Welcome to the February issue of Cadenza! Our students and faculty are eagerly preparing their first concerts of 2023, and our En Vivo guest artist series is well under way. We hope to see you in-person or through our livestream, and are grateful for your support of our guest, student and faculty performers.
We are delighted to welcome Santiago Jiménez Jr. to our En Vivo series on Wednesday, February 8th for an evening of conjunto! This concert kicks off a busy month, sure to warm your hearts during our brief San Antonio winter. In this issue, our feature articles give you a chance to meet one of our wonderful alumni in the Spotlight, learn about recent outstanding student accomplishments and more.
The primary purpose of Cadenza is to provide you with information about upcoming concerts; you can also check our online event calendar for upcoming concert information. And share Cadenza with your friends and family outside of San Antonio; they can check out the livestreams of our performances on our School of Music Facebook page! As always, we hope that all of you will take this opportunity to follow us on social media, where we post fun features on our students, faculty, and staff, link to our livestreams, and share photos and video clips of all that is taking place in the UTSA School of Music.
Are you interested in having live music at your own event? You could hire a student group! Look for the “Book Us” link on the School of Music website! And as always, we invite our alumni to submit your news and reconnect with your UTSA Music friends by sending an update to music@utsa.edu. We look forward to seeing you soon for live music at UTSA!
Tracy Cowden
Roland K. Blumberg Endowed Professor in Music and Director
Class of 2014, B.M. Music Education Director of Orchestras, San Marcos High School Orchestra Chair, TMEA Region 12
What inspired your passion for music and the violin?
“Growing up, I used to listen to my dad, Alfred Balderrama, play in different Tejano bands all around San Antonio. It inspired a love for music at an early age, as he is my biggest inspiration. Originally, I didn’t want to play the violin! In 5th grade at Judson ISD in 2000, I was given a choice to play recorder or sign up for 5thgrade strings. I chose the latter because I despised the recorder! My dad, at the same time, also began pursuing his Master’s degree at UTSA and took violin lessons with Mary Ellen Goree at the university, and he used to come and teach me what he was learning. That really sparked my interest in playing the violin. I remember trying to play the Vivaldi violin concerto RV 356 while I was still learning to play a D major scale…
In my 7th grade year in Judson ISD, my teacher, Richard Helsley, became my 2nd inspiration for pursuing violin and eventually going into music education. Helsley was a fantastic teacher and fiddle player; he could play anything on the violin while he was teaching us and was a great person. I was always a knucklehead, and he helped me sharpen up as a person, both musically and socially. Helsley also gave me extra responsibilities of leading sectionals as a senior in high school, where I was teaching the non-varsity and sub-non-varsity classes their parts. This is where I finally had the epiphany that I should be an orchestra director.”
“When I was a junior in high school, Richard Helsley invited Dr. Eugene Dowdy to clinic us in preparation for the annual UIL Concert and Sight-Reading evaluation. I remember that rehearsal was so much fun and dynamic that I decided to go to UTSA to play in the orchestra right after that. I didn’t know if I would be a music major yet, but I was determined to at least play in the orchestra. After I met the faculty during my senior year, I knew I made the right choice to come to UTSA.”
What your undergraduate years?
“Some of my favorite memories at UTSA have to be hanging out under the staircase by the bass lockers in the main hallway of the music building! All the orchestra members used to hang out there, and we had a great time socializing and helping each other with various assignments/projects.
The UTSA orchestra trip to Italy back in 2012 is also a great memory; it was the first time I ever got on a plane. Spending a week and a half traveling and playing in different Italian cities was awesome!
We also got to play with the rock band, Kansas! That was super fun and out of the ordinary!”
Were there any significant moments or people at UTSA who impacted your life’s trajectory?
“Some people that I met that changed my life: I met two of my best friends- Josh Kroft (Harker Heights HS) and Martin Sanchez (Ed White MS) during my time. Also, having Dr. Dowdy, Dr. Jennifer Clark, Dr. Kristen Pellegrino, and Dr. Stephanie Westney as mentors helped shape me into the teacher I am today.”
Can you describe your work serving as the TMEA Region 12 Orchestra Chair? Are there ever any moments of awe when looking back to your beginnings and comparing them to where you’ve been able to take yourself?
“Working as the TMEA Region 12 Orchestra chair has been insane! I’ve had a lot of stressful audition days, making sure our teachers and students in the greater San Antonio, New Braunfels, and San Marcos areas have the best possible experience. Running the show has been a lot of fun! I’ve had a few moments of awe thinking about my leadership role in the region and who used to hold office before me, and most are sitting in front of me during the meetings! Some legendary teachers like Dr. Jan Garverick, Jason Thibodeaux, Sixto Elizondo, Karen George, Phyllis Malone, and the list goes on… Even my HS teacher, Richard Helsley, and 5th-grade strings teacher, Karen Helsley are in my region! I’m just in the middle of my 8th year teaching and hope to have a great career like all of them!”
You recently had Dr. Westney perform as a soloist on the San Marcos High School Orchestra’s Winter Showcase Concert. What was it like to reunite with her for such an occasion?
“Dr. Westney is one of my favorite people on the planet! She helped me in my violin studies by allowing me to discover myself and my tastes in classical music. I reached out to Dr. Westney in August and invited her to play at our San Marcos CISD Winter Showcase concert, and she agreed instantly! My varsity orchestra began working on Vivaldi’s Winter violin concerto from The Four Seasons in late October in preparation. Once we had the first rehearsal with Dr. Westney my varsity orchestra learned so much from her approach and stepped up their playing and practicing to match her energy and performance! She also stayed a bit to give my group some advice on some of the pieces we were playing on the show as well. Her advice to my varsity orchestra and honor string quartet was key to a great memorable performance! We opened the concert with a full house of middle school students/families with Winter, and our middle school orchestra members were amazed by the flash and technical prowess of Dr. Westney. Some middle school
students came up to me right afterward and told me they wanted to play Winter now! Working with Dr. Westney was so much fun, and I hope to do it again in the future!”
What lessons do you try to emphasize most to your San Marcos High School students?
“For me, I try to teach life through music. I want my students to take life skills like discipline, responsibility, leadership, charisma, and compassion that they learn in my ensembles and apply it to their journey through life. In addition, I hope they develop a love for music themselves so they can pass it on to the next generation that music should be valued in our daily lives. And if I inspire some students to become teachers themselves, well, that’s a win in my book!
Shout out to Nayeli Delgado, current student at UTSA and former San Marcos HS Ratter!”
The UTSA School of Music’s new guest artist series, En Vivo: In the Hall, is in full swing on campus after kicking off the spring semester with three concerts in back-to-back weeks. This month, the school will be hosting one of its most acclaimed guest artists on its 2023 schedule, Grammy-nominated conjunto artist and San Antonio native Santiago Jiménez Jr. The American folk musician is slated to give a free concert in the UTSA Recital Hall on Wednesday, February 8th, 2023.
Jiménez, also known as “El Chief,” is one of the most prolific artists in conjunto music. Throughout his lifelong career, he has recorded over 700 songs on multiple labels and later founded his own record company, Chief Records. In 2016, Jiménez Jr. was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama for his contributions to American folk music, specifically Tejano and conjunto. In addition to his accolades and recorded contributions to the genre, Jimenez continues to perform worldwide as a touring artist.
“I did European tours Russia, Germany, Holland, France, Spain…you name it…I’ve
done the whole United States map, Chicago, Cincinnati, Kansas City – I did the whole map many years back,” Jiménez Jr. reflects.
Santiago has made it his life’s work to preserve the musical legacy of the Jiménez family and their contributions to Mexican American culture. His older brother Flaco Jiménez is known to be one of the greatest Tejano accordionists in history. His father, Don Santiago Jiménez Sr., was a pioneer of conjunto music in the early 20th century, and it is his style that his son has carried on to this day. Don Santiago was inducted into the Tejano Music Awards Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2003 for his contributions to Mexican American culture and conjunto music.
Santiago keeps his conjunto in line with the music’s traditions in various ways, such as through his use of the tololoche. The instrument is a variation of the double bass,
“It [music] comes from the traditional Jimenez family...my grandfather, Don Patricio Jiménez, was a musician in the late 1800s…. and then papa started recording in Panama in 1928. Flaco started recording with my dad when he was 12 years old…”Conjunto accordionist Santiago Jiménez y sus Valedores. Left to right: Ismael González, Santiago Jiménez Sr., and Manuel González, San Antonio, ca. 1940s. UTSA Libraries Special Collections, No.82-85.
with a key difference being the tololoche’s smaller size and its single, circular sound hole. Despite its tradition in the genre, the tololoche’s prevalence in conjunto has declined in favor of the modern electric bass guitar, but this doesn’t stop Santiago from sticking to his roots
“Right now, it’s hard to find a teloloche or upright bass, but sometimes I can get someone to help me use it. So, it’s a threepiece with bajo sexto, accordion, and teloloche,” Jiménez Jr. states.
Another distinct characteristic of the folk musician’s style is his use of the two-row button accordion. The three-row is the more popular variation of the diatonic accordion in norteño and Tejano music, often played by his brother Flaco Santiago’s preference for the former is in his father’s footsteps, who also used the two-row throughout his career
The En Vivo concert will feature a night of conjunto music by Jiménez Jr., where he will perform songs from his newest album, Still Kicking, and provide the background of how each song was inspired.
“Everything that I do [at the concert], they’re going to know a little story about it,” said Jimenez on the upcoming concert’s program.
The selection of tunes will capture an authentic San Antonio sound that harkens back to a period when conjunto music was at its peak in the early 1960s. One of the songs off the record, “Maria Te Quiero,” was dedicated to his wife and released as a single Attendees may also hear songs from another one of his recent releases titled Corridos de Verdad make their way onto the program. The record is comprised of ballads based on true events that occurred in San Antonio during the 1940s and 1950s.
The concert will give the audience a look into the world of conjunto music that the Jiménez family has contributed significantly to. Admission to the UTSA Recital Hall for the evening is free and open to the public community. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8th .
Transcribed for viola by Allyson Dawkins
iolists have long enjoyed exploring the double-stop etudes of Josephine Trott with the available transcription of Book I. Double-stop exercises are a key ingredient in a violist’s daily practice regimen. They help to strengthen the left hand while also developing subtle bow control in determining string levels with the right hand.
When I learned there was Book II of Trott’s double-stops, I felt I had discovered a treasure trove. These had never been transcribed for viola before, so I got to work and am now happy to announce the availability of Book II for violists! The exercises in Book II contain more variations in rhythms, bowings, and articulations than Book I and help fill out the canon of double-stop studies available for viola.
Very little is known about Josephine Trott, but we do know that she maintained a private violin studio in Denver, Colorado during the 1920s. She must have been a dedicated teacher, having written several technical books for violin including a book on shifting, a beginning method book, and a first-position etude book. She also wrote a beginning piece for violin with the charming title of The Puppet Show. Trott herself studied violin in both Paris and Berlin. Later when she had an adopted daughter, Riccarda McQuie, she took her to France to study with her same teacher. Riccarda went on to play with the Denver Symphony for 29 years.”
- Allyson DawkinsMelodious Double-Stops Book II is available at: www.vlatutti.com
Allyson Dawkins, the Principal Violist of the San Antonio Philharmonic, has won consistent admiration for her performances as both orchestral soloist and recitalist. Critics have praised the "great sensitivity and intelligence" of her playing, as well as her "full-bodied, velvety tone."
Ms. Dawkins is Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Texas in San Antonio and is also highly sought after and widely respected as a private teacher. During the summer, she serves as Dean of Students, teaches viola, and coaches quartets at the Castleman Quartet Program at State University of New York at Fredonia. Ms. Dawkins has a new publication of Josephine Trott’s Melodious Double-Stops Book II transcribed for Viola. She is also co-author, with Charles Castleman, of two technical instruction books titled Fingerboard Memory for viola and Superior Finger Exercises for violin. As a teacher and coach, she has taught at the New World Symphony, and participated in a workshop there on the topic of Orchestral Leadership.
Join our UTSA vocalists on a Sunday afternoon for the latest entry in our Vocal Arts Series concerts. Students from various voice studios in the School of Music have come together to present Winter’s Edge, a collection of solo vocal works that encapsulate themes of love, nature, and youth.
Winter’s Edge consists of music from classic composers such as Schubert, Barber, and Schumann, as well as modern works by contemporary artists such as Jocelyn Hagen and the late Dominik Argento, among others. The variety of composers and styles offers listeners a palette of sound and color to evoke an intimate experience in the close setting of the church.
Selections from Schurbert’s song cycles, Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, are exemplary works among the best in the German Lied repertoire, contrasting optimism and tragedy through themes of unrequited love. The works will be sung by Alejandro Cuellar, Abraham Gomez, and Joshua Zoll.
Another standout in the program are songs from Barber’s similarly tragic opera Vanessa, which focuses on the titular character’s mid-life crisis as she awaits the return of her past lover Alyssa Moreno and Lucas Zoll will perform the pieces.
The concert will be held at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church on Sunday, February 19, at 3:00 p.m. While most of our concerts are held in our beloved recital hall, VAS has the distinction of holding some of its concerts in venues outside the university, as was the case with last semester’s Geistermusik. With the church’s centralized location, members of San Antonio’s community are encouraged to attend the free recital.
The Madison Square Presbyterian Church is located in downtown San Antonio, just southeast of the Tobin Hill area. The historic church was founded in 1882, only 12 years after the readmittance of Texas to the United States following the American Civil War’s conclusion. Since then, the church has strived to be an allinclusive, spiritual establishment. Mark Marty is the venue’s current music director
In addition to the vocalists above, the recital will feature performances by Antonio Zubillaga, Emma Madalina, Nicolas Garza, Francheska Lugo, Elisa Contreras, Vanessa Segovia, and Hector Tobar.
Madison Square Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas
A quick look at our UTSA Music students and how they achieve Roadrunner excellence.
The School of Music held its annual Concerto Competition on December 2, 2022. Clarinetist Clarisa De la Garza and percussionist Zachary Cook were selected as the competition’s winners and will perform their pieces in concert with the UTSA Orchestra during the Spring 2023 semester.
Clarisa will have the first opportunity to showcase her work to a live UTSA Recital Hall audience during this month’s orchestra concert, Romantic Roots, on Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:30 p.m. She’ll be performing Claude Debussy’s Première rhapsodie. The piece was originally written for clarinet and piano in 1909, with an orchestral score penned by Debussy in 1911.
“This piece is one of the most organic experiences I've had with a concerto. The melodic contours seem to phrase themselves and there is not a single moment that's dull or predictable. I love the chromatic language that Debussy uses, and the overall colors push, pull, and just wash over you in blurred, pastel hues,” said Clarisa.
“I had to return to fundamental work for this piece...long tones and slow scale work,
particularly for breath control and a deeper focus on air direction for phrasing. The piece asks for a painstaking level of detail in its rubato interpretations...”
Zachary will perform his piece, Marimba Concerto No. 1 by Danish composer Anders Koppel, with the orchestra toward the end of the semester on April 27th . The concerto was commissioned in 1995 for the Luxembourg International Percussion Competition. Of the piece’s three movements, Zachary chose the first for the competition.
Cook is a sophomore composition major at UTSA. In addition to the UTSA Concerto Competition, he also competed in the Tierras Percussion Competition in Corpus Christi, along with fellow UTSA student Yahir Hernandez, on December 3. There, he won first prize in the collegiate solo marimba category.
The School of Music had the privilege of being the only musical group and the only collegiate organization to participate in the DreamWeek event, highlighting diverse musical identities through genre and our performers.
If you were at the San Antonio Zoo on January 19th, you may have noticed that it wasn’t just the majestic animals within the sanctuary that captured the attention of parkgoers. Our UTSA musicians took a trip to the zoo as it hosted its inaugural DreamWeek event, which featured performances around the park from several faculty and student musicians.
To do its part in celebrating diversity within our community, the San Antonio Zoo focused on Identity and Representation as this year’s theme. The event highlighted the variety of diverse identities in several fields, including music, art, technology, and science, through the expression of local art performances and community resources.
Our UTSA musicians who performed at the Zoo included Dr. Jourdan Laine Howell (soprano), Dr. Jeong-Eun Lee (keyboard), Dr. Oswaldo Zapata (trumpet), Dr. Kassandra Keeling (keys), Jared Kellman-Medina, Hector Tobar (baritone), Nikola Dimitrijevic, Carlos Guevara, Eduardo Lopez, Andrew Rubio (guitar), Lucas Moncada Zoll (tenor), and the UTSA Boom Squad.
UTSA Boom Squad joined by a friendly Rhinoceros
Jared Kellman-Medina with Dr. Jeong-Eun Lee
Dr. Jourdan Laine Howell with Dr. Jeong-Eun Lee
GUEST RECITAL SANTIAGO JIMENEZ JR.
7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
GUEST RECITAL CLAIRE VANGELIST
5:00pm | UTSA Recital Hall
VOCAL ARTS SERIES WINTER’S EDGE
3:00 PM | Madison Square Presbyterian Church
STUDENT SENIOR RECITAL
Symeon May, percussion
5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
STUDENT RECITAL
Jacob Vaquera, percussion
5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
GUEST RECITAL CALLIOPE DUO
7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
STUDENT SENIOR RECITAL
Blake Bailey, composition
5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
SYMPHONIC BAND CONCERT
7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
UTSA ORCHESTRA CONCERT
7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
STUDENT SOPHOMORE JOINT RECITAL
Madelynne Mohr (clarinet) and Joanna Sanchez (clarinet)
5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
WIND ENSEMBLE CONCERT
7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
GUEST RECITAL DEUO PER SE
7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
HOWELL STUDIO VOICE RECITAL
3:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
UNIVERSITY BAND CONCERT
3:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
STUDENT RECITAL
5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
FACULTY RECITAL
Oswaldo Zapata (trumpet) and Kasandra Keeling (piano)
7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
FLUTE STUDIO RECITAL
5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall
UTSA JAZZ ENSEMBLE CONCERT
|
STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE UPCOMING SEMESTER AT UTSA MUSIC MUSIC.UTSA.EDU FOLLOW US!
@UTSA
