the 2008 Da Capo - TCU | The School of Music

Transcription

the 2008 Da Capo - TCU | The School of Music
A Newsletter from the School of Music | Texas Christian University
October 2008
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Do we usually read Notes from the Editor? I think it depends on the
magazine. I personally skip editors’ introductions in most publications,
except for one or two; however, I do not recommend that you skip
mine, because I do hope that our Da Capo will be your magazine of
choice to read every line, from cover to cover. It deserves to be read
thoroughly, taking the time to think, imagine, and appreciate all of the
numerous things that happen here at TCU School of Music.
Da Capo’s previous editor, Judith Solomon, passed away in December
2007—what a huge loss for all of us! A memorial concert in her honor
was organized last March by Dr. Michael Meckna (see his recollections
in this issue about the event). If you would like to share your memories
about Prof. Solomon, please e-mail me at [email protected].
Please also contact me with any comments or suggestions you might
have about our publication.
If, after reading Da Capo carefully, you think that our compilation of
news about faculty, staff, students, ensembles, festivals, and alumni is
very impressive, I can to tell you that Da Capo would have been even
more impressive if we could have included absolutely everything that
happened last year at the school. Fortunately for our university, all of
our faculty members are exceptional and prominent professionals in
their respective fields. Unfortunately for you, our readers, we professors
get so buried in our crazy schedules that we sometimes cannot add to
our already swollen-out-of-proportion calendars such a simple thing
as sending in our news for publication.
In connection with the information above, I encourage you to visit our
School of Music’s website frequently at www.music.tcu.edu. There,
you can find updates about new events, live broadcasts, recordings,
and fresh data about upcoming performances. That is not to say that
Da Capo is not comprehensive; we do strive to give you the best
coverage we can about everything that happens in TCU’s music world.
I am very proud to be a part of it.
Dr. Misha Galaganov
Editor
2 | Da Capo
Upcoming Performances
September
8
15
22 29
Faculty Recital Series
7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Karen Adrian, flute
Laura Logan, harp
Faculty Recital Series
7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
San-ky Kim, tenor
Harold Martina, piano
Faculty and Friends Chamber Music
Series
7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Jesus Castro-Balbi, artistic director;
$10 admission; $5 students and
seniors
Free with TCU ID
www.music.tcu.edu/facfriends
7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Faculty Recital Series
Joe Eckert, saxophone
Janet Pummill, piano
OCTOBER
6
7
13
14
20
23
Faculty Recital Series
7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Gary Whitman, clarinet
Janet Pummill, piano
Ensemble Concert Series
7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
TCU Symphony
John Giordano, conductor
Faculty Recital Series 7:30 PM,
PepsiCo Recital Hall
Helen Blackburn, flute
Harold Martina, piano
Student Recital Series 7:30 PM,
PepsiCo Recital Hall
Tuba/Euphonium Studio
Richard Murrow, coordinator
Ensemble Concert Series
7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
Wind Symphony/Symphonic Band;
Bobby Francis, conductor
College of Fine Arts Gala
Special Event
6:00 PM, Student Union Ballroom
Da Capo | TCU School of Music
Richard C. Gipson, Director
Misha Galaganov, Editor
Paul Cortese, Production Manager
Laura Samuel Meyn, Copy Editor
Design by Ardent Creative
Contributing Photographers include:
Glen Ellman, Linda Kaye, Paul Cortese
Fall 2008
24
School of Music Alumni Homecoming
Dinner
Special Event
6:00 PM, Ed Landreth Stage
For more information contact
Charlene Smith, Alumni
Representative, [email protected].
27
Ensemble Concert Series 7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
TCU Percussion Ensemble I
Brian West, director
28-31 Ukrainian Music Festival
Special Event; All events in PepsiCo
Recital Hall.
For more information contact Gerald
Gabel, coordinator.
30
Ensemble Concert Series 7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Ensemble Concert Series
Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble
Richard Murrow, director
November
1 10
11
12
17
Ensemble Concert Series
7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
TCU Men’s and Women’s Choirs
Sheri Neill, conductor
Faculty Recital Series 7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
H. Joseph Butler, organ
Laura Logan, harp
Student Recital Series 7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Student Composers
Till Meyn and Martin Blessinger,
coordinators
Ensemble Concert Series 7:30 PM,
PepsiCo Recital Hall
Jazz Combos
Curt Wilson, conductor
7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Faculty and Friends Chamber Music
Series; Jesus Castro-Balbi, artistic
director, $10 admission;
$5 students and seniors;
Free with TCU ID
www.music.tcu.edu/facfriends
18
21
23
24
Ensemble Concert Series
7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
Jazz Ensembles
Curt Wilson, Joey Carter, and James
McNair, conductors
Opera Studio Series 7:30 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
TCU Opera Studio Scenes
Clyde Berry, director
Ensemble Concert Series 7:30 PM, St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
TCU Choirs
Ron Shirey, conductor
Ensemble Concert Series 7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
TCU Percussion Ensemble II
Brian West, director
December
2
5
Ensemble Concert Series
7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
TCU Symphony
John Giordano, conductor
Ensemble Concert Series 7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
TCU Wind Symphony/
Symphonic Band
Bobby Francis, conductor
8
Ensemble Concert Series
7:30 PM, Ed Landreth Hall
TCU Combined Choirs – Christmas
Ron Shirey and Sheri Neill, conductors
14
3:00 PM, PepsiCo Recital Hall
Ensemble Concert Series
Chamber Music Roundup Academy
Misha Galaganov, director
All events are subject to change.
Please visit www.music.tcu.edu for upto-date information.
Please submit your announcements online via
www.music.tcu.edu/dacapo.asp or send your correspondence to:
Da Capo
TCU School of Music
Dr. Misha Galaganov, editor
Box 297500
Fort Worth, TX 76129
Da Capo | 3
Message FROM THE director
as in music. Private instruction is foundational and critical
for the development of the highest level of performance
ability. Beyond private teaching, close personal mentoring,
whether in the classroom, rehearsal room, or teaching
supervision, distinguishes a quality music education. All
these models are expensive, but the results more than
justify the expense.
Quality faculty working with quality students in a quality
environment is critical for our success. Music facilities are
TCU School of Music Alumni and Friends:
among the most costly on any campus, with performance
I hope you will enjoy this latest issue of Da Capo, our
spaces, rehearsal spaces, and teaching spaces often
annual newsmagazine of the School of Music. Throughout
not only large, but highly specialized in function. Proper
this issue you will read of the many wonderful activities,
acoustical treatment is critical. Music is an equipment-
accomplishments, and undertakings of our talented faculty,
intensive area, and that equipment must be maintained
students, staff, and alumni. I am so proud to present them
and upgraded in a timely fashion.
to you.
For years, Texas Christian University has shown its support
The TCU School of Music is a very fine music school, and we
and value of the mission of the School of Music in very
have our eye on being even better. To have become what
tangible ways. We are blessed to enjoy support at all levels
we are and to envision an even brighter future requires the
including Trustees, Chancellor, Provost, Dean, and myriad
support and commitment of the entire university, and we
other offices. We in the School of Music do not take this
do not take that support for granted. Indeed, pervading
support and investment for granted. We appreciate it,
all our accomplishments and everything we do here in the
thank the university for it, and do our very best every day
School of Music is the recognition, acknowledgment, and
to represent TCU at the highest possible level. We believe
sincere appreciation of just how fortunate we are to be
TCU is justly proud of its music school, and we in turn are
here at TCU.
justly proud of our university.
Outstanding music students have many options when they
It remains my privilege and honor to serve the TCU
choose a school, and without question, the finest music
School of Music as Director, and I look forward with great
students are recruited, courted, and offered substantial
anticipation to the coming year.
scholarships to attend numerous fine institutions. In order
for us to be competitive, we must enjoy considerable
Richard C. Gipson
scholarship support, and the lion’s share of our support
Director, TCU School of Music
is provided internally by the university in the form of
tuition waivers.
At the heart of high quality music instruction is the oneon-one relationship of student and applied professor.
Nowhere else in the university is this model so prevalent
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Sincerely
Richard C. Gipson
Director, TCU School of Music
2
SOM’s Internet Initiatives Continue
This past year, the School of Music continued to explore
code to allow for uncompressed, stereo CD quality audio.
the exciting possibilities of using Internet2 for long-
This substantial software “tweak” has been included in the
distance educational outreach. Internet2 allows the user
recent updated version of Microsoft ConferenceXP 5.0,
to send and receive DVD-quality video and audio across a
which is currently the only video conferencing program
dedicated, high-bandwidth network reserved for scientific
with this advanced audio capability.
research and educational institutions.
In April, the SOM participated in a virtual Internet2
One TCU initiative involves working with the Juilliard School
videoconference between six different music schools on
in New York City to establish a regular teaching schedule
the topic of Hearing Conservation for Musicians. Hosted
for Professor of Piano Veda Kaplinsky, who divides her time
by the North Carolina School of the Arts and presented by
between Juilliard and TCU. The obstacles encountered by
Dr. Susan Phillips, Dr. Kris Chesky, and Gerald Klickstein, it
this partnership have been due to the outdated network
featured an interactive question and answer session that
infrastructure found in Manhattan. Juilliard has recently
allowed SOM students and faculty to participate using our
upgraded their network capabilities and both institutions
Internet2-based technology.
look forward to more productive results in the near future.
In February, José Feghali and Paul Cortese attended
the Internet2 Performance Production Workshop at the
New World Symphony in Miami, Florida. The three-day
conference focused on video/audio production, recent
computer software developments, and tips on how to
organize and produce successful Internet2 events. There
were representatives of many other music schools and
university music departments in attendance. This provided
the opportunity for open discussions and the exchange of
ideas and valuable information.
One issue that was raised was the need for a hardware/
software solution that would allow for mixing compressed
video with high quality audio. This issue is important
because many institutions especially those abroad, do not
have access to the very high bandwidth that is required for
uncompressed video conferencing. José had been in talks
with Microsoft Research for over a year, trying to adapt their
ConferenceXP conferencing program to the needs of the
performing arts, but Microsoft maintained that CD quality
audio was impossible to implement in their software. In
March, José was able to rewrite a section of the program’s
Da Capo | 5
6 | Da Capo
Laurana Rice Mitchelmore Master
Series Endowed Fund Debuts
By Chandler Smith
The TCU School of Music sends its alumni far
and wide to forge their careers, some achieving
local notoriety, and some occupying a place
on the world stage. One alumna, Laurana Rice
Mitchelmore ’61, attained the world stage but
in a supportive role that requires great skill,
sensitivity, knowledge, and stagecraft: the role
of accompanist. Mitchelmore has traveled the
world as a concert pianist in her own right and
also as an accompanist, primarily to Frederica
“Flicka” Von Stade, world-renowned mezzosoprano.
It was because of Mitchelmore’s excellence
and success in her career that her family and
friends, including Von Stade, chose to honor
her life’s work with an endowed fund at TCU.
They decided that, rather than establishing
a scholarship, they wanted to create a
fund whose earnings would help bringing
collaborative musicians of the highest level to
campus for a concert and master class on a
regular basis. They also knew, however, that
the unassuming Mitchelmore would never
allow such a thing to happen, so they had to
do some work behind the scenes.
The big night was April 8, 2008, in Ed Landreth
auditorium. Von Stade was slated to perform
a concert and had asked Mitchelmore to
accompany her on the piano. The twist was
that Mitchelmore had agreed to perform with
no knowledge of the fund or that the evening
was in her honor. All she knew was that the
concert was a fund-raiser for the School of
Music as a part of the Campaign for TCU.
Since Mitchelmore is a native of Plano, and
still has family in the area, and, since this
was the first time she and Von Stade had
performed together in Texas, it was natural
that the audience comprised relatives, college
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and sorority chums from the ’60s, and friends
and colleagues from the world of music. As
the concert went along, little did Mitchelmore
know that the excitement was building with
each successive piece in the program, as
everyone in the energized audience awaited
Richard Gipson’s and Von Stade’s surprise
announcement from the stage, after encores
and curtain calls, of the inauguration of the
Laurana Rice Mitchelmore Master Concert
Series supported by the Laurana Rice
Mitchelmore Master Series Endowed Fund.
When the big moment came, the speechless
Mitchelmore, stunned that such an honor and
surprise had been orchestrated at all, much
less without her suspecting, received the
audience’s standing ovation with overwhelmed
graciousness. A reception in her honor, also
a surprise to Mitchelmore, followed at the
home of her Tri-Delt sorority sister, Jean
Wiggin Roach ’64, whom she had not seen
since graduation. The following morning, still
in disbelief, Mitchelmore led an informative
and helpful master class for voice and piano
students on the art of collaboration. Some
friends and family members sat among the
students to witness and enjoy Mitchelmore
in her element as expert artist, musician, and
mentor.
The School of Music and its students, as well
as the Fort Worth arts community, will benefit
from the Mitchelmore fund in perpetuity.
The fund will bring world-class musicians to
campus, and continues to grow, thanks to the
generosity of so many willing contributors. If
you would like to join them in support of this
worthy cause and help provide a world-class
experience for our students, please contact
Chandler Smith, Director of Development for
the College of Fine Arts, at 817-257-5039.
Da Capo | 7
Chamber Music Roundup
Chamber Music Roundup in Fort Worth takes place in January
every year and is a major attraction for amateur musicians and
full-time students who enjoy playing in small ensembles. The
program consists of rehearsals, performances, lectures, master
classes, optional orchestra readings, and optional chamber
music sight-readings; it is geared toward music lovers of all levels
on strings, winds, brass, and piano. The 2008 event included
for the second time an optional extended education class,
taught by former TCU Music History professor Dr. Jennifer King
on the history of chamber music. Though she no longer lives
in Fort Worth, King will return to teach the class again for the
January 2009 Roundup. Tuition for the class is free to Roundup
participants and $60 for the general public.
One of the main attractions of the Roundup is that music lovers
have an opportunity to rehearse and perform in ensembles
with professional artists. Each group in the festival includes a
professional performer. The following artists were featured in
January 2008: Gary Whitman, clarinet; Jonathan Ruck, cello; Jesus
Castro-Balbi, cello; Tomasz Golka, violin and conducting; John
Owings, piano; Stewart Williams, oboe; and Misha Galaganov,
viola. Twenty-six amateur musicaians participated from five
states, including Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, Massachusetts,
and Alabama. Some of our TCU students participated in the
festival, too: Jesus Saenz, violin, and Shanna Griffith, harp,
enjoyed playing in ensembles with students from UNT.
The next festival will take place on January 5–10, 2009. In
addition to its already established schedule, Roundup 2009
will include a new program: intensive chamber music studies
for full-time music students. The deadline for all applications is
October 1, 2008. For more information about the event please
go to www.music.tcu.edu/roundup.asp. If you are interested in
becoming involved in chamber music, go to the Chamber Music
Academy website at www.musicprep.tcu.edu/chamberacademy.
asp. You may contact Dr. Misha Galaganov at 817-257-6619 or at
[email protected] if you have any questions.
8 | Da Capo
M e m o r i a l C o n c e r t for
P r o f e s s o r Ju d y S o l om on
Dr. Michael Meckna
“Judy would have loved this,” said more than one audience member after
the “Tribute to Judy Solomon,” which was held March 30, 2008 in PepsiCo
Recital Hall in memory of the beloved professor who died on December 22,
2007. First and foremost, the music was outstanding. John Owings began
with Schubert’s Impromptu in G-flat, Op. 90, No. 3, one of Solomon’s favorites.
Then Owings’s student, 14-year-old Sahun Hong, played “Nocturne for the
Left Hand,” which he had written last year especially for Solomon, who was
unable to use her right hand after a stroke. Next, Misha Galaganov and
Owings played Wieniawski’s thoughtful “Reveries,” followed by tenor Roger
Bryant and pianist Janet Pummill, who performed two selections from Ralph
Vaughan Williams’s “Songs of Travel,” and Michael Joncas’ “On Eagle’s
Wings” (a setting of selected verses from Psalms 91 and Isaiah 40).
Interspersed with the music were a warm welcome by School of Music
Director Dr. Richard Gipson; some moving reflections by Solomon’s sister
Marcia Simon, her husband, and son; and more memories and anecdotes
ad libitum from the audience. Affectionate, humorous, and admiring, these
comments helped ease the pain of Solomon’s absence. Just before the
Joncas song, Solomon’s nephew Roger Simon read a special benediction by
Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger.
Judy Solomon would have loved the post-concert reception too, since there
was plenty of food for all, including some of her favorites, such as deviled
eggs and brownies (“no nuts, please”). Spirits were light as the approximately
125 audience members mingled, munched, and enjoyed a wonderful exhibit
of Solomon memorabilia arranged by Assistant Music/Media Librarian and
Van Cliburn Archivist Laura Ruede, with the assistance of Head Music/Media
Librarian Cari Alexander.
Judy Solomon’s fine intellect, wonderful sense of humor, gentle nature, and
genuine interest in her students will keep her memory alive in those who
were fortunate enough to have known her.
—Dr. Michael Meckna
Note: A “Solomon Memorial Fund” has been established. Anyone wishing to contribute can
contact Chandler Smith at 817-257-5039.
Da Capo | 9
Linda Kaye
1942-2007
By Paul Cortese
This past year, the School of Music and the TCU community lost a dear friend and dedicated
colleague. Photographer Linda Kaye ’63 passed away after a long struggle with cancer. If you
didn’t know Linda personally, you definitely knew her through her ubiquitous photos, dynamic
images that documented five decades of TCU activities and events.
Included on these pages is a small sampling of the countless photos Linda took of TCU music
events. We are grateful to Linda because of the wonderful gift she left TCU and the School of
Music—a pictorial treasury that reveals who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going.
10
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8 | Da
Da Capo | 11
100
Master Classes/Guest
Per for m an ces S inc e 20 0 2 :
PIANO:
Emanuel Ax
Fabio Bidini
Robert Blocker
Sa Chen
Andrzej Dutkiewicz
Peter Efler
Peter Frankl
Jan Jiracek
Joseph Kalichstein
Veda Kaplinsky
Mi Kyung Kim
David Korevaar
Ksenia Nosikova
Dario Ntaca
Christina Ortiz
Elizabeth Pridinoff
Eugene Pridinoff
Gustavo Romero
Tamas Vesmas
CLARINET:
James Campbell
Andrew Crisanti
Paul Dean
Oskar Espina-Ruiz
David Gould
David Hattner
Howard Klug
Ana Victoria Luperi
Gregory Raden
David Shifrin
Bradley Wong
Karen Basrak
Wayne Burak
Jennifer Choi
Matthew Dane
Paukl Erhard
Norman Fischer
Arkady Fomin
Ronald Francois
Vadim Gluzman
Erich Krueger
Jaime Laredo
Donald McInnes
Aldo Parisot
Carlos Prieto
Sharon Robinson
Michael Shih
Arnaud Sussman
Brant Taylor
Bion Tsang
Josh Waybright
Katie Wolfe
BAND:
Michael Colgrass
Eric Ewazen
Gary Green
James Keene
John Mackey
David Maslanka
Timothy Reynish
James Syler
John Whitwell
Samuel Zyman
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Joins TCU
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, music director of the Fort Worth
Symphony Orchestra, is now a distinguished Guest Professor
of Conducting in the TCU School of Music. Harth-Bedoya
said his classes are going to have a practical emphasis,
because the professional conducting world is different
from conducting music in schools. “It’s going to be like an
apprenticeship,” he said. “I want the students to learn not
FLUTE:
Mathieu Dufour
James Galway
SAXOPHONE:
Tony Campise
Dave Pietro
STRINGS:
Christopher Adkins
Toby Appel
Anthony Arnone
12 | Da Capo
JAZZ STUDIES:
Dr. Shelly Berg
Wayne Bergeron
Tony Campise
Conte Candoli
Vince DiMartino
Andy Martin
Dave Pietro
Carl Saunders
Allen Vizzutti
Bill Watrous
Patrick Williams
from me, but through me.”
Selected students will have the opportunity to conduct
the Fort Worth Symphony. Harth-Bedoya will primarily
be working with graduate conducting students. Under
special circumstances, undergraduate students will have an
opportunity to work with him on special events.
—Bibek Bhandari, Staff reporter, TCU Staff, March 20, 2008
T C U S c h o o l O f Music
O p e ns A N e w P ro gr am :
Chamber Music
R o u ndu p Ac a de m y
In response to requests from music lovers in the Dallas-Fort Worth
area, Chamber Music Roundup festival has expanded its services
to provide a year-round program for amateur musicians of all ages
as well as pre-college-age students. All levels are welcome! The
new Chamber Music Roundup Academy gives local enthusiasts
a chance to meet each other on regular basis, make new friends,
and improve their skills. TCU professors coach each ensemble
four times per semester. Rehearsals and coaching sessions are
scheduled by group members at mutually convenient times
and locations. Payments are processed through TCU’s Music
Preparatory Division. (Thank you Leanne Kirkham, Director of the
Preparatory Division, for your support!) Fees per semester are
$200 for participants, and $80 for observers.
For more information or to sign up please contact Dr. Misha
Galaganov at 817-257-6619 or
visit the academy’s new website at
[email protected], or
www.musicprep.tcu.edu/
100 Master Classes/Guest Performances
Since 2002 (continued):
PERCUSSION:
Gideon Alorwoyie
Jorge Bermudez
Brad Dutz
Darren Dyke
Eric Ewazen
Tom Float
Mike Kingan
David Maslanka
Ben Maughmer
Walfredo Reyes, Jr.
Steve Smith
Ricardo Souza
Ed Stephan
Darrin Workman
Robert Van Sice
Deborah Vogel
VOICE and
OPERA:
Sneshinka Avramova
Helen Boatwright
Anne Choe
Laura Lee Everett
Lauren Flanagan
William Florescu
John and Mary Gillas
Thomas Hampson
Patrick Hanson
Paula Homer
Felicity Jackson
Eva Izykowska
Barbara Kilduff
Thomas King
Stephen Kuchilius
Jay Lesenger
Janice Mayer
Jonathan Pell
David Ronis
Frederica von Stade
Misha Svetlov
Hector Vasquez
Keith Wolfe
Darren K. Woods
TRUMPET:
Ivano Ascari
Wayne Bergeron
Joseph Bowman
Conte Candoli
John Daniels
Allen Dean
Vincient DiMartino
Terry Everson
Charles Gates
Christopher Moore
Mark Niehaus
Ron Puckett
Michael Sachs
Carl Saunders
Bert Truax
Ramon Vasquez
Allen Vizzutti
TROMBONE:
Ron Barron
Andy Martin
Bill Watrous
TUBA:
Oystein Baadsvik
Markus Theinert
BRASS:
Gateway Brass
National Brass
Virtuosi
St. Louis Brass
COMPOSITION:
Diana Arismendi
Alejandro Cardona
Michael Colgrass
Manuel de Eliás
Eric Ewazen
Allen Lott
Andres Posada
Kevin Puts
Alfredo Rugeles
Carlos Vásquez
Samuel Zyman
chamberacademy.asp.
Da Capo | 13
14 | Da Capo
Renovations and Expansion
for the School of Music
Summer 2008 saw a continued expansion and renovation
of School of Music facilities. For the past six summers,
School of Music space has been expanded or renovated
to support the needs of our ever-growing and developing
program. This past summer saw perhaps the largest
project to date: renovation of the entire third floor of
Jarvis Hall (formerly Jarvis Dormitory) for the School of
Music. Beginning in the fall of 2008, faculty in the areas of
Music Education, Music Theory/Composition, Musicology,
and Choral Music moved into Jarvis Hall. A total of 6,254
square feet of classroom, laboratory, and studio space
was added to Jarvis. The School of Music anticipated its
largest enrollment on record this fall, with a record 64
faculty serving close to 300 music majors, an increase of
more than 50% in the last five years. The School of Music
is housed in six different buildings this year: Ed Landreth
Hall, the Walsh Center for the Performing Arts, Jarvis Hall,
Waits Hall, Foster Hall, and Music Building South.
Da Capo | 15
16 | Da Capo
R e cl a i m i n g t h e Past: School of Music
R e c o rde d H i s tor y Com es Alive Again!
By Cari Alexander
Music/Media Librarian
Summer at the TCU Library generally consists of home-
musical legacy of TCU, so the entire project was quickly
improvement projects intended to improve the lives of
presented to the Dean of the Library and the Director of
campus inhabitants and their surroundings. The Music/
the School of Music to discuss preservation options and
Media Library Audio/Visual Center was still clad in a dismal
funding.
green, so the summer of 2006 brought Physical Plant
knocking at the Library door with paint brushes in hand,
After months of searching for a vendor, we settled on
ready to coat the interior with the policy-defined shade
SafeSound Archives in Philadelphia, but the resurrection of
of antique white. We were informed that the removal of
these precious recordings would not be cheap. I applied
these last vestiges of color would require the temporary
for grants to no avail. Miraculously, funding materialized
relocation of the room’s contents.
from a very appropriate source. Miss Anna Harriet Heyer,
former TCU music librarian, had left part of her estate
It was during this hasty and somewhat haphazard
to TCU and the funds had just become available! In the
rearrangement that some old wooden cabinets were
fall of 2007 we packed up the recordings and sent them
opened, the contents of which had not seen the light of day
to Pennsylvania. The involved process of inventory and
for many years. A waxy odor accompanied the discovery
sequential boxing of the records in acid-free housing
of a series of records of various sizes, made of acetate and
was assisted by student workers and our first graduate
recorded primarily in the 1950s. We had found archival
assistant (Cole Ritchie ’08G). Nine boxes, 135 discs and a
broadcast recordings for the TCU School of Music dating
few back aches later, the recordings were on a truck bound
back to 1949!
for Philadelphia. Providentially, the caring and capable
engineer who performed the work was from Texas, known
Removing and inspecting the discs, I saw that they were
to me through professional meetings.
covered in a white flaky substance that induced a massive
returned to us in March in beautiful digital clarity and,
headache if breathed too long.
Research revealed the
miraculously, the original discs are now cleaner than the
culprit to be palmitic acid, a toxic breakdown of the acetate
day they were recorded. Ensemble concerts, faculty and
in the discs. These pieces of TCU history were deteriorating
student recitals and special events from 1949-1959 are alive
fast and would become history themselves if something
again, including both moments of exquisite perfection and
wasn’t done to preserve them.
moments a little south of A440.
With the help of a student worker (Jamie Phelps ‘04G), a
The CDs will eventually be integrated with other Library
database was created to delineate the contents of the 16,
holdings for visitors to browse and experience here with us.
12 and 10-inch discs. The contents of one program often
It is our hope that some day they will be available online via
spanned several discs. Occasionally there was a tattered,
streaming audio. We will introduce these long lost sounds
embrittled program accompanying the discs to divulge the
to the public in fall 2008, so watch for information about
innermost secrets contained in the white crusted grooves.
this special event. To inquire about the recordings, please
The palmitic acid deposits prevented our playing them, so
contact me at 817-257-6623 or [email protected].
The recordings
we trusted that the programs and writing on the disc sleeves
were accurate. We discovered historically significant names
such as Gillis, Guenther and Giordano among this fragile
Da Capo | 17
TCU Campaign for
Exc ellenc e Kic k o ff
Capo
The School of Music took
center stage at the TCU
Campaign for Excellence
Kickoff,
a
purple-
splashed festival for the
eyes and ears, an evening
showcasing the very best
of TCU: the precision of
the Symphony Orchestra,
the harmonies of the Concert Chorale, the hipness of the
Jazz Ensemble, the playfulness of the Steel Drum Band, and
the pride of the Marching Band. Long-standing traditions
were honored, and possibilities of the future imagined.
And, of course, there was Bob Schieffer ’59, the venerable
newsman, one of TCU’s greatest Horned Frogs, who doubled
as emcee and entertainer for the evening, graciously
guiding a crowd of more than 900 through an April evening
of conversation, music, and video before shedding his
suit and purple tie for a TCU football jersey, boots, and
blue jeans to jam with his Washington, D.C. band, Honky
Tonk Confidential.
It was a night to pull out all the stops. After all, this was the
kickoff of the public phase of The Campaign for TCU, the
$250 million fund-raising effort to help the university achieve
its goal of creating a world-class, values-centered university
experience. More than $155 million has been raised during
the leadership phase to bolster scholarships and faculty
support, improve academic programs and facilities, and
buttress the annual fund. TCU hopes alumni, friends of the
university, parents, trustees, foundations, and others will
contribute another $95 million by the campaign’s end in
2012.
—Rick Waters, TCU magazine
2008, 02; Adapted for Da Capo
by Richard Gipson
18 | Da Capo
Da Capo | 13
Music News
Faculty & Friends Chamber Music Series
The Faculty & Friends
Chamber Music Series
(FFCMS) presented four
concerts with works by
Boccherini,
Poulenc,
Brahms,
Clifford
Shaw, Aaron Copland,
Daron
Aric
Hagen,
David Ludwig, Robert
Schumann, and the world
premiere of Venice Suite
by Elena Sokolovsky,
performed by Trio Con
Brio (Misha Galaganov,
John Owings, and Gary
Whitman). The FFCMS
featured 15 faculty members, seven guests artists, and two
TCU students. Newcomers to the series included Jennifer
Carr and Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky of the TCU School of Music
faculty, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra concertmaster
Michael Shih, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra associate
concertmaster Jan Mark Sloman. The 2008–09 season
information is posted at www.music.tcu.edu/facfriends.asp.
SCHOOL OF MUSIC WINS AGAIN
The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) has once
again given its First Place Award for the Promotion and
Performance of American Music to TCU’s School of Music.
The School has previously won the award in 1966, 1988,
1997, and every other year since 2000. (A school cannot
win two years in succession.) The NFMC commended the
TCU School of Music for its annual celebration of American
Music Month in November, its annual jazz festival in March,
its biennial Latin American Music Festival in April, its several
regional conferences, and its numerous premieres. Noted
NFMC American Music Division Chair Odee Maier said,
“The citizens of Fort Worth, along with the TCU students,
have had a wonderful American Music Year.”
From June 2007 to May 2008, according to Michael
Meckna (who, with the assistance of Sue Ott, kept track
of performances and submitted the application), TCU
musicians gave a total of 344 performances of works by
212 American composers on 101 programs. Fourteen of
the programs were “all-American,” 26 composers were
present for the performance of their works, and 19 works
were given their premiere performance. In addition to
concerts and recitals, 12 visiting artists and lecturers
participated in seminars, workshops, or master classes that
focused on American music. Discounting a considerable
radio and tour audience, approximately 16,600 people
attended these events. Finally, seven festival-like events
featured American music.
The TCU School of Music has been a member of the
105-year-old NFMC since the early 1950s. The 2008 First
Place award carries with it a cash prize of $500 and a
certificate of commendation.
Brian Youngblood Produces
Award-Winning Marching Band Show
Congratulations to Brian Youngblood (Associate Director of
Bands) on the success of the L.D Bell High School Marching
Band at the Bands of America National Championship. The
band was selected as the Grand National Champion—the
top in the country. What did Youngblood have to do with
it? He designed the show! The adjudicator comments were
stunningly complimentary to the concept and design. This
is the only national contest of this nature, and hundreds of
bands from across the nation compete at the regional level
to be one of 90 bands invited to compete at the Grand
Nationals. Youngblood’s show won out of all of those that
competed.
New DMA Program at TCU
After many years of planning, the School of Music is proud
to announce that a new Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)
program has been established. The new degree plans
and advanced courses have been approved by TCU, as
well as by the National Association of Schools of Music.
This is a major step forward, and it will lead us to greater
recognition as a comprehensive school of music. The
addition of doctoral students to our already strong and
growing graduate program will raise us to a new level.
Fields of study for the doctorate include Performance,
Pedagogy, Composition, and Conducting. Many people
were involved in the planning and design of the DMA
program, but it is necessary to mention the hard work done
by our director, Richard Gipson, as well as the members
of the DMA Task Force: Sheila Allen, Blaise Ferrandino,
Ann Gipson, German Gutierrez, Michael Meckna, Tamás
Ungár, Brian West, and Joseph Butler, Chair of the Task
Force.
The School of Music will begin matriculating doctoral
students in the fall of 2009.
Da Capo | 19
Spring 2008 Graduating Class
OPERA AMERICA WORKSHOP
BA
Amelia Tyler Isbell Leicht
Lauren Nichols Novak
Melissa Marie Rogers
Daniel Thomas Sweet
BM
Emily Lorraine Forester
Eric Alexander Fossas
Jo Yi Zhou
BME
Ashley Diane Boston
Andrea Jo Carl
Rachel Lauren Chilton
Francesca Danielle Cisneros
Tyler James Ferguson
Stephen Joseph Goralczyk
Daniel Preston Lewis
Richard Hunter Lewis
Marla A. McClung
Elise Michelle Peyrot
Rebecca Diane Reed
Kathryn Clare Shaw
Jordan Elizabeth Warner
MM
Christina Marie Armendarez
Lacy Lee Brown
David P. Hall
Lauren Ann Kaminski
Jacqueline Leung
Juan David Mayorga Rojas
Heather Rebecca Muskrat
Lorea Marisa Aranzasti Pardo
Judson Cole Ritchie
Matthew Edward Rush
Myoung Sook Song
Beth E. Weibe
Jackson Len Yandell
MME
Lindsay Caffrey Twichell
Graduates who were music minors or
participated in School of Music activities:
Kayla Bond
Cameron Ghassemi
Caroline Gladkowski
Alejandro Gomez
Joshua Ryan Heard
Babkayode Jonathan Ipaye
Matthew Alan Lundborg
Jeffrey Mathena
Kamaria Michelle Powell
Christopher Qualls
Nicholas Timmons
20 | Da Capo
After last summer’s successful first TCU/Fort Worth Opera Institute, the
Fort Worth Opera and TCU Opera Studio have continued to expand
their cooperative ventures. TCU and the Fort Worth Opera co-sponsored
the OPERA America Singers’ Workshop. The two-day workshop, held
in PepsiCo Recital Hall, was titled “Strategies for Building a Successful
Career: A Business Workshop for Opera Singers.” The participating
panelists were all opera professionals with careers as singers, stage
directors, and opera administrators, including TCU Opera’s Richard
Estes and Mark Metcalf, along with Anne Choe, Artistic Services
Manager of OPERA America in New York; Darren Woods, General
Director of Fort Worth Opera; Keith Wolfe, Managing Director of Fort
Worth Opera; Jay Lesenger, General Director of Chautauqua Opera
Festival; Jonathon Pell, Director of Artistic Administration at The Dallas
Opera; Felicity Jackson, Associate Director of Chicago Opera Theatre;
Hector Vasquez, Program Director of Houston Grand Opera Studio;
Laura Lee Everett, Associate Director of Maryland Opera Studio; Lauren
Flanagan, soprano, La Scala, Metropolitan Opera; and Johnathon
Pape, Director of Eastman Opera Theatre. The workshop was attended
by 34 young singers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and as far away as
Norman, Oklahoma and Amarillo, Texas. We look forward to this event
returning to TCU in future yearsOpera Institute
TCU/Fort Worth Opera Institute was held in the TCU Opera Studio
from May 12–June 7. Participants enjoyed master classes, career
advice, and singers’ roundtable discussions with artists from the Fort
Worth Opera Festival season; they received classes in acting, stage
movement, and music business from Director Richard Estes; musical
coaching from TCU Opera Studio Musical Director Mark Metcalf; and
voice instruction from Metropolitan Opera tenor Allan Glassman.
SCHOOL OF MUSIC JOINS AA BUSINESS PROGRAM
TCU School of Music (SOM) is now
a member of American Airlines
Business ExtrAA program. Simply
put, if you enter the SOM Code (778230) into the Business ExtrAA field
when you book air travel on American, the SOM will benefit. This works
whether you are booking professional or personal travel—anything on
American Airlines.
This will in no way affect your personal AAdvantage miles—they will
continue to be awarded as always; by also entering 778230 in the
Business ExtrAA field, the SOM will receive points at the
same time you receive miles. We hope to gather enough
points to help pay for student travel.
TCU Jazz Fall Concert and
Spring Festival
The fall 2007 jazz concert featured the new TCU School of
Music professor of saxophone Joseph Eckert, formerly
(retired) lead alto and director of the USAF Air-Men-of
Note.
The 31st Annual TCU Jazz Festival, held March 28–29, 2008,
attracted 28 high school and middle school jazz ensembles
from Texas and Oklahoma. Approximately 1,500 people
attended the two evening concerts featuring the fabulous
Four Freshmen jazz vocal group and SMSgt Joe Jackson,
jazz trombonist and director of the USAF Air-Men-of-Note
from Washington, D.C.
Voces Intimae
TCU Opera Studio sponsored the Voces Intimae
collaborative piano workshop on campus on from April
4–6, 2008. Dr. Arleen Shrut, Elizabeth Racheva, and Elvia
Puccinelli lead this three-day workshop and showcase for
art song music in the TCU Opera Studio. Young artists from
UNT, SMU, and TCU participated.
TCU Symphony Orchestra
Performs in Puerto Rico
TCU Cello Ensemble Premieres New
Works from TCU Composers
The TCU Cello Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Jesús
Castro-Balbi, performed at the Northpark Presbyterian
Church for the students of the New Conservatory of
Dallas on March 29 and presented a recital in Ed Landreth
Auditorium at TCU on April 5. The program included
world premiere performances of Symphony by Dr. Blaise
Ferrandino and Anxieties of the Heart by Dr. Robert
Garwell, featuring pianist Dr. Gloria Lin. The ensemble
also performed these pieces at the Honors Convocation
on April 17, 2008.
TCU Percussion Ensemble to Perform
at International Conference
Dr. Brian West and his TCU Percussion Ensemble have
once again been selected by the Percussive Arts Society to
perform at PASIC 2008, the international conference of the
society, to be held November 6–8. This annual competition
(selected blindly from tapes) is open to every college and
university percussion ensemble in the world. Only three
universities are selected annually, and, once selected,
groups must wait out three years before entering again.
You may recall that TCU Percussion Ensemble also won
this competition in 2005. This is the equivalent of winning a
national championship in sports. West and his studio have
made us all very proud once again! TCU Tuba-Euphonium Quartet a
Finalist in International Competition
This past March, the TCU Tuba-Euphonium Quartet
was accepted to compete in the semifinal round of
the International Tuba Euphonium Conference quartet
competition at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of
Music. They competed in June and advanced to the final
round, where they were placed third among groups who
appeared from around the world. Members of the TCU
Tuba-Euphonium Quartet are Lacy Brown and Bennett
Parsons, euphonium, and Joseph Goralczyk and
Johnathon Spann, tuba. The quartet was coached by TCU
Tuba/Euphonium professor Richard Murrow.
Last October, the TCU Symphony Orchestra was invited to
Puerto Rico to perform for the second time at the Festival
Iberoamericano de las Artes. Professor Gary Whitman
was the soloist in “Divertimento del Sur” by Campos
Parsi, performed in Cayey, the last resting place of the
composer. The orchestra also performed Corigliano’s
“Pied Piper Fantasy” with Australian soloist Alexa Still at
the Teatro de Bellas Artes in San Juan. Both concerts were
received with great enthusiasm and excellent reviews.
TCU Opera and Fort Worth
Opera Collaborate
TCU shared rehearsal space with the Fort Worth Opera
in April as the opera rehearsed its production of Puccini’s
Turandot in the TCU Opera Studio, while TCU rehearsed
and performed the double bill of Antonio Salieri’s First the
Music, Then the Words along with Mozart’s The Impresario.
The performances took place in TCU’s Ed Landreth
Auditorium on April 25–27 with TCU Symphony Orchestra.
Da Capo | 21
The production was designed by Wade Giampa, directed
by Richard Estes, and conducted by German Gutierrez
and Danaila Hristova.
TCU Jazz Ensemble Performs in Italy
The award-winning TCU Jazz Ensemble took its seventh
international concert tour last summer, July 8–19, 2007.
The group was selected (through audition) to give two
performances at the prestigious Umbria Jazz Festival in
Perugia, Italy. Additional performances were given at the
Caruso Jazz Club in Florence and the Fort Worth Sister City
of Reggio Emilia. All together, the jazz ensemble performed
for more than 3,000 international jazz enthusiasts.
TCU Wind Symphony Performs at
National and State Conferences
Through a “blind” selection process, the TCU Wind
Symphony was invited to perform at the College Band
Directors National Association Conference in Ann
Arbor, Michigan on March 29, 2007. This is the first time
that the TCU Band has ever been invited to perform at
this national convention; it is comparable to winning a
national championship. Other performing groups included
University of Michigan, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music,
Florida State University, Indiana University, and the Hartt
School of Music. The group was also selected to perform an
evening concert at the Texas Music Educators Association
(TMEA) convention in San Antonio last spring. It was an
outstanding opportunity to perform for over 2,500 Texas
music educators, as well as the many “all-state” high school
students who attend the TMEA concert—a remarkable
showcase for TCU and the School of Music. The stirring
performance brought the convention crowd to its feet. As
part of the preparation for these events, the Wind Symphony
was visited by two major composers: Pulitzer Prize-winner
Michael Colgrass and John Mackey, a recent winner of the
prestigious American Bandmasters Association Ostwald
Award. Both composers worked with the Wind Symphony
prior to the performances, an amazing opportunity for the
students to learn from living composers who bring insight
to the performance of their music.
TCU Drummers Win International
Competition
We would like to congratulate all of the members of the
Phantom Regiment Drum Corps (from Rockford, Illinois) for
winning the Drum Corps International (DCI) Championship.
This very challenging competition was held in Bloomington,
Indiana and included drum corps and members from all
over the globe. In addition, the regiment won the coveted
Fred Sanford Percussion Award, beating out every other
drum corps for having the best percussion section. These
are very important accomplishments and we are very proud
that TCU was so well represented.
Members of the TCU family who performed with the
Phantom Regiment include Daniel Allen, Michael Garcia,
Buck Palmer, Kelsey Svirsky, Tanner Trigg, and Paul
Rennick, the Phantom Regiment director of percussion
and arranger, and TCU faculty member.
In addition, two other TCU percussionists, RJ Colston and
Russell Wharton, performed with the Cavaliers Drum Corps
(Rosemont, Illinois), who placed third at the DCI finals.
We are very happy to have so many TCU students
participating in this important youth music education
activity.
22 | Da Capo
New Faculty and staff
Lori Filler
Lori Filler joined the TCU School of Music
as Administrative Assistant on September
2. She came to the school of music from
her position in TCU Advancement. Filler
brings a wealth of experience to us, as well
as a genuine love of and devotion to music
and the arts.
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Recognized as one
of the most exciting
conductors
on
the international
scene,
Miguel
Harth-Bedoya has
served as music
director of the Fort
Worth Symphony
Orchestra
since
2000; he joins the TCU School of Music as
Distinguished Guest Conductor.
Under his leadership, both the quality
of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
and its role in the community have grown
significantly. In the words of the Dallas
Morning News, “The transformation of the
FWSO under music director Miguel HarthBedoya continues to amaze.” The Fort
Worth Symphony, conducted by HarthBedoya, made its Carnegie Hall debut in
January 2008. Recently released recordings
of the Fort Worth Symphony include an allTchaikovsky CD and the first-ever bilingual
recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf,
featuring narrations in Spanish and English
with Michael York. Sentimiento Latino, with
Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flores (Decca),
and Alma del Perú, a recording of Peruvian
traditional music with the Orquesta
Filarmonica de Lima (Filarmonika), are also
available.
An active guest conductor, HarthBedoya has appeared with the symphony
orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston,
Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, Montreal, St.
Louis, Seattle, Toronto, and Utah as well
as the Minnesota Orchestra, New York
Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra,
and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In
Europe, he has conducted the London BBC
Symphony, Berlin Symphony, Birmingham
Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, London
Philharmonic, Madrid National Orchestra,
Munich Philharmonic, NDR Orchestra/
Hamburg, Orchestre National de Lyon,
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre
de Paris, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic,
WDR Orchestra/Cologne, and the Zurich
Tonhalle Orchestra, among others. Festival
appearances include Adelaide, Aspen,
Avanti (Helsinki), BBC Proms, Blossom,
Hollywood Bowl (for which he received an
Emmy), Interlochen, Oregon Bach, Ravinia,
and Tanglewood.
Recent and upcoming performances
include subscription concert debuts
with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland
Orchestra, and the National Symphony,
as well as concerts with the Birmingham
Symphony (UK), Sydney Symphony, and
the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Los
Angeles, and Milwaukee.
Equally at home in opera, Harth-Bedoya
has appeared with the Minnesota Opera
conducting Tosca and with the Santa
Fe Opera conducting Osvaldo Golijov’s
Ainadamar with Dawn Upshaw in the leading
role, a production that was also presented
at Lincoln Center in 2006. Mr. Harth-Bedoya
will return to the Minnesota Opera to
conduct Un Ballo in Maschera and other
productions during the next three years.
Next season, he will make his debut with
the Canadian Opera Company directing a
production of the Barber of Seville.
As a result of his exceptional tenure as
Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, Harth-Bedoya returns to the
group every year to conduct a subscription
week. Winner of the 2002 Seaver/NEA
Conductors Award, he has also served
as Music Director of the Auckland
Philharmonia, Eugene Symphony, and the
Philharmonic Orchestra of Lima.
Born in Peru, Miguel Harth-Bedoya makes
his home in Fort Worth with his wife Maritza
and their three children, Elena, Emilio, and
Elisa.
Yuan Xiong Lu
A renowned double bass artist, Yuan Xiong
Lu joins the TCU School of Music as its first
full-time double bass professor.
Lu has won numerous national and
international competitions, including first
prize in the American String Teachers
Association National Solo Competition and
the 16th annual Corpus Christi International
Young Artists Competition. A longtime
member of the San Antonio Symphony, Lu is
a frequent recitalist, clinician, and chamber
music artist throughout the U.S. and China.
He has presented master classes at many
of the world’s most prestigious universities
and conservatories, including Northwestern
University, the Shanghai Conservatory,
the University of North Texas, University
of Hartford, Beijing Central Conservatory,
the University of Texas at Austin, the
Shenyang Conservatory, and the Sichuan
Conservatory. Professor Lu has also given
recitals and master classes as a guest artist
for the International Society of Bassists
Conventions in New York, Interlochen,
Houston, and Oklahoma City. Additionally,
he has served as a jury member for a number
of international double bass competitions,
and as director of the Fifth Texas Double
Bass Symposium in San Antonio.
Prior to joining TCU, Professor Lu served
on the faculties of Baylor University and
University of the Incarnate Word. Most
recently, he was appointed as a Guest
Professor for the Shanghai Conservatory of
Music. A pioneer of
Chinese artists, Lu
holds the distinction
of being the first
Chinese
double
bass recitalist to
perform in China,
in a 1984 concert.
Subsequently, he
has performed as a
soloist with various
orchestras on major
television and radio
programs in China,
including a live, televised debut with the
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 1996. He
has also performed with the Grand Teton
summer festival orchestra, and served
as principal bassist with the Shanghai
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chinese
Virtuoso Orchestra. A graduate of Shanghai
Conservatory and the University of Texas at
Austin, Lu is a native of Shanghai, China; he
became a U.S. citizen in 1998.
Throughout his career, he has worked with
and been associated with many of the
world’s leading artists including Zdenek
Macal, Josef Gingold, Sergiu Comissiona,
Larry Rachleff, and prominent bassists such
as David Neubert, Stuart Sankey, David
Walter, Jeff Bradetich, Paul Ellison, Ed
Barker, Eugene Levinson, Francois Rabbath,
Homer Mensch, and Gary Karr. Critics have
acclaimed him as “a leading double bass
virtuoso, a unique world-class performer.”
Da Capo | 23
FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS
Dr. H. Joseph Butler (organ, Associate
Dean of Fine Arts) performed recitals at
Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong
Kong Cultural Centre, where he also taught
a master class on the organ works of J. S.
Bach. He performed solo recitals at Trinity
United Methodist Church in Wilmette,
Illinois (Chicago area) and at Broadway
Baptist Church here in Fort Worth.
Touring with the TCU Wind Symphony, he
performed at the CBDNA Convention in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at TMEA in San
Antonio. Butler was named an Associate in
the American Guild of Organists, following a
two-day examination in organ performance,
sight-reading, and improvisation, as well as
music history and theory. He was a guest
lecturer at the AGO Regional Convention
held in Dallas in 2007.
Over the summer, mezzo-soprano Jennifer
Carr performed for the Colorado Council
for the Arts and Humanities, bringing
classical music to rural towns in Colorado.
“Music in the Spanish Tradition,” a voice/
piano recital in collaboration with pianist
Dr. Linda Jenks from Colorado University
Boulder, featured music of Granados,
Obradors, Rodrigo, and Latin American folk
music. The concerts aimed to help connect
the Hispanic and Anglo communities
throughout Western Colorado through
music and the arts. Concerts were held in
La Veta, Durango, Mancos, Paonia, and
Rifle, Colorado, and raised money for local
libraries. Carr says, “I taught music for 12
years in Western Colorado before coming
back to Texas. Many of these communities
provide the work force for the big ski areas.
Most of these people are the backbone of
the ski industry, yet cannot afford to live
in the ski towns. Instead they live in small,
isolated, rural areas with long and difficult
commutes. It is always a joy to present
concerts for them, as they are starved
for the arts. It’s a very special thing to
perform for people who really need to hear
something uplifting.”
Dr. Jesús Castro-Balbi (cello) and Harold
Martina (piano) gave a recital at the
EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia
on September 5, 2007, and Castro-Balbi
conducted a master-class there on the
following day. He also performed a program
of chamber music with Clavier Trio at the
University of Colorado-Boulder on October
3, 2007, and gave a master class there on
October 2. Together with Dr. Gloria Lin
24 | Da Capo
(piano), Castro-Balbi presented a program
of cello and piano music, entitled Rapsodia
Latina, on the opening night (October
11, 2007) of the TCU Latin American Arts
Festival in PepsiCo Recital Hall. He also
performed a program of chamber music
with Clavier Trio at Weill Hall, Carnegie
Hall, on October 7, 2007, to a sold out
house and to rave reviews in the New York
Concert Review and Strad magazine.
Castro-Balbi
conducted
the
String
Orchestra (part of the Greater Fort Worth
Youth Orchestra) in 2007 and 2008 concerts.
He has recently served as a judge for the
selection of the Association of Performing
Arts Presenter’s Young Performer’s Career
Advancement awards, and has given
recent master classes at the Paris National
Conservatoire, France and at the Versailles
City Conservatory. Also in the last year, with
Clavier Trio, Castro-Balbi performed in Riga,
Latvia; at the University of Texas at Dallas,
featuring the world premiere performance
of a trio by Robert Xavier Rodriguez; and at
Bargemusic in New York City.
Joe Eckert, TCU’s new full-time Professor
of Saxophone, has had a busy spring.
In February, he was asked to “sub” for
Sir John Dankworth in the Texas Ballet
Theater’s production of “Jazz Royalty,” a
unique collaboration of incomparable jazz
vocalist Dame Cleo Laine, the innovative
jazz composer Dankworth, and the
critically acclaimed dancers of Texas Ballet
Theater. The show ran in Dallas at the
Majestic Theater and in Fort Worth at Bass
Performance Hall. Eckert also presented
a lecture-recital entitled “The Saxophone
from Bach to Bop” at the annual Texas
Music Educators Conference in San
Antonio. Last year, his other performances
included “Temptations” in Dallas, the
Texas premiere of “PREciPice” for Wind
Symphony and Alto Saxophone by Dr. Till
MacIvor Meyn (on February 25), and a
performance and adjudication at the Jazz
Discovery music festival in Rock Hill, South
Carolina. Eckert served as an adjudicator
and guest soloist at TCU’s 30th annual Jazz
Festival at the end of March and also at
the North Texas Jazz Festival in Addison
in early April. May brought a performance
and clinic at East Stroudsburg High School
in Pennsylvania, and the first annual TCU
Saxophone Workshop took place in
June. Eckert continued his various freelance
activities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area over
the summer months and also served on the
faculty of the Texas All Star Jazz Camp, held
at Collin Community College in July.
At the 2007 conference of the National
Association of Schools of Music (NASM),
TCU School of Music Director Dr. Richard
C. Gipson was elected chair of NASM
Region 9. Gipson will serve a three-year
term as chair of the region and will sit on
the NASM Board of Directors. Region 9
includes accredited music schools in Texas,
Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The
TCU School of Music has been a continuous
fully accredited member of NASM since
1949.
Congratulations to Erin Gossett, former
School of Music Administrative Assistant,
for completing her graduate studies at
TCU last May. She received her Master of
Education diploma on May 10. Brava Erin!
David Grogan (voice) stayed busy last
semester, teaching in the Voice Lab,
and finishing up his course work at UNT.
In addition, he also sang the Brahms
Liebeslieder-Walzer at Texas Wesleyan
University (with former TCU professor Julie
McCoy), the Brahms Requiem with the
New Mexico Symphony and the Arlington
Master Chorale, and the Mendelssohn
St. Paul with the Highland Park United
Methodist Church. Dr. German Gutierrez (Director of
Orchestra Studies) takes his first sabbatical
leave from TCU in the fall of 2008 in order
to accept several international guestconducting invitations. Among these
invitations are the Hong Kong City Chamber
Orchestra, the Orquesta de la Academia
del Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona,
and the national symphonies of Peru, Costa
Rica, and Colombia. In addition, Gutierrez
conducted the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
for an unprecedented 12th year as a guest
conductor of the Symphony’s Hispanic
Festival.
Stage Manager Ryan McFarland’s past
year has been full of events that have
brought happiness, fulfillment, and new
beginnings. In June 2007, he was married.
He and his beautiful wife, Shaunna,
met during their college years here at TCU
in 2004. Shaunna is a graduate of TCU’s
School of Education, and she now teaches
kindergarten in Eagle Mountain ISD. Last
November, McFarland was featured in
the TCU Concert Chorale’s annual concert
at St. Stephens Presbyterian Church. He
performed the solo part in “Five Mystical
Songs” for baritone and chorus by Ralph
Vaughn Williams, and loved every second of
it. Finally, this past spring, McFarland began
his studies for the Master of Music in Choral
Conducting at TCU.
Dr. Michael Meckna (music history)
contributed “Looking for Chet Baker: The
Trumpet Player in Fiction” to the March
2008 International Trumpet Guild Journal;
he gave a presentation entitled “Musicians
in Fiction” at TMEA; he wrote an entry on
Cy Coleman for the Scribner Encyclopedia
of American Lives; he contributed “Music
Is Too Important” to the Spring 2007 issue
of the South Central Music Bulletin; he
reviewed books on Brahms, Mahler, Sousa,
and a fictional violinist for Choice: Current
Reviews for Academic Libraries and for the
American Music Teacher; he wrote liner
notes for the TCU School of Music DVD
of Verdi’s Requiem; and he was appointed
Literary Figures editor for the forthcoming
New Grove Dictionary of American Music.
Dr. Till MacIvor Meyn (theory and
composition) joined the faculty in August
2007; during the 2007–08 school year, his
choral piece entitled “Jubilate Deo” was
accepted for publication by Ione Press (a
division of E.C. Schirmer); his percussion
piece “Groovelocity,” performed by the
Percussion Art Ensemble, appeared on
Dark Wood, a CD released by Youngstown
State University; and he enjoyed several
performances of his works, both in
Texas and further afield. Among those
were “Red/Blue” for clarinet and piano,
premiered by Gary Whitman and Janet
Pummill at ClarinetFest 2008 in Kansas
City; “PREciPice” for Wind Symphony
and Alto Saxophone, given its Texas
premiere by professor Joe Eckert and
the TCU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and
its South Carolina premiere by Dr. James
Umble at the Biennial National Saxophone
Congress; and “Piano Suite,” given its
Texas premiere by TCU graduate student
Avguste Antonov. Meyn is a National
Arts Associate for Sigma Alpha Iota
International Music Fraternity, for which his
commissioned “SAI Symphony,” a choral
work, was given its premiere last spring
by the Alpha Nu chapter. He collaborated
with Dr. Martin Blessinger to host a TCU
student composers’ concert in Pepsico
Recital Hall last semester. Meyn joined
Schola Cantorum of Texas last year, for
which he performs as a bass singer.
Last spring, Sue Ott (Administrative
Assistant) received her 10-year-service
pin from TCU. She expects to graduate
with her Master of Liberal Arts degree in
December 2008. In addition to her work at
the School of Music and her studies, Ott
has been teaching “Learn to Sew” classes
for TCU Extended Education.
Janet
Pummill
(Coordinator
of
Accompanying;
Staff
Accompanist)
performed in many recitals and concerts
during the last school year, including those
by faculty, students, divisions, ensembles,
guest artists, as well as new faculty audition
recitals and concerts. She continues to
perform with Clavivoce, the four-piano,
four-voice ensemble with her three
daughters, Sallie, ’93, ’95; Amy, ’96, ’00;
and Julie ’02, ’05. Other concert venues
included Music at Westminster, Oklahoma
City; Midland Opera Association Gala;
Duncanville Community Concert; concerts
for Schola Cantorum as an organist; as
well as the Modern Art Museum as an
accompanist and featured soloist with
Canto. In addition, she accompanied for
six sessions for the Elementary Division,
TMEA. Pummill’s composition “Gloria in
Excelsis Deo” was performed on several
occasions by the following ensembles:
the TCU Chorale at the Chancelor’s
Convocation, TCU Chorale and Orchestra
at the Christmas concert, TCU Choral
Union, NY Pops with Doc Severinson,
Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra,
Community Choirs, and Rockport-Fulton
High School Choir. This composition was
also selected to be performed by the
TCU Chorale and Orchestra at the Annual
Campaign Gala. Summer engagements
included North Carolina Choral Institute of
Summer Art in the Blue Ridge Mountains;
featured soloist and accompanist for a
series of concerts for Canto Choir, Cherry
Spring Summer Festival; accompanist for
Gary Whitman for the International Clarinet
Association, premiering a new work by Dr.
Till MacIvor Meyn; accompanist for All
State Summer Camp, TCU; and pianist for
Bloys Campmeeting Association in the Fort
Davis Mountains. A special highlight of the
summer was filming the birth of her third
grandchild.
Kristen Queen (Administrative Assistant)
gave birth to Madelyn Anne Queen at
11:17 pm on Thursday, July 24, 2008. The
mother and daughter (and dad) are doing
great. Congratulations Kristen!
Dr. Kenneth Raessler, Director of the
School of Music and Professor Emeritus,
has had a busy professional life since his
retirement. His first book, Aspiring to Excel:
Leadership Initiatives for Music Educators
(2003, GIA Publications) is already in its
second printing. Partially autobiographical
and partly educational, the book has been
listed in a recent publication as “one of the
top ten books every educator should have
in their library.” Amazon.com has it listed
as a five-star book. TCU is mentioned many
times in the work, particularly in the chapter
on music in higher education. Raessler has
presented keynote addresses for 16 state
music education conferences since his
retirement and has served as clinician for
over 30 state, national, and international
conferences. He has also contributed
several chapters to a recent book by James
Jordan entitled The Musicians Walk (2006,
GIA Publications) as well as to The School
Choral Program: Philosophy, Planning,
Organizing, and Teaching (2008, GIA
Da Capo | 25
Publications). Also, Raessler has served for
three summers as the founding Executive
Director of the Samuel Barber Summer
Institute at West Chester University in
Pennsylvania along with teaching week-long
summer seminars at Villanova University
and Westminster Choir College.
Paul (percussion) and Sandi Rennick
are proud new parents: Their daughter,
Catherine Maeve Rennick, was born on July
12, 2008.
In addition to his annual faculty recital at
TCU, Gary Whitman (clarinet) was a guest
performer at the “Cliburn at the Modern”
series, presenting music for clarinet and
piano by Osvaldo Goloijov. He participated
in two world premieres involving TCU
faculty. The first was “Venice Suite” by
Elena Sokolovsky with Trio Con Brio,
including Misha Galaganov, viola, and
John Owings, piano, during the Faculty
and Friends Chamber Music Series at TCU.
The second premiere was at ClarinetFest
2008 in Kansas City, Missouri, where he
performed “Red/Blue” by TCU composer
Till MacIvor Meyn, accompanied by Janet
Pummill, piano.
Whitman continues to perform as bass
clarinetist with the Fort Worth Symphony. He
traveled and performed with the orchestra
at Carnegie Hall in New York City in January
2008. As a member of the orchestra, he
participated in the Texas premiere of
“Angels in America” by Peter Eutvos during
the 2008 Fort Worth Opera Festival.
On September 1, 2008, he began a twoyear term as President of the International
Clarinet Association. The ICA is a
worldwide organization of 4,000 clarinetists
representing 35 countries. He will travel to
Porto, Portugal, to coordinate ClarinetFest
2009.
Professor Whitman presented a clinic
on the All-State audition music for soprano
clarinets at the 2008 Texas Bandmasters
26 | Da Capo
Association Convention in San Antonio; he
continues to administer and teach at the
TCU Summer Clarinet Workshop for high
school students, with Andrew Crisanti and
Victoria Luperi.
Director of Jazz Studies and Professor
of Music Curt Wilson had the following
compositions published this past year:
“Fantasy Variations for Wind Ensembles”
(Really Good Music), “Rainbows” elegy for
tuba and band (Shoop publications), and “A
Lite Touch” for jazz ensemble (Walrus Music).
In addition, he had two arrangements for
jazz trumpet ensemble published by Triplo
Music: “Short Stop” and “Sophisticated
Lady.” Notable performances of some of
Wilson’s arrangements included “Christmas
is Here” and “Christmas Triptych” for choir
and orchestra by the Fort Worth, Corpus
Christi, and Las Vegas symphony orchestras,
and “Bells Across the Snow” by John
Giordano (choral arrangement by Janet
Pummill; orchestral arrangement by Curt
Wilson) by the New York Pops at Carnegie
Hall and the Corpus Christi Symphony. His
commissioned arrangement of the Antonio
Carlos Jobim’s “Medley” for clarinet sextet
was performed at Clarinetfest in Vancouver,
British Columbia by the Texas Clarinet
Consort. In addition, his arrangement of
“Deep in the Heart of Texas,” written in 1996
for the TCU Marching Band, was used as the
finale of the 2007 Houston Bowl and was
performed by the combined bands of TCU
and the University of Houston. Wilson has
just completed his 10th season as conductor
of the Fort Worth Symphony Concerts in
the Garden Big Band. On October 7, his
“Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra” will be
premiered by the TCU Symphony Orchestra,
John Giordano, and Dr. Curt Thompson.
ALUMNI NEWS
Eugenia Edwards Schuler ’54 set Psalms
119, 19, and 1 to music of Johann Sebastian
Bach. Her works were performed at “A Bach
Birthday Celebration” concert on March
16, 2008, at the First United Methodist
Church in Kerrville, Texas. A story about
her work was featured in Kerrville Daily
Times on March 15. She was also awarded
a commission from the Stevens Point City
Band for a composition celebrating the
150th anniversary of the City of Stevens
Point. The new piece, SUNSET: Passacaglia
for Band, was premiered on July 16.
James Sharp ’58 was a student of Emmet
G. Smith while at TCU. Under his guidance,
Sharp was awarded a Fulbright scholarship
to study organ and organ literature in
Copenhagen, Denmark, with Herr Finn
Videro. His other degrees are a MM in
Organ from the University of Michigan, and
a PhD in Organ and Theory from Michigan
State University. After 10 years of teaching
at the college level, he attended seminary
and was ordained an Episcopal priest in
1974, then ordained as a Catholic priest for
the Diocese of Dallas in l984. Sharp served
several parishes in Dallas, the last being St.
Michael the Archangel, Garland. During
his tenure there, he oversaw the raising of
money for the building of a three-manual
organ. He retired from active ministry on
January 1, 2006, and now lives in Garland
with his wife, Beverly. Sharp has always
considered being a student of Professor
Smith not only an honor, but a privilege,
calling Smith a great teacher and friend, and
adding that TCU was very fortunate to have
Smith’s years of service to the university.
Sandy Keathley ’68, after teaching at
various colleges for almost 30 years, got
bored and changed careers. He taught
himself computer programming and is
now Senior Programmer and Application
Architect for a national leader in the vehicle
service contract industry. He reports that
the abstraction of reading music is a huge
logical asset for a programmer, and that
there are many musicians who have entered
his field.
L. Edward Sizemore ’68 married Barbara
Skirven Lamb on June 24, 2007. In late
September, they moved to Davenport,
Iowa, where Barbara began her new job as
Head of School for Quad Cities Montessori
School. In July, they moved again, this time
to Corpus Christi, Texas, where Barbara
accepted an administrative position with
a large Catholic school. Ed continues his
writing, working with local newspapers and
the classical music radio stations.
Ann Milford Koonsman ’68 is honored to
continue serving as President of the Fort
Worth Symphony Orchestra Association
for more than two decades. Their most
recent successes have been the launching
of a Mahler Cycle; over the span of three
years (August 2007, August 2008, and
August 2009) the FWSO will perform the
complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler. As
the resident company of Bass Performance
Hall, the orchestra made its debut on the
stage of Carnegie Hall in January 2008
to critical acclaim. Koonsman is currently
serving as Chairman of the International
Board of Visitors for the College of Fine
Arts at TCU, and, as such, she has been
greatly involved in biannual galas, which
raise funds designated for scholarships
and special projects in the college. She is
married to businessman Ron Koonsman,
and they have a son, Brandon, a daughterin-law, Lori, and three grandsons, Parker,
Hudson, and Griffin Koonsman.
Retired Metropolitan Opera baritone
Ryan Edwards ’71, recent recipient of
the National Opera Association’s Lifetime
Achievement Award, is also author of The
Verdi Baritone, an exploration of dramatic
character in seven great operas. Now
available in a new paperback edition by
Indiana University Press, this best-selling
book is featured in the Metropolitan Opera
International Radio Broadcast study guides
and is also listed as recommended reading
by La Scala, La Fenice, and the New Grove’s
“Verdi and His Operas.”
Ann Low Reego ’72 is currently employed
in Knoxville, Tennessee at The Webb School,
an independent day school. Ann teaches in
the middle school and has performing choirs
in all three grades. Six years ago, they added
hand-bells to the curriculum, and she now
has six hand-bell choirs in the middle school
and two in the upper school. When Ann
left TCU in 1972, she had aspirations to be
a high school choral director. She got a job
in Edinburg, Texas at South Middle School
and by Christmas knew that she would never
leave that age group. In 1975, she married
Jim, who now has recently retired from his
career with General Mills. With his job, they
moved all over the country: San Antonio,
Houston, Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis,
before settling in Knoxville 21 years ago.
In 1982, Ann took a 13-year hiatus from
teaching to have two daughters, Sarah and
Allison. During that time, she never really
quit teaching music: Ann served as children’s
music director in several churches and, in
1989, founded the Farragut Children’s Choir,
a community chorus for children in grades
3–5. Outside of school, she enjoys sewing,
cooking, and traveling with Jim—usually to
see their children and grandchildren. She
would love to hear from other music students
who were in her classes, especially members
of the A Capella choir from 1968–72.
Susan Michelle Malone ’76 has served as
Co-Director of the Arlington ISD All-City
Choir since the fall of 1990. At first, she was
Co-Director of the All-City Boys Choir, and
currently she co-directs the Boys and Girls
Choir, which was one of four elementary
school choirs invited to perform for the 2008
TMEA convention. The choir’s performance
was in Lila Cockrell Theater on February
15, 2008. Susan is now in her 23rd year
of teaching at Corey Elementary School
and in her 28th year with the Arlington
ISD. She received her Bachelors of Music
Education from Texas Christian University
and a Masters of Music with Emphasis in
Kodaly Pedagogy from Sam Houston State
University. She also received certification in
Orff Schulwerk from Southern Methodist
University.
Larry Wolz ‘76 just completed his 30th year
as Professor of Music at Hardin-Simmons
University in Abilene, Texas. His research,
writing, and lecturing has centered on Texas
for a number of years now. During the spring
semester 2008, he presented a lecturerecital for the Villa Maria Song Salon series in
Houston on the topic “Home on the Range:
Art Song in Texas.” Wolz also presented a
paper at the national conference of the
Society for American Music meeting in San
Antonio, entitled “Carl Beck (1850–1920):
Father of the Orchestra in Texas.” Wolz was
the only American scholar invited to present
a paper at a symposium on Flemish music
sponsored by the Center for Flemish Music
Studies at the Flemish Royal Conservatory
on March 18, 2008. The topic of the lecture
was “The Songs of Frank van der Stucken
(1858–1929): Music of Two Continents
and Two Traditions.” The Fredericksburg,
Texas-born conductor and composer Frank
van der Stucken is honored in Antwerp as
a Flemish musician because he studied
there with Peter Benoit, the founder of the
Flemish nationalist music movement during
the 19th century. Wolz is still working on a
monograph on the life and works of Frank
van der Stucken, the first internationally
known Texas-born musician.
V. Laura Bozeman ’78 attended the 12th
World Piano Pedagogy Conference as an
adjudicator for the Most Wanted Piano
Competition last November. Last year,
she was a piano instructor for the Choir
School of East Texas in Tyler, and she will
continue as the director of class piano for
the incoming students this fall.
Candace Bawcombe ’78, ’80 entered her
third year as Organist/Choirmaster/Chief
Liturgical Officer at St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church in downtown Fort Worth. She has
begun a new nonprofit program, Friends
of Music at St. Andrew’s, which serves as
a presenter of international choral artists.
Bawcombe serves as Artistic and Executive
Director of the program. She remains
on the board of directors of the Dallas
Chamber Music Society, Inc. as a program
chair, presenting Emerson String Quartet
and the finest musicians in chamber music
today to the local audiences. The monthly
Wednesday at Noon recital series at St.
Andrew’s continues to feature local talents
to a growing downtown audience, including
home-schooled children in the metro
area. This year, in addition to a couple of
organ concerts, Bawcombe performed
violin-and-piano recitals, touring with
Florence Schwartz from Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and Curt Thompson from TCU,
and playing with her husband, violinist
Andrew Schast, on the Dallas Symphony
Orchestra Chamber Music at the Nasher
series. Her 12-year-old daughter, Cateline,
continues to study piano along with figure
skating and organ, and her 4-year-old son,
William, studies violin.
Rev. Dr. Joe and Bobbie Hendrixson ’79:
Joe is the Regional Director of Church World
Service; Bobbie was recently appointed as
the Assistant Director of Mental Health for
the state of Kansas. They have two children,
Lyndsay Jo (’06) and Caleb, a sophomore in
high school. Both children are musical like
their parents: Lyndsay Jo is a French horn
player, and Caleb is a clarinetist.
Kerry Hughes ’81 has been a member of
Yanni’s recording and touring band since
early 1994. On all of his broadcast videos
and CDs since that time, Kerry has recorded
live videos in such venues as the Taj Mahal,
India; Forbidden City, China; Royal Albert
Hall, London; Toji Temple, Japan; and, most
recently, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in
Las Vegas. In the fall of 2008, the next Yanni
video will be shot in Acapulco, Mexico.
Hughes has also toured throughout the
world with numerous Broadway companies.
While on a recent Yanni hiatus, Hughes has
thoroughly enjoyed giving back through
private trumpet instruction, guest clinics
and master classes, band camps, and
adjudication, as well as freelance performing
and recording.
Rebecca Mack-Wilson ’83 is presently a
music teacher.
Da Capo | 27
Al Holcomb ’84 co-authored an article on
music-teacher mentoring to be published
in the Journal of Research in Music
Education. He recently reunited with former
members of TCU Concert Chorale, Randy
Lacy, Robert Cruhm, Tom Boswell, and
Lorinda Lee, to perform in a Hill Country
music festival. They were accompanied by
Janet Pummill and directed by TCU alum
Brent Ault.
Brian Benison ’85, with his company
(www.brianbenisonmusic.com),
recently
completed music preparation recording
sessions with Vanessa Williams, Monica
Mancini, and Al Jarreau. They also
completed work on Kenny G’s new album
Rhythm & Romance. In addition, they are
doing music preparation for all shows of
new client George Benson. Upcoming
projects include a new album, featuring
Placido Domingo, and a new opera, Rio de
Sangre, by Don Davis, the composer of the
music for the Matrix movies. The business
is now also renting orchestral scores and
parts of classical and jazz compositions to
orchestras around the globe.
Patricia Bivens ’86 is the Associate Director
of Bands at Carson-Newman College in
Jefferson City, Tennessee, where she directs
the marching band, brass ensemble, and
jazz ensemble. She also teaches the low
brass studio and music education courses.
In September 2008, she will begin course
work on a Doctorate of Musical Arts in
Music Education at Boston University.
Stephen (Mickey) Coover ’87 has had the
pleasure of teaching kindergarten through
second grade music (someone has to have
the patience) for 20 years. He is still single.
He has a screaming three-piece rockand-roll band in Austin, Texas. Stephen
also plays double bass, harp, steel guitar,
and various other guitar applications. He
plays live music and does some recording
sessions, too.
For Amy Detrick Allibon ’89, the academic
year 2007-08 has been eventful. She has
beaten cancer (lymphoma), conducted
the Haltom A cappella Choir at TMEA in
February 2008, was elected President-Elect
of TCDA, lost her mother, and changed
jobs. She is teaching part-time at Watauga
Middle School as the assistant director. She
is also looking forward to conducting the
numerous region choirs this year in addition
to the 2009 Arkansas All State Treble Choir.
28 | Da Capo
John Michael Hutchinson ’89, ’91
completed his fifth year as Director of
Music, Worship & Arts and organist at the
Cumming First United Methodist Church
in Cumming, Georgia, and he finished
his 24th year as organist for the Bloys
Camp Meeting Association outside of
Fort Davis, Texas. Over the course of the
past year, through the auspices of the
church, he commissioned and premiered
a service of Christmas Lessons and Carols
for multiple choirs and chamber orchestra.
He established the first annual Festival
of Arts with over 200 participating visual
artists, over $10,000 in juried award money,
multiple concert settings, and an estimate
of over 3,000 people in attendance. During
the year, John performed as organist with
the North Georgia Symphony, premiered
his original organ scores for the silent
Laurel and Hardy comedy shorts “Habeas
Corpus” and “Liberty,” and was guest
organ soloist at the historic Trinity United
Methodist Church with proceeds benefiting
the restoration project for the city’s oldest
playing Austin organ, built in 1912.
Alan Luke Burton ’90, though he has
a non-musical career, is still an active
freelance musician in the Dallas area.
Angela Gipson ’90, ’92 is in her eighth year
at Kerr Middle School in Burleson, where
she is affectionately known as “G-Dawg.”
Larry Wayne Morbitt ’93 has been
engaged in his 13th year with the Phantom
of the Opera and has performed in their
newest production called Phantom, the Las
Vegas Spectacular at the Venetian Resort
and Casino. He is still playing the principle
role of Ubaldo Piangi, the opera tenor. He
continues to do extensive concerts across
the country, particularly gospel.
Donovan Wygal ’94 continues teaching
music at Stripling Middle School, where
many of our budding music teachers
observe his rehearsals and classes.
Beth McGinnis ’95 serves as an organist at
the Vestavia Baptist Church and continues
to teach music history and musicology at
nearby Samford University in Birmingham,
Alabama.
Steve Andre ’96 just served a term
as president of Texas Music Educators
Association.
Guadalupe Rivera, Jr. ’96 is currently
completing DMA in Choral Conducting
at the University of Arizona. As a member
of a conducting master class, he studied
with Maestro Helmuth Rilling during the
summers of 2006 and 2007 at the Oregon
Bach Festival. Rivera has been a guest
conductor of the Corpus Christi Cathedral
and Symphony Christmas Pageant and a
guest conductor of FWISD High School
Honor Choir Festival. Last year, he returned
to Dallas-Fort Worth area to sing in Dr. Tim
Seelig’s last concert with the Turtle Creek
Chorale.
Sara (Beth) Pempsell ’97 received her MM
from University of New Mexico in 1999.
Currently, she works as a middle school
band director.
Jonathan Wallis ’96 was ordained a
Roman Catholic priest for the Diocese of
Fort Worth on July 7, 2007.
Katarina Boudreaux ’98 performed in a
showcase of the Potable Dorothy Parker
Theater in lower Manhattan; was the guest
artist for Uncle Charlie’s midtown; and
booked the Reprise Room at Dillon’s for
a jazzaret program in June with Michael
Thomas Murphy.
Ava Mason Pine ’98 spent the summer
of 2007 in Chautuaqua, New York,
apprenticing with their opera company.
She sang Frasquita in Carmen, Sophie
in Werther, Lady Larken in Once Upon A
Mattress, and covered Adina in Elixir of
Love. During the 2006–07 season, Pine
became the first young artist in residence
with the Dallas Opera, performing small
roles in four productions. In March 2007,
she made a return appearance with the
Dallas Symphony, singing Messiah and
Bach’s Mass in B Minor. During the season
of 2007–08, she returned to Dallas for four
more productions and also debuted with
the Fort Worth Opera, singing the role of
the Angel in Angels in America. In reviewing
the Texas Camerata’s April 5, 2008, concert
at the Modern Art Museum, Punch Shaw
wrote “Pine’s rendering of selections from
[J.S. Bach’s] BWV 82, in which every note
emerged fully shaped, perfectly honed,
and without the slightest taint of strain, was
so gorgeous and enthralling that it felt as
if Bach was speaking directly to us with no
score in between.”
Lance Beaumont ’99, ’02 has been
appointed Assistant Professor of Music at
Howard Payne University, where he heads
up the guitar program and teaches music
history and music technology.
Brandon Moore ’99 is working as a
freelance film composer in Los Angeles.
Some of his work can be seen and heard at
www.brandonmooremusic.com.
Jill Dibrell Nennmann ’00, ’02 was
appointed Director of Music and Organist
at Saint Joseph church in Wilmette,
Illinois, in an historic parish in a northshore Chicago suburb. She is responsible
for coordinating all liturgies, including
musical planning, cantor training, and
the development of the Parish Choir, St.
Cecilia (Children’s) Choir, Handbell Choir,
and Schola Cantorum. Saint Joseph church
also has an outstanding fine arts program
that includes multiple special concerts/
liturgies presented by the Music Ministry
each year, as well as a series of visiting
recitalists.
John Pasquale ’00 completed the Doctor
of Musical Arts degree in conducting from
the University of Oklahoma in May 2008.
Currently, he is hired as the Assistant
Director of Bands and the Associate
Director of the Marching and Athletic
Bands at the University of Michigan.
Donny Pinson ’00 married Melissa Ward
Pinson in June 2008. He earned a doctorate
(DMA) in performance from University of
North Texas in August 2008. Currently,
he performs on trombone throughout
the Dallas-Fort Worth area and maintains
a large teaching studio. He also has his
own website at www.donnypinson.com.
Kimberly Holleman Randolph ’00, Dave,
and big brother Cooper Austin are pleased
to announce the birth of Ethan James on
September 4, 2007. Dave is the IT Officer
for Northstar Bank of Texas and Kim is an
independent consultant for The Pampered
Chef. They reside in Corinth, Texas.
Julián Gómez-Giraldo ’01 (MM in
Conducting), ’03 (MM in Theory and
Composition) worked as the Director of
Choral Music education and Associate
Director of Choral Activities at the
University of Northern Colorado until last
summer. Since August 2008, he has a new
position as the Director of Orchestras at
Eastern Washington University. His choral
music is currently being published by Hal
Leonard Corporation.
Genevieve Bennetts Zelaya ’01 and her
husband Rafael ’03 moved to the Houston
area in the summer of 2007. After six years
as a successful middle school band director,
Genny moved over to the field of counseling.
She currently works as a middle school
counselor in Pearland, Texas. She graduated
in December 2007 with a master’s degree
in school counseling from the University of
Houston-Victoria.
Andres Franco ’02, a former conducting
student of Dr. German Gutierrez, was
appointed in August 2007 as Assistant
Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony
Orchestra (FWSO). According to Maestro
Harth-Bedoya, the music director of the
FWSO, Franco has been one of the most
liked and respected assistant conductors of
the FWSO in recent years.
Unkyoung Teresa Kim ’02 is now CEO
of Global Artistic Management. Her
performance DVD was released in Europe
last year. She organized a Peace Concert
in Korea on May 23 at the Parliament to
remember Berlin gold medalist marathoner
Son Kijung. This project will continue
throughout the world.
Courtney Mlinar ’02 is the assistant library
director at Cottey College and a freelance
musician in the Kansas City area. She is
currently serving as the Vice-Chair for the
Missouri College and Research Library
division of the Missouri Library Association
and on the Instruction Section Website Task
Force for ALA. She performed clarinet and
chamber music recitals at Cottey College on
April 9 and at Vacation College on May 24.
Marcos Balter ’03 received his PhD from
Northwestern University, where he now
teaches theory and composition.
Christina Hager ’03 is ending her time as
the Mezzo Resident Artist at the Shreveport
Opera, where she most recently performed
Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro. She was
extremely excited to be heading back to
the Dallas-Fort Worth area to sing Dorabella
with the Living Opera in June 2008. In the
fall, Hager will move to New York City.
Elisa Williams Bickers ’04, ’06 will enter
her third year of doctoral study at KU, and
she continues to be the organist at First
United Methodist Church in Lawrence,
Kansas. This last year, she was a semifinalist
in the National Young Artists Competition
in Organ Performance, and she was recently
hired as professor of organ and church music
at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.
John Angeles ’05 is currently performing
with the touring company of STOMP, a
percussion group that performs rhythmic
sounds with various items such as
basketballs, lighters, sinks, garbage cans,
oil drums, brooms, and more. They have
done television commercials and have been
performers on various television shows. The
group began in England, and tours in the
US and internationally. STOMP performed
at the Dallas Fair Park Music Hall in June
2008.
Jeremy Lewis ’05 was appointed Assistant
Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at West
Texas A & M in Canyon, Texas. Lewis
attended Indiana University and received
his MM degree in Tuba Performance after
graduating from TCU. He spent the past
year teaching tuba and euphonium in
the Fort Worth area. If you would like to
contact Lewis, his e-mail address is jdl3@
alumni.iu.edu.
Betina Pasteknik ’05 now lives in
Lausanne, Switzerland. She has a great
chamber music group with clarinet and
piano; they really like to work together, and
they have concerts in Paris and Lausanne.
Pasteknik takes lessons with Pierre Amoyal.
Last year, a wealthy sponsor gave her a very
nice Italian violin made in 1750 in Milan.
The violin looks amazing and sounds very
good!
Rumen Cvetkov ’06 has lived in Mannheim,
Germany since December 2007. He has
many solo recitals and chamber music
concerts throughout Europe, collaborating
with
such
musicians
as
Bernard
Greenhouse, Peter Rainer, Roger Chase,
Vladimir Mendelsohn, and many others.
He has played a few times as a solo violist
of Kammerakademie Potsdam, one of the
finest chamber orchestras in Germany, and
he is working with them from time to time
on chamber music projects. Roger Chase
invited Cvetkov for a solo recording he
did in London of British music for
multiple violas. The CD is going to be out
very soon.
Da Capo | 29
Jason DeWater ’06 was appointed Principal
Horn of the Omaha Symphony.
Brian Lockard ’06 now lives in Flagstaff,
Arizona. In February, he recorded a CD with
composer/violinist Jonathan Levingston
of Levingston’s original works. Lockard
is currently teaching privately and
accompanying performances at Northern
Arizona University.
performance major Andrew Fowler was
selected through a national audition
to perform in the Disneyland Band in
Annaheim, California last summer.
Graduate cello student Ignacy Grzelazka
received the Faculty & Friends Chamber
Music Series Award and performed in the
Faculty & Friends Chamber Music Series
Cole Ritchie ’06, ’08 has been accepted
into the musicology PhD program at UNT.
Silvia Nuñez ’07 performed solo with Fort
Worth Symphony in Peru in October 2007.
The composer Enrique Iturriaga, who is 90
years old now, said “I did not write this music
for any voice in particular, but it sounds so
good in yours—what a delicious sound!”
The most important newspaper in Peru, El
Comercio, published a very complimentary
review about Nuñez’s performance.
Leah Barnett Rockwell ’07 married Brian
Rockwell in August 2007. They live in Fort
Worth. Brian works for an oil and gas
company. Leah is currently teaching at
Southwestern Assemblies of God University
as a voice instructor. She is also teaching
at several schools in the Birdville ISD. In
addition, she has started her own music
company, AuthoriPay, Inc. You can look
them up at www.authoripay.com.
on September 17, 2008. During the last
season, he performed solo concertos with
the Youth Orchestra of El Paso, the Youth
Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth, and the
TCU Cello Ensemble.
Freshman cellist Hyung-Joo Kim was a
winner of the concerto competition and
Congratulations to Stephanie Odabashian,
winner of the TMEA 2008 College Student
Essay Contest. Her essay, “Passionate
about Music Education,” appeared in
the May 2008 issue of Southwestern
Musician. Odabashian is a junior music
education major; she studies with San-ky
Kim and Sheri Neill.
Senior cellist Taide Prieto won a scholarship
to pursue graduate studies at the Eastman
School in Rochester, New York. She also
received the Faculty & Friends Chamber
Music Series Award and performed in the
Faculty & Friends Chamber Music Series on
November 5, 2007. Together with another
cello student, Ignacy Grzelazka, Prieto
performed Vivaldi’s Double Concerto with
YO String Orchestra (part of the Greater
Fort Worth Youth Orchestra) on October 21,
2007 at St. Rita Catholic Church. They were
also the featured soloists in this concerto
with the TCU Cello Ensemble on March 29,
2008 in Dallas and on April 5 at TCU.
Many congratulations to Jake Remington,
who successfully completed an audition to
attend London’s prestigious Royal Academy
Adam Stout is serving as a cruise ship
musician aboard such vessels as the Disney
Magic.
Hannah Mowery finished her doctoral
work at Rice University, with a dissertation
entitled “Unification by Replication: Music,
Architecture, and the Imperial Image of
Ercole I d’Este.”
STUDENT NEWS
Jazz studies graduate assistant Micah Bell
was selected by Jazziz magazine as one of
the college students to be represented on
the publication’s annual Best of College
Jazz CD, distributed in the fall of 2007 in
all of their magazines,
all over the world.
Bell’s jazz combo is
performing one of his
original compositions,
“Late
September—
Friday Morning!”
Junior
30 | Da Capo
trumpet
performed with the TCU Symphony in
February 2008. He has been invited to
perform with the Fort Worth Symphony
Orchestra in the fall of 2008.
Peter Kutin, a graduate viola student, was
accepted on full scholarship to several
music festivals last summer. During the
Music in the Mountains festival in Durango,
Colorado, Kutin had several successful solo
and chamber music performances.
Graduate cello student Andrés Felipe
Jaime was offered scholarships to attend
Temple University and TCU, and he opted
to stay at TCU in the orchestral conducting
graduate program. Jaime was also invited
to participate in the Festival Orquesta
Sinfonica Juvenil de las Americas in Puerto
Rico in June 2008.
of Music. Remington went to London this fall
to study; he will return to TCU to studentteach in the spring and to graduate. It
should be noted that he had to complete
a graduate-level material for this audition.
Remington will be joining TCU percussion
alum Manny Arciniega, who is already in
London working on his graduate degree.
Graduate viola student Andrey Yarovoy
was featured as one of only two TCU School
of Music students in a broadcast of the TCU
radio station last spring. He was invited to
attend Hot Springs Music Festival in June
along with fellow undergraduate violist
Fabricio Cavero Farfan.
TCU organ student Sunny Yu distinguished
herself in the 36th Annual Wm. C. Hall Organ
Competition held in San Antonio, taking
second prize overall and first prize in hymn
playing. On March 26, Yu gave birth to a
healthy baby girl, Christina, weighing 7 lbs.,
14 oz. Congratulations to John and Sunny!
IN MEMORIAM
Dr. Donna Edwards, who was on the TCU
faculty for a
number of years
and was also
a Dallas MTA
teacher, passed
away
from
liver cancer on
March 17, 2008.
A
memorial
service was held
at
Believers
Chapel
in
Dallas.
Noah A. Knepper (1921–2007), former TCU
music faculty
member and
associate dean
of
graduate
studies
in
Fine
Arts,
passed
away
September 10,
2007. He retired
in 1990 from
TCU,
where
he
taught
performance,
composition,
and conducting. He played widely in area
symphony orchestras and dance bands,
and, from the 1960s through 1980s, was a
fixture in the orchestra pit at Casa Mañana.
Judith Anne Solomon (1943–2007), an
associate
professor
emeritus
of
music at TCU,
died peacefully
on December
22, 2007. Family
services were
held in the
Beth-El Section
of Greenwood
Memorial Park.
Please see further story in this issue of Da
Capo
12 | Da Capo
ORDER NOW! 2008 TCU Jazz CD “Just Friends.”
This double CD contains nearly 30 great big band compositions, including
the work commissioned by TCU for Curt Wilson’s 30-year celebration, The
Sun Will Shine Today, by legendary Hollywood film composer Pat Williams,
as well as his Grammy-nominated work Concerto In Swing, featuring Professor Gary Whitman. Hear TCU’s new professor of saxophone, Joe Eckert,
on a Curt Wilson original, entitled A Lite Touch. Other great titles include
Georgia, O Sole Mio, I Thought About You, Bill Bailey, Caravan, Satin Doll,
Tuxedo Junction, and many more! Plus, the CD contains exciting guest performances by internationally famous soloists.
Only $20 - Checks payable to TCU Jazz
JUST FRIENDS order form (please send with check)
Name_____________________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________________
City______________________________ St.____________ Zip______________
Number of CDs _________
Amount included _________ (make checks payable to TCU JAZZ)
Send to:
Toni Parker
TCU BAND
Box 297500
TCU School of Music
Fort Worth, TX 76129
Da Capo | 31
proudly presents an unforgettable performance of
Carl Orff’s legendary Carmina Burana
by the Fort Worth-TCU Symphonic Choir and
TCU Symphony Orchestra
Monday, February 9, 2009
7:30 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall
Ronald Shirey, Conductor
Also featuring performances by the
TCU Wind Symphony & Jazz Ensemble
Admission is free, but seat reservations are required.
www.music.tcu.edu - 817.257.6349
Non-Profit Org.
US Postage
PAID
Ft. Worth, TX 76129
Permit No. 2143
TC U S chool of Music
Texas Ch rist i an Uni ver si ty
TC U Bo x 29 75 00
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