Grad Students

Music student finds inspiration at the gateway to Antarctica

Anonymous — Wed, 04 May 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Music student finds inspiration at the gateway to Antarctica Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/04/2022 - 00:00

Kenna Bruner

Lydia Wagenknecht was 5 when she began taking piano lessons. Although she loved the sound of the music, she wasn’t keen on practicing. So, being from Wisconsin, Wagenknecht’s mom bribed her young daughter with cheese to entice her to practice.

The strategy must have worked since Wagenknecht can now play the piano more skillfully and is a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s College of Music.

“While singing in a high school choir, I realized I wanted a career as a music teacher,” she says. “Music is something I’ve always been excited about. But I’m interested in a lot of things, not just playing the piano. I’ve been interested in learning to speak Spanish, other languages, history, activism and ecotourism. I love how ethnomusicology brings so many elements together and allows me to work with people and tell stories, which is something I’m excited about.”

Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its social and cultural contexts. Wagenknecht began scholarly work in the field to delve into questions of equity, justice and ecotourism. She has even come to embrace Chilean musical activism. It all makes a good fit for combining her many interests into a cohesive career.

An initial interest in German/Chilean musical interactions from the 20th century piqued an interest in Chilean immigration in general. That interest brought the city of Puntarenas into focus; located in the southern peninsula of Chile, the city has a connection for many researchers who study weather and climate change in Antarctica.

“Punta Arenas is like an Antarctic research hub,” says Wagenkencht, recent recipient of a Fulbright Research Award to conduct research in the area. “Since the Colonial era, it’s been growing into a cosmopolitan area with people of different backgrounds coming and going, especially now since it’s a jumping-off point for travel into Antarctica.

“Musicians in Punta Arenas are becoming climate activists. The direction I’m going with my research now is looking at the many musicians who are changing their artistic focus in the wake of the evolving makeup of that area.”

In addition to her research interests around the evolving Punta Arenas musical scene, Wagenknecht is involved with Soundscapes of the People, a project of the American Music Research Center. Soundscapes is based in Pueblo, Colorado, and is being led by �鶹��Ѱ��ethnomusicologists Susan Thomas and Austin Okigbo, along with �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder alumna Xóchitl Chavez from the University of California, Riverside. The project is documenting the music and culture of Pueblo and the surrounding area, and will result in a digital archive of interviews and performances that will be accessible to the public through the University of Colorado Libraries. Soundscapes was recently awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research program.

“Pueblo has a rich culture and history, and has a very vibrant music scene,” Wagenknecht says. “It’s a steel mining town, and that brought in workers and others from all over the world.”

As an Engaged Humanities and Arts Scholar, Wagenknecht is also collaborating with K-12 teachers in Pueblo using some of the recordings and interviews from the Soundscapes project to create materials for teachers to use in music classrooms. “I have a soft spot in my heart for K-12 music,” she says. “That’s how I got my start.”

Wagenknecht grew up in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. After graduating magna cum laude from Wisconsin Lutheran College in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in wide-range music education, she taught classroom music in Wisconsin. Wanting to teach at the college level plus a desire to live near mountains led her to �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder.

In 2020, she received the Joann W. Kealiinohomoku Award for Excellence at the Rocky Mountain Music Scholars’ Conference. She is president of the Graduate Musicology Society, and has presented her work at national and regional conferences.

In her free time, she serves as a church musician, trains for ultramarathons and works on her self-described “mediocre” rock-climbing skills with her husband Austin, a graduate student in applied math at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder. He has an interest in the mathematics of music applications and signal processing.

Curiosity drives Wagenknecht. “I’m a curious person and I always want to learn more,” she says. “Doing research about Punta Arenas will allow me to use my skills, training and knowledge to do something that I feel impacts our understanding of how climate change is affecting lots of people. The Soundscapes project will disseminate musical knowledge into classrooms and for public awareness.

“I care about all of this. I care that my research will help us understand something in a more broad-based way that we didn’t understand before.”

Curiosity drives Lydia Wagenknecht, a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology and recent recipient of a Fulbright Research Award. “I care that my research will help us understand something in a more broad-based way that we didn’t understand before,” she says.

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Building blocks of human betterment

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Building blocks of human betterment Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/21/2022 - 00:00

John Davis

Susanne Langer—philosopher and educator renowned for her theories on the influences of art on the mind—defined music as “a laboratory for feeling and time.” I would add that music is essential to human betterment.

This Spring alone, from the war in Ukraine to fires in our own backyard—on the heels of a two-year (and counting) pandemic and accelerating repercussions of global climate change—it can be difficult to stay focused, to be creative. And yet, in the steady success of our students (meet Outstanding Graduating Senior Nelson Walker), alumni and faculty, I’m convinced that what we do at the College of Music is more important, more relevant than ever. Because what we do is create the building blocks of human betterment—of ourselves, one another and our world.

As I reflect on the past academic year and look forward to the next one, I’m moved by our accomplishments and motivated by our mission to develop and nurture the universal musician. I consider it a profound privilege to ensure that our programs and practices increasingly support a compassionate community, transcending differences and difficult times. It’s through this lens that our faculty and staff, too, aim to guide, empower and elevate our talented and remarkably resilient students.

It’s understandable to feel helpless and to ask “What can I do?” While there’s no playbook for the unprecedented and the unknowable, a shared commitment to betterment provides anchorage and inspires action. The way I see it, by channeling collective despair into collective creativity, we become artistic entrepreneurs, contributing to society in impactful ways:

Among too many recent student successes to name, Nelson Walker’s composition “Untitled [wind]” is his processing of—and reflection upon—the devastation of the Marshall and Middle Fork fires. Meanwhile, first-year master’s student Kedrick Armstrong landed on The Washington Post’s 2022 “Composers and performers to watch” list, representing the College of Music among diverse composers, performers and artists who are “hitting their stride with work that resonates with the right now.” As well, the Ivalas Quartet—our Graduate String Quartet in Residence, studying with the Takács Quartet—won Grand Prize and First Prize in the national Coltman Chamber Music Competition; and our exceptional trumpet studio had unprecedented success at the National Trumpet Competition, winning three out of five collegiate divisions (large ensemble division, small ensemble division and military excerpts division) and placing second in the graduate solo division.

Among wide-ranging faculty achievements and well-earned accolades, Professor of Music Education James Austin was inducted into the Colorado Music Educators Association’s Hall of Fame earlier this year; and Susan Thomas—the College of Music’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity + Inclusion, Director of the American Music Research Center and Professor of Musicology—was recognized for her leadership and service by the Boulder Faculty Assembly this month. The Soundscapes of the People project she co-directs was just awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research program. Additionally, a new book—“In Search of Inspiration: Interviews with Notable Choral Conductors”—by Director of Choral Studies Gregory Gentry features 15 choral conductors, each answering fundamental questions about how they shaped their achievements; and, on April 30, Chair of Musicology and Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology Austin Okigbo will explore how we create music in response to pandemics, and how musicians impact public health and healing from pandemics at TEDxMileHigh.

Such examples of the College of Music’s community engagement and artistic entrepreneurship in composition, performance, scholarship and research inspire me every day. I’m confident that, through music, our students, alumni, faculty, staff and supporters will continue to contribute to the betterment and benefit of the world we inhabit. Stay tuned for our spotlights next week featuring the impact and influence of 2022 Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient Damani Phillips and 2022 Distinguished Service Award recipient Judith Glyde.

With proud congratulations to our Spring 2022 graduates, I wish you a rejuvenating summer!

Photo: Dean Davis interacts with Conducting Chair and Director of Bands Donald McKinney. On Tuesday, April 19, the �鶹��Ѱ��Wind Symphony—conducted by McKinney—performed “The Battle for the Ballot” by Stacy Garrop. Her piece celebrates the centenary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. Also on the program was “I wander the world in a dream of my own making” by composer Christopher Theofanidis. Join us on April 26, when the �鶹��Ѱ��Symphony Orchestra premieres Theofanidis’ “On the Bridge of the Eternal.” Originally commissioned by the college in 2020, the debut of this work was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“While there’s no playbook for the unprecedented and the unknowable, by channeling collective despair into collective creativity, we become artistic entrepreneurs, contributing to society in impactful ways.” In this year-end reflection on triumphs over turmoils, Dean Davis offers his perspective on music as essential to human betterment.

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Two �鶹��Ѱ��music Buffs among ‘composers and performers to watch’

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Two �鶹��Ѱ��music Buffs among ‘composers and performers to watch’ Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/02/2022 - 00:00

Kenna Bruner

“I was so happy with CU’s commitment to diversity.
I’ve seen that reflected in so many ways. It’s been instilled in their program and is in the foreground.
It’s important for schools to dig in as innovators and leaders in preparing musicians.”
˜Kedrick Armstrong

Recently, The Washington Post published an article that listed “22 composers and performers to watch in 2022.” The list of classical musicians included two �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder College of Music students: Kedrick Armstrong, a first-year master’s student in orchestral conducting and composer Anthony Green, who attended the Doctor of Musical Arts program from 2008 to 2012.

The list “represents a diverse variety of composers, performers and artists hitting their stride with work that resonates with the right-now,” classical music critic Michael Andor Brodeur wrote in this Jan. 22 Post piece.

A young conductor takes up the baton

Armstrong, 27, has recently guest conducted with the Chicago Opera Theater, the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Chicago-based RIZE Orchestra.

In its profile, the Post noted that Armstrong had “taken a lead role in confronting issues of diversity in classical conservatory curriculum.” An open letter Armstrong wrote in 2020 to the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music garnered nearly 1,000 signatories and “led to sweeping changes to concert repertoire,” according to the profile.

Driven to learn more about music created by Black composers, Armstrong discovered the Helen Walker-Hill collection housed in the American Music Research Center at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder. Professor Walker-Hill was an author of books on Black female composers and had amassed a collection of their works.

“I was immediately drawn to this music because much of it in the archive had not been published, performed or recorded,” Armstrong said. “I became obsessed with these composers and their music. That led me to enroll at CU.”

Armstrong was working full-time in Chicago as a church music director and freelance conductor. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the resulting unrest, he felt compelled to examine his music education and saw a lack of diversity in what he had been taught. He was driven to re-educate himself to try to learn about the music of people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.

“I made the decision to pave the way for future students so they can know there is this deep and rich legacy of these composers and performers,” he said.

Armstrong knew he wanted to be a musician from a young age. His early experience came in the churches of South Carolina, where he played gospel music. As he grew up, he attended music schools and summer music camps and found his focus shifting to classical music. Along the way, his gospel identity fell by the wayside.

“A lot of that part of myself got lost during my years of formal studying,” he said. “I felt far removed from who I was as a young musician. But from my research, I learned there is a rich diversity of Black composers and musicians in classical music, and that really started driving the question of: Why wasn’t I taught about them as I grew up? It lit a fire in me to find a way to give a voice to something I didn’t realize I had when I was in school.”

Armstrong continued, “I was so happy with CU’s commitment to diversity. I’ve seen that reflected in so many ways. It’s been instilled in their program and is in the foreground. It’s important for schools to dig in as innovators and leaders in preparing musicians. While there is still work to do, �鶹��Ѱ��is doing an amazing job.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in music history, he began applying to schools for conducting opportunities. He was turned down everywhere he applied because he was told he was “too young and inexperienced.”

But his energy and fortitude opened doors for him. Eventually, he found an opening at DePaul University’s Opera Theatre and will lead a production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide there this June. He’ll also be making his subscription debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago next season.

“I made the best of the opportunities I’ve been given,” he said. “I feel like the happiest boy in the world sometimes.”

Inspired by Motown + mathematics

The Post's article noted that Anthony Green, too, had “taken a lead role in confronting issues of diversity in classical conservatory curriculum.” It described Green, 37, as a “prolific composer and multidisciplinary artist” and “a dynamic and unpredictable composer” who “uses music to investigate art and history and challenge existing models.”

“This mention in the Post feels like an affirmation,” Green said. “The way I lead my career is to use whatever opportunity I get to try to help other people. Particularly young black composers and young queer composers. What the article meant for my career is hopefully to continue this work of helping others and bringing awareness and social justice to classical music.”

In 2013, Green co-founded Castle of our Skins, a Boston-based concert and education organization centered on Black artistry, where he is the associate artistic director and composer-in-residence. Through his work and research with this organization, he came to a musical and personal epiphany about the contemporary world of classical music.

“As soon as we can overcome these antiquated, outdated and niche methods of education and performance, then we can bring this greater message to everybody that music is music,” he said. “And this music is not exclusionary.”

After finishing his master’s degree, Green applied for an ATLAS fellowship in the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at CU. When he came to Boulder for the first time and met the faculty, Green was happy to learn they were “eclectic and experienced,” and he felt he could thrive at CU.

When Green was in kindergarten, his teacher would play melodies on an old upright piano. Green watched his hands and carefully listened to the notes and then would play the melodies himself. From a young age, he was exposed to a wide variety of styles of music based on the tastes of the music people around him were listening to. Living in Providence, Rhode Island with his mother and brother, Green heard gospel and easy listening music. His older brother’s tastes gravitated to neosoul, rap, hip-hop and R&B, and some of Green’s close high school friends introduced him to alternative rock, heavy metal and pop. In the summer, he and his brother would visit their father in Arlington, Virginia, where he would listen to Motown, funk and jazz.

Green has many works and engagements in progress. He has been performing and teaching internationally in places including New York and Kenya. And he has taken advantage of opportunities in Vienna, Prague and Berlin.

In February, the Artaria String Quartet along with string players from Walker West Academy premiered his composition “Joy Diptych” in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Over the last year, Green composed a concert-length piano sonata that centers on the life and legacy of author James Baldwin. Commissioned by pianist Jason Hardnik, who will perform the premiere in Salt Lake City in March. A second performance in June will happen in Rhode Island, the home state of both Green and Hardnik. This concert was partly funded by Green’s second piano teacher, Dr. Donald Rankin.

In the fall, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble in San Francisco will perform a new chamber opera titled Tenderhooks. Using an adult comedic libretto by Mark Labowskie, Tenderhooks is an examination into how periods of isolation during a pandemic can cause people to confront themselves and become painfully aware of certain negative mindsets and behaviors.

“I work with visual artists, movement artists, spoken word artists, culinary artists, historians and designers,” Green said. “My focus is Black artistry through music.”

Green likens his creativity as a faucet with a constant flow of ideas that rarely turns off.

Recently, The Washington Post listed “22 composers and performers to watch in 2022.” Included were two �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder College of Music students: Kedrick Armstrong, a first-year master’s student in orchestral conducting and composer Anthony Green, who attended our Doctor of Musical Arts program. Be inspired by the impressive trajectory of their careers and learn how both confront issues of diversity in classical conservatory curriculum.

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2022 Honors Competition winners announced

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 00:04:15 +0000

2022 Honors Competition winners announced Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/22/2022 - 17:04

Sabine Kortals Stein

The College of Music's annual Honors Competition is always an exciting event when both undergraduate and graduate students hope to land the opportunity to perform with the �鶹��Ѱ��Symphony Orchestra in the fall.

On Feb. 20, flutist Courtney Badura (BM '23) and violinist Reuben Kebede (AD '22) took the "gold."

Badura performed Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Flute and Strings No. 1, Op. 45, accompanied by Collaborative Piano Instructor Hsiao-Ling Lin. Kebede—a violinist with the Ivalas Quartet, the college's Graduate String Quartet in Residence—performed Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 80, accompanied by pianist Madoka Asari. Honorable mentions include cellist Matthew Wiest and mezzo soprano Gabrielle Razafinjatovo.

Says Kebede, "It means a great deal to me to have won the Honors Competition for a few reasons. Most importantly, I’m thrilled to be able to return to �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder next year to work with Maestro Lewis and the talented students in the �鶹��Ѱ��Symphony Orchestra to bring this wonderful but rarely performed concerto to life. It’s such a beautiful and dynamic piece, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s orchestration is sublime. I always find it incredibly rewarding to share music by underrepresented composers and I’m confident the audience will take to this work.

"Winning the competition this year also taught me a lesson on the power of perseverance. Two years ago, I made it to the finals of the competition but did not win. Last year, I did not make it to the finals. As with anything in life, it’s important to remember that the road to success is rarely a straight line and things are likely to work out in your favor eventually if you put in the work.

"Lastly, I’d like to sincerely thank my peers and colleagues for their support through the process and, of course, my excellent teachers Ed Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes for everything they’ve done for me."

Adds Badura in reflecting on her experience, "Winning the Honors Competition means receiving a really amazing opportunity to share myself and my music with others. As musicians, we spend a lot of time by ourselves in practice rooms making mistakes, learning and growing on a personal level. And when we finally get to perform, it means sharing that intimate side with the audience. We get to say, 'Here I am, here's my music and I hope you'll love it as much as I do.'"

She continues, "The Malcolm Arnold concerto is a really special piece because it has everything I love about music. It has fun and interesting harmonies, witty motives, poignant heartfelt moments and that firecracker of a finale. There's so much opportunity to say something with the notes and to share many different characters with the audience.

"I'm excited to work with the orchestra and to interact with the piece in the way it was intended to be played. All of the charming moments of the piece are brought out even more with the support of the whole orchestra. It will be really special to collaborate with all of those amazing musicians to bring this piece to life."

Congratulations to all our students who participated in this year's competition and to those who advanced to the final round:

Undergraduate competition

Courtney Badura, flute
Matthew Wiest, cello
Anna Kallinikos, trumpet
Luke Lozano, piano
Asha Romeo, soprano

Graduate competition

Reuben Kebede, violin
Gabrielle Razafinjatovo, mezzo soprano
Cade Braynen, piano
Tiani Butts, violin
Sarah Cain, soprano
J.T. Holdbrooks, bassoon
Noah Mennenga, trumpet
Lisa Read + Sophia Oehlers, oboes
Michael Winkler, trumpet

To enjoy the winners' performances in the fall semester, visit cupresents.org for details.

On Feb. 20, flutist Courtney Badura (BM '23) and violinist Reuben Kebede (AD '22) took the "gold." Congratulations!

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Alumnus explores depths of new music with current grad student

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Alumnus explores depths of new music with current grad student Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/15/2022 - 00:00

Alumnus Aakash Mittal (BM ‘07) has been busy. His album “Nocturne”—released at Dazzle Denver last fall, and on which he’s joined by Rajna Swaminathan on mridangam and Matt Fuller on guitar—has been featured on The New York Times playlist. His awards and honors further include the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, the Herb Albert/ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award and an American Institute of Indian Studies Creative and Performing Arts Fellowship.

Currently, as a Composer Fellow of the Gabriela Lena Frank* Virtual Artist Partnership Program, the Brooklyn, New York-based alto saxophonist, composer and improviser is collaborating with student MarieFaith Lane—who’s pursuing a master’s in violin performance and pedagogy at the College of Music—on a project blending Hindustani and Western Classical music.

We recently caught up with Mittal and we’re inspired to share his unique approach to creating a new solo work for violin, and his perspectives on the evolution of his artistry and career.

Describe the Virtual Artist Partnership Program and what it’s been like to collaborate with the College of Music.

The Virtual Artist Partnership Program is a new initiative through the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. In collaboration with Harumi Rhodes’ studio, nine composers and nine violinists are collaborating to create and premiere new solo works for violin. I have very little experience writing for strings, which makes this a very exciting project for me.

I am thrilled to be paired with MarieFaith Lane. She’s been a wonderful collaborator. We began our process with a few weekly sessions over zoom. During these online hangs, we spent some time improvising together by trading phrases between saxophone and violin.

As a composer, I rarely write a piece for an instrument. I am much more interested in writing a piece for the human who is performing the work. I find that musical improvisation helps me get to know the people I am working with. In jazz communities, it’s said that our improvised music reflects our personalities. I think there’s a lot of truth to that. MarieFaith spent quite a bit of time answering my questions about the violin. We imagined various ways to make sound that don’t necessarily fit into the standard technique.

Last December, we had a workshop session with Gabriela and Harumi. The seed idea I submitted was derived from vocal melodies I had sung. The phrases utilized a lot of bends between pitches called meend. As I had transcribed my voice to create the sketch, the range of the piece was very narrow. I’m looking forward to fleshing out the work with MarieFaith in the coming weeks as we work toward the premiere. Stay tuned!

How did you ignite a successful career as a composer, performer, band leader, producer … and more?

When I reflect on my career thus far, it strikes me that many of the projects that I felt were the most successful creatively and had the best reception were projects I started before receiving any kind of support. These were projects that I started because of the contribution I wanted to make artistically or to a particular community.

I often started these projects feeling like I had no idea what I was doing and that I was learning how to create the work while I was creating the work. Except for my most recent album, this is how all of my recordings, and most of my body of work and collaborations, came to be.

My latest foray into writing for wind ensembles started with a call to my first saxophone teacher and fellow �鶹��Ѱ��alumnus Matthew Arau. I shared my idea to bring what I was learning about raga music to wind band literature. He challenged me to not wait for funding or anything else and to jump in and “write the first two minutes.”

Taking the first step to start a project is often the hardest part. Challenging myself to write the first two minutes kickstarted a very successful new branch of my creative work that continues to flourish.

Having majored in saxophone with an emphasis in jazz studies at the College of Music, we’re interested to know your career highlights since graduating from �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder.

Two highlights of my career that come to mind immediately are working with Milford Graves and studying music in Kolkata, India.

When I moved to New York City, I met the legendary drummer, healer and martial artist Milford Graves when he was playing at the Village Vanguard. My time with him from 2015 until his passing last year transformed my life and my work. He was one of the most decolonized people I have ever met. He helped me to shine a light on the belief systems that I was taught over the years, and to liberate myself and my art from them.

This work has impacted my music technically, in the ways I improvise, as well as how I approach timbre and pitch. It has also affected the positionality of music in my life. Milford Graves was a polymath. Music was only one aspect of his creative work. Witnessing his process helped me to further embrace the many sides of my own creativity and allow them to exist together.

In 2009, I started taking lessons in Hindustani raga music with sarod artist Prattyush Banerjee. This eventually led me to live in Kolkata with a fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. During that time, I performed with Bengali folk musicians in the Baul tradition. I played with Ravi Shankar’s tabla player Tanmoy Bose. I joined an underground community of artists who created original creative music out of myriad influences and a sense of necessity. And I experienced the pedagogy of aural traditions, and learned that there are many ways to learn and rehearse music.

These experiences not only impacted my music but also my life view. I have a better understanding that there are many ways to live that are different from the cultural practices in the United States. It’s my hope that, as I continue to decolonize myself, it will be reflected in my music and support people who are on a similar journey.

My latest news is that I recently released a recording, “Nocturne.” The album documents the music I composed during my fellowship in India. The concept behind it is to reimagine the idea of the nocturne through the lens of Hindustani night ragas, free improvisation and urban noisecapes. The album is a mix of instrumental music tracks that each utilize a specific raga as the seed material. They are interspersed with sound collages of urban street noise I recorded while traversing Kolkata. I wanted to place the composed noise tracks next to the composed instrumental tracks and challenge our ideas around noise and music.

The day after the release, I went into the studio and started recording a new set of music—“Breathe”—composed for an octet, including two vocalists and three string players along with my usual trio of mridangam, guitar and saxophone. For this project, I’m writing songs and lyrics for the first time, which I feel very excited about.

What experience at the College of Music had a lasting impact on your career?

When I attended �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, there was a student group that I joined called the Coalition for Creative Music. It was run collectively by a group of students from across campus. Every �鶹��Ѱ��student paid one dollar into our budget giving us an annual budget of about $30,000 to put on a concert series. All of the concerts were held at Old Main and were free to the public. Without any pressure to sell tickets or fill the hall we had the freedom to program whatever creative music we wished. It was through this group that I learned how to produce concerts.

As a composer and band leader, being able to produce my own concerts has been one of the most important skills I learned while at CU. As young people do, we made all kinds of mistakes. I remember one concert where, 15 minutes before the show, the lights person had still not shown up. Simultaneously, myself and another coalition member said, “Didn’t you book him for tonight?” We realized no one had scheduled someone to come in and run lights!

The coalition was a safe space for us to gain experience without the pressure of making a profit. For each concert, we had to figure out promotion, airport pickups, booking hotel rooms, per diems, negotiating artist fees and curating a year-long series.

I developed more compassion for presenters and the decisions they make when putting together a concert series. And it helped me as an artist to understand what goes into presenting a concert. We were often faced with 20 or 30 bands all vying for one of six concert dates. We had to say ‘no’ a lot. I learned that when presenters say ‘no,’ it's often not personal.

It was also through this student group that I formed numerous friendships and found mentors that would continue to support me and my career. My relationship with Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer formed through the Coalition for Creative Music. I got to meet John Hollenbeck and Robert Dick. And I met Rez Abbasi, Dave Phillips and John O’Gallagher. Many of these friendships created opportunities that led to my current band and latest album. If a student is interested in a career in creative music, I highly recommend they gain experience as a concert presenter.

Related:

Jazz: Colorado native Aakash Mittal returns (September 7, 2021, Denver Post)
Milford Graves: Sounding the Universe (An essay by Aakash MIttal for NewMusicBox, February 1, 2018)

*Gabriela Lena Frank—American pianist and composer of contemporary classical music—headlines the College of Music’s 5th Annual Distinguished Lectureship on Music, Diversity + Inclusion next month. More to come!

Photo by Luke Marantz

Brooklyn, New York-based saxophonist, composer and improviser Aakash Mittal is collaborating with current master’s student MarieFaith Lane on a project blending Hindustani and Western classical music.

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Remembrance, resilience + forging our future

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Remembrance, resilience + forging our future Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/27/2022 - 00:00

John Davis

As I write to you from the 2022 Colorado Music Educators Association’s Clinic/Conference in Colorado Springs this week, I’m energized by the College of Music’s critical mission to inspire and equip the teachers, performers, composers, scholars and innovators of tomorrow.

At the same, we’re now in the third year of a global pandemic and the recent Omicron surge, among other factors, resulted in a remote start this semester. While we’re back in person now, the College of Music family also joins our broader community in healing and recovering from the devastation of the Marshall Fire, nearly one month ago. Additionally, many of us were deeply saddened to learn of violist Roger Tapping’s recent passing. In 1995, Tapping had relocated from London, England, to join our Takács Quartet; during his decade with the quartet, their Decca/London recordings—including the complete quartets of Bartók and Beethoven—placed them in Gramophone magazine’s Hall of Fame and won three Gramophone Awards, a Grammy and three more Grammy nominations. Especially, he was beloved among his students, collaborators and audiences for his luminous talent and deep sense of humanity.

Yet even as we bear witness to loss and unknowable challenges with compassion and care, I see us rebounding with resilience again and again—undeterred in our shared quest for excellence, dogged in our pursuit to inform and influence what it means to be a successful, fulfilled creative artist in an increasingly diverse and interdisciplinary musical landscape.

Most immediately, here at the annual CMEA gathering of educators, I’m so proud to join friends and colleagues in celebrating and recognizing alumna Carrie Proctor (BME ’19), the most recent recipient of the CMEA Outstanding Young Music Educator Award; and Professor of Music Education James Austin, the latest inductee in the CMEA Hall of Fame. Says Associate Dean for Graduate Studies Margaret Berg, “I can think of no one more deserving of this prestigious award than Jim, given his wide-reaching and impactful professional accomplishments, commitment to excellence and unwavering dedication to the K-12 music teaching and music teacher education professions. Jim’s influence on the K-12 music teacher and music teacher education landscape, both in Colorado and nationally, is truly inspiring.”

Additionally, since the start of the year, I was thrilled to learn that first-year master’s student Kedrick Armstrong (orchestral conducting) landed on The Washington Post’s “composers and performers to watch” list, and that alumna mezzo-soprano Claire McCahan won the 47th National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Artists Awards competition ... to note only a few highlights in a steady stream of impressive achievements among our students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Meanwhile, back on the Boulder campus, newly appointed Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity + Inclusion (DEI) Susan Thomas—who also directs our American Music Research Center and serves as professor of musicology—and Diversity and Outreach Coordinator Alexis McClain, our newest staff member, are deeply dedicated to further ensuring a welcoming culture at the College of Music that increasingly integrates and uplifts DEI across all our programs, performances, presentations and academic curricula.

That’s why I’m energized, despite setbacks—even sadness—along our shared journey. Because what we do at the College of Music is making a difference. Together, we’re creating the soundscape of what matters.

Happy New Year!

Photo: Earlier this week, we snapped this impromptu photo of Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity + Inclusion Susan Thomas (left), Diversity and Outreach Coordinator Alexis McClain and Dean John Davis.

“Even as we bear witness to loss and unknowable challenges with compassion and care, I see us rebounding with resilience again and again—undeterred in our shared quest for excellence, dogged in our pursuit to inform and influence what it means to be a successful, fulfilled creative artist in an increasingly diverse and interdisciplinary musical landscape.”

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“Holding space” for a culture of belonging

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 07:00:00 +0000

“Holding space” for a culture of belonging Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/15/2021 - 00:00

John Davis

I’m especially proud of our progress to ensure an increasingly welcoming spirit within our beautifully expanded Imig Music Building. Achieving Diversity, Equity + Inclusion (DEI) is a deeply thoughtful culture shift sustained over time, yet I’m already wowed by the early enthusiasm of our faculty and staff to incorporate DEI into everything we do—from our academic curricula to our performances, presentations and other programming.

For example, Professor of Flute Christina Jennings now requires a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) piece for all flute auditions and Associate Professor of Collaborative Piano Alexandra Nguyen recently shared that she integrates sight-readings and “quick learn” pieces by women composers of the 18th and 19th centuries in her freshman sightreading class. Nguyen is also directing a dissertation project on Black composer Margaret Bonds and coaching students in works by Amy Beach, Rebecca Clarke, Valerie Coleman, Gabriela Lena Frank, Adolphus Hailstork, Ulysses Kay, Florence Price and others. Stay tuned for information about Chinese-Canadian composer Alexina Louie’s residency in spring 2023, organized by Nguyen and including cross-departmental collaborations that benefit both composition and instrumental faculty and students. (Louie is this year’s recipient of Canada’s Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award.)

At the same time, our choral program recently organized residencies with guest artists Joan Catoni Conlon (the college’s director of choral research emerita) and Cheryl Anderson, director of choirs at Cabrillo State University. In April, our choirs also hosted virtual lectures with Jeffrey Murdock, associate director of choral activities at the University of Arkansas and Craig Robertson, choral director at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia. A virtual summer colloquium organized by Raul Dominguez (DMA Choral Conducting) further featured women and ethnically and racially diverse guest lecturers.

The college’s composition faculty, too, have hosted Vietnamese American composer Viet Cuong and Castle of Our Skins Founder Ashleigh Gordon while working to rebrand our new music series to be more inclusive of genre, aesthetic and style, and to become more engaged with our larger community. As Assistant Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky puts it, “My number one priority is overhauling syllabi and class structure to make my classroom as inclusive as possible. This includes using compositional examples written by women, trans, gender non-conforming, two spirit, BIPOC, non-European composers and the many intersections of those identities, but it also means reaching outside of the classical genre entirely for musical study and compositional examples relevant to course material. My personal teaching quota is that at least half of the repertoire I teach must be written by composers from underrepresented identities. I have also created my courses in a way that holds space and creates structure for discussions surrounding important, current topics to our field such as cultural appropriation, cause appropriation, historical exclusion and aesthetic bias.”

It’s inspiring to build upon that kind of passion for progress in every program and department—from music education and research to chamber music, opera, jazz and more.

Indeed, as we continue to spotlight the works of underrepresented composers in our student and faculty recitals and ensemble performances—and through culturally responsive academic activities—we’re also thrilled to share their impact and influence more broadly, campus- and community-wide. We hope to see you at the world premiere of composer-in-residence Christopher Theofanidis’ “On the Bridge of the Eternal” this spring and perhaps you’ll join us for the 2022 International Double Reed Society Conference at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, featuring artists and compositions by diverse ethnicities and genders from around the globe. Not to mention, I can’t wait for our Takács Quartet’s recording next year of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Fantasiestücke.” Here’s a preview.

That’s just scratching the surface of what’s underway and what’s to come. Keep in touch for an announcement in January about new dedicated leadership of our DEI efforts, further formalizing and growing this timely, critical work toward developing the universal musician.

Meanwhile, I commend and congratulate our winter graduates, and encourage you to practice self-care and wellness this holiday season. After all, “holding space” includes taking care of each other and ourselves.

See you in 2022!

As 2021 comes to a close and I reflect on my first year as Dean, I’m filled with gratitude for our College of Music family and all we’ve accomplished in a new and evolving hybrid learning environment. I’m especially proud of our progress to ensure an increasingly welcoming spirit within our beautifully expanded Imig Music Building.

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Annual Holiday Festival celebrates community comeback

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Annual Holiday Festival celebrates community comeback Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/01/2021 - 00:00

MarieFaith Lane

For many locals, the holiday season begins with the College of Music’s annual Holiday Festival featuring several of our ensembles—from the Holiday Festival Orchestra and the �鶹��Ѱ��Chamber Singers to our West African Highlife Ensemble.

As a current graduate student studying violin performance and pedagogy—while serving as communications assistant for our college—it’s been rewarding to be a part of the behind-the-scenes preparations to launch this large-scale community event, Dec. 3-5. College of Music faculty and my fellow students have worked incredibly hard in rehearsals—especially since fall break—to deliver high quality performances this weekend. And the college’s communicators, marketers and box office staff have worked tirelessly, collaborating with different departments to creatively promote our Holiday Festival to interested audiences.

I’m honored to be concertmaster—the leader of the first violin section working closely with the conductor—this holiday season. I’m excited to be a part of this warm and entertaining holiday tradition presenting many beautiful arrangements of holiday favorites. One piece I particularly enjoy playing is “Christmas Overture” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, an Afro-English composer. The most easily recognizable carol themes referenced in the overture include “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Good King Wenceslas” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

With the college’s dedication to expanding diversity, equity and inclusion in everything we do, it’s been wonderful to work on a program that features repertoire from composers of all backgrounds, including works by historically underrepresented composers.

This year more than ever, I’m grateful for the opportunity to perform live for in-person audiences. I’ve been talking with community members who are counting down to this concert-filled weekend—like me, many people are eager to return to some semblance of normalcy, including going to concerts and celebrating the holiday spirit together.

Gregory Gentry, who conducts the �鶹��Ѱ��Chamber Singers, puts it this way: “Both our students and staff are proud that we’re able to come back to this community tradition that was silenced last year because of the pandemic. The Holiday Festival has been and continues to be a gift to not only our students and campus community, but the broader community as a whole.”

See you at Macky Auditorium this weekend!

Photo: MarieFaith Lane, front and center, is concertmaster of this year's Holiday Festival.

MarieFaith Lane, a current graduate student and Holiday Festival 2021 concertmaster, offers a first-person perspective on the spirit of this weekend’s community event.

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Ekstrand competition announces 2021-22 winners

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Ekstrand competition announces 2021-22 winners Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 11/17/2021 - 00:00

MarieFaith Lane

Congratulations to Randel Leung, clarinet, who won first prize in the 2021-22 Bruce Ekstrand Memorial Graduate Student Performance Competition on Nov. 16. In the final round, he performed works by Philip Parker and Arvo Pärt. Leung was awarded the grand prize of $2,000. Leung—who also won the Audience Favorite Award ($250)–studies with Professor of Clarinet Daniel Silver.

Noah Mennenga, trumpet, took the second prize and received an award of $1,000. The remaining finalists—countertenor Elijah English, double bass Kurt Melendy and baritone Brandon Tyler Padgett—were awarded $500 each.

Adjudicators for this year’s final round included Jonathan Hays, baritone; Ysmael Reyes, flute; and Basil Vendryes, viola. This year’s faculty judges for the semi-finals competition included Composition Chair and Professor of Composition Carter Pann, Director of Bands and Professor of Conducting Donald McKinney, and Voice and Opera Co-Chair and Professor of Vocal Coaching Mutsumi Moteki.

Named after former Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Psychology Professor Bruce Ekstrand, the competition serves as the premier performance competition for the College of Music’s most outstanding graduate students. The competition is partially funded by the Ekstrand Competition Endowment Fund. Donate to the fund here.

Congratulations to all who performed and their teachers ... and special thanks to collaborative pianists Zerek Dodson, Yukino Miyake, Hyeji Park, Ya-Ting Yang and all other pianists involved in the previous rounds!

Left photo: Winner, Randel Leung, his pianist Yukino Miyake and his teacher Daniel Silver.
Right photo: Second place winner Noah Mennenga and his teacher Ryan Gardner.

Congratulations to the winners of our 2021-22 Bruce Ekstrand Memorial Graduate Student Performance Competition!

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The transformative power of music

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

The transformative power of music Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/16/2021 - 00:00

The goal of the music+ campaign is to raise funds for the College of Music’s people, programs and initiatives, including through scholarships, community outreach, faculty research and program development.

Kedrick Terrell Armstrong is one of the students benefiting from scholarship support as he works toward a master’s in orchestral conducting. Check out the following video of Kedrick’s recent rehearsal with the �鶹��Ѱ��Philharmonia Orchestra and see how your gift can support students' daily lives:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6cy5z0NyC0]

As a conductor, Kedrick uses joy and curiosity for all music to foster understanding and fellowship within diverse communities. He has conducted the Chicago Opera Theater and Knox-Galesburg Symphony and is an alumnus of the Chicago Sinfonietta’s Project Inclusion Freeman Conducting Fellowship program, where he also served as assistant conductor during the 2018-19 season.

Kedrick is on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Black Musicians and uses his voice and platform as a Black conductor to advocate for the performance, publication and preservation of minority voices in classical music. He graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois with a Bachelor of Music degree in music history and literature, and he’s now working toward his master’s in orchestral conducting here at the College of Music.

We thank our donors for supporting students like Kedrick and empowering �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder communities to create the future of artistry! To further support Kedrick and other students like him, consider making a gift to our music+ campaign by the end of the year.

Give to music+

Kedrick Terrell Armstrong is one of the students benefiting from scholarship support as he works toward a master’s in orchestral conducting.

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Grad Students

Music student finds inspiration at the gateway to Antarctica

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Building blocks of human betterment

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Two �鶹��Ѱ�����music Buffs among ‘composers and performers to watch’

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2022 Honors Competition winners announced

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Alumnus explores depths of new music with current grad student

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Remembrance, resilience + forging our future

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“Holding space” for a culture of belonging

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Annual Holiday Festival celebrates community comeback

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Ekstrand competition announces 2021-22 winners

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The transformative power of music

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Two �鶹��Ѱ��music Buffs among ‘composers and performers to watch’