CADENZA | Opus 1

CADENZA

UTSA DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC | JANUARY 2018 Opus 1

AMERICA SINGS TOGETHER UTSA Music Professor, John Nix aims to unite communities through the power of singing.

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WELCOME Word from Music Chair, Eugene Dowdy

AMERICA SINGS Sing with us as we celebrate the legacy of MLK

BEATS & EATS Check-out the newest tradition for UTSA Music

CIAO CIAO UTSA Music students leave to Urbino

Welcome to

CADENZA SHOWCASING UTSA MUSIC

FRIENDS On behalf of the UTSA Music Department, I am pleased to welcome you to our new e-magazine, Cadenza, a monthly collection of articles, acknowledgements and spotlights featuring the students, staff and faculty of our department. We are replacing our monthly one page newsletter with a vibrant, informative multi-paged publication that truly depicts the goings on of our busy and talented music majors and faculty.

Each volume, or “opus” will inform you of our student, guest, and faculty performances for the month, as well as provide listings of upcoming performances, camps, workshops or other activities targeting the UTSA and San Antonio communities. We will be better able to keep you informed on updates in the UTSA Music Department and how other happenings in and around UTSA and San Antonio affect us and what we do.

One of the highlights to note for the Spring 2018 semester is that the Music Department is running our biannual study abroad program in Urbino, Italy. This semester fourteen music majors are continuing their full-time music study on location in Urbino. While under the tutelage of associate professor, Dr. Drew Stephen (program director), our students will also be working with artist music teachers in Italy. We appreciate the many donors who helped support this life-changing opportunity, as well as the College of Liberal and Fine Arts.

There are many opportunities for you to be entertained, enriched and educated by the music and musings of the UTSA Music Department and we hope that Cadenza will be an inspiring way for us to connect with you.

From all of us at the UTSA Department of Music, may 2018 be a year of happiness and continued accomplishment in your life.

Go ‘Runners!

Gene Dowdy, Interim Chair

ATTENTIONÂ PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS:

UPCOMING AUDITIONS

The UTSA Department of Music is hosting music major auditions during the following dates: Fall 2018 Entrance (Scholarship audition) February 10, 2018: All Areas (Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Strings, Guitar, Piano, and Voice) March 3, 2018: All Areas (Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Strings, Guitar, Piano, and Voice) Fall 2018 Entrance (Non-Scholarship audition) May 5, 2018: Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Guitar, and Voice Click Here for more info: music.utsa.edu/index.php/prospective-students/audition-process

FILM SCREENING The UTSA Music Department presents the documentary film,

Composed

which

explores and addresses performance anxiety through the stories of professional classical musicians.

A Q & A with the producter/director, John Beder will follow.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018 - 11:30AM UTSA Recital Hall

Pictured above: John Nix & Rachel Stern being interviewed for KENS 5

"I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND"

By John Nix UTSA Vocal Faculty

AMERICA SINGS TOGETHER ON MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY When people make music together, they not only have to sing or play their part, but they also have to listen to and coordinate their singing or playing with all the other people performing at that time. It is a shared experience, and a very “inthe-moment” activity. We feel most alive when we are engaged in emotionally important, “right here, right now” activities.

Last year, singers and choirs in 27 cities joined together to sing on Martin Luther King holiday as a part of the America Sings Together project.

UTSA Music Professor John Nix leads this project, and in a recent interview, he talked about why the project is important: “It’s about getting people of all races and religions to stop for a moment and sing together in honor of one of our country’s greatest leaders. Martin Luther King led a nation-changing movement fifty years ago. Many of the concerns raised by the civil rights movement are still serious problems.

We as a country need to keep working to make King’s “Dream” a reality for all Americans.

Here is more information on this year’s effort: At 11:00 AM in each time zone on Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 15, 2018), you, your families, your coworkers, your church groups, and your school choirs are invited to stop and sing "Amazing Grace" with the people around you. The 4 verses of John Newton's longer poem that we will all sing are printed below. The intent of this nationwide effort is to honor Dr. King's legacy and to spread a sense of community in the Americas.

Please spread the word through Social Media. The idea is to have the whole nation singing together at that time!

Please visit and share the link for this event on Facebook, which can be found at: www.facebook.com/events/383929255378975/ A PSA video can be found at: https://youtu.be/R6o4gn2oLmo Use the hashtag #AmericaSingsTogetherMLKDay2018 when you post on social media.

.

Here are the words we will use:

WAS

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.

BLIND,

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

BUT NOW

I have already come; ’ Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun,

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I SEE

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun.

1

BEATS & EATS UTSA Music is excited to host it's inaugural "Beats & Eats" to kick-off the new semester! Beats & Eats is a way to rally the UTSA music community, including our faculty, students, alumni and friends.

This months Beats & Eats outing will be hosted at The Cove San Antonio featuring "Down for the Count", which includes UTSA faculty members Eugene Dowdy and Gary Mabry.

Come on out and show your UTSA pride! Don't forget money for food and drinks.

DATE: January 20th, 2018 TIME: 6:30-8:30pm LOCATION: The Cove -606 W Cypress St, San Antonio, TX Facebook Event: www.facebook.com/events/1585876818125009/

MUSIC STUDENTS SAY "CIAO"

Fourteen students from the department

STUDY ABROAD

of music will arrive in Urbino, Italy on January 24th to participate in a UTSA study abroad program led by music professor Dr. Drew Stephen. Their home for the next thirteen weeks is a charming Renaissance city and Unesco World Heritage site nestled among the hills of the Marche region of Italy. The students will be taking courses in music history, conducting, and Italian language. They will also have the opportunity to take lessons with professional Italian musicians from

Urbino Italy

the region and attend concerts at nearby

Photographs courtesy of Dr. Drew Stephen

concert halls and opera houses.

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Above all, the students will be immersed in the rich culture and musical traditions of Italy. Â Urbino is a wonderfully vibrant city with quaint cobblestone streets that meander through the city in unexpected directions.

Although the students will spend most of their time in Urbino, the program includes trips to thirteen different cities including Rome, Florence, Venice, Verona, and Bologna.

These trips allow visits to museums, galleries, and other sites that are integrated into their studies and an important part of the study of music. Some of the places we visit include the house in nearby Pesaro where Rossini was born, the Sistine Chapel where Palestrina served as maestro di cappella, and St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice where Monteverdi and Gabrieli created their glorious polychoral motets.

The Music in Urbino study abroad experience is an extraordinary opportunity for music students at UTSA. It gives them a chance to live and learn in an environment that is vastly different from their own and exposes them to alternate views while enriching their social and cultural experience of music. They will return to San Antonio with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, prepared to make lasting contributions to the international community.

To learn more about this opportunity for music students, please visit: www.musicinurbino.com

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JANUARY 18th

JAZZ FACULTY RECITAL FREE

AND

7:30PM

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OPEN

UTSA

TO

RECITAL

THE

HALL

PUBLIC

UPCOMING RECITALS: Senior Recital: James Ruiz-Kurz, violin Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 7:30pm UTSA Recital Hall

Senior Recital: Jacob Bernstein, composition Friday, January 19, 2018 at 7:30pm UTSA Recital Hall

www.music.utsa.edu/events