Cadenza, Opus 51 by UTSA School of Music

For The

Love of

Music

CONTENTS 03 WELCOME 08 NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL 10 CALL FOR SCORES 14

SOUTHWEST GUITAR SYMPOSIUM

22 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT 26 EN VIVO PREVIEW 30

HAPPENING AROUND THE NEST

33 UPCOMING EVENTS CONTRIBUTORS: Rolando Ramon - Chief Editor, Graphic Designer, Photographer Suzanna Bridges-Keese - PR Assistant, Editor Sebastian Forestier - Graphic Designer Milena Sousa - Photographer, Social Media

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CADENZA Welcome to

Welcome to

Showcasing UTSA School of Music Friends, Welcome to the February issue of Cadenza – released just a bit early! Our students and faculty are eagerly preparing their first concerts of 2024, and we wanted to be sure that you had this in time to plan ahead for some amazing musical events. February starts right off with wonderful guest artists in our En Vivo series and continues with performances by faculty artists and student ensembles every week. If you will be at TMEA, check out the four showcase performances by UTSA ensembles, including artist-inresidence Shelly Lares! 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the School of Music at UTSA, and we look forward to sharing many meaningful milestones throughout this year. In this issue, our alumni spotlight features Marguerite McCormick, founder of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, who was inspired to create this wonderful organization during her graduate studies at UTSA. Additional articles will inspire you to mark your calendars for the New Music Festival (or as we like to call it, NuMu) and the Southwest Guitar Symposium, both taking place in early March, by giving you a behind-the-scenes look at some of the student and professional artists involved in both series of events. The primary purpose of Cadenza is to provide you with information about upcoming concerts; you can also check our online events 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!

Dr. Tracy Cowden

Roland K. Blumberg Endowed Professor in Music Director of the UTSA School of Music

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GUEST ARTIST SERIES

DUO PRECIPICE, oboe and percussion February 1 – Masterclass & Performance

JAMES SCOTT, flute NADIA SOREE, harpsichord February 26 – Performance

RICHARD D. HALL, electronic February 27 – Performance

REENA ESMAIL, composer

March 03-07 – Guest Composer

New Music Festval 2024 Distinguished Guest Composer

PABLO GARIBAY, guitar

March 09 -10 – Performance & Masterclass Southwest Guitar Symposium 2024 Artist

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2023-2024 SEASON

BRINGING WORLD-CLASS ARTISTS TO SAN ANTONIO

WILLIAM KANENGISER, guitar

March 09 - 10 – Performance & Masterclass Southwest Guitar Symposium 2024 Artist

CUARTETO DE GUITARRAS DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO March 10 – Performance

Southwest Guitar Symposium 2024 Artist

ALAN WOO, piano

March 25 – Convocation Performance

AGARITA, piano quartet April 13 – Performance

DAVID RUSSELL, guitar April 20 – Performance

Grammy Award-winning artist

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U T S A’ S A N N U A L F E S T I V A L OF NEW MUSIC RETURNS New Music Festival, often abbreviated as “NuMu,” is an annual weeklong event directed by Ethan Wickman that features concerts showcasing new works by living composers. The festival features music by guest and faculty composers, including a distinguished guest composer who takes up an artist residency on campus during the week. Indian-American artist Reena Esmail was selected as this year’s distinguished guest composers. The award-winning artist has written commissions for ensembles such as the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Kronos Quartet, and her music has featured on multiple Grammy-nominated albums, including The Singing Guitar by Conspirare, BRUITS by Imani Winds, and Healing Modes by Brooklyn Rider. Other composers such as Michael Barrett, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Hye Young Cho, and UTSA faculty member Thomas Yee will also have their works performed. NuMu also allows UTSA students to showcase their music, premiering new pieces by winners of the School of Music’s annual composition. This gives new, upcoming artists a chance to have their compositions performed and connect with other composers throughout the week.

CONCERT SCHEDULE VOCAL ARTS SERIES SUNDAY, MARCH 03 3:00 P.M. RADIUS CENTER SAN ANTONIO FACULTY CONCERT: OSWALDO ZAPATA & KASANDRA KEELING MONDAY, MARCH 04 7:30 P.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL UTSA CHAMBER ENSEMBLES TUESDAY, MARCH 05 7:30 P.M UTSA RECITAL HALL

NuMu will be held March 3-7 entirely within the UTSA Arts Building, except for one concert off-campus this year. Performing ensembles and artists include student vocalists from the Vocal Arts Series, faculty members Dr. Oswaldo Zapata and Dr. Kasandra Keeling, UTSA Chamber Ensembles, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, Concert Choir, University Chorus, and the UTSA Chamber Singers.

UTSA WIND SYMPHONY & SYMPHONIC BAND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 06 7:30 P.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL

“This year, the School of Music looks forward to a week celebrating newly composed music that reflects the complexities and wonders of our time,” Ethan Wickman, director of NuMu, states.

UTSA CHOIRS THURSDAY, MARCH 07 7:30 P.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL

While NuMu celebrates modern sounds, it also reflects on the confluence of old and new music. Music of the past continues to influence the emerging generations of artists, while in turn, their legacies are kept alive through new incarnations and the continuous evolution of art. For more information, visit colfa.utsa.edu/numufest/

- Suzanna Bridges-Keese, Rolando Ramon Page 9 | February 2024

CALL FOR SCORES GIVES STUDENT COMPOSERS A CHANCE TO SHINE UTSA School of Music’s Call for Scores Competition winners Klint Fabian, Brandon Davis, Aidan Ramos, and Zachary Cook will have their winning pieces performed at the New Music Festival, held by UTSA, in March. These outstanding artists worked hard for the opportunity to be a part of this event where their music will be heard and loved by the UTSA and San Antonio community. Klint Fabian, who won 1st place in the Choral category, used his life and experiences to create a stunning composition about experiencing a first love. “I wanted to write about something universal and landed on the theme of love,” Fabian reflects. “I wanted to bring a new approach to this theme that I had not seen before with my piece First Love.” Fabian, having written his piece in both its lyrics and music, feels that his stanzas emulate his creative sense in a way he had not felt before in previous drafts. “I remember writing several versions of one sentence in the second stanza because the words were not matching the Klint Fabian theme I was going for,” Fabian states. “But once I wrote ‘I love your joyous laugh, like music I hear it ring; My soul, a distant melody that only you can sing,’ I knew I had the perfect words to express the music I had written.” “I am so proud of this work and am elated to have it premiered in March by Jordan Boyd and the UTSA Concert Choir,” Fabian enthuses. Thomas Hardaway, a senior majoring in organ performance, is also the creator and current director of the Texas’ Children’s Choir since 1989 and a well-attuned chorist. He won 1st for chamber choir with his piece Nunc Dimittis. Much of his aid in the creation of this piece came from previous experience or the inspiring compositions of his fellow peers. “As a young chorister at Washington National Cathedral, I was exposed to music that was composed by many, two of whom were on the Cathedral staff and known composers – Leo Sowerby and Richard Dirksen – who influenced my work greatly,” Hardaway reflects. “My two compositions were similar in style to those two composers in particular.” His piece describes the intense emotions that a man, who during the time of Jesus of Nazareth, is feeling and how he had prayed to see Christ before he passed away.

Thomas Hardaway

“In this text, having now held the Christ child, he states ‘Lord, now you can let your servant depart in Page 10 | February 2024

peace, since I have seen the child, and I know he will be the Savior of the world and the glory of Israel,’” Hardaway describes. For the composition of the piece, Hardaway reflected on the techniques he mastered and included to portray what he envisioned of this moment. “Generally, this text is sung in a fairly perfunctory manner at vespers, but I composed the piece with the various voice parts singing the lines, with changes in harmonies and dynamics in such a way as to attempt to deliver the gratitude and emotional impact the writer of the text may have intended,” Hardaway states. First place winner for the Wind Ensemble category, sophomore, and music composition major Aidan Ramos had the first Aidan Ramos moment of inspiration for his piece at the end of his high school years. At a time when many students begin to journey into intense music training, he asked his band director if he could write for the wind ensemble. “The process in which I write pieces now is different from how I did in high school, so the way I began this piece is not how I would now,” Ramos states. “Throughout this process, I also had the mentorship and guidance of my director who generously offered me advice.” When asked if he preferred the journey or the destination in his writing of Overture No. 1, he stated that the journey was much more ‘gratifying and adventurous.’ “I love writing music and when I get the opportunity to sit down and just let myself create, it’s quite a fun time and always satisfying whenever I get to a point that I’m happy with,” Ramos reflects. Hoping to tell a story with his piece, Ramos created it to be a standalone work, like many other overtures. “The fascination was with the fact that one piece of music could tell the story of a larger work, whether an opera, ballet or just some sort of story,” Ramos states. “Overture No. 1 is my attempt at creating this kind of music, telling its own kind of a story in the span of a few minutes instead of hours.” Zachary Cook, the first-place winner in the Chamber category, won with a piece called When the Beat’s Bumpin’ and the Wine Hits, a groovy, outside-of-the-box take on the feeling of being intoxicated at a party.

Zachary Cook

“I’m in a fraternity that holds a few wine nights throughout the semester,” Cook states. “While I am partially dedicating this to my frat, I also wanted to put myself and my experiences into my music.” Page 11 | February 2024

A composer he received great inspiration from is Christopher Cerrone, who writes for chamber with groove. “I love how he is able to incorporate such amazing textures with almost any instrument he writes for,” Cook reflects. “He inspired me for my own textures within this piece.” As Cook finishes his last semester as a senior, he is grateful for his journey to premiering his piece at NuMu. Rehearsals were an exciting moment for him as a musician, and he recommends that other music students take the opportunity the moment it’s given to them. “As a student who was mostly writing music, and where only some may get performed, they [rehearsals] were a great opportunity to hear my music live with instruments.” Cook states. “I think these moments in undergraduate music create great connections for the future.” Rising senior and Music Composition major Brandon Davis won first place in the Symphonic Band category for his piece Pteropod Terrors, which takes listeners on a journey through the deep underwater of the oceans. Davis describes the journey and what he hoped to produce with this piece alongside his long-time love for the ocean. “There is a rumor [in story] that a Colossal Pteropod [transparent-looking sea slug] roams throughout the depths of the ocean,” Davis reflects. “Ever since I was little, I’ve had this fascination with ocean-related things, wishing I could dive down there and see what was there, and with this piece, I think I am finally exploring it through music.” As he composed his work, he drew inspiration from sources that also produced work on the theme of ocean and underwater exploration. “I had some ideas from this 6/7 movement set of pieces with the theme of “Ocean” and one of them was a “deep Brandon Davis underwater night” section,” Davis states. “I took that section, separated it from the rest and started to generate more ideas and connect them all together.” Davis states his favorite part of the entire journey working towards the competition was the performance of his piece. “My favorite part I would have to say is the actual performance of the piece,” Davis reflects. “I had been chosen for another piece, a string quartet, last year and seeing the actual performance was amazing.” The New Music Festival hosted by UTSA will premiere these students’ winning pieces alongside pieces by student composers Jared Worman, Jackson Bosenbark and Manuel Flores, who all received honorable mention in the contest.

– Suzanna Bridges-Keese

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SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE

SAN ANTONIO’S PREMIERE GUITAR EVENT

FRIDAY, MARCH 08

Southwest Guitar Symposium 2024 is a three-day event that showcases the versatility of the classical guitar and allows musicians, guitar makers, and music lovers alike to network. The event hosts performances and masterclasses led by internationally revered guitarists and highly competitive solo guitar contests between rising artists of all ages. SWGS also welcomes guitar luthiers and shops to display and sell their beautiful instruments on campus during the symposium’s Southwest Luthier and Vendor Expo. “I am excited to welcome our guest artists and Symposium participants to our annual guitar celebration here at UTSA,” Dr. Isaac Bustos, the symposium’s artistic director enthuses. “The SWGS is now on its fifth edition, and this year we bring artists from Mexico and Costa Rica including GRAMMY award-winning American guitarist, William Kanengiser!” The guitar event traces its roots down a lengthy history that spans more than two decades. It was originally established as the Southwest Guitar Festival in 1991 by guitar professors Gerald Klickstein (UTSA), Adam Holzman (UT Austin), and William Gangel (Texas State). It was the only festival of its kind in Texas. Former UTSA guitar professor Matthew Dunne took over as the festival’s director in 1995. Dunne built on the success of his predecessors to make the event the largest acoustic guitar festival in the United States, spanning over six different venues across San Antonio in 2000. Bustos himself was a competitor in the festival’s 2007 edition and was later invited back as a guest performer in 2009. Following Dunne’s retirement in 2018 and a long nine-year hiatus, Bustos finally brought the event back in 2020 in its current incarnation as the SWGS. The symposium is held through March 8-10. This year’s featured En Vivo guest artists include Pablo Garibay, William Kanengiser, Jay Kacherski, and Cuarteto de Guitarras de la Ciudad de México. Faculty artists performing include Dúo Fortis (Dr. Alejandro Montiel and Dr. Isaac Bustos) and Dr. Tracy Cowden, who will all be performing on the symposium’s first night on Friday, March 8.. The 2024 Southwest Solo Guitar Competition will take place throughout the weekend as young guitarists compete for prizes in two rounds – both of which will be open for public viewing. It features competitors in two categories, High School and Open Division. The 1st place winner of each division receives a paid return engagement at Southwest Guitar Symposium 2025. Adrian Montero and Wyatt Green, who won the Southwest Solo Guitar Competition last year, will be giving their return performances on Saturday, March 0, at 5:00 p.m. Additionally, all 2nd round finalists in the Open Division contest will receive cash prizes, as well as paid performances at Austin Classical Guitar and Lone Star College for 1st place. For more information, visit colfa.utsa.edu/swgs - Suzanna Bridges, Rolando Ramon

FACULTY CONCERT: DUO FORTIS & TRACY COWDEN, PIANO 7:30 P.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL SATURDAY, MARCH 09 SOUTHWEST SOLO GUITAR COMPETITION 9:00 A.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL MASTERCLASS: WILLIAM KANENGISER 1:00 P.M . (AR 2.03.18A) SWGS 2023 WINNERS CONCERT: WYATT GREEN AND ADRIAN MONTERO 5:00 P.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL GUEST ARTIST CONCERT: PABLO GARIBAY & WILLIAM KANENGISER 7:30 P.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL SUNDAY, MARCH 10 SOUTHWEST SOLO GUITAR COMPETITION 11:00 A.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL MASTERCLASS: PABLO GARIBAY 1:30 P.M. AR 2.03.18A GUEST ARTIST CONCERT: CUARTETO DE GUITARRAS DE CIUDAD DE MEXICO 5:00 P.M. UTSA RECITAL HALL

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

PABLO GARIBAY

Pablo Garibay, one of Mexico’s most highly respected and widely praised musical talents, is set to make his UTSA debut at the Southwest Guitar Symposium 2024. The guitar virtuoso has drawn international recognition from audiences and critics for his peculiar sensitivity to musicality and his work with the standard classical guitar repertoire and contemporary artists. Pablo will perform a free concert on the symposium’s second night, Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the UTSA Recital Hall. In addition to his performance, he’ll lead a masterclass with several students the following Sunday afternoon. His addition to SWGS 2024 has significantly contributed to the buzz surrounding the upcoming three-day event. “I’m very excited and touched that I can participate in this year’s festival along with other guitarists and professors whom I admire so much,” enthused Pablo. Pablo’s studied classical at la Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México (where he is now a guitar professor) and the Franz Liszt Conservatory of Music in Weimar, Germany. Throughout his studies and during his career he has drawn much influence from his teachers Juan Carlos Laguna, Iván Rísquez, and Thomas Müller-Pering, as well as guitarists he admires, such as Manuel Barrueco, David Russel, Pepe Romero, and many others. He’s performed across the globe, featuring as a soloist with professional ensembles such as OFUNAM, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Buffalo Philharmonic, Mexico City, Evgeny Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Chamber Soloists of Austria, and others. An aspect of his career that Pablo highly values is the opportunity to collaborate with other artists and ensembles. He has premiered several new works. An experience he deemed an important milestone was a collaboration with the Japanese chamber ensemble NOMAD, with whom he premiered a piece titled Interregno by Mexican composer Hebert Vázquez in Tokyo in 2020. Pablo would return to Tokyo later to record the work along with others by Vázquez for an album, Sound Dreams (released in 2023).

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Pablo’s career as an artist and educator has continued to flourish and evolve along with his life. Pablo cites his wife and children as his chief priority and his most vital support in everything he does. With that comes its own set of responsibilities, which has changed the guitarist’s perspective on habits for maintaining a high level of performance. “The most important thing for me Is my family… I wouldn’t be able to do anything without their support,” said Pablo. “Of course, I have less time to practice, [but] you learn during the years how to practice more efficiently, how to concentrate better every session.” “When you are in the early stages, you have to learn things from scratch, to join all the elements and make solid technique…I think now, I try to enjoy more when I play,” said Pablo. “Before [my family], I was more aware of all the things that I do wrong….but now, I am more aware of the things that I enjoy.” Pablo looks forward to his return to San Antonio, recalling his previous enjoyment of the city. As with many guitarists who’ve visited UTSA in recent years, he has a fond history with the Southwest Guitar Symposium’s director, Dr. Isaac Bustos, who is well respected around the international guitar community in his own right. “{Isaac and I] met in the JoAnn Falletta competition in Buffalo, USA. Since then, we’ve stayed in touch… he’s a very good friend of mine,” said Pablo on his relationship with UTSA’s head of guitar studies. Pablo’s concert at the SWGS includes a 40-minute program consisting of traditional repertoire and some smaller contemporary works. The evening is headlined by Spanish composer Antonio Jose’s Sonata para guitarra, a piece well-known in the classical guitar repertoire for its demanding complexity and beauty. “It’s the kind of repertoire where [other musicians] hear it and appreciate many things they don’t hear commonly in the guitar repertoire…it’s a very beautiful piece,” said Pablo on the sonata. Also lined up for the concert is Mexican composer Manuel Ponce’s Sonatina Meridional and L’ultimo caffé insieme by Italian composer Simone Iannarelli, a good friend of Pablo’s. As part of a doubleheader concert, Pablo’s performance will be immediately followed up by Grammy-award-winning American guitarist William Kanengiser that night. The public is also welcome to attend Pablo’s masterclass on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the UTSA Arts Building AR 2.03.18A. There, he’ll hear several students who he’s never worked with before perform and will then critique and give them instruction to improve, which is typical for a masterclass. Pablo’s approach to teaching a masterclass involves reinforcing a student’s confidence and working with them to articulate musicality and artistic expression, or in his words, “to absorb what the student is trying to say, not to play.” “It’s very important, at least for me, not to try to change the personality, the concept, the feelings of the student…[it’s important] to make them more secure, to try to identify what they are making and reinforce that,” said Pablo For more information about Pablo Garibay, visit pablogaribaysite.wordpress.com

- Rolando Ramon

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FEBR UARY 2024 A L UMNI SPO TLIG H T MARGUERITE MCCORMICK

M.M. CHORAL CONDUCTING CLASS OF 1983 UTSA alumna Marguerite McCormick stands as the driving force behind the establishment and success of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio (CCSA). Having graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1983 with a Master of Music in Choral Conducting, McCormick’s commitment to music education and community development has manifested into a thriving organization with a tremendous impact on San Antonio’s cultural landscape. From enchanting audiences with their melodic voices to fostering the educational development of its members, CCSA is a beacon of musical education and community enrichment in the area. The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, originally established as the UTSA Children’s Choir, was founded in 1983 to inspire young singers in elementary and middle school to discover themselves through their artistry and performance. Under the guidance of seasoned mentors, the young choristers convey the emotional depth and storytelling inherent in each piece. “I hoped to inspire my young singers to discover the source of musical beauty within themselves,” McCormick enthuses. “I was thrilled and fascinated that they [students] could be received by audiences as musical artists.” Although she is no longer Artistic Director of the Chorus as of 2014, she is a dedicated mentor and advisor to the current Artistic Director Dr. Carolyn Cruse and Executive Director Alyssa Avenatti, alongside being a music library volunteer and a lifelong cheerleader of the organization. “In my time as Artistic Director, some of my most memorable moments were performances with the San Antonio Symphony, San Antonio Mastersingers, Annual choir exchanges with the Children’s Chorus of Victoria, Texas, from 1985 to 1994, and most notably our international tours in Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France, and England from 1993 to 2006.” McCormick states. In the CCSA, an award founded in 2018 by the CCSA Board of Directors to honor McCormick’s name has been given to multiple individuals in recognition of their hard, dedicated work to grow and give success Page 22 | February 2024

NOW A ND FO R EV E R I AM A R O A DR UNN E R to the Chorus. “I’m so pleased that this award emphasizes the contributions of colleagues and others whose endeavors continue to help CCSA fulfill its mission,” McCormick states. “Indeed, it ‘takes a village’ for the Children’s Chorus to thrive!” As McCormick obtained her degree, UTSA gave her skills and the means to begin her dream of directing CCSA. Mccormick with the UTSA Children’s Choir, 1983

“UTSA instilled in me the belief in my dream of establishing a

Children’s Chorus for the San Antonio community, the practical skills of planning and executing details for producing concerts, and the importance of marketing and publicity, as well as the unconditional support,” McCormick reflects. When she attended UTSA, she had many mentors who helped her gain footing as a fresh, new choral conductor. Some are Dr. Rhoderick E. Key, Dean of COLFA at UTSA (1983), Dr. John Silantien, Director of Choral Activities at UTSA (1983), and Dr. Donald Hodges, Professor of Music Education at UTSA (1983). “Our organization was founded at UTSA because of the The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio at Carnegie Hall in 1997 belief, support, and guidance of Dr. John Silantien, and when the proposal to found the Chorus was presented to Dr. Bob Key, Dr. Silantien was my advocate and sponsor,” McCormick states. “We would not have made a successful application without Dr. Silantien’s enthusiastic support!” McCormick continues to actively support and celebrate the CCSA as her cherished pride and joy. Through her ongoing dedication, whether attending performances, mentoring young talents, or contributing to the organization’s growth, McCormick ensures that the chorus remains a testament to her vision and a thriving, dynamic community for aspiring young voices.

- Suzanna Bridges-Keese Page 23 | February 2024

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GUEST ART

James Scott and Nadia Soree

Monday, February 26th at 7:30 p.m. – UTSA Recital Hall From his incredible beginnings as the youngest flutist in the history of the Atlanta Symphony at age 16 through a phenomenal career as a leader in music education, Dr. James C. Scott is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished artists ever hosted on UTSA’s En Vivo Guest Artist series. Dr. Scott served as Dean at the University of North Texas College of Music from 2001-2016. His remarkable career also includes former roles such as Chair of the Rutgers University Department of Music, Associate Dean of Instruction at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and Director of the University of Illinois School of Music. “I am honored to be invited by Professor Rachel Woolf to give a master class and recital at UTSA,” states Scott, who taught UTSA’s Rachel Woolf during her studies at UNT. She will be performing in a trio work during recital. Joining Scott for the concert is current San Antonio resident and acclaimed harpsichordist Nadia Soree. Initially a pianist, she discovered a love for the harpsichord during her graduate studies, culminating in Soree winning the First Prize at the J.S. Bach International Harpsichord Competition in Montreal and completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at UNT in 2018. The harpsichord is a double keyboard instrument known for its widespread use during the Renaissance and Baroque eras. It’s easily identifiable by the distinct sound of its internal strings being plucked rather than struck like a piano. Having such a rarely featured instrument and someone who has as much passion for it as Soree does is a wonderful treat for audiences. The two musicians initially met during the latter’s studies as an undergraduate and master’s student at Rutgers University when Scott was head of the music program there. They reconnected again after Soree played one of his student’s lecture recitals in 2020. It also involved Woolf, who handled the technological aspects of assembling the lecture recital for online streaming, setting the stage for the upcoming collaboration at UTSA. Scott took advantage of having Soree on harpsichord to feature an all-Baroque period music program for the UTSA guest concert on March 26th. The program includes two rare works, Sonata in C Minor, No. 190, composed by King Frederick the Great of Prussia, and François Coupin’s Neuvième Concert, Intitulé Ritratto dell’ amore, and Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 1039 and Sonata in B Minor, BWV 1030 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Scott has tied all four pieces together through brilliant historical context that can be further explored in the concert’s digital program, which will be available to all in attendance. Page 26 | February 2024

IST SERIES

Richard D. Hall

Tuesday, February 27th at 7:30 p.m. – UTSA Recital Hall Richard Hall is a musician, composer, animator, and music educator based in central Texas. He also serves as a Senior Lecturer of Music at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX, where he teaches Composition, Electronic Composition, Music Technology, and Humanities. Hall specializes in concert performances of avant-garde live laptop music, a concept he’ll bring to UTSA Recital Hall on February 27 for an En Vivo guest performance. Richard has performed and had his music featured at numerous national and international conferences and festivals, such as the National Flute Association, the Society of Composers, Inc., the Vox Novus 60x60 Contemporary Music Project, the Electronic Music Midwest Festival, and the International Computer Music Association as wells as the Sonic Art Oxford Festival in England and the LOOP Video Art Festival in Spain. His electronic music has been used at major art museums across the United States and Europe. He has also created several animated digital artworks featured in numerous international performances. Richard has received numerous commissions nationwide, scoring independent films and writing music for television series, documentaries, and theatrical productions. His works “Desert Waves, Wilderness of Water” and “Viva La Reina De La Muerte” won medals from the Global Music Awards. In 2020, he was co-composer for the screen-dance film, “THULE,” which won Best Original Score at the Frostbite Film Festival. He won an award in 2011 for Excellence in Musical Score from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival with his score for the theatrical production, “Electra.” His music has also been recorded by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for ERM Media and the Wild Basin Winds with the Emmy award-winning children’s group The Biscuit Brothers. His upcoming guest recital, “On a Seizing Sky,” is a performance of several original compositions of acoustic instruments manipulated and looped via a laptop computer with live, interactive video. The performance will end with Richard and UTSA School of Music alum and current faculty Wesley Uchiama-Penix performing Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and the German composer/sound artist Carsten Nicolai’s (Alva Noto) work “Trioon” for piano and electronics.

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happening around the nest UTSA Orchestra: Concerto and Aria Winners Concert Features Student Soloists and Composer The UTSA Orchestra will present their Music’s annual Concerto and Aria Winners Concert on February 29 at 7:30 p.m. The two student soloists who won the Concerto and Aria Competition in 2023 will perform their pieces with the orchestra in front of what is expected to be at least a near-full house in the UTSA Recital Hall. Graduate soprano Alexis Cairy, who won the aria portion of the competition, will perform Giacomo Puccini’s “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” from La Rondine. Cairy has previously performed with the orchestra as a soloist on Dvořák’s Te Deum during December 2023’s Winterlude concert series. Composed by Puccini during his late period to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami, La Rondine (The Swallow) is a comic opera that tells the story of Magda de Civry, the mistress of a wealthy businessman in Paris during the mid-19th century. In the opera, she finds love with a new man of a more humble, rural background and begins to live with him. However, she ends up unable to escape her past as a courtesan, and she leaves him to return to her old life.

Alexis Cairy, soprano

Graduate violinist Elisa Nivon will perform Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane for the concert’s “concerto” portion. The rhapsody was initially written in 1924 by Ravel for violin and piano with luthéal, a new piano attachment that added several tone color registrations to the instrument. Stops above the keyboard activated these sound registrations, with a particular mimicking a cimbalon, which fit the gypsy theme of the piece. However, Tzigane, which is a European term for the word gypsy, was more of an example of French exoticism and bore little resemblance to any authentic Romani music. The orchestra will also premiere UTSA student composer Ben Spivey’s Magnolia. They will also perform Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 at the concert. Elisa Nivon, violin

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#UTSAMusic Shelly Lares to Perform with UTSA String Band at TMEA 2024 UTSA String Area and School of Music recently announced on social media that award-winning Tejano artist and current UTSA artist-in-residence Shelly Lares will be joining the UTSA String Band during their performance at the 2024 TMEA Clinic/Convention. The ensemble, led by UTSA String Area Coordinator Dr. Nicole Cherry, performs on Friday, February 09, at 3:30 P.M. at the Convention Center Bridge Hall Music Showcase. Notably, Lares and the ensemble will be performing a piece written by cellist and senior student composer Alexa Valles.

Lares during the 2023 Hispanic Heritage halftime show with Mariachi Los Paisanos

Student Alyssa Moreno Selected to Participate in Choral Conducting Masterclass Senior music education student Alyssa Moreno was selected to participate in the Undergraduate Conducting Masterclass at the Southwestern American Choral Directors Association (SWACDA) conference in Denver, Colorado, this month. She is one of only five undergraduate students who were chosen to participate in the masterclass, where she will learn under the baton of Dr. Shohei Kobayashi, director the Reed Chorus and Collegium Musicum at Reed College. “I am most excited to meet other undergraduate conductors such as myself, grow my connections with the people I meet at the conference and masterclass, and to be working with Dr. Shohei Kobayashi as my clinician!” said Moreno. The SWACDA conference runs from February 27 - 30, with Moreno’s masterclass taking place on Feburary 28.

Alyssa Moreno

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UPCOMING DATES FEBRUARY 2024

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL Vocal Art Series 3:00 PM | Radius Center

EN VIVO GUEST ARTIST SERIES

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL

MAESTRIA FACULTY RECITAL

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL

STUDENT RECITAL

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL

UTSA MARIACHI

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL

MAESTRIA FACULTY RECITAL

SOUTHWEST GUITAR SYMPOSIUM

UTSA SYMPHONIC BAND

SOUTHWEST GUITAR SYMPOSIUM

UTSA JAZZ ENSEMBLE

SOUTHWEST GUITAR SYMPOSIUM

UTSA WIND SYMPHONY

SOUTHWEST GUITAR SYMPOSIUM

UTSA UNIVERSITY BAND

EL GATO CON BOTAS

JOINT STUDENT RECITAL

EL GATO CON BOTAS

EN VIVO GUEST ARTIST SERIES

EL GATO CON BOTAS

EN VIVO GUEST ARTIST SERIES

EL GATO CON BOTAS

MUSIC TECH LAB CONCERT

STUDENT RECITAL

UTSA ORCHESTRA

LOW BRASS STUDIO RECITAL

JAZZ COMBO

STUDENT RECITAL

Duo Precipice 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

“Up and Away” - Jeong-Eun Lee 7:30 pm | UTSA Recital Hall Sarah Hamm 5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

Rami El-Farah 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall “Road Trip” 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

“Tarot” 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

Kali Crist and Gregory Felter 5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

James Scott and Natalie Soree 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall Richard D. Hall 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

Concerto and Aria Winners Concert 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

MARCH 2024 01

STUDENT RECITAL Zach Mascorro 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

Oswaldo Zapata & Kasandra Keeling 3:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall UTSA Chamber Ensembles 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

UTSA Wind Symphony & Symphonic Band 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall UTSA Choirs 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

Duo Fortis and Tracy Cowden 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

Southwest Solo Guitar Competition Winners Concert 5:00 PM | UTSA Recital Hall Pablo Garibay and William Kanengiser 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

Marco Corrales 7:30 PM | UTSA Recital Hall

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PagePage 34 | 39 February | April 2023 2024

FEBRUARY 2024 STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE UPCOMING SEMESTER AT UTSA MUSIC MUSIC.UTSA.EDU FOLLOW US! @UTSA