News from the College

Building Bridges with Beethoven

This fall marks a milestone for the Building Bridges project, an initiative that violinist and Associate Professor of Violin Corinne Stillwell started three years ago, focusing on the complete string quartets of Beethoven. Over the course of nine off-campus concerts, she has performed these 16 works in collaboration with 46 advanced string students from FSU, encouraging them to use chamber music to connect with a wider community. Collaborating organizations for the project have included B-Sharps Jazz Cafe, Classical Revolution Tallahassee, Faith Presbyterian Church, Music For Food, Unitarian Universalist Church, and the Second Harvest of the Big Bend. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, she was able to complete the last three quartets this fall over Zoom for an audience at FSU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. What a great way to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, as well as showcase the wonderful string students at FSU!

A Celebration of African American Composers performers (left to right) Mikayla Rogers, Martha Murrane, Joseph Bowman, Lorenzo Johnson, Liliana Guerrero, Melissa Johnson, Levi Gerke, and Emilie O’Connor.

A Celebration of African American Composers

In February, Professor of Voice Marcía Porter organized and presented the second annual Celebration of African American Composers featuring graduate student performances. Art songs and spirituals encompassing three centuries of vocal writing by African Americans showcased a richness of variety and expression.

(Left to right) Kristin Pfeifer Yu, Laurel Yu, Adam Collins, Corinne Stillwell, Shelby Thompson, Jack Flores, and Marianna Brickle are all smiles before the first concert.

Choral Activities

The FSU Chamber Choir and University Singers joined forces with the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra in the premier of Jocelyn Hagen’s Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci in a February concert. The composer also spent the afternoon working with the choirs as they sang Hagen’s I Lift Up My Eyes and Hands as well. The choral area also hosted Minnesota composer and conductor, Jake Runestad, who worked with conducting students and led the Men’s Glee, Women’s Glee and University Singers in a performance of his works.

Jeff Denson

Jeff Denson (M.M. ’05) was featured in the cover story for JAZZed, one of the nation’s leading jazz music education publications. Denson, a bassist, educator, composer, and singer, received his graduate degree in Jazz Studies at FSU, something he chronicles in the article along with his performance and recording experience and ideas for jazz education. A committed educator, he now serves as Dean of Instruction at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley.

jazzedmagazine.com

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020

THE JAZZ EDUCATOR’S MAGAZINE

$4.99

Jeff Denson’s Journey as an Artist and Educator

INSIDE

Back to School (from Home)

Live Streaming Lessons from Your Home can be Easier Than You Think!

From Wooden Clocks To Wooden Flutes In The Spotlight With Saxophonist David Pope

Ella Ensemble

The Ella Ensemble (Nina Kim and Pedro Maia, violins; Albert Magcalas, viola; Vincent Leung, cello; and Christina Lai, piano) was selected to represent the College of Music for the May 2020 Carnegie Hall performance and entrepreneurship project. Although their appearance at this famous venue was cancelled due to COVID-19 closures, the group plans to realize their project in May 2021 with a performance at Carnegie Hall’s beautiful Weill Recital Hall. With a program of all FSU composers it should be a wonderful showcase for the College and offer this outstanding ensemble the opportunity to achieve outreach plans emphasizing education and diversity.

FSU choral conductors Michael Hanawalt (l) and Kevin Fenton (r) with Maestro Evans Haile (Gainesville Symphony Orchestra) and composer Jocelyn Hagen.

Guitar Festival

The 4th annual Florida Guitar Festival in October 2019, organized by doctoral student Cody Switzer, featured three marvelous concerts, an intense competition, multiple masterclasses, an entrepreneurship lecture by Festival founder Ben Lougheed (D.M. ’19), and a technique workshop by Andrew Zohn (D.M. ’97). Highlights from the weekend included a virtuosic performance by internationally acclaimed soloist Rene Izquierdo, a world premiere by the Kithara Duo (pictured right), and Elliot Frank (D.M. ’94).

Fernand Vera and Olga Amelkina-Vera

Ella Ensemble members (left to right) Nina Kim, violin; Albert Magcalas, viola; Pedro Maia, violin; Vincent Leung, cello; and Christina Lai, piano.

Allen Vizzutti, trumpet, with the University Wind Ensemble in Ruby Diamond Concert Hall

Pianist Richard Goode

Composer Uzong Choe

Barthold Kuijken coaches sophomore flute student Julia Sills

Housewright

The Housewright Eminent Scholar Program, established as part of a generous gift from the late Dean Wiley Housewright and his wife Lucilla, continued in 2019-20 with exciting performances and enriching interactions with musical giants lasting several days. Trumpet virtuoso Allen Vizzutti wowed audiences as a soloist with the FSU Wind Ensemble, and students participated in masterclasses with this veteran performer and composer who has appeared on many television shows and more than 100 movie soundtracks. Nonesuch recording artist, pianist Richard Goode, delighted audiences with solo works by Bach, Chopin, Debussy, and Janáček, and shared his extensive performance and recording experience via a lecture recital and masterclasses. Composer Uzong Choe, Professor of Composition and Theory from Seoul National University in South Korea and Artistic Director of TIMF (Tong Yeong International Music Festival) shared his experience of merging music and theater with FSU student composers. Baroque flute and recorder virtuoso Barthold Kuijken showcased historical performance at its best, joined by harpsichordist Patrick Merrill. Students from the FSU Early Music program received coaching from Kuijken on historical performance practice on period instruments in both solo and chamber roles.

Madsen Book

Two College of Music alumni, Jessica Nápoles (B.M.E. ’96, M.M.E. ’00, Ph.D. ’06) and Rebecca B. MacLeod (M.M.E. ’03, Ph.D. ’06), teamed up on a new book entitled Clifford K. Madsen’s Contributions to Music Education and Music Therapy: Love of Learning published by Routledge/Taylor Francis. The book offers insight into Madsen’s history, philosophy, and his legacy, best seen in his many former students active in the music profession. Madsen, the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Music, was appointed to the FSU faculty in 1961. He teaches in the areas of music education, music therapy, research, and psychology of music. He serves on various international and national editorial and research boards and is widely published throughout scholarly journals in music education and therapy.

Music Therapy Goes Virtual

Like many other healthcare providers, music therapists have transitioned to virtual services during the coronavirus pandemic. Tele-music therapy allows music therapists to provide beneficial services to clients in a safe manner and provides both opportunities and challenges for student training. To help students learn how to successfully navigate teleservices, faculty and students in Florida State University’s Music Therapy degree program partnered with the ACE Transition Program, State of Florida Vocational Rehabilitation, Leon County Schools, KEYS (Keys to Exceptional Youth Success) and Independence Landing to provide tele-music therapy services as part of the Summer Institute fellowship for students and young adults with disabilities.

Under the supervision of Assistant Professor of Music Therapy Lori Gooding, Ph.D, MT-BC, FSU Music Therapy students provided group music therapy services to participants enrolled in the program. Music therapy sessions occurred twice weekly in June and July and sessions focused on life, social, independence, and employability skills taught during the program. Music therapy sessions included live music, and Summer Institute participants had the opportunity to engage in active music making, movement to music, songwriting, and song discussion.

FSU Flute Day

Karl-Heinz Schütz, solo flutist with the famed Vienna Philharmonic and former student of FSU Professor of Flute Eva Amsler, joined the studio for Flute Day 2019 in November. Schütz gave a masterclass, a recital, and two talks to groups of students. Flute Day, presented by the FSU College of Music, provides flute students with opportunities to enhance their education through workshops, masterclasses, and flute choir reading sessions.

Cassie Ferrer, a rising FSU Music Therapy senior who participated in the program, was impressed by the experience. “I think it’s an incredible alternative for in-person clinical hours, and that it really does work, both for us as students and for the clients. If anything,” she stated, “I feel like we gained a lot from doing this online, rather than losing anything. Before this, I was skeptical about tele-services, but now I understand that they can really help, and I could also see how using them even after the quarantine has ended could be beneficial to some clients, maybe to make music therapy more accessible to them.”

Newman Premiere with UWO

The FSU Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Richard Clary, opened the 2019-2020 season with a World Premiere of a commissioned piece by the composer Jonathan Newman. The work, Pi’ilani and Ko’olau, is an “imagined ballet” to a scenario commissioned by the composer from Brooklyn playwright Gary Winter. It references an actual, yet phantasmagorical historical (and really quite tragic) event. The protagonist, Hawaiian folk hero Ko’olau, leads a colony of “leprosy” victims (now

Cassie Ferrer

more respectfully referred to as “Hansen’s Disease”) in an attempt to avoid government persecution, isolation, and extermination. This remarkably vivid historical “folk tale” is overtly colorful, passionate, and magical, utilizing exotic indigenous Hawaiian and traditional instruments.

FSU Opera

For a week in January the Florida State University’s Opera Outreach sent two casts to 10 elementary schools in the Tallahassee area to showcase Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. The cast was directed by current Opera Directing Graduate Student, Asura Oulds and Coaching Doctoral Candidate, Brandon Banks (M.M. ‘20). The vocal performance students were able to engage audiences ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. FSU’s Opera Outreach is an essential part to the mission of bringing opera to the community of Tallahassee. Through this educational program, College of Music students introduce opera to the younger generations through a joyful, colorful, and positive experience.

Opening Nights

The College of Music continued its partnership with the Opening Nights performance series as top musical talent spent time with students in conjunction with featured appearances at FSU. Guests who worked with FSU students this season included Claire Leyden of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, who workshopped with opera students; The Canadian Brass, who shared chamber music tips to College of Music chamber groups during their time on campus; and legendary flutist Sir James Galway, who offered critical observations to students of the flute studio.

Claire Leyden (R) of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players works with opera student Jennifer Lamont (L) during an auditio workshop in the College of Music.

Canadian Brass

Summer Music Camps

When public schools shifted to virtual learning last spring, many elementary and secondary students not only experienced an interruption to their academics, but a sudden stop to their music classes and lessons as well. Students were left without any plan for how and when they would get to perform with their band, orchestra, or chorus again. And as summer opportunities continued to be cancelled, it became clear that these young musicians would be struggling to find a way to stay connected to music and to each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FSU Summer Music Camps quickly pivoted from traditional in-person camps to virtual class sessions in order to provide instruction and inspiration to any and all young musicians looking to keep their music practices going during this time.

The Summer Music Camps presented their 79th summer through a series of 41 virtual classes that included a variety of performances fundamentals, applied classes, masterclasses, and musicianship experiences, all filled with resources, activities, and discussion. Thirty-eight College of Music faculty, graduate students, and Summer Music Camp instructors generously volunteered their time so that classes could be offered at no charge. More than 5,200 registrants participated over the course of five weeks in June and July, from 31 states and locations around the world. Many stated this was their first time “attending” our camps, participation which was made possible due to the virtual format.

The success of the virtual classes has opened a new chapter for the Summer Music Camps, and, though they hope to see all of their campers back in Tallahassee face-to-face this summer for our 80th anniversary, virtual experiences may remain a permanent part of the camps as they continue their mission to provide access to outstanding summer music education to all interested students.

FSU Percussion Alums Set the Bar

The 2019 and 2020 school years saw eight Seminole percussion alumni winning full-time performing and university teaching positions. These include Stephen Kehner (B.M. ’12) (Oregon Symphony Orchestra),

Composer Jonathan Newman (R) with Poet/ Librettist Gary Winter (L) speaking about Pi’ilani and Ko’olau at the FSU Wind Orchestra premiere. Legendary flutist Sir James Galway trades flute passages with FSU student Alan Berquist (B.M. ’02, D.M. ’20) in Opperman Music Hall as part of his visit to Tallahassee.

Mitchell Gribbroek (M.M. ’17) (U.S. Army Field Band), Peter Soroka (The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”), Melinda Leoce (M.M. ’13) (Adams State University), Matt Jordan (D.M. ’18) (Jacksonville State University), Gordon Hicken (D.M. ’13) (Stevenson University), Luis Rivera (D.M. ’12) (Oklahoma City University) and Jacob Kight (M.M. ’17, D.M. ’20) (University of South Florida). Congratulations to all, and best wishes as you continue your musical journey as ambassadors of the FSU College of Music!

Percussion Ensemble CD

The international award-winning FSU Percussion Ensemble released their fourth professional recording, Volume Four: The Percustary Insectarium, in Fall of 2019. The CD features FSU piano faculty member Heidi Louise Williams and renowned cellist Amy Sue Barston, as well as students from the FSU percussion studio, many of whom assisted with the engineering, editing, and mastering of the recording which was produced completely in-house at Florida State. Several FSU alumni contributed compositions and arrangements to the project, including Omar Carmenates (D.M. ’10), Jamie Whitmarsh (M.M. ’14), and Luis Rivera (D.M. ’12).

Violins of Hope

In October 2019 the University Symphony Orchestra presented a concert in partnership with the Holocaust Education Resource Council entitled “Music of Resistance.” Inspired by the award-winning book Violins of Hope by FSU alum James Grymes (M.M. ’98, M.M. ’98, Ph.D. ’02), this concert presented music that demonstrated the human will to resist against tyranny. Included was music by Pavel Haas, Mieczysław Weinberg, Max Bruch, Bohuslav Martinů, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Cellist and FSU Professor of Cello Greg Sauer joined as the cello soloist for the Weinberg Cello Concerto and Bruch’s Kol Nidre. Each work illustrated a different side of artistic resistance to tyranny and human rights abuses, while demonstrating great human courage and the will to overcome the seemingly impossible.

Mitchell Gribbroek

Melinda Leoce Stephen Kehner

Peter Soroka

Matt Jordan

Gordon Hicken

Der Vampyr

The ensemble of ghouls welcomes the Vampire Master in a blood ritual during the prologue of Marschner’s Der Vampyr. This FSU opera production opened on Halloween evening and featured a variety of theatrical surprises, including cinematic backgrounds of a vampire flying through the night over Doak Campbell Stadium (many thanks to the FSU Emergency Management Drone Team for helping us to create the film).

Luis Rivera

Jacob Kight

WE at FMEA

The FSU Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Patrick Dunnigan, delivered a feature performance for the 2020 Florida Music Educators Conference in Tampa last January. The major gathering of the music education profession in the state enthusiastically welcomed a program that included an appearance by the FSU Faculty Brass Quintet (Christopher Moore and master’s student Ross Mitchell, trumpets, Michelle Stebleton, horn, John Drew, trombone and Justin Benavidez, tuba) presenting a rousing rendition of Anthony Plog’s Concerto 2010 for Brass Quintet and Wind Ensemble. The remaining program focused on recent works for wind ensemble by Kevin Day, Roshanne Etezady, Jennifer Jolley, and John Mackey that evoked strong imagery. Jolley and Mackey joined the conductor onstage to comment about their works in front of a large audience of conference attendees.

Douglass Seaton

Interim Associate Dean

Musicology faculty member and Warren D. Allen Professor of Music Douglass Seaton has stepped into the role of Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Graduate Studies for the 2020-21 academic year. “When Dean Flowers called last spring to ask me to step in as Interim Associate Dean, I obviously flashed back to 2000, when Dean Piersol gave me the same call. It made sense that I might step back into the role.” In addition to his administrative work, Seaton continues his commitment to his long tenure in teaching and is also completing one book project and starting another. “After 43 years at Florida State, one develops a lot of affection for and loyalty to the College of Music,” said Seaton, “and it’s an honor to be able to support everyone’s success.”

Alice-Ann Darrow

Faculty Retirement

Alice-Ann Darrow, Irvin Cooper Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy, retired in 2020 after 17 years with the College of Music. Darrow received the B.M., B.M.E., M.M., and Ph.D. degrees at Florida State University. As a student she served as president of Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) and the School of Music Council, was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, and received the Chancellor Robert Mautz award, given to an outstanding graduating senior. As an alumna she has been the recipient of the Ella Scoble Opperman Faculty Citation award from the FSU College of Music, FSU’s Guardian of the Flame award, national research and clinical practice awards from the American Music Therapy Association, Florida Music Educators Association’s (FMEA) Collegiate Music Educator of the Year, FMEA Hall of Fame, community service awards from the Alzheimer’s Project and Independence, Inc., and distinguished member in SAI.

Darrow’s teaching and research interests focused on teaching music to special populations, inclusive practices for students with disabilities, particularly those with behavior disorders and deaf/hard-of-hearing, and the role of nonverbal communication in the music classroom. Her father’s hearing loss served as motivation for her thesis and dissertation research on the perception of music by children with hearing loss.

Darrow is co-author of Music in Special Education, editor of the text Introduction to Approaches in Music Therapy, and co-author of Music in Special Education and Music Therapy with Geriatric Populations: A Handbook for Practicing Music Therapists and Healthcare Professionals. She has published over 100 journal articles related to music education and music therapy, as well as numerous book chapters. She has presented her work in Austria, Canada, Greece, Japan, Korea, Norway, Spain, Malaysia Italy, China, Brazil, Cypress, Finland, Ireland, and Scotland.

Darrow remained committed to diversity and inclusion throughout her career. Her greatest joy though, comes from seeing former students who are now teachers. n

Patrick Dunnigan directs the FSU Wind Ensemble at the 2020 Florida Music Educators Association conference