CLA: School of Music News

School of Music vocal students recently distinguished themselves at the Minnesota NATS student auditions in Collegeville, MN. Semi-finalists included:

• Julia Ennen, student of Jean del Santo
• Renee Ullrich, student of Jean del Santo
• Tim Murray, student of Jean del Santo
• Laura Modglin, student of Adriana Zabala
• Seth Bovis, student of Philip Zawisza
• Kristin Elliott, student of Adriana Zabala

Finalists in their respective divisions included:

• Ben Dutcher, student of John De Haan
• Stephanie Broussard, student of Jean del Santo
• Shelby Joy Adams, student of Jean del Santo
• Shelly Mihm, student of Philip Zawisza
• David Morgan, student of Jean del Santo
• Brennan Blankenship, student of Adriana Zabala
• Robert Riordan, student of Philip Zawisza

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 3:32 PM | Permalink

Wei Zheng (D.M.A. candidate, voice, student of Jean del Santo) is the North Central Region winner of the biennial National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award and will represent the U of M School of Music at the national NATS convention in Orlando this summer.

Posted by Jennifer Schmitt at 2:36 PM | Permalink

The U of M School of Music is pleased to announce the 2011 Craig and Janet Swan Composer Prize, a national competition for new works for wind ensemble. The 2010 Craig and Janet Swan Composer Prize for Mixed Chorus was awarded to Zvonimir Nagy for his work Cantus Jubilus. Guidelines and an application for the competition are available on the School of Music website. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, June 30, 2011. Read more.

Posted by School of Music Pubs and Public Rel at 2:53 PM | Permalink

Marvin O. Mechelke II Piano Award Competition

The Mechelke Scholarship Competition is for undergraduate piano majors, and is held at the Mechelke home every other year in the spring. The next competition will take place on Friday evening, April 29, 2011.

Eligibility
The competition is open to any talented full-time undergraduate student in the College of Liberal Arts majoring in piano performance, music education/therapy, or a Bachelor of Arts in Music, whose instrument is piano and who has not already won the award. All applicants must be in good academic standing, carrying at least 13 credits per semester and have a GPA of at least 3.0.

Repertoire
Contestants must choose at least two contrasting works with a total playing time of 10 to 20 minutes. A second piano will be available for duo or concerto repertoire. Selections should be complete works or movements, not excerpts. Cuts are not allowed, but repeats may be omitted. Contestants should be prepared to make some brief introductory remarks about their repertoire (as time permits).

Winner's Encore
After the judges have announced their decision, the winner shall perform, as an encore program, one or more additional selections from their repertoire totaling 10 to 15 minutes in length, again withbrief introductory remarks about the music.

Award
The winner will receive a cash prize of $1,500, to be used as needed to further their musical education at the University of Minnesota. At the discretion of the judges and with approval of the Mechelkes, an additional award of $500 may be awarded to the second-place winner. (Second-place winners may compete a second time, but those who have won two second-place awards are no longer eligible to compete.)

Judges
The jury shall consist of three individuals selected by the School of Music: an active School of Music faculty member not from the keyboard division, and two more individuals chosen from the local music community. The decision of the judges is final.

Application forms should be submitted to Rebecca Shockley by April 13, and repertoire information should be submitted by April 22.

mechelkeCompApplicationE.pdf

Posted by School of Music Pubs and Public Rel at 11:07 AM | Permalink