Department of Music Fall 2020 Newsletter
2 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
Contents Welcome from the Chair.........................................................................................................4 Corwin Chair of Composition João Pedro Oliveira..............................................................5 Sorensen Director of Choral Music Nicole Lamartine..........................................................6 Staff Highlights........................................................................................................................8
Congratulations Graduates!.................................................................................................10 Through My Ears Podcast.....................................................................................................11 Making Music in a “New Normal”........................................................................................12 HOCKET Explores #what2020soundslike............................................................................16 Summer Music Festival Goes Virtual....................................................................................18 Current Student Successes...................................................................................................22 Alumni News..........................................................................................................................23
Pictured on cover: Graduate violinist Gulia Gurevich gives a private concert to residents at an assisted living center as part of her work with Hospice of the Conejo (photo by Richard Gillard/Acorn Newspapers) Copyright © 2020 The Regents of the University of California, All Rights Reserved. UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 3
Welcome from the Chair
A warm welcome to faculty, staff, students, and friends to the 2020-21 Academic Year at the Music Department! I am honored to continue serving as the Chair of the Music Department and am excited to work with everyone as we navigate these challenging times in the world. The Covid-19 pandemic has altered the landscape for all musicians and artists throughout the world, but I am encouraged to see how the UCSB Music Department has rallied with strength and ingenuity to continue to make truly innovative and creative contributions to our university and community. The rapid change to online instruction in Spring 2020 was met with flexibility, teamwork, and resilience as we all adapted to this new virtual world. I am so proud of our music community for working together in this way. As we begin this new school year, we need to strive for continued collaboration and contact with all members of our music community, especially in times of isolation for many people. Take the time to call a friend or colleague, send a text, schedule a social zoom meeting, and find ways to reach out. This can be a lifeline for all of us as we move forward and discover new and exciting ways to stay musically connected. This, in turn, can lead to new ideas, creative projects, musical collaborations, and much needed human interaction. We have much to be proud about at the UCSB Music Department and I know that we will all continue to shine in our future endeavors by working together to offer continued inspiration to each other. Sincerely,
Robert Koenig, Chair and Professor of Keyboard 4 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
UC Santa Barbara Corwin Chair of Composition João Pedro Oliveira Receives First Prize in Citta di Udine and Destellos Competitions UC Santa Barbara Corwin Chair of Composition João Pedro Oliveira received First Prize in the Citta di Udine Competition in the Electroacoustic Music category and First Prize in the 13th International Foundation Destellos Competition of Electroacoustic Composition with his piece, La Mer Émeraude. Oliveira was also named a finalist in the Audiovisual category of the Citta di Udine Competition with his piece, Things I Have Seen in My Dreams. Submissions for the thirteenth annual Citta di Udine Competition consisted of 455 scores, recordings, and audiovisual works from 49 countries, with Michele Biasutti (Italy), Juraj Ďuriš (Slovakia), Salvatore Macchia (USA), and Alexander Shchetynsky (Ukraine) serving as adjudicators. Created in 2007 in Mar del Plata, Argentine, the adjudicators for this year’s Foundation Destellos Competition of Electroacoustic Composition included Zuriñe Guerenabarrena (Spain), Andrew Babcock (USA), Daniel Blinkhorn (Australia), and Pablo Freiberg (Argentina). Oliveira’s notes for La Mer Émeraude are as follows: “Let us imagine a small invented world, a micro universe where everything exists...matter, energy, spirit, telluric movements, mysteries, natural and supernatural forces. That world is whole and from afar, whoever watches, sees it as a living ocean.” Oliveira composed the work in the Musiques-Recherches studio and dedicated the piece to composers Annette Vande Gorne and Francis Dhomont. Listen to La Mer Émeraude here. For his audiovisual work, Things I Have Seen in My Dreams, Oliveira writes: “We dream...sometimes we have nightmares, or dreams that make us sad, anguished, or simply indifferent. But occasionally, there are dreams that project in our mind images and sounds of great beauty. This piece is a recollection and variations on some of these images and sounds I remember from my dreams.” Oliveira dedicated the work to Argentine composer Mario Mary. Watch the work here. Oliveira has received over 50 international prizes and awards for his works, including, among others, the Giga-Hertz Award and the Magisterium Prize from the Institut International de Musique Électroacoustique-Bourges (IMEB). In January of 2020, Oliveira joined the faculty at UC Santa Barbara as Professor and the Corwin Chair of Composition. He serves as the Head of the Composition Program and teaches courses in composition, electroacoustic music, visual music, and contemporary techniques. Learn more about Oliveira here. UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 5
Dr. Nicole Lamartine Appointed Sorensen Director of Choral Music Renowned Choral Director brings innovation and inspiration to UC Santa Barbara Choral Music Program The UC Santa Barbara Department of Music has appointed Dr. Nicole Lamartine as Teaching Professor and Sorensen Director of Choral Music. In this role, Dr. Lamartine conducts the flagship choir, the UCSB Chamber Choir, integrates relevancy into graduate choral studies for 21st century conductors, and teaches studio conducting and voice. Dr. Lamartine also oversees the Doctor of Musical Arts degree program in Choral Conducting, an emphasis that has not been available to incoming students for several years. Dr. Lamartine serves as the inaugural Sorensen Director of Choral Music, a title that was established in 2018 by Shannon P. and D. Stephen Sorensen to ensure that there is a permanent position and resources available to the Director each year to support teaching and programmatic excellence in UC Santa Barbara’s choral program within the Department of Music. “The UCSB Department of Music is excited and honored to have Dr. Nicole Lamartine join us as the new Sorensen Director of Choral Music,” noted Robert Koenig, Chair of the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music. “Dr. Lamartine’s wealth of experience with choral music and many years of successfully building notable choral programs throughout the US is at the highest level of accomplishment. Our faculty, staff, and students offer her a warm welcome to UCSB and look forward to her dynamic contributions to our choral programs.” Under the direction of Dr. Lamartine, UC Santa Barbara is now home to five choirs, including the UCSB Chamber Choir, Women’s Chorus, Middle East Ensemble Chorus, Gospel Choir, and Singing Gauchos. All choirs are open to majors, non-majors, and community members.
“I am thrilled to be joining the world-renowned UCSB music faculty as Sorensen Director of Choral Music. It is an honor for me to reinvigorate the choral program to meet the 21st century needs of our community of music students, non-majors, and graduate students. I look forward to a future full of collaboration, innovation, inclusivity, diversity, excellence, and inspiration!” Dr. Nicole Lamartine 6 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
Passionate about creating innovative, engaging, and diverse choral performances for ensemble members and audiences alike, Dr. Lamartine strives in every musical experience to illuminate the meaning and impact of the commonalities of being human. This fall, Dr. Lamartine is exploring these commonalities in new ways by exposing her students to choral music and cultures from around the world through a series of virtual lectures and performance demonstrations led by guest speakers from all over the globe. This unique virtual curriculum was made possible by a Collaborations in the Virtual Classroom grant, which was awarded to Dr. Lamartine by the UC Santa Barbara Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (IHC). Prior to joining the UC Santa Barbara faculty, Dr. Lamartine served as Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wyoming from 2008-2020, where her choirs were honored to sing at national and regional conferences (American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, National Collegiate Choral Organization) and where she won the University of Wyoming’s highest teaching award, the Ellbogen Award for Meritorious Classroom Teaching. As a clinician and guest conductor of three international honor choirs (Germany, Oman, United Arab Emirates) and nine All-State choirs, Dr. Lamartine seeks to positively impact the next generation of choral musicians all over the world. An avid champion for music education, she has headlined music conferences in the US and Hong Kong (Association for Music in International Schools) and is a recognized expert in females conducting male choirs, rehearsal technique, and anatomy and movement for conductors. Her YouTube channel, “The Choral Eye,” contains self-produced videos written as a resource for choral musicians and educators. Dr. Lamartine has enjoyed abundant opportunities to commission and premiere new works from leading composers such as Craig Hella Johnson, Libby Larsen, Jennifer Higdon, Gerard Schwarz, Forrest Pierce, Gabriela Lena Frank, John Muehleisen, and Karen Thomas. Dr. Lamartine believes it is imperative to bring the experience to her students of bringing a new piece to life under the guidance of the living composer. Dr. Lamartine conducts Chor Anno (Washington) providing choral music educators in the Northwest a creative outlet for ensemble singing. An active performer, she has sung professionally with Conspirare, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Colorado Bach Ensemble. As a voice teacher committed to building marketable skill, Dr. Lamartine’s students have been admitted to prestigious doctoral programs and sung on stages in Europe and the US. She is an active vocal adjudicator and has given masterclasses across the US. In service to the profession, she has also served the American Choral Directors Association as President of the Northwestern region. Dr. Lamartine earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting (minor in Voice) and a Master of Music in Voice from the University of Arizona, as well as a Bachelor of Music in Voice from New Mexico State University. She holds world, national, and state records in powerlifting, demonstrating that creativity is intertwined with strength of body and mind. Learn more about Dr. Lamartine here.
UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 7
Staff Highlights Welcoming David Holmes as Management Services Officer David Holmes joined the Department of Music as Management Services Officer at the end of February 2020. In his new role, Holmes provides leadership and management to all areas of the department including budget, finance, personnel, department HR, administration, advising, production, marketing, technical support, and long-term planning. He also manages the logistics of the department’s curriculum and instructional budget. Holmes has been on staff at UC Santa Barbara for over 13 years and is coming back to the Department of Music where he served as Staff Graduate Advisor from 2007-2010. Before joining the Department of Music, he served for four years as the Director of the South Hall Administrative Support Center (SASC), where he oversaw all staff administrative services, personnel, and support for five academic departments. Prior to taking the directorship, Holmes was the unit’s manager for finance and academic personnel having come over from another Humanities shared service center, the Phelps Hall Administrative Support Center, where he was the manager for student services and academic advising. His other roles on campus have included time spent in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions as an Admissions Counselor and Evaluator, and the Office of the Registrar working with veterans services and readmission. Holmes is active on campus having served on the campus’ Staff Engagement Committee, as an officer of the Administrative Management Professionals group, a member of staff assembly, and as a participant in various campus committees, working groups, and executive searches. He is a “Double-Gaucho” alum having received his BA in Philosophy-Ethics & Public Policy in 2007 and his MA in Educational Leadership and Organizations in 2010. Prior to entering higher education, Holmes received his Honorably Discharged as a Sergeant from the United States Marine Corps where he served four years on active duty as well as time in the reserves. He enjoys the beauty of Santa Barbara with his wife and three children (8, 6, 4) and loves going to the beach and camping over the weekends with them. He played Ice Hockey for UC Santa Barbara, loves to read historical fiction, and his interests include genealogy, geology, poetry, and sports. “I am so very happy to be able to ‘come back home’ to the Department of Music where I spent three memorable years as a Staff Graduate Advisor at the start of my career. I am really excited to be a part of this wonderful community of world-class scholars, artists, and musicians. My goal is to work to bring the highest level of service and support to our students, faculty, and community. I hope to do this by strategically focusing on process improvement, organizational modernization, and community development. I am so lucky to be joining such an amazing group of dedicated professionals on the staff team and everyone across the department has been so welcoming and helpful, it just really feels good to be back!“
David Holmes 8 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
Yasmine Ibrahim Joins Department of Music Staff as Academic Personnel Coordinator The Department of Music welcomed Yasmine Ibrahim as Academic Personnel Coordinator in August 2020. Ibrahim works closely with faculty and the department’s new Management Services Officer David Holmes to assist with faculty advancement, academic appointments, and recruitment. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Graduate Student Advisor Carly Yartz Nominated for Margaret T. Getman Service to Students Award Carly Yartz, the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music’s Graduate Student Advisor, was nominated for the 2020 Margaret T. Getman Service to Students Award. Given annually in honor of the former UC Santa Barbara Dean of Student Residents, Margaret T. Getman, the award recognizes university staff and faculty that have demonstrated “an extraordinary commitment to the general growth and development of students and quality of student life.” Yartz was one of only 19 nominees for the award this year campus-wide, and was also nominated for the award in 2016.
“Carly enthusiastically, and positively impacts the personal and academic life of each and every graduate student in the Music Department. She tirelessly supports us, helps us in all of our endeavors, and perhaps above all else, is our friend.” Nominator UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 9
Congratulations Graduates! Celebrating the Class of 2020 Graduate Students Elizabeth Hambleton | Doctor of Philosophy, Music Theory Tess Popper | Doctor of Philosophy, Ethnomusicology Molly Clementz | Doctor of Musical Arts, Voice Petra PerĹĄolja | Doctor of Musical Arts, Keyboard Kate Morics | Master of Arts, Ethnomusicology Hailey Atwell | Master of Music, Voice Enoch Matsumura | Master of Music, Woodwinds and Brass (Clarinet) Christy Peterson | Master of Music, Voice Kristina Tsanova | Master of Music, Strings (Violin)
Undergraduate Students Alexandria Jackson | Bachelor of Music, Voice Jenna Ku | Bachelor of Music, Woodwinds and Brass (Flute) Alexandra Lopez | Bachelor of Music, Voice; Minor, Education Studies Naomi Stoodley | Bachelor of Music, Strings (Cello)*** Paul Wu | Bachelor of Music, Woodwinds and Brass (Trombone) Esther Duh | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies; Bachelor of Science, Environmental Studies Maya Gorgas | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies; Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences Corey Highberg | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies** Claire Igawa | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies; Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Studies Tommy Kan | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies; Bachelor of Arts, Psychology; Minor, Applied Psychology** Ashley Kim | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies (Interdisciplinary Studies); Bachelor of Arts, Film and Media Studies Min Su Kim | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies; Bachelor of Arts, Political Science Rachel Kim | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies (Ethnomusicology) Audrey Law | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies* Ethan Lawrence | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies (Western Art Music)* Andrew Lee | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies Angela Mai | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies; Bachelor of Arts, Sociology Gabby Migliazzo Bushell | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies (Western Art Music); Bachelor of Arts, Global Studies* Erica Pobanz | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies (Western Art Music)*** Benjamin Seilhamer | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies Shamyer Shandel | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies Colin Sneddon | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies*** Tristan Sommer | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies*** Shuaiyu Wang | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies Jingtong Zhang | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies (Western Art Music)** Siyuan Zhang | Bachelor of Arts, Music Studies (Western Art Music); Bachelor of Arts, Physics * Honors ** High Honors *** Highest Honors This list denotes students who graduated during Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, and Summer 2020
10 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
Through My Ears Department of Music launches new podcast focused on work of professors The UC Santa Barbara Department of Music launched its firstever podcast, Through My Ears, in April 2020. With the podcast, graduate students are given the opportunity to sit down with their professors and ask them questions about their background, expertise, and current work in the field of music. The aim of this podcast is to highlight the diverse range of musical thought within the department, and bring awareness to its many programs. Ethnomusicology, theory, performance, and more are discussed, as listeners uncover the different motivations, aspirations, and values their teachers hold with regards to music. The first episode stars the Chair of the Department of Music, Robert Koenig, and is hosted by Eugenia Siegel Conte, a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology. They discuss Robert’s childhood in the “cold, harsh winters” of Saskatchewan, Canada, recording at the famous Skywalker Sound studio in Marin County, and what surprises him most working as a collaborative pianist. Derek Katz, Associate Professor of Musicology, is the guest speaker in the second episode, hosted by Timothy Bausch, a PhD candidate in Theory. They discuss how the field of musicology is changing, advocacy and public engagement, and Katz’s current research on Ellen Stone, the first female to ever be included in a brass section of a symphonic body not composed exclusively of women. As Katz puts it, “…having a 20-year-old woman playing a brass instrument at the front of a section in a major symphony orchestra… was literally national news.” Bausch also hosts the third episode, which features Associate Professor of Musicology Stefanie Tcharos. They discuss her teaching philosophy, how music plays a role in what precedes historical transformations, and her taste in modern music, including how she’s been “totally obsessed with Lizzo.” Through My Ears is produced by Connor Long, Operations Manager and Technical Specialist, and the Department of Music. Intro and outro music was recorded at the Kerr Hall Sound Studio, performed by music major Kaitlin Webster-Zuber. Listen now on Spotify, Anchor, and Apple Podcasts. More episodes will be released later this academic year. Pictured from top: Robert Koenig, Derek Katz, Stefanie Tcharos, Connor Long UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 11
Graduate violinist Gulia Gurevich gives a private concert to residents at an assisted living center as part of her work with Hospice of the Conejo (photo by Richard Gillard/Acorn Newspapers)
Making Music in a “New Normal” Department of Music faculty, students, and alumni help connect communities during the COVID-19 pandemic When traditional performance venues were shuttered in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UC Santa Barbara Department of Music faculty and students were forced to think creatively to reach their audiences. Within weeks of the university’s shift to remote operations, Music faculty and students were already adapting and sharing music both virtually and in socially-distanced settings. Shortly after remote operations began, Sarah Gibson, Teaching Professor of Composition in both the Department of Music and College of Creative Studies, was invited by violinist Jennifer Koh to write a piece for Koh’s latest project, “Alone Together.” Koh created the commissioning project and performance series as a means of support for composers during the coronavirus pandemic, and to reflect the widely varying emotions of this quarantine time. Gibson’s new piece, You Are Still Here, was premiered live by Koh on Saturday, April 11, 2020 via Facebook and Instagram, and is now available on-demand on Koh’s YouTube channel. Jill Felber, Professor of Flute, and alumna Catherine Marshall ‘18 collaborated on a series of videos highlighting Felber’s vast repertoire, particularly her “Fusions,” combinations of classical and popular songs that she arranged with pianist Dianne Frazer. These arrangements pair a popular contemporary 12 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
classical flute piece such as Ian Clarke’s Orange Dawn with a well-known classical piece such as Richard Strauss’ Morgen, or Stanley Myers’ classical guitar piece Cavatina and Harold Arlen’s Over the Rainbow (watch the video here). “A few years ago, Dianne and I created seven mashups, or fused pieces, combining vocal music with flute music, movie tunes with classical music, and hymns with folk music,” said Felber. “Catherine was engaged (while we are sheltering in place) to create beautiful images to add to our fusions in hopes of warming the spirits of our community.” Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, Associate Professor of Voice, presented a Mother’s Day concert as a premiere via her YouTube channel (watch the video here) on Sunday, May 10, 2020. Bayrakdarian dedicated the concert to “the Blessed Mother Mary, and in honor of all mothers, Creation, and Mother Earth,” and was joined by harpist Ellie Choate and organist Ben Krikorian from the beautiful (but empty) St. Paul Armenian Apostolic Church in Fresno, California. The program included sacred songs and prayers in many languages, as well as recitations of the “Ave Maria” in seven languages (Armenian, Arabic, Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German). Bayrakdarian noted that “the multilingual musical selections were specifically chosen to address and heal current human conditions experienced universally, including fear, hopelessness, and grief, along with songs that move the spirit, and give strength and vigor to it.” Lecturer and violist Jonathan Moerschel was featured as a member of the Calder Quartet during the 2020 Ojai Music Festival, which took place virtually from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 14, 2020. In the absence of an in-person festival, the virtual festival featured prerecorded conversations and performances by artists and composers that would have performed or had their music performed live at this year’s festival, such as Ensemble intercontemporain, the Calder Quartet, composers Olga Neuwirth and Steve Reich, as well as Music Director Matthias Pintscher. The organization released a curated list of links to videos and audio recordings for each day of the festival, which included recordings of John Cage’s String Quartet in Four Parts and Charles Ives’ String Quartet No. 2 by the Calder Quartet. For Saturday’s program, the Calder Quartet served as the featured artists and participated in a prerecorded conversation hosted by Ara Guzelimian, the Artistic Director Lecturer Jonathan Moerschel Designate of the festival (video available here). Violinists Benjamin Jacobson and Tereza Stanislav, violist Jonathan Moerschel, and cellist Eric Byers discussed the effects of the pandemic and isolation on the quartet, Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131, as well as the quartet’s expansive and varied repertoire. Assistant Professor of Cello Jennifer Kloetzel recorded a duo performance with pianist Andrew Gerle of Camille Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan” from The Carnival of the Animals (watch here). Kloetzel and Gerle produced the video as “an homage to performers and audiences everywhere during this extended intermission.” The duo has produced other demo videos in their recording project, titled “Cantilena,” including recordings of works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Manuel de Falla, Carlos Guastavino, and Johann Sebastian Bach, which can be viewed on their YouTube channel. Kloetzel was also featured as a virtual guest lecturer with the Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara, having recorded a 41-minute lecture on the repertoire that was to have been played by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for the final concert in CAMA’s 2019-2020 International Series, originally scheduled for Monday, May 18, 2020 at the Granada Theatre. The concert was to have been UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 13
led by conductor Jaime Martín, featuring solo cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Kloetzel, Head of Strings at the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music, was asked to speak about music by Camille SaintSaëns, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Derrick Spiva, Jr. for the video, which was shared via email with CAMA’s patrons. Watch each part of the lecture at the links below: Part 1: Derrick Spiva, Jr. Part 2: Camille Saint-Saëns Part 3: Ludwig van Beethoven
“I had been scheduled to give the preconcert talk before the May 18 LACO concert. When the remainder of their season was cancelled in March, they reached out to see if I would be willing to record something to send out to their subscribers, related to that May 18 program. I had about 5 days to dive into the music and with nothing more than my iPhone, my computer (cued up to 10 musical examples, praying that no YouTube ads would play instead of the musical examples!), a tripod, and some serious enthusiasm for the repertoire, I recorded the talk in one single take! I am missing performing so much right now, but this filled that gap for a few days.” Jennifer Kloetzel Associate Professor of Musicology Derek Katz was also featured as a guest lecturer during the pandemic, in a UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures Culture at a Click email from Spring 2020. Professor Katz gave a lecture on Beethoven’s music, titled “Beethoven’s Great Fugue: From Incomprehensible to Profound,” recorded exclusively for Arts & Lectures patrons. Watch the lecture here. UC Santa Barbara graduate students collaborated with music organizations in the community and internationally to uplift and inspire music lovers from around the world. Valdis Jansons (baritone) and Erik Lawrence (piano) presented a virtual concert in partnership with Quarantine Concerts and the Verbier Festival on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. The program included works by Modest Mussorgsky, 14 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
Henri Duparc, Roger Quilter, Ernesto De Curtis, Salvatore Cardillo, and Enrico Cannio, and was performed live from St. Athanasius Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Santa Barbara, CA. Jansons, an alumnus of the Verbier Festival, is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice and studies under Associate Professor Isabel Bayrakdarian. Lawrence is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Accompanying and studies under Professor Robert Koenig. Graduate violinist Gulia Gurevich has been giving socially-distanced performances for terminally ill and elderly patients in Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village, and was featured in the Thousand Oaks Acorn for her work with Hospice of the Conejo. When asked what it was like performing for these new audiences, Gurevich told the Thousand Oaks Acorn: “It’s wonderful. To see tears in their eyes is a touching thing.” Gurevich is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the studio of UC Santa Barbara faculty member Ertan Torgul.
UC Santa Barbara alumna Sara Aronson has been giving socially-distanced performances of wind chamber music during the pandemic as a horn player in the Royal Swedish military band, Livgardets Dragonmusikkår. An elite brass-only ensemble, the group serves as one of three full-time bands in the Swedish armed forces. While large ensemble concerts and rehearsals are not possible, the pandemic enables an extensive number of chamber groups to play with widely varying instrumentation. These include performances, as well as recordings, in the Stockholm area. As a Swedish citizen, Aronson enrolled at UC Santa Barbara midway through her professional career to study horn with Professor Steven Gross. At UC Santa Barbara, Aronson performed in the scholarship Maurice Faulkner Brass Quintet and received her Master of Music in Horn Performance in 2018.
Photo: Joachim Müller
UC Santa Barbara alumni have played a major role in helping communities return to normal, through both music-making and philanthropic work. Inspired by an opportunity to help his performance colleagues, alumnus Nick Norton ‘18 created the Equal Sound Corona Relief Fund to provide direct financial assistance to musicians who lost work as a result of coronavirus-related event cancellations. For many freelance and contract-based musicians, those cancellations meant they were left without any source of income. As the founder and Artistic Director of Equal Sound, Norton positioned the 501(c)(3) to receive donations that would go straight to musicians in need. The Equal Sound Corona Relief Fund is one of a handful of performing arts relief efforts that have received national attention from publications such as Billboard and The New Yorker, as well as from opera star Renée Fleming. At UC Santa Barbara, Norton studied with Clarence Barlow, Curtis Roads, Joel Feigin, and Andrew Tholl, and received his PhD in Composition in 2018.
Alumna Sara Aronson
We look forward to seeing the continued creativity of our faculty, students, and alumni over the coming months, as they remain dedicated to connecting communities worldwide through inspiring performances, lectures, and more. To stay up to date with current news stories from our faculty and students, please consider following the Department of Music on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.
UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 15
Sarah Gibson and Thomas Kotcheff of HOCKET
HOCKET Explores #what2020soundslike Assistant Teaching Professor of Music Composition Sarah Gibson commissions works for 2020 with HOCKET In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Assistant Teaching Professor of Music Composition Sarah Gibson announced a new project, #what2020soundslike, with her Los Angeles-based new music piano duo, HOCKET. Gibson and her duo partner, fellow pianist and composer Thomas Kotcheff, commissioned 50 composers to write miniatures for piano duo as a response to the challenges of the year 2020. “We’ve all been itching to create music and to figure out a way to share art,” said Gibson. “Once we made the decision to start rehearsing together again, HOCKET was interested in how 50 composers would respond in the moment with miniatures for our duo. For the prompt, we asked composers to respond musically to what has happened (and what is currently happening) so far in 2020 — they could respond in any way they felt they wanted to. We wanted this project to be a platform for our friends, colleagues, and collaborators to come together and express themselves in a time when many of us are looking for a sense of community and artistic expression.” “The piece length parameters were to write miniatures that are either 15, 30, or 45 seconds in length. The purpose of this choice in length was so that the pieces could be composed, rehearsed, and recorded quickly and give as much of a sense of “real-time” musical reaction to the moment as 16 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
possible. The composers could write for any combination of two pianos, piano 4-hands, toy piano (2), melodica (2), accordion, and/or small percussion.” The 50 commissioned composers include new music luminaries from across the country, including Vicki Ray, Ted Hearne, Hitomi Oba, Donald Crockett, Gemma Peacocke, Marcos Balter, and UC Santa Barbara Composition alumnus Nick Norton. HOCKET released pieces weekly on their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts beginning in mid-June and released the final video in the project in late October. The duo gave a YouTube Premiere performance of many of the pieces on August 22, 2020 for the UCSB Summer Music Festival (video available here) and the project will culminate in an album release. Learn more at hocket.org/what2020soundslike. Gibson, who joined the faculty at UC Santa Barbara in Fall 2019, was awarded a UC Santa Barbara Faculty Research Grant for the 2020-2021 academic year to record HOCKET’s debut album, And the River. The album will showcase the most innovative and exciting works commissioned by and written for HOCKET over the past five years, and will include works by Nina Young, Christopher Cerrone, Aaron Holloway-Nahum, Donald Crockett, and Gibson. Specifically, the funds will support the recording, equipment, and contracting fees for Donald Crockett’s concerto, And the River, which was written for HOCKET in 2018. “During the last five years, HOCKET has committed itself to the creation, performance, and sharing of new music for piano duo,” said Gibson. “Every piece on this album is a showcase of our artistic efforts. In particular, Crockett’s concerto is written for a unique instrumentation—piano 4-hands/two toy pianos, and chamber orchestra—and was intimately workshopped with HOCKET throughout its conception. To have it be the centerpiece of our album just felt right. We are excited to record this and the other works, and to highlight how broad the definition of a piano duo can be.” Noted as “brilliant” by Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times and as an “adventurous young ensemble” by The New Yorker, HOCKET has performed at some of the most exciting festivals across the country including the LA Philharmonic’s annual new-music marathon, “Noon to Midnight,” the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival, MATA Festival, Other Minds Festival, and with the Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab. The duo has held residencies at Avaloch Farm Music Institute and received grants from the Earle Brown Music Foundation and the Presser Foundation. Previously the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Sound Investment Composer, Gibson has received commissions and performances from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and Chamber Music America, among others. She currently serves as Assistant Teaching Professor of Music Composition in both the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music and the College of Creative Studies. Learn more about Gibson here.
UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 17
Multi-percussionist and vocalist Miguel “Miguelito” León
Summer Music Festival Goes Virtual Fifth-annual festival flourishes in new virtual format with special guests Miguelito León, HOCKET, and more The UC Santa Barbara Department of Music presented the fifth annual UCSB Summer Music Festival on Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23, 2020 as a virtual event via the Department of Music’s YouTube channel. Sponsored by the UC Santa Barbara Office of Summer Sessions, the virtual festival featured performances by the Los Angeles-based new music piano duo HOCKET, multi-percussionist and vocalist Miguelito León, UC Santa Barbara Composition alumnus and pianist Marc Evanstein, the Nesta Steel Drum Band, University Carillonist Wesley Arai, and Gamelan Sinar Surya, under the direction of UC Santa Barbara faculty member Richard North. The festival also featured a children’s concert led by pianist and UC Santa Barbara alumna Petra Peršolja, as well as a demonstration of a variety of Medieval and Renaissance instruments by UC Santa Barbara graduate Composition student Matthew Owensby. As with programs in previous years, the 2020 UCSB Summer Music Festival showcased a diverse collection of artists from Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, offering audience members the opportunity to experience music of various genres, cultures, and time periods in one weekend. Founded in 2016 by UC Santa Barbara Composition alumnus Federico Llach ‘17, the UCSB Summer Music Festival continues to thrive as a student-curated and managed event. This year’s event was coordinated by UC Santa Barbara graduate Composition student Raphael Radna, who served as Artistic Director. 18 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
Radna said of the festival prior to its premiere: “I am consistently impressed by the variety and quality of music at UCSB and in the Santa Barbara region. Throughout its short history, the UCSB Summer Music Festival has been foremost a celebration of local artists, and an opportunity for our community to come together to appreciate live music in many forms. Online for the first time, this year’s program is as eclectic as ever, representing styles spanning several musical traditions and centuries of development. It has been an undeniably difficult year for the world and for music, but it is my hope that the 2020 UCSB Summer Music Festival will bring some light to the height of a summer when so much feels uncertain.” Saturday’s lineup opened with multi-percussionist and vocalist Miguel “Miguelito” León, who is also known for his work as a producer and educator, including his role as Director of UCSB Summer Music Festival Cuba cultural exchange CALI2CUBA. Born and raised in Santa Artistic Director, Raphael Radna Barbara, CA, León grew up playing a diverse range of world music such as Latin, Afro-Cuban, West-African, Brazilian “MPB,” Balkan, Flamenco, and Jazz. León has performed and recorded with world-renowned artists such as Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Band, Michael McDonald, Ozomatli, and Los Hermanos Herrera, and has also recorded for FOX Network’s Glee. León’s Summer Music Festival program featured an exploration of rhythms and styles from the Caribbean, along with special live-looping solo demonstrations. Composer and pianist Marc Evanstein, who graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2019 with a PhD in Composition, presented a program of original compositions for solo piano and electronics, titled “The Computer as Wild Collaborator.” From acoustic music composed with the aid of custom computer programs, to interactive piano pieces in which the computer responded live to the actions of the performer, Evanstein’s program featured a variety of pieces in which the computer, and computer programming, played a central role in the compositional process. Evanstein also offered a brief introduction to his new Python-based computer-assisted composition framework, SCAMP, and some of the new music that has been composed using it. For his program, “Rediscovering Medieval/Renaissance Instruments,” Composition graduate student and violinist Matthew Owensby gave an introductory sample from a variety of medieval and renaissance instruments with a brief description and performance of each. After discovering the instruments in UC Santa Barbara’s collection in Fall 2019, Owensby was inspired to spend eight months of self-instruction on these and other instruments and historical repertoire in an effort to revive community interest in the unique set of instruments. Owensby’s UCSB Summer Music Festival demonstration included recorders, viols, crumhorns, cornetti, cornamuse, kortholt, dulcian, rebec, harp, and hurdy-gurdy. Saturday’s program closed with a performance by Los Angeles-based new music piano duo HOCKET, featuring UC Santa Barbara faculty member Dr. Sarah Gibson and fellow composer and pianist Thomas Kotcheff. HOCKET’s program featured performances of works they commissioned for their project, #what2020soundslike, including pieces by Donald Crockett, Gemma Peacocke, and Vicki Ray, as well as David Lang’s gravity and Andy Akiho’s Karakurenai. The program also included world premieres of works by UC Santa Barbara graduate composition students Rodney DuPlessis, Stewart Engart, and UCSB Summer Music Festival Artistic Director Raphael Radna. UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 19
Artwork created by listener Kaitlyn for Dr. Petra Peršolja’s UCSB Summer Music Festival Children’s Concert
Slovenian-born pianist and UC Santa Barbara alumna Dr. Petra Peršolja opened Sunday’s programming with a special Children’s Concert featuring performances of beloved piano pieces. Peršolja’s program began with simple songs such as “Happy Birthday” and quickly progressed to compositions by Béla Bartók, Edvard Grieg, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Robert Schumann. Peršolja also approached selections from classical music favorites, such as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Alla Turca, and Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies. Through the piano pieces, Peršolja asked her audience to explore elements of music such as sound, pitch, rhythm, melody, and harmony. She also disassembled her upright piano to display the inner-workings of the instrument, including strings, hammers, and pedals. Listeners were asked to use boxes to learn simple rhythm patterns, conduct Peršolja as she played, and participate in a “painting studio,” where they were asked to draw or paint their own story to music of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Frédéric Chopin.
University Carillonist Wesley Arai performed arrangements of well-known classical music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Dmitri Shostakovich, as well as arrangements of popular songs from Beauty and the Beast and Scott Joplin’s famous Sunflower Slow Drag. The program also included works composed specifically for the carillon by 18th century composer Matthias van den Gheyn and contemporary composer Roy Hamlin Johnson. Arai’s program featured two pieces by Aaron David Miller and UC Santa Barbara Professor Emerita Emma Lou Diemer, both written in celebration of the Storke Tower carillon’s 50th anniversary, which was observed in 2019. The Los Angeles-based Nesta Steel Drum Band, made up of husband and wife team Abby and Dan Savell, presented a concert featuring the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, steelpan (or steel drums, as they are known in the United States). In their performance demonstration, the Savells explored the history and cultural significance of this family of instruments, as well as various Caribbean music styles, improvisation, and the basic principles and nuances of playing the instruments. Listeners were treated to arrangements of classics by Bob Marley (Jammin and Stir It Up), George Gershwin, Luis Bonfá, and Peter Frampton. The fifth annual UCSB Summer Music Festival closed with a performance of traditional Indonesian music and dance by Santa Barbara-based Gamelan Sinar Surya, an ensemble dedicated to the preservation, teaching, and performance of traditional Indonesian music and dance, specializing in rare music from the ancient kingdom of Cirebon, West Java. The members performed on a traditional gamelan orchestra setup, which included gongs, xylophones, drums, and bamboo flutes from Indonesia. The performance was led by Director and UC Santa Barbara faculty member Richard North, who has also directed the UC Santa Barbara Gamelan Ensemble since 2015. 20 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
With over 1,800 collective video views, this year’s festival brought in viewers from all over California, as well as international viewers from Russia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The video performances will remain on the Department of Music’s YouTube channel for on-demand viewing over the next year. View the full program online for more information on the pieces and artists. Watch Artistic Director Raphael Radna’s introduction to the festival here and watch each concert on-demand on YouTube via the links below.
Miguelito León
Children’s Concert featuring Petra Peršolja
Marc Evanstein presents “The Computer as Wild Collaborator”
Wesley Arai
Matthew Owensby
Nesta Steel Drum Band
HOCKET
Gamelan Sinar Surya
UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 21
Current Student Successes Alex Blue V, Doctor of Philosophy (Ethnomusicology)
Alex Blue V, a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology, was appointed as Assistant Professor of Music at the College of William and Mary. Blue’s appointment will begin in Fall 2021, upon the completion of his term as the 2019-2021 Thurgood Marshall Fellow in African and African American Studies at Dartmouth College. In his new position, Blue will teach courses on race and music, sound studies, and hip-hop production, and will continue his research in the areas of sound, race, identity, and urban space. Blue’s dissertation for his PhD is an ethnographic study of hip-hop in contemporary Detroit, Michigan, that explores narratives of death and dying and illuminates numerous ways the creation, performance, and consumption of hip-hop is used for spatial reorientation, identity formation, and other means in a rapidly-changing city.
Sunaina Keonaona Kale, Doctor of Philosophy (Ethnomusicology)
Sunaina Keonaona Kale, a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology, has been awarded a twoyear Charles Eastman Fellowship in Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. Kale will begin as a predoctoral fellow in the academic year 2020-2021, and will continue on as a postdoctoral fellow in 2021-2022. During her time as a fellow, Kale will work on completing her dissertation and engaging with native student groups at Dartmouth. Kale researches reggae music in Hawai‘i and Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) identity, and is interested in how definitions of Hawaiian music and identity constantly shift and interrelate with indigenous political movements, indigenous worldviews, local identity, and the global. She holds an MA in Ethnomusicology from UC Santa Barbara and is currently studying under Dr. David Novak.
Noelle Barr, Bachelor of Arts in Music Studies
Undergraduate student Noelle Barr was named Second Prize Winner of the 2020 UC Santa Barbara Library Award for Undergraduate Research in the Humanities and Fine Arts category. The annual award recognizes students “who produce a scholarly or creative work that makes expert and sophisticated use of the collections, resources, and services of the UC Santa Barbara Library.” Barr’s paper, “Musical Materiality,” takes a close look at the façade of the Palais Garnier – the Paris Opera House – from the lens of art and architectural history, public use of the space in and around the Palais, and attitudes of the time about music and its place in French culture. Barr is a rising senior at UC Santa Barbara and a double major in Music Studies and the History of Art and Architecture.
Photo: Zach Mendez
Byron Mayes, Doctor of Musical Arts (Voice)
DMA candidate Byron Mayes was named a winner in the Vocal Category of the Music Academy of the West’s Digital Challenge, which took place as part of the 2020 Music Academy Remote Learning Institute. “My Digital Challenge submission was based off of a poem by Langston Hughes entitled ‘I, Too, Sing America,’” said Mayes. “It has been my favorite poem for many years. It talks about the struggle of being viewed as different and less than because of one’s color while still having hope that one day things will change for the better. It was set to music by 20th Century African-American Composer Margaret Bonds.” Mayes was selected as a 2020 Music Academy of the West Vocal Fellow and was a recipient of the 2020 Jean Rogers Full Scholarship in Voice. Watch the video here.
Rodney DuPlessis, Doctor of Philosophy (Composition)
Rodney DuPlessis received Honorable Mention in the Foundation Destellos Competition of Electroacoustic Composition for his piece, De Rerum Natura. The piece was also recognized as a finalist for the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS)/ The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award, under the name Dimensionless, and earned another finalist spot in the SIMEC Electroacoustic Music Competition. “De Rerum Natura is inspired by the concept of ‘naturalness’ in physics, which presents a conflict between truth and beauty,” noted DuPlessis. “The tension between this widely applied concept on the one hand, and the promise of science to shed all bias in pursuit of truth on the other, guided my meditation within the soundscape of this piece.” Listen here. 22 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
Alumni News Photo: Jei Romanes
Karen Yeh, Master of Music (Cello) ‘15
Cellist Karen Yeh appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live with Christina Aguilera in a performance of “Loyal Brave True” from Disney’s Mulan (watch here). Yeh, who recorded songs by Harry Gregson-Williams for the movie’s soundtrack, performed as part of a string quartet, alongside musicians performing on traditional Asian instruments such as the guzheng (Chinese plucked string instrument) and taiko (Japanese ceremonial drums). Based in Los Angeles, Yeh has appeared in solo, chamber, and orchestral concerts throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. She has played in venues ranging from symphony appearances in Carnegie Hall to sold-out pop concerts at the Dolby Theatre. She is a recording artist for the motion picture industry and can be heard in the new Charlie’s Angels, It: Chapter 2, and Bad Boys For Life soundtracks.
Alexandria Jackson, Bachelor of Music (Voice) ‘19
Soprano Alexandria Jackson was awarded a full scholarship to pursue a Master of Music degree in Voice at Southern Methodist University. Jackson will begin her studies in Fall 2020, under the guidance of Barbara Hill Moore. While at Southern Methodist University, Jackson will take part in opera productions and coachings, and will also audition for competitions, young artist programs, and music festivals. Jackson appeared in several UC Santa Barbara Opera Theatre productions, including W.A. Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and the North American premiere of Franz Lehár’s The Mock Marriage at the historic Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. Jackson also competed in numerous competitions, winning first place in the New Century Singer - California and Whittier New Century Singers competitions, among others.
Michael Vitalino, Doctor of Philosophy (Music Theory) ‘14 and Master of Music (Choral Conducting) ‘13
Michael Vitalino ‘14 was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam, where he teaches courses in Music Theory, Aural Skills, Counterpoint, and Tonal Analysis. Vitalino has presented research on Liszt’s song revisions at the Society for Music Theory (SMT) in addition to several regional and international conferences. His recent presentation at the SMT Music and Disability Interest Group addressed accommodating disabilities within aural skills pedagogy. His publications include articles in Indiana Theory Review and Notes, and a forthcoming chapter in Nostalgia and Video Game Music: Hearing our Past in the Present (Intellect Books).
Leslie Cain, Doctor of Musical Arts (Keyboard) ‘17
Leslie Cain was appointed to a faculty position in the Classical Instrumental division of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), where she will serve as an Artist-Teacher of music theory, musicianship, chamber music, and accompanying. NOCCA is Louisiana’s only dedicated arts conservatory, offering pre-professional training to the state’s most promising high school students. During her time at UC Santa Barbara, Cain emphasized the study of French repertoire, culminating in her Doctor of Musical Arts document exploring the connection between the music of Maurice Ravel and the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. She is an alumna of the Conservatoire américain de Fontainebleau, the storied institute of French music held each summer at Napoleon’s château in Fontainebleau, France.
Vincent E. Rone, Doctor of Philosophy (Musicology) ‘14
Vincent E. Rone joined the faculty of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, where he now teaches courses in music history and music theory. Vincent also co-edited the anthology Mythopoeic Narrative in The Legend of Zelda, published by Routledge, with his colleague Anthony Cirilla. Rone and Cirilla write of the anthology: “The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most popular and recognizable examples in videogames of what Tolkien referred to as mythopoeia, or myth-making...By using mythopoeia as a touchstone concept, the essays in this volume explore how The Legend of Zelda series turns the avatar, through which the player interacts with the in-game world, into a player-character symbiote wherein the individual both enacts and observes the process of integrating worldbuilding with storytelling.” UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter | 23
Support the Department of Music Our alumni, parents, and friends provide essential support for teaching, research, and program needs. The department benefits from annual unrestricted support and major gifts designated for special purposes. Your generosity plays a critical role in our ability to fulfill our mission and is truly appreciated. Every gift counts. Listed below are some of our highest priorities: Funding for undergraduate scholarships and graduate student fellowships Chamber Music Program Community Outreach Support Cross-campus Interdisciplinary Projects Contact Leslie Gray, Senior Director of Development, at (805) 893-4193 or leslie.gray@ucsb.edu to make a donation. Gifts can also be made online at giving.ucsb.edu. It is the policy of the University of California, Santa Barbara that a modest portion of gifts and/or income from gifts may be used to defray the costs of raising and administering funds. music.ucsb.edu
Department of Music
University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6070
24 | UC Santa Barbara Department of Music | Fall 2020 Newsletter
