CLA: School of Music News

Heath Mathews (Ph.D., 2007, music composition, student of Alex Lubet) was selected as a recipient of the 2012 Jerome Fund for New Music (JFund Award), funded by the Jerome Foundation in partnership with the American Composers Forum. Now in its 31st year, JFund supports the production of new musical works by emerging composers. Composers apply in conjunction with an ensemble or presenter. Mathews will receive funds to compose a new work for the Minneapolis group Duo Zeno. The composition will include alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, percussion, electronics, and video.

Lynn M. Sargeant (B.S., 1989, music education, student of Charles McDonald), associate professor of russian history at California State University, Fullerton, was awarded the 2012 Bela Bartok Award for outstanding ethnomusicology book from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for her book, Harmony and Discord: Music and the Transformation of Russian Cultural Life (Oxford University Press, 2011). Her work on the history of Russian music and music education has appeared in a variety of journals, including Russian Review, Music and Letters, Nineteenth-Century Music, History of Education Quarterly, and Paedagogica Historica.

Maria Schneider (B.M., 1983) is featured in the article "Maria Schneider ready to make a big splash" in the Star Tribune. The Maria Schneider Orchestra will perform this week at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. Find out more.

Dale Warland (M.A., 1960, music composition) is included in the The American Classical Music Hall of Fame's class of 2012. Cincinnati.com states in the article "Hall of Fame announces inductees in a gala (and cold) affair" that Warland was "founder of the acclaimed Dale Warland Singers and a champion of contemporary American composers of choral music." Read the article or visit ACM's Walk of Fame page on Warland.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 3:48 PM | Permalink

Matthew Rahaim's (musicology/ethnomusicology) book Musicking Bodies: Gesture and Voice in Hindustani Music is now available on Wesleyan University Press. Rahaim will discuss his new book at the U of M Bookstore, Coffman Memorial Union on Thursday, November 29 at 4 p.m. Rahaim will sign copies of his book following the discussion. Learn more on the U of M Bookstore website.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 3:44 PM | Permalink

Congratulations to the following School of Music students who were Thursday Musical Competition winners for 2012. Judges for the competition included SOM alumni Susan Billmeyer and Loren Fishman and former faculty member Lawrence Weller. For a list of all the winners, including private students of SOM faculty members, visit the Thursday Musical Competition website.

• Lauren Lammers, soprano - College Level, Advanced Voice, first place (student of Jean del Santo)
• Tara Loeper, soprano - College Level, Advanced Voice, second place (student of Barbara Kierig)
• Stella Wiering - College Level, Piano, second place (student of Paul Shaw)
• Nathaniel Yaffe, cello - College Level, Strings, first place (student of Tanya Remenikova)
• Angelika Strub, violin - College Level, Strings, honorable mention (student of Sally O'Reilly)
• James Hodges, clarinet - College Level, Winds, first place (student of Alexander Fiterstein)
• Lucas Hopkins, saxophone - College Level, Winds, second place (student of Eugene Rousseau)

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 3:04 PM | Permalink

Look for University Opera Theatre's production of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein's Parables, directed by David Walsh, on Twin Cities Public Television this fall! The first Parables broadcast will take place on Sunday, October 28 at 8 p.m. Find more times.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 3:03 PM | Permalink

David Zinman (1963, M.A., composition) is included in the The American Classical Music Hall of Fame's class of 2012. Cincinnati.com states in the article "Hall of Fame announces inductees in a gala (and cold) affair" that Zinman was "the former music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (1985-98) and 1985 to 2009 director of the Aspen (Colo.) Music Festival. He is a noted mentor and teacher of conductors, and his recordings have won five Grammy Awards." Read the article or visit ACM's Walk of Fame page on Zinman.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 2:58 PM | Permalink

Mark Bjork (violin and pedagogy) presented a talk "Now go Home and Practice, But How?" to the fall clinic of the Minnesota String and Orchestra Teachers Association (state chapter of American String Teachers Association) on October 18.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 2:50 PM | Permalink

Gear up for this Saturday's Collage Concert celebrating composer and faculty emeritus Dominick Argento by reading this U of M News story "Setting life to music" on Argento.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 2:05 PM | Permalink

Matthew Bribitzer-Stull's (music theory) article "From Nibelheim to Hollywood: The Associativity of Harmonic Progression" and Karen Painter's (musicology/ethnomusicology) article "Depoliticizing America's Wagner in the Nazi Era" appear in The Legacy of Richard Wagner, edited by Luca Sala and published by Brepols Publishers.

Alexander Fiterstein (clarinet) recently performed three concerts with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as soloist in Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with conductor Thomas Dausgaard. Of the performances the Star Tribune wrote "Alexander Fiterstein proved a mercurial and sure footed soloist, fully equal to Nielsen's virtuosic and histrionic demands" and the Pioneer Press wrote "The Nielsen Concerto proved a fabulous forum for the skills of soloist Alexander Fiterstein." This week Alexander Fiterstein performs the same concerto in Columbia, SC with the University of South Carolina Symphony.

Jerry Luckhardt (bands) is featured in the Star Tribune article "Sweet, but deafening, sound of music" on ear protection and health risks for musicians. Also featured in the article is Luckhardt's daughter, Emily Luckhardt, who is drum major of Rosemount High's marching band.

Guerino Mazzola (creativity, improvisation, and mathematical music theory) was invited to deliver the annual William Poland Lecture in Music Theory at Ohio State University. The prestigious William Poland Lecture has been given by leading lights in the field of music theory since 1990, among them David Lewin and Richard Cohn.

Sally O'Reilly (violin) was interviewed for the article "3 Steps Along the Road Toward Greater Musical Confidence" by Christopher Roberts in the November issue of Strings Magazine.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 1:53 PM | Permalink

Congratulations to the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mark Russell Smith on being selected to receive this year's Minnesota Chapter of American String Teachers Association (MNSOTA) Meritorious Orchestra Award. The award will presented at MNSOTA's Fall Clinic on October 18 at Capitol Hill Magnet School in St. Paul. Registration information and more.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 1:49 PM | Permalink

School of Music professor Dean Sorenson (jazz) has been chosen as a 2012 ASCAP Plus Award recipient. These awards, made by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, reflect their continuing commitment to assist and encourage ASCAP composers. Awards are granted by an independent panel and are based upon the unique prestige value of each writer's catalog of original compositions as well as recent performances in areas not surveyed by the Society.

Posted by marsh396 at 4:02 PM | Permalink

Look for University Opera Theatre's production of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein's Parables, directed by David Walsh, on Twin Cities Public Television this fall! The first Parables broadcast will take place on Sunday, October 28 at 8 p.m. Find more times.

Parables on Twin Cities Public Television is a Minnesota partnership production and is a co-production of the University of Minnesota School of Music and Twin Cities Public Television with additional funding from Douglas and Andrew Reeves in honor of their parents, J.B. and Julie Reeves. Learn about University Opera Theatre's current season here.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 2:06 PM | Permalink

Andrew Staupe (M.M., 2007, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) has joined the roster of Gingrich Arts Management in New York, which will book concert engagements for him beginning in the 2013-14 season. This week, Staupe is soloist in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Missoula Symphony in Montana.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 2:03 PM | Permalink

The Ancia Saxophone Quartet, which includes faculty member Angela Wyatt (saxophone), will perform in Sateren Auditorium at Augsburg College on Thursday, October 11 at 7 p.m. The concert will feature Ives' String Quartet No. 1, Alexander Glazunov's Quartet, William Albright's Fantasy Etudes and selections by Astor Piazzolla. The concert will conclude with Will Gregory's High Life, a groove-based piece featuring the soprano saxophone, based on the West African pop-influenced musical style of the same name. Admission is free and open to the public. Visit Ancia Saxophone Quartet's website for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 1:40 PM | Permalink