw faculty composer Scott Perkins. The tenor continues to serve as executive producer for the opera company, which received its second grant from the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation this year. In addition to fulfilling his duties as music operations manager and assistant professor of music this fall, Linville will conduct and perform in DePauw’s production of the Jason Robert Brown musical Parade.

In August 2014, he performed a joint concert with Amy E. Hayes ’05 and DePauw pianist Amanda Hopson during the Greencastle Summer Music Festival.

While a student, he was a member of Caroline B. Smith’s voice studio.

Sarah E. Masterson ’06 presented a piano recital in April 2014 at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts, where she is currently an adjunct faculty member.

She also teaches at Eastern Connecticut State University and at UConn Community School of the Arts, and she serves as the organist and choir director at First United Methodist Church of Mansfield, Conn. While a Rector Scholar at DePauw, Masterson received a performer’s certificate and bachelor’s degree in physics. She earned a master of music degree and a doctorate of musical arts in performance from University of Connecticut.

Stacey E. Sands ’08 celebrates her eighth

season as a member of the Core Chorus for the Cincinnati Opera this year. She is also a six-year member of the Cincinnatibased Vocal Arts Ensemble directed by Craig Hella Johnson. This past May, Sands made her professional Carnegie Hall debut as the soprano section leader for the May Festival Chorus with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of James Conlon. Recent operatic performances as a dramatic soprano include world premieres of Anita Cocktail in the opera Last Call

by Eric Knechtges, the Ballet and Vocal Arts Ensemble collaboration “Floating Forward” and the art song “Reciprocity”

by Donald Broerman. She studied with Barbara Paver while completing a Master of Music degree in vocal performance at University of Cincinnati, CollegeConservatory of Music and graduated magna cum laude from DePauw with a B.M. degree in vocal performance, where she studied with Caroline B. Smith and Stanley Irwin.

Katherine O. Sherman ’14 is teaching percussion and general music in her native Hawaii. Sherman took a job at St. Andrew’s Priory School in Honolulu, where she founded a percussion ensemble and teaches private piano and percussion lessons. Classmate Andrew T. Bosomworth ’14 was offered an assistantship at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where he is working on a Master of Music degree with an emphasis on contemporary music performance. Both Sherman and Bosomworth will join the DePauw University Percussion Ensemble in a performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis in Nov. 2014.

Joseph A. Shadday ’09, a member of the Chicago Opera Theatre Training Program, was selected by Glimmerglass Opera Company to perform the role of Enoch Snow in Carousel on its main stage this summer. He also covered Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos. Shadday studies with

Judith Haddon at Roosevelt University.

While at DePauw, the tenor was a student of Caroline B. Smith.

Lucas A. Wassmer ’14 was selected to perform the leading tenor role of Lindoro in Indiana University’s production of L’italiana in Algeri, the first opera production of the IU 2014-15 season. The opera was streamed live on Sept. 19 and 20 at www.music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive/ streaming. While at DePauw, Wassmer studied with Caroline B. Smith. He is studying with Brian Horne while pursuing

a M.M. degree in vocal performance at The Jacobs School of Music.

Jennifer A. Wilson ’12 was chosen as the soprano for the Resident Artist Program at Central Florida Lyric Opera in Orlando. In June 2014, she was also selected to attend the Taos Opera Institute in New Mexico. Wilson just received a M.M. degree in vocal performance from New England Conservatory, where she was a student of Bradley Williams. While at DePauw, she studied with Caroline B. Smith.

Ian B. Davidson ’80 named Regents’ Professor at Texas State Ian B. Davidson, professor of music at Texas State University, was named a Regents’ Professor by the Texas State University System Board of Regents and will be specially recognized for this achievement by the College of Fine Arts and Communication at its December Commencement.

Each year, the board honors professors whose performance and contributions to the educational community have been exemplary. The high honor was given to only 20 individuals throughout the system, 10 of whom are at Texas State’s San Marcos campus.

Recipients of this recognition maintain the title for the duration of their service within the university system and receive a $5,000 award. To qualify for nomination, faculty members must demonstrate a record of distinguished teaching along with accomplishments in research and other scholarly activities, outstanding history of service at the local, state and national levels, as well as a record of commitment to the college or university.

“Ian Davidson has a stellar reputation as a music professor and as a chamber musician and soloist. As a member of Texas State’s faculty, he has set a high bar for faculty excellence at the university,” Texas State President Denise M. Trauth said. “We are fortunate to have a professor of Ian’s caliber setting an outstanding example for other faculty members and for students at Texas State.”

Davidson, who attended DePauw as an oboe performance major, said, “I was speechless when the president called, and that doesn’t happen very often for me. The real honor is teaching at Texas State.”

In addition to being recognized for outstanding contributions in teaching, service, scholarly and creative activity, Davidson has received 12 Presidential Award nominations, a Grammy Nomination and has twice been named Favorite Professor by the Alpha Chi Honor Society.

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The DePauw University Chorus, featuring first-year soloist Angel N. Riley ’18, sings “Swilo Yini,” a traditional South African Tsonga, during the School of Music’s fourth annual DePauwpalooza performance in Bowman Park (Sept. 19, 2014).

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