THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SCHOOL OF MUSIC December 2015 & January 2016
Faculty NEWS Joyce Castle, university distinguished professor of voice, directed and sang in the one-act opera “Strawberry Fields” for her distinguished professor inaugural “lecture” at 6:00 p.m. Jan. 21 in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre of Murphy Hall. Vince Gnojek, professor of saxophone, continued his fall 2015 sabbatical in November, traveling to Bangkok, Thailand where he was the featured soloist with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra on the opening concert of the TPO Eleventh Season. He performed the Concerto in Eb, Op. 109 by Alexander Glazunov and Escapades Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra by John Williams, Gudni A. Emilsson, conductor, at Prince Mahidol Hall, November 6 & 7, 2015. Gnojek then traveled to San José, Costa Rica where he worked with Dr. Javier Valerio (DMA ’13) professor
of saxophone at the University of Costa Rica School of Musical Arts. He worked with the saxophone students and taught saxophone master classes, coached saxophone quartets and gave clinic presentations on Saxophone Secrets To Make Your Life Easier, Seven Habits of Highly Effective Musicians, and The Joe Allard Pedagogy. Professor Gnojek performed a recital with pianist Federico Molina on November 11 that included the Concerto Op. 109 by Alexander Glazunov with the UCR Saxophone Ensemble, Juan Manuel Arana, conductor. He also held master classes with students at the National Institute of Music in San José. The final trip of the sabbatical was to San Juan, Puerto Rico where he was hosted by the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and the saxophone instructor, Wilfredo Corps. He gave lessons and coached saxophone quartets, and presented a recital with pianist Ernesto Busigó on November 18. Gnojek also presented two clinics on Seven Habits of Highly Effective Musicians, and Commercial Saxophone Reed Adjustment. During the fall 2015 sabbatical Vince Gnojek worked with more than 400 saxophonists and performed 10 concerts for 2600 people in 8 countries.
The KU Youth Chorus (KUYC) performed for the Chancellor’s Holiday Reception at the Adams Alumni Center on December 17. Four music education seniors served as assistant conductors this fall, rehearsing their own literature and conducting the choir: Erin Funk, Mariah Boos, Debera Thompson, and Hannah Stevens. Debr a Hedden, professor and director of music education, is the official conductor of the choir. Assistant professor of music theory Br ad Osborn’s book, Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead, is under contract with Oxford University Press. The book, due out in late 2016, analyzes the English rock band Radiohead’s recorded output from 1997 through 2011, focusing on the ways in which their music thwarts listener expectation in four parameters: form, harmony, timbre, and rhythm.
Cover Photo: Joyce Castle, university distinguished professor of voice, directed and sang in the one-act opera “Strawberry Fields” for her distinguished professor inaugural “lecture” on Jan. 21. The KU Opera also performed “Comedy on the Bridge” and “Strawvberry Fields” on Jan. 22 & 24.
QuickNotes - December 2015 & January 2016 - music.ku.edu
Paul W. Popiel, director of bands, conducted the Northeast Kansas allregion band, the Northwest Missouri all-region band, and the Northeast Oklahoma all-region band. He was also a clinician at Blue Valley North High School, Blue Valley West High School, and Broken Arrow High School in Tulsa. Popiel also did a conducting residency and a series of clinics at the University of Saskatchewan in
K atherine Okesson, DMA student in violin performance, recently passed a comprehensive teacher audition with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Following the audition, Okesson attended a teacher training course in Chicago at the Western Springs School of Talent Education. Okesson is now SAA certified to teach Suzuki Books 9 and 10 in violin.
Matthew O. Smith, associate director of bands, conducted the 9th grade honor band at the Northeast mini-convention of the Kansas Music Educators Association in December. Later that month he presented a session entitled “Diversify Your High School Band’s Repertoire through History and Genre” at the Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference in Chicago.
Jackson Thomas, MM in choral conducting, is a semi-finalist in the American Choral Directors Association, Southwestern Division, student conducting competition. Jackson will be the only one to represent the state of Kansas in the graduate student category. The semifinals and finals will take place in front of a panel of experts in March during the 2016 SWACDA convention in Kansas City.
Saskatoon, Canada.
Ketty Wong, associate professor of ethnomusicology, presented a paper entitled “The Opera Cumandá: An Analysis of the Representation of Indigenous People in the Ecuadorian Arts in the First Half of the Twentieth Century” at the Second Congress of the International Musicology Society, Latin American and Caribbean Regional Association, which took place in Santiago de Chile, January 12-16. Professor Wong also conducted research on tango–dance practices in Buenos Aires with a Mu Phi Epsilon Scholarship for the Study of World Music.
Student NEWS
Alumni NEWS Tar a Curtis, DMA ‘14, is at Sarasota Opera singing “Imelda” in La Battaglia di Legnano and covering “Amneris” in Aida.
Barry Evans, BMA ‘92, director of bands at Topeka West, led the Topeka West marching band to win first place at the Alamo Bowl marching competition. For more information click here. Mike Gersten, MM ’13, was recently appointed to the full-time faculty at South Texas College. Click here to learn more.
Becca Lunstrum, MM student in french horn performance, won the MTNA Young Artist Regional in Wichita and is now a National Finalist for competition in San Antonio, TX.
Give to
KU School of Music
QuickNotes - December 2015 & January 2016 - music.ku.edu
Dale B. Taylor, Music Therapy BME ‘63, ’MME 71,
PhD ’84, shared that on Monday, 1/4/16, the American Music Therapy Association circulated the following announcement: Music Therapy and Music and Memory The text of an interview with Dr. Dale Taylor has recently been published by the Medical Society of Wisconsin in the December 16, 2015 issue of the Honoring Choices Wisconsin Newsletter. In the interview, Dr. Taylor discusses the importance of including music choices in Advance Care Planning for later use in Music & Memory and Music Therapy programming. He emphasizes the value of gathering this information before a person exhibits serious dementia issues or other problems involving impaired memory. The same article was picked up and featured in the December 17 issue of the Honoring Choices Minnesota Newsletter which was circulated to all Honoring Choices organizations nationwide. The Minnesota article was preceded by an original introductory paragraph that called specific attention to the relationship between music and brain functioning. The Wisconsin piece can be accessed here and the and the Minnesota article can be found here. Dr. Taylor is a member of the American Music Therapy Association’s Music & Memory Work Group, Secretary of the Wisconsin Board on Aging and Long Term Care, and presents webinars on music and brain function for staff working to implement Music & Memory protocols in long term care facilities regulated by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Ohio Department of Aging. Dr. Taylor also is scheduled to deliver a Keynote Address in February for a worldwide audience of music therapists attending the 2016 Online Conference for Music Therapy. Learn more here. BR AD WALKER, MM in Opera ‘13, just received an Adler Fellowship to study and perform with the San Francisco Opera.
Upcoming Events FEBRUARY FEB. 6
FEB. 7 *
FOLLOW KU MUSIC ON TWITTER
12:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
FEB. 14*
KU CHOIRS
FEB. 14*
KANSAS VIRTUOSI
FEB. 16
GRADUATE HONOR RECITAL
FEB. 20*
SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT
5:00 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
FEB. 21
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS CHORAL FESTIVAL
3:00 p.m. Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Tickets at kauffmancenter.org or 816-994-7222 Sponsored by Reach Out Kansas, Inc.
FEB. 23*
KU WIND ENSEMBLE WITH JEFF NELSEN, FRENCH HORN
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: FORREST PIERCE, COMPOSITION
FEB. 28
COLLEGIUM MUSICUM
FEB. 29*
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: ERIC STOMBERG, BASSOON
LIKE KU MUSIC ON FACEBOOK
PRAIRIE WINDS & SUNFLOWER STRINGS
TUBA/EUPHONIUM NEWCOMERS CONCERT
KU Music alumni, we would love to hear about the great work you’re doing in the world of music. Please send your music-related news - jobs, awards, photos, etc. - to musicnews@ku.edu. We would love to hear from you!
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
FEB. 8
FEB. 24*
KU MUSIC ALUMNI - SEND US YOUR NEWS!
KU SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, WIND ENSEMBLE, JAZZ ENSEMBLE I WITH JON LEWIS, TRUMPET & DELFEAYO MARSALIS, TROMBONE
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
MARCH MAR. 4
JAZZ FESTIVAL CONCERT I
MAR. 5
JAZZ FESTIVAL CONCERT II
7:30 p.m. Woodruff Auditorium Call 785-864-7469 for tickets 7:30 p.m. Woodruff Auditorium Call 785-864-7469 for tickets
QuickNotes - December 2015 & January 2016 - music.ku.edu
MAR. 6
APR. 18*
KU WIND ENSEMBLE
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: MARGARET MARCO, OBOE 5:00 p.m., Swarthout Recital Hall
APR. 19
KU PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
MAR. 7
APR. 20
JAZZ COMBOS
SUNFLOWER BAROQUE 2:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
MAR. 6*
SYMPHONIC BAND & UNIVERSITY BAND
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
APR. 22
TUBA/EUPHONIUM CONSORT
MAR. 11*
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: MICHAEL COMPITELLO, PERCUSSION
APR. 24
COLLEGIUM MUSICUM
APR. 26
UNIVERSITY BAND & JAZZ ENSEMBLES II & III
APR. 30
KU OPERA GALA
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall MAR. 22*
KU SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WITH MI OU LEE, PIANO CONCERTO COMPETITION WINNER
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
MAR. 23
UNDERGRADUATE HONOR RECITAL
MAR. 31*
JOY OF SINGING
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
APRIL APR. 3*
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: JULIA BROXHOLM, SOPRANO 2:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: VERONIQUE MATHIEU, VIOLIN 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
APR. 8, 9, 15, 16 LITTLE WOMEN
7:30 p.m. Crafton-Preyer
APR. 10 & 17 2:30 p.m. Crafton-Preyer
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
7:30 p.m. Lied Center Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
7:00 p.m. Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Tickets available at kauffmancenter.org or 816-994-7222 Sponsored by Reach Out Kansas, Inc.
MAY
MAY 3 SYMPHONIC BAND 7:30 p.m. Lied Center
APR. 3*
Tickets available at lied.ku.edu or 785-864-2787
MAY 4 PIANO LITERATURE CLASS RECITAL 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall MAY 5 KU YOUTH CHORUS 5:15 p.m. 328 Murphy Hall MAY 5
JAZZ ENSEMBLE I WITH ALAN FERBER
7:30 p.m. Lawrence Arts Center $10 adults/ $5 students & seniors Tickets available at lawrenceartscenter.com or 785-843-2787
Tickets at ticketweb.lss.ku.edu/kutheatre or 785-864-3982
APR. 10*
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: MICHAEL KIRKENDOLL, PIANO 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
APR. 12
JAZZ ENSEMBLE I WITH DEBORAH BROWN
7:30 p.m. Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose
Hall, Broadway at 60 th Street, New York City Tickets available at jazz.org Sponsored by Reach Out Kansas, Inc.
All events subject to change. Please visit music.ku.edu for the latest event information. Admission is free unless otherwise noted. *Concert will be live streamed. Live stream updates available here.
APR. 13
HELIANTHUS CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
APR. 14
SAXOPHONE QUARTETS
APR. 17*
KANSAS VIRTUOSI
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall 7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall
QuickNotes - December 2015 & January 2016 - music.ku.edu