ARTS ARTS AT AT FSU
TABLE CONTENTS OF
Arts at FSU........................................................ ...02 College of Fine Arts
Art.............................................................. ...05
Art Education............................................. ...07
Art History.................................................. ...09
Dance.......................................................... ...11
Interior Architecture & Design.................. ...13
Theatre....................................................... ...15
Museum of Fine Arts................................. ...17
Facility for Arts Research.......................... ...19
MANCC...................................................... ...20
College of Motion Picture Arts
Animation & Digital Arts........................... ...23
Production................................................. ...25
Production/Writing................................... ...27
College of Music
Music.......................................................... ...29
Admissions........................................................ ...37
Florida State University serves as an educational, professional, and cultural resource for the entire campus community, state, and nation. Home to a unique combination of visual and performing arts studios, classrooms, performance spaces, and galleries, students come from across the country and around the world to Florida’s capital to learn and practice under the leadership of acclaimed faculty, visiting artists, and scholars at FSU. Our students are tomorrow’s most promising artists, researchers and professionals in their fields.
U S T A F S T AR The College of Fine Arts offers some of the most diverse and renowned programs at any public university. In the College of Fine Arts, students can earn degrees in Art, Art Education, Art History, Dance, Interior Architecture & Design, and Theatre. Our students bring their talent and passion from across the country and around the world. Our faculty have an unparalleled combination of professional experience and excellence in research that create a dynamic and vital environment for the arts. Our graduates are the artists, producers, and creative thinkers that will change the world with their innovative approaches. Our community revels in the world-class performances and exhibitions on our stages and in our galleries. And our alumni enrich our programs with their ideas and support.
Scott Shamp Interim Dean College of Fine Arts
The College of Motion Picture Arts is dedicated to preparing graduate and undergraduate students for successful careers in the motion picture industry. Fiske Guide to Colleges has described us as ‘one of the top motion picture schools in the nation,’ The Hollywood Reporter has hailed us as ‘one of the world’s best,’ and the Directors Guild of America has recognized us for our ‘distinguished contribution to American culture through the world of film and television.’ Our mission is to prepare students for the industry of tomorrow. In a world that’s rapidly changing, this means preparing students for an industry that does not yet exist. We do this by teaching students the craft of contemporary filmmaking— where live production, visual effects and animation all converge— and by focusing on the most important and enduring commodity in our industry: the art of storytelling.
Reb Braddock Dean College of Motion Picture Arts
The College of Music is a vibrant community where talented students come together to study with renowned faculty at a top-ranked, comprehensive music program. Our graduates are placed throughout the state of Florida as well as nationally and internationally. Ranked high among the best music programs in the United States, the College supports a variety of campus orchestras, bands, choral ensembles, jazz bands, chamber ensembles, early music groups, world music ensembles, music theatre, and the Florida State Opera. With an entrepreneurial view, FSU College of Music students are challenged to learn the inside and outside of music. This includes how music is put together, ways of understanding its form and content, how people in other times and places have heard and thought about music, the role of music in life, and how people communicate about music. The College of Music is caring, competitive, comprehensive, and career oriented, placing a focus on students first. Should you pursue the next stage of your education with us, we are confident that you will find a stimulating and friendly environment filled with musical opportunity.
Patricia Flowers Dean College of Music
The College also houses several non-academic units that leverage relationships between departments and museums to enrich the degree-based curriculum. These include the Museum of Fine Arts, the Facility for Arts Research, FSU/ Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC). The powerful combination of academic and professional preparation draws the most talented students from across the country to FSU. The College is also dedicated to providing performance, exhibition, and curatorial opportunities for our students: • The School of Theatre presents six main stage productions and two Act II performances each year • The School of Dance produces two major shows ‒ An Evening of Dance and Days of Dance ‒ as well as several MFA concerts throughout the year • Art and Design students exhibit their work at a number of galleries across campus • The Museum of Fine Arts holds fifteen to twenty curated exhibitions each year Photo by Jeff Cravotta
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
The College of Fine Arts offers some of the most diverse and renowned programs in the visual and performing arts of any public university. The six academic units that comprise the College –Art, Art Education, Art History, Dance, Interior Architecture & Design, and Theatre – are all committed to preparing each student for a successful academic and professional career in the arts. In order to fulfill this mission, the College puts students at the forefront of all efforts by creating, teaching, learning and serving with passion and intellectual rigor.
BA • BFA • MFA
Art
The Department of Art at FSU is a research driven community of students and faculty dedicated to the dynamic interrelationship of ideas, processes and practices. By crossing geographical and disciplinary boundaries, we both discover and create new opportunities for practicing art and design. We cultivate critical, creative and compassionate thinking in an evolving global environment, and develop and pursue innovation while valuing our traditions. We foster a vibrant culture of creative problem-solvers, responsible both to themselves and to the needs of the larger communities to which they are connected. We celebrate the unique role that art and design play in the construction of culture and embrace our duty to advance and share the knowledge gained through our creative research.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
JILLIAN BROWNING (MFA ’15) is currently a professor of photography at Florida Gateway College. Her work has been acquired by and included in the permanent collection of University of Maryland’s David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora.
LENA NW (BFA ’15) is currently working towards her Masters at the Design Media Arts department at the University of California, Los Angeles. Through the FulbrightmtvU Fellowship program she spent the last year in South Africa creating a video interview series with hip-hop artists who identify as feminists.
BRITTANY WATKINS (MFA ’16) is currently living and working as a full-time interdisciplinary artist in Tallahassee. She recently won the ArtFields 2017 Juried Panel Prize with her work <Accept [(Self) + Elsewhere}, a site-specific installation with audio.
HUISI HE (MFA ’15) is a New York-based and Chinese-born artist. Her primary focuses are on performance, choreography, painting, and video. She has recently performed at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Grace Exhibition Space, Panoply Performance Lab, Last Frontier NYC, and Gallery Sensei.
IN THE NEWS
Undergraduate Students in Painting and Sculpture to Benefit from Newly Endowed Scholarship Last year, Susan and Mark Messersmith announced their interest in establishing an art scholarship for undergraduate students excelling in painting and sculpture. This fall, their dream was turned into a reality through the event “An Art Affair.” Five of Mark’s major works and a series of twenty smaller paintings were sold or auctioned that evening. Susan and Mark are committed to young artists and to Florida State University. Susan received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from FSU and served as Graduate Admissions Coordinator for the Department of Art Education. Mark has been
an FSU Professor of Art since 1985. Both are enthusiastic advocates of the arts and our students. They believe art can make a meaningful impact in the lives of people, positively influence our ideals, and make the natural and social world a better place. Friends Su and Steve Ecenia, David and Hilda Gilchrist, Allys Palladino-Craig, and Carolyn Henne heard about the Messersmiths’ goal and banded together to help them accomplish their dream. The Susan and Mark Messersmith Art Scholarship will be available to award in spring 2018.
Florida State University Art Professor Mark Messersmith’s work is now hanging at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, where it is part of their permanent collection. Messersmith’s work has also recently been acquired by the Grace Museum, the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, the Appleton Museum of Art, and the Art Museum of West Virginia University. His work is also featured in the museum collections of the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, Tyler Museum of Art, the Musée du Haut-de-Cagnes-sur-Mer, Vero Beach’s Center for the Arts, Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art and FSU’s Museum of Fine Arts.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
BRITTNEY WASHINGTON (MS ’12) has continued to advocate for art therapy within the community and has continued to advocate for art therapy within the community. She has followed her passion and interest in homelessness and youth development through working at Miriam’s Kitchen and teaching for Project Create, both in Washington, DC. Brittney most recently ended her term as Multicultural Chair for the American Art Therapy Association.
MUYI LIU (MA ’13) became the Volunteer Coordinator of the Guan Shanyue Art Museum in Shenzen, China. In December 2016, she became the museum’s Executive Coordinator. In addition, she’s worked as a Curator’s Assistant at the Guan Shanyue Art Museum, the National Art Museum of China, and Memorial Hall of Lingnan School of Painting in Guangzhou, China.
MORGAN SZYMANSKI (MA ’17) was hired as a Museum Educator at the Museum of Florida History during her first year in the MEX Program. Morgan’s passion is in programming and community engagement. Last summer, Morgan recently co-created a month-long Summer Reading Program geared towards K-6 grade students.
NICOLE DIEGUEZ (MS ’16) is working for the Miami-Dade Public School District as an Art Therapist. She works with Exceptional Student Education (ESE) students that are part of the EBD (emotional/ behavioral) program.
IN THE NEWS
Art Therapy Techniques for Trauma-Related Disorders The Department of Art Education’s Art Therapy Program hosted three summer weekend courses on June 9 — 10, 2017. It focused on the treatment of trauma-related disorders, ranging from posttraumatic stress disorder to the dissociative disorders. In attendance were individuals from a diverse range of fields, including Art Therapy, Career Counseling, and Construction. Upon completion of the course, students learned that certain art therapy techniques make it possible for trauma survivors to process their traumas without indepth psychotherapy. Regardless of the severity or the specific type of trauma, adults and children
can use art therapy techniques to address the troubling and often disabling symptoms of flashbacks, nightmares, phobias, and mood disturbances. The course was taught by visiting Professors Linda Gantt, PhD, ATR-BC, LMFT, ATCS and Paula Howie, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, LCPAT, HLM. Dr. Linda Gantt and Paula Howie taught students about the historical developments in trauma therapy, how art therapy has been used with the military population, collective traumas and individual traumatic experiences, the ubiquity of trauma, and associated diagnoses. Dr. Gantt emphasized the importance of treating the foundational trauma (i.e. severe
neglect, early medical trauma, or serious illnesses) first to avoid the misdiagnosis of patients. “Treat trauma first and see what is left over,” she stated, noting that trauma is usually the common denominator of most patients’ symptoms. Dr. Gantt and Paula Howie taught students about the Instinctual Trauma Response (ITR) as a psychoeducational tool and method for treating trauma. Students were taken through the process of how to treat trauma using the ITR, by being given the opportunity to create graphic narratives about an experienced trauma, witnessing a re-presentation, and participating in an external dialogue.
BA+MS•MS•MA•EdD•PhD
Art Education
In the The Department of Art Education, we empower people to empower people through the arts. The department consists of four graduate programs: Art Education, Art Therapy, Arts Administration, and Museum Education and Exhibitions (MEX). We are guided by a set of values that demonstrate a commitment to students, faculty, the University, the community at large, and the organizations that will employ our future graduates. The power of art for social justice and societal change is not only infused in our philosophy, but is the overarching theme that pervades our curriculum.
BA•BA+MA•MA•PhD
Art History
The Department of Art History at FSU invites you to join us as we explore the world’s artistic achievements and the rich fabric of history, materials, and ideas in which they are rooted. We’ll take you far beyond expectations, building skills that will serve you in any profession — critical thinking, investigation, analytic writing, and public debate. Our world-class faculty provide students with the opportunity to delve deeply into cuttingedge research on well known masterpieces, to explore the newest cultural discoveries, and to carve out promising terrain for future exploration. Our programs offer pre-professional opportunities in fieldwork and museums that provide invaluable training for careers in the arts.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
KEIDRA NAVAROLI (MA ’07) is Assistant Director and Curator of the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts at Florida Institute of Technology. Keidra’s graduate research and internships with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Sotheby’s New York provided the ideal foundation for her position overseeing operations and curating exhibitions of contemporary and traditional textile arts for a university museum with an educational mission.
AARON DE GROFT (PHD ’00) has overseen a decade of impressive expansion and ambitious exhibitions as Director of the Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William & Mary. Under De Groft’s leadership and collaboration with outstanding scholars, the Muscarelle is internationally recognized for its exhibitions of Renaissance and Baroque art from major European collections.
MICHELLE IBARRA (BA ’17) was awarded an archival internship with the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery through the Katzenberger Foundation for the summer of 2017. This is the second time Ibarra has been selected for the competitive internship.
MATTHEW MCLENDON (BA ’00) was appointed Director and Chief Curator of the Fralin Museum of Art, University of Virginia. McLendon previously served as Curator of modern art at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota.
IN THE NEWS
Students Create Stunning Exhibitions of Peruvian Art Each semester, twelve FSU Art History undergraduates have the opportunity to design and install a unique art exhibition in the WJB Gallery. This glass-walled gallery stretches the length of the stunning five-story atrium in the William Johnston Building, part of the original FSU campus and home to the Department of Art History. Undergraduates in the Museum Object class, led by an Art History doctoral student, develop an exhibition here from start to finish each spring and fall. From curating to researching, promotion to exhibition design, the one-semester installation is an all-encompassing learning experience for future museum professionals. This year the
students focussed on traditional and contemporary Peruvian art. The Fall 2016 class developed Guardians of Their Art: The Contemporary Peruvian Amazon, introducing contemporary Peruvian embroideries, paintings, prints, and photographs about and from the Amazon to the local audience. The Spring 2017 class exhibited Visions of the Nazca: Painted Images of an Andean Ancient Society, presenting a collection of pre-Columbian ceramic objects from the Permanent Collection of the FSU Museum of Fine Arts.
extensive Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies (MCHS) program. MCHS combines Art History coursework with unique opportunities for hands-on experience, including archaeological fieldwork, local exhibition development, and year-long internships at the world-class Ringling Museum of Art. For academically ambitious incoming and current FSU undergraduates, we now offer a 4+1 Combined BA/MA degree program, in which students may earn both degrees in just five years.
These student-curated exhibitions are an essential and lively component of Art History’s
For details visit us at: arthistory.fsu.edu/mchs
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
DARRELL JONES (MFA ’95) has performed in the US and abroad with choreographers and companies such as Bebe Miller, Urban Bush Women, Ronald K. Brown, Min Tanaka and Ralph Lemon. Darrell is a tenured faculty member at The Dance Center of Columbia College. Darrell has received numerous choreographic fellowships and is a two time Bessie award recipient.
DR. JAMES FRAZIER (MFA ’94) is Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts. His choreographic work has been presented across the US including the JFK Center for the Performing Arts. He was a member of Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Kokuma Dance Theatre Company (England). Frazier has also presented original scholarship as part of the Congress on Research in Dance.
LELA JONES (MFA ’04), a doctoral candidate at Texas Woman’s University, received a 2017 New York Dance and Performance Award and Bessie Nomination. Lela is a Dance USA Philadelphia Rocky Awardee, Leeway Foundation Transformation Awardee, an inaugural member of Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellows, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts awardee.
KATRINA REID (MA ’11) is a performing artist and writer. She currently works with David Thomson, Okwui Okpokwasili, and Peter Born, and is a company member with Third Rail Projects. Her own work has been presented at Gibney Dance’s DoublePlus series, Cocoon Theatre, and BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.
IN THE NEWS
FSU School of Dance Professor and Alum Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, FSU School of Dance’s Nancy Smith Fichter Professor of Dance and Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at Florida State was honored by The Bessies as the recipient of the 2017 NY Dance and Performance Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance on Monday, October 9, 2017. Jawole Zollar, Founder and Artistic Director of Urban Bush Women, was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She trained with Joseph Stevenson, a student of the legendary Katherine Dunham, and received a BA in dance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and
an MFA in dance from Florida State University. In 1980, she moved to New York City to study with Dianne McIntyre at Sounds in Motion. She founded Urban Bush Women in 1984. She was named Alumna of the Year by Florida State University (1997), and awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Columbia College as well as honorary degrees from Tufts University and Rutgers University. She also received the Martin Luther King Distinguished Service Award from Florida State University. In 2006, Zollar received a NY Dance and Performance Award for her work as choreographer and
creator of Walking With Pearl… Southern Diaries and is a nominee this year for her collaborative work with Taylor Mac in the category Outstanding Music/ Sound Design. Featured in the PBS documentary Free to Dance, Zollar was designated a Master of African-American Choreography by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2005; received a 2008 United States Artists Wynn fellowship; a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award; the 2016 Dance Magazine award; and the 2016 Dance/USA Honor Award. Above: Photo by Jeff Cravotta
BFA•BFA+MA•MA•MFA
Dance
The School of Dance is accredited by NASD and upholds the scholarly rigor of a preeminent research institution while drawing upon its lineage of a conservatory model in dance training. The School delivers high quality technical training in both classical and contemporary techniques from a faculty that boasts extensive professional and academic expertise both nationally and internationally. Several concert series are presented annually, affording students many performance and choreographic opportunities. The core mission of the School of Dance is to combine exceptional artistic training with a liberal arts education. This dual dedication to art and learning has yielded graduates who are dancers, teachers, scholars, and leaders in companies, schools, universities, and art organizations in the United States and abroad. Photo by Meagan Helman
BS•BA•MS•MA•MFA
Interior Architecture & Design
The Department of Interior Architecture & Design, encompasses a CIDA accredited undergraduate curriculum as well as four master’s program options. Students focus on design theory, history, technical skills, as well as studio classes addressing residential and commercial spaces - such as health care, retail, office environment, hospitality and designs for special populations like children and elderly. The curriculum prepares students to work as interior designers in design firms or architectural firms, as well as in a number of other designrelated settings. The undergraduate program has been highly ranked in the annual survey by Design Intelligence for many years and the graduate program was listed as the most admired by Deans and Chairs from 2012-2016. The primary goal is to provide students the knowledge necessary to pursue careers as designers who create beautiful, functional and sustainable interiors that positivity impact human health, safety and well-being. Through the application of evidence-based design, creative and critical thinking in history, theory and studio courses, students are prepared to create well-designed commercial and residential spaces where people live, work and play.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
LINDSEY BAKER (MFA ’15) is a Workplace Strategist at CannonDesign St. Louis. She is involved in developing processes to understand space usage, analyze qualitative aspects of a clients workplace, and coordinates user research. She is an integral part of the workplace strategy team that produces research, organizes and compiles market sector and industry expertise while translating findings into clientspecific strategies.
ALEX LEADON (BS ’13, MFA ’15) has been an Interior Design Professional at HOK in Atlanta since July of 2015. She works with her Atlanta team on corporate interior design projects in all areas of the design process, from conception to completion. She also frequently collaborates with other HOK offices, including New York, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and Washington, DC.
KARYN ISRAEL (BS ’17) accepted a design position in Las Vegas with world-renowned interior design and architecture firm, Gensler. While she has been assigned to work within Gensler’s Lifestyle/Hospitality practice area, she has also been afforded the opportunity to collaborate on projects in the Workplace sector as well.
JOE TUBB (BS ’12) is currently leading as a team manager of the Graphics Department at NELSON’s Atlanta office. Joe is leading the development for NELSON’s VR services, ranging from existing space virtual tours to 3D conceptual design virtual tours.
IN THE NEWS
Technology in Action While sketching remains an essential skill, technology is increasingly important in the sharing of design ideas. Students in the department of Interior Architecture & Design have the opportunity to learn a number of different software programs during their coursework including building modeling software such as AutoCAD, Revit, the Adobe Creative Suite, and
others. These programs are used to generate a range of design deliverables, from construction drawings and building information models, to photorealistic renderings and animations. Students are also exposed to virtual and augmented reality during their studies. In addition to software technology, students have exposure to furniture and product design.
In the department’s digital fabrication lab, Studio D, students utilize laser printers and a CNC router to produce a variety of products. Students enjoy seeing the designs on paper come to life. Three students have received design patents, and several have had pieces fabricated by furniture or lighting companies.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
ANDRE HOLLAND (BFA ’01) is a television, film, and stage actor. Andre recently finished filming the upcoming Disney film A Wrinkle in Time. Since graduating from FSU, Holland has been featured in films such as 42, Selma, and the 2017 Academy Award winner for Best Motion Picture, Moonlight. Andre’s Broadway credits include August Wilson’s Jitney, the 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Play.
DARREN BAGERT (BFA ’92) is a Drama Desk and Tony Award-winning Producer on Broadway. Bagert has produced hit Broadway shows including The Color Purple, An American in Paris, Of Mice and Men, The Glass Menagerie, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Company, Sweeney Todd, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and the 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen, among others.
JOHN PAPSIDERA (BFA ’83) is a film and television Casting Director with multiple Emmy Awards and Casting Society of America Awards to his name. Papsidera has served as Casting Director on a number of Hollywood blockbusters including The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, Jurassic World, The Fate of the Furious, and Dunkirk.
TIFFANY EVARISTE (BFA ’03) is currently performing in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway. Her previous Broadway credits include Mary Poppins, Memphis, Leap of Faith, and Motown the Musical. Tiffany has also toured the country with the Broadway National Tours of Mary Poppins, All Shook Up, Smokey Joe’s Café, and Fame.
IN THE NEWS
FSU Alums Shine on Broadway If you visit New York City, you do not have to look far to find a Seminole on a Broadway stage. The School of Theatre at Florida State is consistently ranked in the top 12 of colleges and universities for the number of alumni on Broadway stages and is one of only three public universities to receive this honor. This season’s most highly anticipated revival was Hello, Dolly!, which earned ten Tony nominations and received four Tony awards including Best Revival of a Musical. This production marked the Broadway return of the legendary
Bette Midler and featured three alums on stage and one as the stage manager. Groundhog Day, nominated for seven Tony Awards® including Best New Musical, features an alum in the cast who also serves as the Assistant Dance Captain. August Wilson’s Jitney, nominated for six Tony Awards® and won for Best Revival of a Play, featured an FSU alum known for his stage, television, and film work. Alumni from the School of Theatre can also be found in: Bandstand; Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats; the Robert DeNiro directed A Bronx Tale; Phantom of the Opera; School of Rock; Aladdin; and The
Book of Mormon, which currently features three alums in the cast. Cameron Jackson, the Executive Director of the Florida State University School of Theatre stated, “The School of Theatre at Florida State has been bridging the gap between education and the profession for over forty years. In true Seminole spirit, these fine artists stand on the shoulders of so many that have come before and pave the way for those yet to come. They definitely have the strength to lead, skills to succeed, and the character to make a difference in the arts.”
BA•BFA•MS•MA•MFA•PhD
Theatre
The School of Theatre is consistently recognized as one of the finest theatre programs in the nation. The BFA Music Theatre Program is a highly competitive joint-program offered through both the College of Music and the School of Theatre. Students are offered a comprehensive curriculum with courses in theatre, music, and dance to provide them with the training and skills necessary to meet the demands of a challenging career. The BFA Acting Program is a competitive program designed to prepare highly talented students for work in professional theatre. This comprehensive curriculum includes a sequence of courses in acting, voice, movement, and specialized workshops. A Bachelor of Arts offers a balance of theatre core classes and electives that allow students the freedom to explore many areas in theatre.
Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA) at Florida State University hosts a full spectrum of programming year-round with a goal of enriching the university and the community by expanding the understanding of historical and contemporary art. At the end of each semester, BFA and MFA students celebrate their thesis shows comprising performance, installation, traditional and experimental media. While the exhibitions of graduating artists make for a joyous culmination to studio careers at the university, students in other departments can find opportunities at MoFA through Museum Studies. The most beneficial aspect of taking courses in an academic setting is that the nuts and bolts of the museum profession can be observed first hand: the Museum becomes the classroom.
IN THE NEWS
Decolonizing Refinement: Contemporary Pursuits in the Art of Edouard Duval-Carrié Whether sculpture, painting, or multimedia installation, Edouard Duval-Carrié’s work navigates the historically rich and culturally complex traditions that comprise a uniquely Caribbean perspective. Duval-Carrié’s recent works attend to themes of water, travel, and Francophone culture. For this artist, water becomes both a symbolic passage and a barrier—the means by which enslaved Africans were brought to the Caribbean and the means by which modern-day Haitians migrate to the United
States. Both circumstances have been driven by capitalism, a force that occupies DuvalCarrié’s work materially and iconographically.
plantation artifacts loaned from State of Florida collections, including a portion of a nineteenth-century sugar mill.
Duval-Carrié’s exhibition engages themes associated with the history of the Tallahassee area and North Florida region, including plantation agriculture, race, slavery, historical events such as Florida statehood, and contentious historical figures such as Andrew Jackson. His exhibited works will be accompanied by displays of
The Spring 2018 exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts is a collaboration between Miami artist Edouard Duval-Carrié, a Haitian-born painter and sculptor, and Art History co-curators Dr. Paul B. Niell, Dr. Michael D. Carrasco, and doctoral candidate Lesley A. Wolff.
FAR
The Facility for Arts Research (FAR), part of Florida State University’s College of Fine Arts, currently incorporates Comma Project, REBOOT Laboratory, and Small Craft Advisory Press. FAR’s mission is to cultivate and support a vibrant creative community by developing ongoing internal projects as sites for important collaborative work, encouraging new collaborative projects among faculty in the art department, maintaining a state of the art facility, and facilitating a visiting artist program on par with the highest international standards.
IN THE NEWS
How FAR Can We Grow? In the spirit of “If you build it, they will come,” the Facility for Arts Research has begun renovations on some exciting new spaces, including the transformation of a large room that once housed office cubicles into a social space that will host film screenings, artist talks, and spark conversations among artists, visiting scholars, and other FAR guests.
In addition, a cavernous, lightfilled workroom for visiting artists is in the process of being created. Co-Directors Denise Bookwalter, Rob Duarte, and Judy Rushin are working with the CFA Dean’s Office and the FSU Foundation to turn these projects into realities. Although located a few miles from the heart of campus, FAR will soon be a vibrant place for
creative collaborations among FSU faculty and visiting artists. This ongoing reimagining of FAR will continue to foster an ever-growing FSU arts community, and interested faculty and friends are invited to participate in that community of collaboration and exchange.
MANCC
Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) is the only national center for choreography in the world located in a major research institution, and operates from one of the premiere dance facilities in the United States. The Center is embedded within the Florida State University School of Dance, and offers unparalleled opportunities through residency for contemporary choreographers based across the U.S. to hone their artistic practice and develop new work inside a creative community. We encourage artists to bring dancers, designers, dramaturgs, and composers, as well as other appropriate collaborators who would enhance their creative inquiry through physical, conceptual, experiential, or scientific means. To assist with their research, artists have 24/7 access to a black box studio and/or open light studio, as well as a variety of additional shared facilities (media lab, cameras, audio lab, recording studio, costume shop, wellness lab). While in residence, choreographers experiment, reflect, and edit, refining their research and choreographic process.
IN THE NEWS
MANCC Artists Engage FSU Dancers, Build Lasting Professional Networks Each year, 10-15 nationally significant artists inhabit the Montgomery Hall studios in one - three week periods to develop new work. MANCC residencies offer students an opportunity to engage with the field’s leading professionals via interactive brown bag lunch discussions, informal showings, panel discussions, and, in some cases, the opportunity to join artists in the studio in mentorship, rehearsal assistantship, or understudy capacities. Connections made during MANCC residencies have led to relationships that catalyze networking, future career
development, scholarly support, and even future employment. Yemen Brown (BFA ’14) was invited by MANCC artist Reggie Wilson to work alongside Wilson’s Fist and Heel Performance Group as the Residency Apprentice in 2013 during the development of Moses(s), a work that premiered at Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC. Upon graduation, Brown was invited to join the cast of Moses(s) and toured with the work around the country. Brown was nominated for a 2017 NY Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer for his role in Wilson’s Citizen, which was also developed, in part, at MANCC in 2015.
COL L E PICT GE OF M URE O T ART ION S
THE COLLEGE OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS is one of the top film schools in the nation, where students work in a collaborative, hands-on environment to learn the art, craft and business of contemporary storytelling. In our College, live production, visual effects and animation converge, and though students acquire many technical skills, story is the engine that drives our curriculum. The College emphasizes professionalism throughout the filmmaking process, and students work closely with faculty members and visiting filmmakers at each stage of production. In our commitment to excellence, the College offers:
• A level playing field for all students, which means covering the production costs for all student films
• One of the largest educational studio facilities in the world, including professional sound stages, green screen/motion capture stages, production vehicles fully equipped with industry standard G&E equipment, an ADR and Foley recording studio, digital animation/ VFX production labs, and a 150-seat screening theater • Access to industry professionals through networking workshops and alumni visits Left: Photo courtesy of Getty Images
BFA
Animation & Digital Arts
The BFA Animation & Digital Arts major immerses students in the art and craft of filmmaking, using animation and visual effects as tools for storytelling. Students learn how animated films are developed and produced and how the various animation media (3D animation, 2D animation, stop-motion) work. Student filmmakers also learn how to best use visual effects as a storytelling tool in live-action filmmaking. For example, they will learn how to build out a world through set extensions and add CG elements into a shot. Following a year of liberal studies requirements, this three-year program blends aspects of live-action and animation to produce well-rounded, careerready filmmakers.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
ANTHONY CABRERA (BFA ’15) recently accepted a Senior Production Coordinator position for LucasFilm/ Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in San Francisco. Since moving to the Bay Area In 2016, Anthony has now worked on two feature films (Kong: Skull Island and Thor: Ragnarok).
GABE SOUZA (BFA ’17) was accepted into Motion Picture Company’s Compositing Academy in Vancouver where he focused on pipeline and compositing visual effects shots in big picture films such as The Jungle Book and Wonder Woman. After completing the academy, he was hired by Crafty Apes as a compositor.
VICTORIA CRAGG (BFA ’16) recently recently stepped into a VFX Producer role at BLP VFX after working at Picture Shop as a VFX Coordinator. She works primarily in episodic television on shows including Orange is the New Black, Hawaii 5-0, and NCIS.
LAUREN HAMMOND (BFA ’16) is living in Los Angeles working as a character animator with JibJab Media. She’s currently working on the Emmy nominated children’s show, Ask the Storybots.
IN THE NEWS
Flim Alum Creates Virtual Reality Game for FSU’s MagLab Austin Tyler, a 2017 graduate of the College’s BFA program, worked with direction from Professor Tom Mikota to create a virtual reality (VR) game for FSU’s MagLab, the world’s largest and highest powered magnet lab. Austin was able to present the game at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC in October 2017. Through a VIVE headset and movement technology, the game player can virtually engage with the realities of the experiments in the lab. Rather than being a direct replica of the MagLab, the video game takes place in a sci-fi environment. Austin said this is
because the work that is done in the Maglab sounds as if it comes directly from a sci-fi film. “By placing the game within a sci-fi environment, it emphasizes the incredible things being done in the lab. It’s hard to believe that some of it is reality.” Austin’s senior thesis work focused on the creation of a game environment, specifically in 3D. This job continues to foster his career goal to work in video game development as an environment artist. He has developed his artistic skills in the design of the game, and his technical skills through the challenge of coding. Austin hopes the game makes it onto
Steam or other digital release platforms so people can try it at home. Professor Tom Mikota hopes to translate the techniques and information he employed to teach Austin to a class setting for future animation students. Mikota, a pipeline expert, said, “We’ll be experimenting with ways of using video game engines as a renderer in 2018 – this will allow the students a lot more freedom when it comes to rendering – it could take final render time down from hundreds of hours to making it happen in real time in a game engine.”
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
JOI MCMILLON (BFA ’03) worked on Moonlight, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Film Editing and an Independent Spirit award for Best Editing. Her latest projects include The Burning Woman, directed by Jake Scott and produced by Ridley Scott, and Barry Jenkins’ upcoming film If Beale Street Could Talk.
AARON MOORHEAD (BFA ’08) partnered with Justin Benson to co-direct the micro-budget sleeper hit Resolution, followed by the Toronto Film Festival hit Spring, and a new film in which he and his co-director also play the lead roles, The Endless, which showed at Tribeca 2017 in US Competition.
ALLISON CARTER (BFA ’04) has run the production of over 20 feature films. Her first feature, The Taqwacores, premiered in the inaugural NEXT category at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. She has also participated in the Transatlantic Partnership as well as the Sundance Creative Producing Lab.
ERIC JAFFE (BFA ’13) is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles. His docu-reality pilot, Talking to Myself, is being produced by New Form Digital for distribution on TBS’s digital network. He also created and co-hosts Time Turners, a history podcast for kids.
IN THE NEWS
Alum Film Wins Best Picture Oscar Moonlight, nominated for eight Academy Awards and winner of three, including 2017’s Best Picture, is the result of close collaboration by eight FSU film school alums, most of whom have been working together since they were students at the College of Motion Picture Arts. Of the eight, five were nominated for Oscars in their categories: Adele Romanski (BFA ’04) for Best Picture; Barry Jenkins (BFA ’03) for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay; James Laxton (BFA ’03) for Best Cinematographer; and Nat Sanders (BFA ’02) and Joi McMillon (BFA ’03) for Best Editing. Director Barry Jenkins,
who won for Best Adapted screenplay, often speaks of his time as a student at the FSU Film School. “FSU changed me. Literally. It completely changed who I was as a human being.”
“FSU CHANGED ME. LITERALLY. IT COMPLETELY CHANGED WHO I WAS AS A HUMAN BEING.” The success of Moonlight is proof that collaboration, storytelling, and creativity trump budget, as the film was created for a relatively small sum in only
21 days. Moonlight has been nominated for over 250 awards, and has won 208, including every major industry award up to and including the “Best Picture” Oscar. Dean Reb Braddock summed up the feelings of the College following the Academy Awards, “We could not be more proud of Barry Jenkins and his wonderful team of film school alums for their success. Moonlight is a shining example of what we do here at the College. We combine talented groups of individuals and hone them into filmmaking teams who forge bonds as friends and collaborators for years to come.” Above: Photo courtesy of Getty Images
BFA
Production
The BFA Production major teaches students the handson process of how stories are developed and produced into motion pictures. Each student creates and crews on a series of short films, produced with equipment, facilities, guidelines and requirements that are currently employed throughout the filmmaking industry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all within a conservatory style of education. By learning all of the on-set positions from the director, producer, editor, cinematographer, to camera and grip departments, students see how every position on and off set contributes to the story being told. After the freshman year of completing their general education requirements, all students are completely immersed in the major, filmmaker bootcamp style!
MFA
Production / Writing
The MFA in Production and the MFA in Writing immerse students in the filmmaking process with a rigorous, industry training program from day one. Each program is two full years, offering a curriculum built upon a hands-on and project-centered approach to filmmaking. Using state of the art facilities, equipment and software, students develop a comprehensive understanding of every aspect of production by completing a series of short film projects that culminates in their final thesis: a completed short film or a collection of finished scripts. The Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s five-to-one student-faculty ratio allows students to work closely with faculty to learn all aspects of production and scriptwriting (both feature length and episodic). Dedicated specialists work closely with students to inform their artistic decisions and help bring their stories to fruition.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
MELISSA CARTER (MFA ’96) is on a two-year overall deal at Warner Horizon where she is developing projects and serving as the co-show runner on Famous In Love. Melissa won a Writers Guild Award in 2015 for her original screenplay Deliverance Creek, which aired simultaneously on Lifetime, A&E and The History Channel.
ARMANDO SALAS (MFA ’02) is the recipient of the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship in film and winner of the ASC Robert Surtees Heritage Award for Outstanding Cinematography. His recent credits include the Netflix feature The Most Hated Woman in America, the Sundance feature Bitch, and the new series Mr. Mercedes, based on the Stephen King book.
SARAH SHAPIRO (MFA ’06) worked as an assistant editor on shows such as The Guilt Trip, Lone Survivor, and Mad Men Season 5. Other editing credits include The View From Tall, Carter and June, and Flower (releasing theatrically in 2018). Most recently she cut a dark comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg called The Art of Self-Defense.
DAVE METZGER (MFA ’07) just began his first year as a Staff Writer for the 5th season of NBC’s The Blacklist. He’s been working on the show in various capacities since the very first episode, and previously wrote several episodes as a freelancer.
IN THE NEWS
Faculty Member’s Film Garners Critical Acclaim Following the world premiere of Professor Antonio Mendez Esparza’s second feature film Life and Nothing More at the Toronto International Film Festival, Variety named the Florida-set independent film one of the 10 Best Movies of the 2017 Festival. Because of Toronto’s top-tier status, its “10 best” list often predicts Oscar contenders; last year the list included Best Picture nominees Moonlight, La La Land and Arrival. Life and Nothing More focuses tightly on three central characters: Andrew, a 14-year-old; his mother, Regina; and Robert, the new man in Regina’s life. Focusing on the small African-American family as well as the institutional obstacles standing in their way, the film
features non-professional actors in a drama that also comments on our misconception of black incarceration. The film was called “moving and finely observed” by The Hollywood Reporter, following its TIFF premiere and “a powerfully executed, richly human study of the challenges facing a black working class family,” by Screen Daily. In an interview with Variety, Mendez, a directing faculty member at the College of Motion Picture Arts, said that he came to make the film by stumbling upon it. “I have always admired the strength of single mothers, and wanted to tell a story about that. I started interviewing single mothers in Florida, in Tallahassee, where I live, and kids in the local school system. The same happened with the criminal justice
system: the more I researched, the more it became part of the film.” Mendez and his producers have also been nominated for a 2018 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award given to films budgeted at less than $500,000. The film recently had its European premiere at San Sebastian in Spain, where it won the International Federation of Film Critics award and the SIGNIS prize. Mendez did not create this magic alone. His production team included 14 alumni of the College, including his editor, Santiago Oviedo (’16), and casting director Ivo Huahua (’16). Fellow faculty members Paul Cohen and Victor Nunez also served as executive producers on the film.
COLLEGE OF MUSIC
The College of Music offers a comprehensive program of instruction for all students who seek to become professionals in music. With a student body that is both diverse in scope and comfortable in size, the 750 undergraduate and 400 graduate students represent nearly every state in the nation and many foreign countries. Admission to the College of Music is highly competitive, and the selfimposed maximum enrollment of 1,150 provides all students with an ideal balance between individualized instruction and ensemble experiences. Our faculty are leaders in all areas of music including performance, education, therapy, theory, composition, arts administration, piano technology, commercial music, musicology, and ethnomusicology. Recent faculty accomplishments include Grammy Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, and Guggenheim fellowships, as well as frequent performances in the United States and around the world. • The College now offers a program of specialized studies for Entrepreneurship in Music that is open to all students and features entrepreneurship courses, guest artist residencies, and workshops to further enhance the student’s education and better prepare them for the professional world. • The College of Music has five fully equipped recital spaces, ranging in size from the recently renovated Ruby Diamond Concert Hall to more intimate recital spaces such as Longmire Recital Hall. The College also boasts a large number of private practice rooms and dedicated rehearsal spaces for large ensembles. Performance spaces, classrooms, and libraries are equipped with the latest “smart classroom” technologies. Of particular interest to incoming freshmen is the Music LivingLearning Center at Cawthon Hall, a dormitory/classroom space immediately adjacent to the College of Music. • The Allen Music Library holds 192,000+ volumes of music, books, scholarly journals, and recordings, as well as access to subscription music databases, journals, and streaming audio/video resources. Library staff regularly present a wide range of workshops each semester to assist and inspire students.
BA•BM•MA•MM MME•DM•PhD
Music
The College of Music offers a wide variety of graduate and undergraduate degrees: UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS Commercial Music (BA) Composition (BM) Jazz Studies (BA•BM) Music (BA) Music Education (BME) Music Theatre (BM) Music Theory (BM) Music Therapy (BM) Performance (BM)* Sacred Music (BA) GRADUATE PROGRAMS Arts Administration (MA) Accompanying (MM•DM) Composition (MM•DM) Conducting (MM•PhD) Ethnomusicology (MM•PhD) Historical Musicology (MM•PhD) Jazz Studies (MM) Music/Liberal Arts (MA) Music Education (MME•PhD) Music Therapy (MM•PhD) Music Theory (MM•PhD) Opera Coaching (MM) Opera Directing (MM) Performance (MM•DM)* Piano Pedagogy (MM•PhD) Piano Technology (MA) * All orchestral instruments plus classical guitar, jazz, organ, piano, and voice
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
IAN SCHWINDT (MM ’99) was named the 2016-2017 FMEA Secondary Music Educator of the Year. Schwindt teaches instrumental music at Titusville High School, which has been named a Music Demonstration School twice and a Model Arts School by the State of Florida and has earned the FMEA enrollment award. Schwindt’s other professional awards include the National Band Association Citation for Excellence, the FBA Oliver Hobbs Award, the FBA Tom Bishop Award, and the Titusville High School Teacher of the Year.
STAFF SERGEANT ERIN FLEMING MORGAN (MM ’14) is a fife instrumentalist for the US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Permanently stationed at Fort Myer, Virginia, The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps provides musical support for high-profile ceremonies and military events in the Washington DC, area. The Corps captures the spirit of the American Revolution by wearing uniforms patterned after those of General George Washington’s Continental Army. The performers play on unique period instruments, including 10-hole fifes, single-valve bugles, and rope-tension drums.
JULIO AGUSTIN (BM ’90) is an Associate Professor of Theatre & Dance at James Madison University. Award recognitions include an Audelco nomination for Best Director (La Dulce Caridad, a Latina adaptation of Sweet Charity at New Haarlem Arts Theatre, NYC), Best Choreographer nomination by the Syracuse Area Live Theatre (In the Heights at Hangar Theatre), and the Shelfer Eminent Scholar Chair at FSU.
SARAH JANE YOUNG (DM ’15) is the adjunct professor of flute at Bethune-Cookman University and the piccoloist in the Tallahassee and Pensacola Symphony Orchestras. She plays flute, piccolo, and alto flute with the Bold City Contemporary Ensemble in Jacksonville and will be touring Florida next summer and recording a CD of transcriptions with her baroque flute ensemble, Traverso Colore.
MIA HARTLEY (BM ’17), a graduate of the music therapy program, will be attending the Royal Holloway, University of London for the 2017-2018 school year as a Fulbright Scholar. While there, she will pursue the MMus Degree in Ethnomusicology with a specialized study in the UK’s arts and culture initiatives to become accessible and inclusive for those with disabilities.
THOMAS A. GILES (DM ’16) recently moved to New York City to pursue a professional career as a classical saxophonist. Giles tours regularly with two saxophone quartets, The Mana Quartet and Singularity, and substitutes frequently with groups such as the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra and the new music collective, Contemporaneous.
JENNIFER FRALEY (DM ’15) began teaching part-time at Troy University while finishing her doctorate in clarinet performance. As a full-time faculty member since 2016, Fraley teaches clarinet and coordinates the keyboard proficiency courses and exams for the John M. Long School of Music. Fraley specializes in E-flat clarinet and is currently recording her first solo album featuring the instrument.
ALISSA KANOCZ (BME ’17) is teaching band and orchestra at Stone Middle School. Her instrumental music education degree allowed her to participate in multiple ensembles, including the Symphonic Band, Saxophone Chamber Ensemble, and Marching Chiefs. Kanocz had many opportunities to teach while a student, and participating in FSU’s TriState Honor Band Festival and Summer Music Camps.
IN THE NEWS
Voice and Opera Students and Alumni Continue to Achieve Success Students and alumni from the College of Music’s voice and opera programs continue to achieve outstanding success in important competitions, win positions in young artist programs, and take the stage for performances with national and international opera companies. Ray Chenez (DM ’11) sang operatic roles at Theatre de Caen, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Theater an der Wien, Bergen International Festival, and Opéra National de Lorraine. Daniel Collins (DM ’13) and Kathryn Bowden (MM ’16) performed with the Metropolitan Opera, while Alexander Elliott (BM ’08, MM ’10) and James Harrington (MM ’17) appeared with Portland Opera. Chenez and Elliot also
performed with Opera Omaha. Alan Higgs (MM ’14) spent the season participating in the Ryan Opera Center Young Artist Program at Lyric Opera of Chicago, while Anthony Ciaramitaro (MM ’17), Andre Hiers (BM ’11), and Andres Acosta (BM ’15) participated in the Merola Opera Young Artist Program. Shannon Jennings Holman (BM ’11) spent the year as the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist, and James Harrington and Abigail Rethwisch Paulson (MM ’14) were in the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Program. Andrew Paulson (MM ’14) was part of the Virginia Opera Emerging Artist Program, while Natalie Rose Havens (BM ’14), Chelsea Bolter (BM ’14), Emily Howes (DM ’18), and Frank Rosamond (MM ’17) were all in the Chautauqua Opera
Young Artist Program. Lauren Feider (MM ’17) was part of the Wolf Trap Opera Company, and Mary Hangley (MM ’14) and William Lee Bryan (MM ’15) won positions in the Minnesota Opera Young Artist Program. Kaitlin Zardetto-Smith (DM ’19) was with the Music Academy of the West, and Richard Coleman (MM ’16) participated in the Sarasota Opera Young Artist Program. Among the 2016/2017 District Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition were Andres Acosta, Anthony Ciaramitaro, Mary Hangley, Alan Higgs, Shannon Jennings Holman, Andrew Paulson, and Jemeesa Yarborough (MM ’15). Alan Higgs was also a semi-finalist.
On May 26 & 27, the Florida State Opera presented world premieres of two operas composed by current Florida State students. Audiences were treated to The Process, with music and libretto by Joshua Baerwald, and Charmed Rock, with music and libretto by Noah Nethery. Both operas presented perspectives on alienation from society. Nethery paints a colorful picture in his musical depiction of Charmed Rock, an idyllic New England town. The opera portrays the struggles of a young girl who yearns to break free from her over-protective father without the guilt of abandoning him entirely. Baerwald’s The Process looks at alienation through his adaptation of Franz Kafka’s novel Der Prozess (The Trial). The opera explores the conflict when bureaucracy overrules judicial fairness in the courtroom. Undergraduate composition major and musical entrepreneur Jose Hernandez successfully completed the personal challenge of composing and organizing live performances of one piece of new music each day for the entire month. As he began his month-long project, Hernandez first composed pieces and then sought musicians to perform them. After a few days, however, he realized that he would work more efficiently in reverse. He found students willing to perform his compositions and then wrote specifically for them. Throughout the month, Jose’s story garnered media attention locally and was later picked up by national online news outlets. Right: Photo by Julien Benhamou Upper Left: Photo by André Peele
Student Composers Shine at FSU
Aaron Spotts (MM 2015), a doctoral composition student currently studying with Dr. Ladislav Kubík, was the first recipient of the Zwilich Graduate Assistantship in Music Composition, supported by the generosity of FSU alumna, faculty member, and distinguished composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and the Rintels Foundation represented by Arthur Stern. Recipients of this funding spend one year of their doctoral studies consulting with Dr. Alexander Jiménez, participating in the rehearsals of the University Philharmonia and the University Symphony Orchestra, and composing an original orchestral work as the culmination of the year spent as the Zwilich Assistant. Spotts’ fellowship composition, Life for Life, received its world premiere with the USO under the direction of Dr. Jiménez on April 21, 2017. Aaron’s Two Days’ Bar Talk was also premiered at the 2016 SCI Region VI conference, and his string quartet was chosen as a finalist for the 2016 Bruno Maderna Composition Competition, which took place in Lviv, Ukraine. Spotts and fellow FSU graduate students Daniel J. Thompson and Hon Ki Cheung were also participating composers in the College of Music’s 18th Biennial Festival
of New Music, which was held in February 2017.
IN THE NEWS
Florida State University’s College of Music is an outstanding choice for students interested in studying composition. With a world class faculty in composition and theory, an active group of undergraduate and graduate student composers, and gifted student and faculty performers, composition students find significant personal and professional support and build collaborative networks as their works are performed both on and off campus.
Faculty in the College of Music are enthusiastic teachers and are recognized leaders in their respective fields as performers and scholars, as is demonstrated by the many performances they give around the world each year, the numerous research papers they present at professional conferences and during guest residencies, and the professional awards they receive. During the 2016-2017 academic year, several College of Music faculty won especially prestigious awards: Dr. Sarah Eyerly, Assistant Professor of Musicology and Director of the Early Music Program, was awarded a Collaborative Research Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies to support her work on Songs of the Spirit: The Collaborative Hymnody of the Mohican Moravian Missions. Eyerly will share the Collaborative Research Fellowship with religious studies scholar Rachel Wheeler (Associate Professor, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis). As they combine their respective expertise in musicology and Native American religious history, they will investigate how Native Mohicans and German-Moravian missionaries developed a Mohican-Moravian hymn tradition in eighteenth-century North America. Their project will explore the musical, cultural, and linguistic significance of these hymns and provide new insights into the ways music functioned as a site of cultural encounter between European missionaries and Native peoples in early America.
Dr. Kevin Fenton, Professor of Choral Conducting and Ensembles, completed a fiveweek residency in September 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya, funded by the Fulbright Specialist Program, which promotes short-term collaborative projects between scholars in the United States and their counterparts abroad. Dr. Fenton introduced Americanstyle choral conducting to conservatoire students. “Kenya and the conservatoire have many great choirs,” Fenton said. “But there are students who desire to become more successful with American music because they would like to study music in the United States…. I hope to provide conductors with an understanding of a rehearsal approach that is common in the United States.” Dr. Fenton is also one of the organizers of AVoice4Peace, a worldwide peace awareness project led by the Nairobi Chamber Chorus and the Festival Singers of Florida. Their work to date is featured in a new documentary film sponsored by the US Embassy in Kenya, which was released during the summer of 2017.
Dr. André J. Thomas, Owen F. Sellers Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, received the 2017 Robert Shaw Choral Award from the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Presented every two years at the National ACDA Conference, the Robert Shaw Choral Award is given to a choral leader who has made especially outstanding contributions to the art of choral music. It is the highest award conferred by the ACDA and is an accolade that represents a lifetime of achievement for the honoree. Thomas is in demand as a choral adjudicator, clinician, and director of Honor/All-State Choirs throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. He has been the guest conductor of such distinguished orchestras and choirs as the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England, the Berlin Radio Choir, and the Netherlands Radio Choir.Thomas has also distinguished himself as a composer/arranger. Thomas is the past president of the Florida ACDA, and the past president of the Southern Division of the ACDA.
IN THE NEWS
Music Faculty Win Prestigious Awards
IN THE NEWS
College of Music Students Perform In NYC and Abroad In recent years, the College has supported two special programs that send high achieving student ensembles to Costa Rica and New York City in order to showcase the quality of the College of Music’s programs and students, to enhance the students’ career development, and to give back to the wider community through educational outreach events. Silver Lining Flutes, a quartet of graduate flute students (Vivianne Asturizaga, Laura Clapper, Elyse Davis, and John Ross), was the latest student chamber ensemble to travel to Costa Rica as part of the “Promising Artists of the 21st Century” program, a partnership between the College of Music and the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano. The group gave eight performances and taught masterclasses at the University of Costa Rica, two performing arts schools, and a charter school during their 2017 spring break. With each masterclass, the members of Silver Lining Flutes met students eager to learn and grow as musicians. This zeal inspired the quartet to perform with a growing passion in each performance they gave. Laura Clapper, a founding member of the group, stated, “I think as a whole, our playing as we performed throughout the week became more and more locked in with each other musically.” Then on the evening of May 10, 2017, seven graduate students and alumni from the College of
Music presented the chamber program, “Home and Abroad,” at Carnegie Hall. This performance was the latest in a series of annual performances sponsored by the College of Music and held in Weill Recital Hall and was a part of the annual “Noles in NYC” showcase. The participating students were chosen through the College’s rigorous and multifaceted Carnegie Hall Student Recital Competition, during which their proposed program, sample recordings, and marketing plan were evaluated by faculty and administrators. “Home and Abroad” blended proposed programs by two ensembles, the Stephenson|Gan Duo, featuring violinist JiaRong Gan and pianist Timothy Stephenson, and the Parlance Vocal Ensemble / Cerulean Trio, featuring Lauren Feider, soprano, Emily Howes, mezzo-soprano, Galen Dean Peiskee, piano, plus alumni clarinetist Jackie Glazier and violist Ivan Ugorich. Gan and Stephenson performed instrumental music from around the world as a celebration of musical diversity. Their program also included a new work by composer and FSU alumna Shao Fern Tao, who attended the recital. The Parlance Vocal Ensemble and the Cerulean Trio presented vocal solos and duos by FSU College of Music faculty member Dr. Timothy Hoekman. Among the settings of stories, poems, and lore, which offered a variety of
musical color and language, were a new chamber transcription of the first scene duet from Hoekman’s opera Princess Gray Goose, and the world premiere of “Go Out in Joy” from his new oratorio, Prophet Songs. “Singing at Carnegie Hall with these talented musicians was truly amazing,” Howes said. “We worked so hard this past semester to prepare the recital, and it was incredibly gratifying to be able to share it with the public. We are so grateful to FSU and its donors who made this all possible!” Glazier, who is assistant professor of clarinet at the University of Arizona, added, “It was a pleasure to represent the FSU College of Music with performances in the beautiful Weill Recital Hall. The gorgeous acoustics of the hall, the significance of the venue, and the wonderful audience contributed to a truly momentous event.” Reflecting on the recital, Dr. Hoekman wrote, “What a marvelous opportunity the FSU College of Music provides to our students with the Carnegie Hall Recital Competition. Hearing this year’s concert at Weill Recital Hall was a real thrill for me. The FSU students and recent graduates performed extremely well, presenting themselves as real professionals. The process of having to assemble exceptional publicity materials as well as to prepare a challenging musical program for a New York debut will be a real boost to their careers.”
ADMISSIONS Florida State University, designated a preeminent university in the state of Florida, is one of the most respected research and learning institutions in the country. We offer a student centered education that inspires the academically motivated, intellectually curious, and socially conscious student. For information on the application process or to schedule a tour with us, please visit admissions.fsu.edu and vist.fsu.edu. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS Florida State University Office of Admissions 282 Champions Way PO Box 32306-2400 Tallahassee, FL 32306-2400 Undergraduate: 850.644.6200 // admissions@fsu.edu Graduate: 850.644.3420 // graduateadmissions@fsu.edu COLLEGE OF MUSIC College of Music Admissions 122 N. Copeland Avenue Tallahassee, FL 32306-1180 music.fsu.edu 850.644.6102 // musicadmissions@fsu.edu COLLEGE OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts 282 Champions Way Tallahassee, FL 32306 film.fsu.edu 850.644.8524 // admissions@film.fsu.edu COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS Florida State University College of Fine Arts 236 Fine Arts Building Tallahassee, FL 32306 cfa.fsu.edu Art: art.fsu.edu // (850) 644-6474 Art Education: arted.fsu.edu // (850) 644-2525 Art History: arthistory.fsu.edu // (850) 644-1250 Dance: dance.fsu.edu // (850) 644-1023 Interior Architecture & Design: interiordesign.fsu.edu // (850) 644-1436 Theatre: theatre.fsu.edu // 850.644.7234 To see a list of our advisors, visit fla.st/2gvKXPr
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY 236 Fine Arts Building 530 W. Call Street Tallahassee, Florida 32306
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS COLLEGE OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS COLLEGE OF MUSIC