CADENZA | Opus 10

CADENZA

UTSA DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC | JANUARY 2019 Opus 10

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In this issue we celebrate new beginnings, milestones, and the journeys to come.

CONTENTS 03 06 10

WELCOME A word from Music Chair, Dr. Tracy Cowden

UTSA INDOOR Color guard and percussion ensembles compete

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UTSA Music celebrates one year of CADENZA

12

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

14

STRING PROJECT

16 18

Meet the creators of CADENZA

String Project announces endowment

CHOIR TOUR Choir students hit the road to recruit at Texas high schools

SNATS CHAPTER Program for UTSA Voice students

CONTRIBUTORS: Shelby Gorden - Graphic Designer Sarah Gutierrez-Riera - Editor Cindy Solis - Senior Events Manager -------------------------------------------------Cover photo credit to University Communications and Marketing

Tracy Cowden

Gary Mabry Si Millican John Nix Ben Pyles

Welcome to

CADENZA Showcasing UTSA Music

FRIENDS, The students, staff, and faculty in the Department of Music at UTSA wish you all a very Happy New Year! We are excited to get back to studying and making music on campus and far beyond this year. This marks the one-year anniversary of Cadenza, and we hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as we have enjoyed preparing and sharing it with you. In fact, if you have requests for stories you would like to see featured in Cadenza, or you would like to share a story yourself, please contact us.

Throughout my first few months at UTSA, I have enjoyed meeting alumni from our program, either in person or virtually through our social media outlets. There are so many great stories to tell about the impact our graduates are having in music and beyond! In this issue, we continue our Alumni Spotlight on two former students who are doing wonderful work in marketing and music education.

We have a lot of news to share in this issue, as well, including previews of upcoming projects, concerts, and tours. Details of our spring audition days are included – please help spread the word, so that we can continue to grow our very special musical family.

We are also delighted to announce a new endowment supporting our String Project at UTSA! Gifts like these strengthen the opportunities for our students to thrive during their time at UTSA, and in this case, also support young string players in the community.

Our first January concert takes place on the second day of class – what a way to start the semester! We hope you can join us for some of the exciting performances taking place this month, and we especially invite you to join us – from wherever you are – for America Sings Together at 11:00 a.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And we invite you to keep reading Cadenza for more details on all of our upcoming performances.

Tracy Cowden Roland K. Blumberg Endowed Professor in Music and Chair

SPRING 2 0 1 9

JAZZ

Friday, January 11th AR 2.03.15-18 All university jazz ensembles and combos are open to any

ENSEMBLES

student regardless of major.

AND COMBOS

The ensembles and combos encompass all levels of ability

AUDITIONS

from quite experienced to novice performers.

Vocals/Saxophones/Brass 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Rhythm Section - Guitar/Piano/Bass/Drums 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm Make-Up Auditions for Vocals/Saxophones/Brass/Rhythm Section 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Any interested students can obtain information and sign up for an audition time ONLINE by scanning the QR Code:

SOUTH TEXAS

FEEL

BIG CITY OPORTUNIDAD 2019 Music Major Audition Dates

January 26, 2019

All Areas (Scholarship Audition Days)

March 2, 2019

All Areas (Scholarship Audition Days)

may 4, 2019

Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Strings, Guitar, Voice

Inside UTSA Indoor

The Spirit of San Antonio Marching Band (SOSA) performs for the UTSA football games in the Fall semester and in the Spring semester, SOSA percussion and color guard come together to form UTSA Indoor. CADENZA staff contacted UTSA Indoor director, Ben Pyles, to learn more about the group.

Q: What is UTSA Indoor and when did it start?

A: UTSA Indoor is a competitive ensemble that meets during the Spring Semester. The ensemble is made up of roughly forty UTSA students that are percussionists and visual cast members. The ensemble is directed by Randi Miles and Benjamin Pyles. UTSA Indoor, originally known as ROSA, (Rhythm of San Antonio) was formed in 2012, directed

by Jonathan Tirado. The name UTSA Indoor was changed in 2016. This was to facilitate the combining of our separate color guard and percussion programs into one competitive ensemble. The group competes in a local Texas circuit called TCGC (Texas Color Guard Circuit) and the International circuit WGI (Winter Guard International).

Q: Who is involved?

A: UTSA Indoor has a wide variety of membership, spanning from movement and dance specialists to rudimental percussionists. The shows are designed each year to the current membership. This year, we have forty members in our ensemble. Seven of those members are dedicated to our Visual Cast, paired with thirty-three members in our percussion ensemble. The percussionists are split into two main catalogs. Keyboard and electronic percussion, and marching percussion, which shares very similar instrumentation to what you would see in a marching band.

Q: Can you describe the rehearsal and competition process?

A: The group rehearses Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays consistently throughout the semester in the Convocation Center. Along with our regular scheduled Spring Semester rehearsals, the members come to school the week before classes start for our winter camp. This camp lasts from January 7th to the 12th with all day rehearsals. This camp is where get a head start on the technique development, staging the show, and learning a large majority of the music production for 2019. Our competitions spread from February to April, with most in the surrounding Austin, and Houston areas. We compete in the Independent Open classification in both TCGC and WGI circuits.

Q: Is there a theme to the show this year?

A: Yes! But I can’t share too much about this year until all our copyrights and details are squared away.

Q: Are there any upcoming performances the community can get involved with?

A: Yes! We host a family and friends show each season. This performance gives the audience an in depth look at the set design, full uniform run throughs of the production, rehearsal routines, and much more. This year’s friends and family show will be on April 7th. We will post more information about our performances on our Facebook and other social media pages.

(FB Page: USTA Indoor)

Q: Any comments about this season…

A: This season will be the first time in the history of the ensemble that we will be competing in Dayton, Ohio for the WGI World Championships. The group will be traveling to Ohio from April 9th to April 13th. This event features the best ensembles across the globe. UTSA will be competing in Percussion Independent Open with our Prelims event taking place on April 11th. There are three rounds of competition, with the goal of playing on finals day on April 13th. This event will be live streamed, and you can find more information about this contest on www.wgi.org.

2018 season photos courtesy of Phil Sidel

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

America Sings Monday, January 21 - 11:00am

Join us at the Sombrilla to sing "Amazing Grace" and "We Shall Overcome" in honor of Dr. King at 11 am; in the Peace March, participate in song while you walk.

The UTSA Department of Music Presents

Eerie Endings: A Spirited Recital

Featuring

Susan Olson mezzo soprano Accompanied by Cheryl Cellon Lindquist

January 22nd, 7:30pm Recital Hall

Happy Birthday,

CADENZA! Our first edition or “opus” humbly debuted one year ago with fourteen pages, including the front and back cover. The coverage featured the MLK America Sings Project initiated by voice faculty, John Nix; our students studying abroad in Urbino, Italy with Dr. Drew Stephen; a screening of Composed, a film about performance anxiety presented by Dr. Diana Allan, and announcements on upcoming camps and workshops. Since then, each issue of CADENZA has surpassed the initial fourteen page threshold, doubling to thirty pages this past December.

Past issues of CADENZA contained articles welcoming new music faculty: Dr. S. Andrew Lloyd, (organ), Dr. Yoojin Muhn, (choirs), Dr. Jourdan Laine Howell, (voice) and the announcement of our new department chair, Dr. Tracy Cowden. We celebrated the accomplishments of fall and spring graduates and bid farewell to those retiring: Dr. John Silantien, (choirs), Dr. Diana Allan, (voice), Michael Richter, (guitar) and Morgan King (jazz) with a special feature on King which - following his untimely passing shortly after retiring - was a somber and sober recognition of lost talent. We took you on tour with the UTSA Orchestra and the UTSA Choirs on recruitment junkets, and to the biggest music educators convention in the only state that could host it—TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association). We drummed up interest in our band, choral, percussion, string and performance summer camps. We used CADENZA to introduce you to guest artists, composers, authors, and presenters from around the world and all parts of the music industry. And we are just getting started!

We hope that CADENZA’s growth in pages and topics corresponds with its growth in readership, proving that there is something for everyone between the covers of CADENZA.

Alumni Spotlight: Meet the Creators As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of CADENZA’s birth, we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the impetus behind its creation.

CADENZA began in January 2018 as the brainchild of Aaron Collins, UTSA music student.

While employed within the UTSA Music Department’s social media and publicity team, Collins and Alex Flores generated a monthly one page e-newsletter. Due to the numerous events in the department, an e-newsletter could no longer serve to present all of our happenings in an aesthetically pleasing way, thus, revision was needed. That revision became an emagazine christened by Music Department associate chair, Dr. Stacey Davis. In case you didn't know, the word, cadenza is Italian for cadences and refers to a solo passage of technical brilliance or flourish within a larger body of work. As the solo publication of the UTSA Music Department, the name was befitting. Both Aaron Collins and Alex Flores have graduated and moved on to careers in their respective fields. Aaron is the assistant band director at Jack C. Hays High School in Kyle, Texas and Alex is the Social Media Specialist for Anderson Marketing Group (AMG) in San Antonio. We caught up with them recently and asked them about their life after CADENZA and the UTSA Music Department.

Alex

On her experience at UTSA… I worked as the Public Relations Assistant for the UTSA Music Department for almost 5 years. I managed all of our social media pages to promote upcoming concerts, as well as created accompanying posters, flyers, and in my last year I was the Editor of our e-magazine, CADENZA. All of the experience I gained managing social media accounts, creating content to market our events and the department, and designing posters was the perfect experience for my current job.

On other experiences within her field of Music Marketing…

I was a Marketing Intern for Cactus Pear Music Festival and ARTS San Antonio; in these roles I marketed concerts and performances and fully managed the social media accounts of each organization. I was working as the UTSA Music PR Assistant while working full-time as the Operations Coordinator at YOSA, [Youth Orchestras of San Antonio] where I had more administrative and production-related duties. All of my experiences ultimately left me very wellrounded, and I have been able to apply skills and knowledge from a wide variety of places to what I do today.

On challenges and obstacles: I was diagnosed with cancer a month before my senior year of college and had to withdraw from school and resign from the jobs I held at the time. During my years of treatment, I felt that I was failing because I had fallen behind in this grand timeline I had created for myself. While I was still in treatment, but strong enough, I went back to school, managed to still graduate in my year of 2016 and went back to work, then I completely finished treatment in November of 2017. My outlook on life completely changed in that I appreciate right now a lot more than I did before. Life is short and it can change in the blink of an eye. People say that often, but it’s true. So love more, forgive faster, and know that beautiful things can come from ugly circumstances. Life will always rise up, even if it’s rooted in pain.

On her new job, and similarities on “first days” of school and career: [My first days] were similar! Not knowing anyone, being shy and quiet, just smiling and trying to see where I fit in the scheme of things. But after the first few days (at UTSA and AMG) I felt right at home, like this is exactly where I’m supposed to be. I love what I do! Getting to work on a variety of accounts makes for work weeks that never look the same, and I love that. I’m constantly learning and gaining new knowledge and experience every day. On top of that, I have amazing co-workers and leadership that I truly look up to. Everyone is so dedicated to what they do and genuinely care about everyone else.

On his experience at UTSA: I actually spent my first couple of years here at UTSA dedicated to majors other than music. My first year, I studied as an Architect major with the intentions of becoming a landscape architect. After a year, I made the decision to switch majors, enrolling as a finance major my second year of school. After two years into my curriculum I began to realize that I wasn't really happy in what I was doing. It was a really emotional experience being a junior in college and feeling as if I had no purpose or passion. However, during my years as an architect and finance major, I was an active performer in the UTSA Wind Ensemble, University Band, Orchestra, Marching Band, Pep Band and spent time playing in community ensembles. My passion for music was strong and it took three years and a great conversation with my parents to realize that this is what I wanted to do for a living. Since having made that decision - I have never regretted it!

On other experiences within and outside his field: My very first job at UTSA was as a personal assistant to the Director of Bands, Ron Ellis. This job included overseeing the operational logistics of the marching band as well as interacting and communicating with prospective UTSA students and parents. I also had the wonderful opportunity to help plan and organize the Southwestern CDBNA Conference held at UTSA in 2011. Other opportunities included starting the first annual SOSA Alumni Band and organizing and kick-starting an annual recruitment program for the "Spirit of San Antonio" titled SOSA Crew. This program is open to all junior and senior band students who are looking to continue their musical passions past high school. In the summer time, I would serve as the Director of the UTSA Summer Band Institute. This is a summer music camp open to all middle and high school band students. After working for the marching band for five years, I was hired by Cindy Solis to help establish a brand for UTSA and to bring a stronger recognition to our music community through social media and mass communication. Together we worked to help identify who we were as a department. It was during this time that I was able to launch "CADENZA", the very e-magazine which you are enjoying now! For me, CADENZA was a fantastic way to highlight our many talented faculty and students here at UTSA. It is through these jobs that I gained the type of administrative and logistical knowledge that has served me in my new job as a high school band director.

Aaron On obstacles and failure: I failed often! There were always times going through my music classes where I felt that "this is it....I can't do this!"

But what it took to overcome those defeats and those emotions was talking with my peers and my mentors. Both parties were always quick to turn my negativity into inspiration - allowing me to grow as an educator, performer or just flat out a human-being.

On his new job, and similarities on “first days” of school and career: Well first off...there was no problem finding a parking spot here at my new job! So that's a HUGE plus! However, all kidding aside...both days were full of mixed emotions.

There was excitement, nerves, doubt and a lot of fear! I am lucky to be working in a community that is so supportive of the arts. We are most excited about moving into our brand new music hall which is opening this month! These were both monumental days in my life and I knew they presented opportunities for me to grow. That philosophy has pretty much stuck with me each and every day as I enter many new "firsts" in my life.

UTSA STRING PROJECT OPPORTUNITY ENDOWMENT

Thanks to the generosity of anonymous donors, we are delighted to announce the UTSA String Project Opportunity Endowment! This fund will be used to support the activities of the UTSA String Project, such as scholarships for participants, the purchase of instruments, and professional development.

Gifts such as this highlight the outstanding opportunities that String Project provides to both participants and student teachers.

Please join us in supporting this great project. For more information, please contact giving@utsa.edu, or call 210-458-4130.

A RECORD

SENDOFF The UTSA Music Education area had a record number of 25 graduates who completed their clinical teaching assignments this past December.

These students finished a rigorous program of coursework and performing experiences in a degree that combines music performance coursework with classes that focus on teaching and learning.

The capstone experience for these future music teachers is a semester-long placement in elementary, middle-school, and high-school music programs across the state. During these placements, the UTSA students take an active role in planning, teaching, and reviewing their lessons with mentor teachers. These experiences help the students put their coursework and early field work into action as they get ready to take on the responsibility of being professional music educators. In addition to their regular teaching duties during the day, they assist with football games, marching contests, fall concerts, field trips, parent meetings, and other performances.

This fall semester, our Roadrunner Music Education students were placed in over 50 music classrooms in 10 school districts including Alamo Heights ISD, Boerne ISD, Comal ISD, Harlandale ISD, Leander ISD, North East ISD, Northside ISD, San Antonio ISD, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, and Southwest ISD.

UTSA Concert Choir Tour: New Leader, New Direction

The 2019 Spring Recruitment Tour will take the Concert Choir to several schools in the Ft. Worth and Arlington area of the DFW Metroplex from January 27-30. The purpose of the performance tour is to create visibility for the UTSA Department of Music by connecting with college bound high school students.

This is the first year Dr. Gary Mabry, Director of Choral Activities and Concert Choir conductor, will lead the tour. In previous years, Dr. John Silantien recruited in south Texas; this year, Dr. Mabry heads up north. He explains, “We want high school students in Texas to be aware of the great programs available to them at UTSA in Music Education, Music Performance, Music Marketing, and Composition.

A large part of our target audience this year will be schools where our alumni are leading choral music programs.�

The first performance will take place at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church for students from Colleyville Heritage High School where alumnus Thomas Rinn is the Director of Choral Activities. This will be an opportunity to meet students from that high school as well as other schools in the Arlington area. The next day, Stanley Moody, another UTSA graduate who serves as Choral Director of Juan Seguin High School will welcome the tour to his campus. Alumnus Adrian Kirtley has invited the Concert Choir to sing for his students at Timber Creek High School in Ft. Worth. The Concert Choir will also perform at Centennial High School in Burleson where Eric Cooley is the Choral Director. Cooley recently served as a clinician for the 2018 UTSA All State Choir Clinic, a workshop for high school All State Choir finalists.

During the week preceding the north Texas tour and the days following it, the choir will perform in San Antonio at Warren High School (UTSA alumnus Colin Varville, Director), Brennan High School (UTSA alumnae Amber Shodrock, Director), and Marshall High School (UTSA alumnus Keith Martinez, Assistant Director). Music for the tour will be largely drawn from an October performance titled, Revelation to Revolution with pieces inspired from movements in human history. During this tour, forty-seven students will be traveling along with voice faculty members Dr. Susan Olson and Dr. Jourdan Howell. UTSA guitarist Aaiden Witten will also travel with the group to accompany them on selections from Jeffrey Van’s A Procession Winding Around Me, and to promote UTSA’s outstanding guitar program.

Student NATS Chapter at UTSA UTSA Voice students interested in careers as voice teachers meet on a monthly basis in the UTSA Student NATS Chapter. NATS, or The National Association of Teachers of Singing, also promotes the development of young teachers through campus student chapters. John Nix, Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy, serves as the faculty advisor to the group, which is led by President Paul Patinka (MM Candidate, Voice Performance and Pedagogy) and Vice President Rachel Stern (MM Candidate, Voice Performance and Pedagogy) . The chapter has about ten members. SNATS events are free and open to all interested students.

The UTSA SNATS Chapter has had several events this fall such as speakers, workshops, and masterclasses.. In September, Dr. Jourdan Laine Howell spoke about her work in opera outreach, audience development, and resident artist programs. Dr. Howell has worked on the staffs of Amarillo Opera and Palm Beach Opera. In October, the UTSA Voice Faculty (Susan Olson, John Nix, William McCrary, Jourdan Howell, Gary Mabry) worked with students on audition presentation – how to dress, résumé advice, and introducing yourself. SNATS members also attended a lecture and master class by Shenandoah University’s Dr. Matthew Edwards, which was hosted by the South Texas NATS Chapter at UIW in October, two guest lectures on campus given by Dr. Katherine Verdolini-Abbott of the University of Delaware in November, and held an end of the semester social event. In January SNATS will be assisting with a January workshop on the teaching of Berton Coffin and Barbara Doscher. Workshop leaders include John Nix, Patti Peterson (retired voice faculty, University of Colorado), and Brian Gill (voice faculty, Indiana University).

JANUARY DATES

11 JAZZ AUDITIONS

9am - 12 noon - Vocals, Saxophones and Brass 1pm - 2:30pm - Rhythm Section: Guitar, Piano, Bass and Drums 3pm - 4:30pm - Make up auditions for Vocals, Saxophones, Brass, Rhythm Section

26 MUSIC MAJOR AUDITIONS

8:00 am - Music Building

28 MICHAEL TIJERINA Michael Tijerina performs a 30 minute recital on oboe accompanied on piano by Christine Debus.

5:00PM - UTSA Recital Hall

2.03.15-18

14 CLASSES BEGIN

First day of Spring semester classes

15 JAMES FAHLUND Trumpet student, James Fahlund will perform a 30 minute recital in pursuit of his Bachelor of Music degree. Mary Lowder will accompany on piano.

5:00pm- UTSA Recital Hall

17 ERICA GARCIA Erica Garcia will perform a 30 minute recital on clarinet accompanied on piano by Christine Debus.

5:00PM - UTSA Recital Hall

22 FACULTY RECITAL Dr. Susan Olson performs the recital entitled, "Eerie Endings" postponed from October.

7:30PM - UTSA Recital Hall

IMPORTANT INFORMATION Parking for many UTSA Department of Music events is on an individual pay basis in the nearby Ximenes Avenue Garage.

Click on the icon to find XAG (Ximenes Avenue Garage) off of UTSA Blvd and Ximenes Avenue.

Current construction to the south of the Arts Building has made a pedestrian detour necessary. Please click on the icon for a time lapsed video with walking and wheelchair routes from XAG.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST INFORMATION ON UPCOMING CONCERTSÂ AND EVENTS AT UTSA MUSIC

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