Spotlight on Music E-Newsletter

Director’s Letter

As the school year comes to a close, I hope that you enjoy reading the many and varied achievements of our faculty, students and alumni. The wealth of creative activity taking place at the School of Music really is incredible, as documented in this issue of eNotes.

One opportunity that’s soon upon us to help sustain the School of Music is the annual piano sale, held May 21–24. Jason Sipe, School of Music alumnus and owner of AZ Piano, each academic year provides more than $300,000 worth of pianos to the school – free of charge. These instruments then are sold at deep discounts. It’s this type of sustainable action that makes it possible for everyone to have access to our stellar educational programs and superior performances. Be sure to read the story about Jason’s generosity that includes more sale details.

I also want to congratulate our many fine graduates for successfully completing their studies. We hope to see them prominently featured in our Alumni Feats section soon!

With best wishes for the summer,

Kimberly Marshall,
Patricia and Leonard Goldman Professor of Organ and ASU Herberger College School of Music director

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President Obama to address graduates at commencement

ASU announced that President Barack Obama will speak at commencement May 13 at 7 p.m. in Sun Devil Stadium. The President’s commencement address will be delivered to more than 8,000 graduates, their families and friends. The ASU Herberger College School of Music expects to graduate more than 150 students this year, according to Jeffrey Bush, associate director for academic affairs. To read the full ASU News story, visit more.

School of Music alumnus gives back to alma mater

Jason Sipe is a School of Music alumnus who ensures each year that his alma mater has pianos available for faculty, student and concert use. Sipe owns AZ Piano, which each year provides, free of charge, more than $300,000 worth of pianos to the School of Music. Without Sipe’s generosity, the school’s Recital Hall, a handful of teaching studios and more than 60 percent of the practice rooms would be empty. The school simply could not function without the loaned pianos.

“Jason’s generosity certainly is in the vein of sustainability that quickly is becoming a larger part of our everyday lives,” says Kimberly Marshall, Goldman Professor of Organ and School of Music director.

At the end of each academic year, the loaned pianos are sold at deep discounts – first to the ASU community and then to the general public.

“This is an opportunity for everyone to help sustain the School of Music’s commitment to providing students, faculty and the community with access to our stellar educational programs and superior performances,” Marshall adds.

It’s free to attend the piano sale, which is open first to ASU alumni, faculty, staff and students, May 21–22, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Beginning May 18, please call 480.727.6770 to book an appointment to view the sale items.

The sale then is open to the general public, May 23, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and May 24, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. The sale takes place in the School of Music’s Cowley lobby on the ASU Tempe campus. For more information about the sale, contact Rick Florence, senior piano technician, at 480.965.6760 or rick.florence@asu.edu.

Going Green:

Arizona State University is dedicated to preserving the earth’s natural resources and to minimizing human impact on the environment. Our faculty, staff and students are concerned about the thousands of wasted programs each year – especially considering that the ASU Herberger College School of Music offers more than 600 free and ticketed events annually, including concerts, musicals, operas, lectures and more.

To this end, the School of Music has embarked on a partnership with the Global Institute of Sustainability to reduce our ecological footprint. Therefore, we have decided to eliminate the printing and subsequent disposal of thousands of playbills. Instead, we provide visual displays and electronic media to deliver this information to our audiences.

Download a souvenir program or a free monthly calendar of events: download.

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SCHOOL NEWS: Noteworthy happenings at the School of Music:

New degree established in the Herberger College of the Arts

Heather Landes, associate dean, recently announced that a new Bachelor of Arts in the Arts degree program has been approved. The broad-based liberal arts degree program is designed for students who wish to explore alternatives to the college’s discipline-specific degree programs. The major includes a common core for all students and a focus area. Focus areas include historical and theoretical studies in the arts; arts administration; digital culture; and an individualized focus area designed by the student, which is subject to approval by the Herberger College Standards Committee and the Dean’s office. This new degree allows students to explore new disciplinary combinations and definitions as they seek new artistic possibilities. Students in this degree program must complete a capstone experience, which may include an internship, experiential-based project, written or digital thesis project, or a portfolio of projects developed throughout the completion of degree coursework. The new degree will be offered beginning in fall 2009.

ASU Men’s and Women’s Choruses joined by faculty for final concert of season

On May 4, the ASU Men’s Chorus performed its last concert of the academic year. This event marked the final concert for the group’s founder and director, Brook Larson. The program featured several faculty from the ASU Herberger College School of Music and included a variety of repertoire. Mike Kocour (piano) performed the gospel piece, Praise His Holy Name, with the choir. Lynne Aspnes (harp) and Carole FitzPatrick (soprano) came together to perform Giuseppe Verdi’s, La Vergine degli angeli from La Forza Del Destino. Theodore Morrison’s Shakespeare Songs for four-hand piano was played by Andrew Campbell (collaborative piano) and Russell Ryan (vocal coach). The concert also featured a premiere of a setting of Langston Hughes’ text, Life Is Fine, composed by Jody Rockmaker, associate professor of music, and dedicated to the ASU Men’s Chorus. The choir’s closer featured Katherine McLin, associate professor of music, playing Fiddle in the Band. The ASU Women’s Chorus also performed during the program.

Faculty ensemble Trio del Sol returns from European tour

Trio del Sol, an ASU Herberger College School of Music faculty ensemble comprised of Robert Spring, clarinet; Katherine McLin, violin; and Andrew Campbell, piano, recently returned from several European engagements. The trio presented two concerts at the Ostend Conservatory in Ostend, Belgium, at the invitation of Guido Six, conservatory director. The trio also was in residency at the Waregem Conservatory in Waregem, Belgium, presenting master classes and a concert. Additionally, the group traveled to London to give master classes and a concert at the prestigious Trinity College of Music in Greenwich, located on the historic campus of the Old Royal Naval College. The faculty ensemble presented a dynamic and varied program of standard works by Stravinsky and Khachaturian, as well as a recent trio by American composer Peter Schickele and their own original arrangement of the show-stopping Csardas, by Monti.

Lyric Opera Theatre offers unique costume design internship

The Lyric Opera Theatre (LOT) costume shop creates and modifies up to 100 costumes for large opera casts and musicals, with designs by Carol Simmons, LOT costume designer. Costume construction supervisor, as well as the hair and makeup designer for LOT, Sharon Jones, continues to run a successful internship program in support of the LOT costume shop. First offered in the spring 2008 semester, the program currently includes three interns from the Fashion Design program at Phoenix College. Amy Dent, Jessica Pushor and Mayra Ramos are all in their second year of Phoenix College’s two-year degree program, under the direction of Sylvia Phillips. These students assist in all areas of costume construction – from fittings, patterns and cutting, to construction and detail work.

Interns also have the opportunity to work behind the scenes during production, acting as backstage “dressers” for quick changes during the show and to assist the costume staff in costume repairs and maintenance. Students have the opportunities to work on wide arrays of clothing styles from various periods and sometimes, wholly new concepts created from scratch. They also learn how to work on tight deadlines.

“We are fortunate to have a relationship with Phoenix College director, Sylvia Phillips, and for the students to complete their internships here at LOT,” Jones says.

Studio 303 performs to packed audience

ASU Herberger College School of Music’s Studio 303 performed Serious Fun to a packed Organ Hall audience Feb. 16. David Britton, professor of voice, teaches the studio. The mix of undergraduate and graduate performers included Gregory Amerind, tenor; Sook Young Kim, soprano; Alyson Friesen, mezzo soprano; Paul Nicosia, tenor; Bora Na, soprano; Courtney Piercey, soprano; Alyssa Chiarello, soprano; Robert Marin-Berdeguer, baritone; Tregony Shepherd, soprano; Eric Perry, tenor; Rachel Policar, soprano; Benjamin Soto, tenor; Royal Baysinger, tenor; Michelle Chin, soprano; Robert Kemp, tenor; Kayte Zhang, soprano; Taylor Anderson, tenor; Tiffany Mortensen, soprano; Justin Carpenter, tenor; Lindsey Geroux, mezzo soprano; Edward Maldonado, tenor; Hannah Bentley, soprano; and Joel Wolcott, tenor. To learn more about this vibrant studio, visit more.

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FACULTY FEATS: Why we have some of the best faculty out there!

FEATURED FACULTY: Gary Hill

Gary Hill, professor of music and director of bands, recently was appointed as director of ensembles, a newly created position, by Kimberly Marshall, director of the ASU Herberger College School of Music. In this capacity, Hill oversees all large ensembles and is working to develop a project-oriented curriculum that integrates chamber music, orchestra, choir, band and jazz offerings. He also was appointed chair of the artistic committee, comprised of representative faculty from academic and performance areas, to create a series of events reflecting the integration of the school into the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts. Hill additionally has been charged with developing new curricular offerings within the school that connect with larger transdisciplinary themes, such as improvisation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

“Professor Hill is a visionary with the capacity to bring to the faculty significant curricular ideas,” Marshall says. “He is someone who inspires through collaboration; he is known as a team player who listens and cooperates in a collegial way.”

In March, Hill traveled to Indianapolis, Ind., where he conducted the Honor Band of America, an ensemble of All-State students from around the country. Timothy McAllister, associate professor of music, joined Hill as a guest artist. The culminating event was a performance before a sold-out hall of more than 2,500 high school students (representing the country's very best high school ensembles), their teachers and parents, and many distinguished orchestra and band conductors. Hill also traveled to Austin, Texas, with Wayne Bailey, professor of music, to attend the College Band Directors National Association Southwestern Division Conference. Bailey presented a paper about innovations to ASU’s wind band program, while Hill led a composer's forum and served on the national board.

Hill conducted the Minnesota All-State Band during a February performance at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Minn. He then traveled to Chabot College in Hayward, Calif., where he led a conducting workshop, as well as clinics for 12 northern California high school bands. He also guest conducted the Chabot College Wind Symphony.

At ASU, Hill conducted the wind band recording ensemble with Robert Spring, Evelyn Smith Professor of Music, and Joshua Gardner, DMA clarinet student, in a world premiere and recording of Scott McAllister's Firebirds, a work commissioned by Spring for clarinet duo and wind ensemble. The recording ensemble also taped three euphonium concertos with Patrick Stuckemeyer, DMA euphonium student, and Sam Pilafian, professor of music.

Hill and Pilafian also recently were invited to teach more than a thousand students for one week next fall at the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China's premier conservatory of music. The invitation came from the conservatory's president.

Barbara Crowe, professor of music and coordinator of the music therapy area, completed a number of presentations in March. While in San Diego, Calif., she spent two days at the San Diego Hospice teaching about music for the dying and also presented Music as a Complex Energy System at the International Harp Therapy Association. Additionally, she presented Drumming Program for Gang Prevention at the Drum Facilitators National Conference in Prescott, Ariz., In April, she presented at the 50th Western Region American Music Therapy Association Conference in Stockton, Calif., sharing a session titled Music Therapy: Where We Came From, Where We’re Going. The music therapy program also has entered into collaboration with the Yaqui Indian tribe’s youth-at- risk program. Beginning this summer, music therapy students will complete their clinical experiences at the Yaqui program. Music therapy students and faculty also participated in a women’s and children’s health expo on the Yaqui Reservation May 9, presenting workshops and experiential opportunities.

Sabine Feisst, associate professor of music history and literature and faculty honors advisor, recently published two essays. Her first essay, “Arnold Schönberg – Modernist or Romantic?” in Engaged Romanticism: Romanticism as Praxis, was edited by Mark Lussier and Bruce Matsunaga (New Castle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Press, 2008). Her second essay, “Arnold Schönberg in America Reconsidered: A Historiographic Investigation,” in Music’s Intellectual History: Founders, Followers and Fads, Proceedings of the First International Conference of Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale, was edited by Zdravko Blazekovic (New York: RILM, 2009). She also presented a refereed paper about experimental music composer Annie Gosfield during March at the 35th Annual Conference of the Society for American Music in Denver, Colo.

This spring, Feisst began teaching a new version of her graduate music history seminar on music and nature, which, for the first time, emphasizes music’s intersections with ecology, eco-criticism and sustainability and builds on ASU’s sweeping mission of “going green.” A goal in designing this novel approach to music history was to help music students discover how music, composers, sound artists and performers can relate to other disciplines, such as biology, geography, ecology, sociology and anthropology. In an effort to develop awareness of green developments on ASU campuses, the class toured the new sustainable food restaurant, Engrained, in the Memorial Union and participated in a lively town-hall style discussion on sustainability led by Dan Childers, professor in the ASU Global Institute of Sustainability.

Feisst’s students have studied eco-critical works by Charles Ives, Philip Glass and John Luther Adams, as well as the many pieces written in an effort to save the humpback whale from extinction. The class also has explored acoustic ecology – specifically the work of David Dunn, Steven Feld, ASU West faculty composer Richard Lerman, Annea Lockwood, R. Murray and Hildegard Westerkamp, who are all concerned with changing soundscapes, endangered and suspended sounds and noise pollution.

The consideration of sustainability in instrument building and the use of sustainable instruments led to several outdoor performances of works drawing on natural instruments and sound sources, such as stones, and even the heartbeats, breathing and voices of humans. The accompanying pictures taken by Jamilyn Richardson, are snapshots from student performances of William Hellermann’s Taps (A Rock Piece), Jon Gibson’s Rock Game and Pauline Oliveros’s Heart Chant, which took place Feb. 27 in front of ASU Gammage and in the Secret Garden on the Tempe campus. These performances were prepared and directed by students Matthew Holm, Laura Wiedenfeld, AnneMarie Cordeiro and Kim Headlee.

Richard Haefer, associate professor of musicology and ethnomusicology, presented Tenampa, Garibaldi, and Mariachi: A Second Development of Mariachi in Mexico City on April 17 at the Society for Ethnomusicology Southwest Chapter in Boulder, Colo. He also presented Guarijio Tumari on March 21 at the Society for American Music in Denver, Colo.

Jere Humphreys, professor of music education, has been busy observing and guest teaching in the Cartwright School District in Phoenix, Ariz. He also was elected to an at-large position on the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and hosted a successful event featuring Dr. Peterson Zah, former president of the Navajo Nation. The event, held at ASU, was sponsored by the Fulbright Association of Arizona. Humphreys also co-authored papers with former doctoral students that were presented at conventions hosted by the Arizona Music Educators Association in Mesa, Ariz.; the Ohio Music Educators Association in Columbus, Ohio; and the Eastern Division of the Music Educators National Conference in Providence, R.I. Additionally, he is advising theses and dissertations in the ASU Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, at Boston University and at other universities worldwide. He took a month-long lecture tour during April to Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo.

In the community, Humphreys is co-leading Habitat for Humanity construction projects in Apache Junction and Phoenix. Some of his domestic and international Habitat experiences over the last decade are depicted via photographs and a filmed interview in a 60-minute documentary featuring the 25th anniversary of President Jimmy Carter and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter’s involvement with Habitat for Humanity. The documentary first aired nationally on PBS on Dec. 22, 2008, and is being shown at various times in 2009.

Timothy McAllister, associate professor of saxophone, gave performances and master classes March 27–29 at the University of Michigan and during Central Michigan University’s bi-annual Saxophone Day. On April 7, McAllister also was a featured soloist with the Tempe Symphonic Winds at the Tempe Center for the Arts. Later in the month, he performed with Katie McLin, associate professor of music, and Andrew Campbell, assistant professor of music, in the Gold Canyon Arts Council Concert Series, featuring ASU student and faculty musicians. The month of May features McAllister with the PRISM Quartet in performances with the renowned New York City-based chamber chorus, Cantori, presenting U.S. and world premieres of works for saxophone quartet and voice by Kristin Kuster, Efstratios Minakakis, Hugi Gudmundsson and Giya Kancheli.

Kimberly Marshall, Patricia and Leonard Goldman Professor of Organ and director of the ASU Herberger College School of Music, was invited to perform the Poulenc Organ Concerto with the Tempe Symphony last December and with the Flagstaff Symphony on March 13. The review of her latter performance in The Arizona Daily Sun referred to Marshall’s “creative registrations and impeccable technique.” Marshall will perform for the Region IX Convention of the American Guild of Organists in June, coinciding with the release of her new CD, A Fantasy in Time: Five Centuries of Organ Fantasies, including works by J. S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, Cesar Franck and Jehan Alain.

Richard Mook, assistant professor of music history and literature, and Joe Baker, director of community engagement for the ASU Herberger College of the Arts, both were awarded the President's Medal for Social Embeddedness during April by Michael Crow, ASU President, for their Civil Disobedience project. This medal recognizes ASU employees who have worked on departmental, interdepartmental or transdisciplinary teams that have demonstrated excellence in embedding ASU into the social and cultural fabric of the surrounding communities.

Civil Disobedience, an urban conversation and endeavor that combined graffiti, hip-hop and education, was a smash hit. A diverse crowd of more than 800 visited Graffiti Alley in Phoenix on Nov. 7, to see pieces by local graffiti writers and to watch break dancing and DJ performances by the Furious Styles crew, sponsored by the ASU Herberger College of the Arts. More than 120 of these visitors were ASU students enrolled in classes directly related to these artistic media. On Nov. 8, another diverse group of more than 300 people, including 100 ASU students, gathered at the School of Music to hear a lively panel discussion about hip-hop culture in Phoenix. ASU graduate students collected video footage of performances and interviews that were uploaded live to the event website.

David Schildkret, professor of music, is the founding editor of The Choral Scholar, The National Collegiate Choral Organization online journal. The Choral Scholar is a peer-reviewed journal presenting outstanding scholarship related to the study and performance of choral music. The first issue can be found at
www.ncco-usa.org/tcs/issues/vol1/no1.

Robert Spring, Evelyn Smith Professor of Music, performed with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 7–8. Less than a week later, he gave the clinic, 10 Steps to Better Clarinet Performance, and performed with the Northern State University Band at the South Dakota Music Educators Association Convention in Aberdeen, S.D. Spring performed Black Dog for clarinet and band, as well as an arrangement of the Mendelssohn Concertpiece #2 with Alan Lafave, dean of the College of Fine Arts, North State University. Lafave earned both his master’s and doctoral degrees from ASU under the direction of Spring. From Feb. 16–18, Spring went on tour with J.B. Smith, professor of music. They performed The Desert’s Edge Duo at Penn State University on Feb. 16, at University of Pennsylvania on Feb. 17, and at Rutgers University on Feb. 18. Spring finished February by performing and teaching at the Ostend Conservatory of Music Winter Clarinet workshop in Ostend, Belgium, where more than 100 clarinetists participated. He also gave a recital with Jana Starling, assistant professor of music, at the Montana/Idaho Clarinet symposium. Spring recently was interviewed for Clarinet Magazine in a feature article titled, “A Sneak Peak at the Studio of Robert Spring.”

Sandra Stauffer, professor of music, co-edited her new book, Narrative Inquiry in Music Education, with Margaret Barrett, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The book recently was published by Springer. The text includes a discussion of narrative inquiry approaches to research and its uses and purposes in music education. Section I explores the origins of narrative research across a range of fields of inquiry. Section II provides several examples of narrative inquiry research, each accompanied by a reflective commentary. The commentaries provide an interpretive perspective of the narrative accounts, suggest further questions that arise from the inquiry and provide insight into the potential uses of the narrative account for the theory and practice of music education. Section III brings together the perspectives.

Radmila Stojanovic-Kiriluk, faculty associate in the piano preparatory program and doctoral candidate, released the CD, The Complete Piano Music: TAJČEVIĆ, Marko, on Toccata Classics. The leading Serbian composer of his day, Tajčević’s feisty piano music (1900-1984) has been recorded on the new CD in its entirety for the first time, taking its inspiration from Balkan folk dances. The blending of irregular rhythms, modal harmonies and catchy tunes creates a bouquet of sparkling miniatures close in spirit to Bartók's folk-inspired piano pieces that burst with energy and wit.

“The music is really pretty and expressive,” Stojanovic-Kiriluk says. “Until this CD, only one out of 12 piano pieces by Tajčević was available on the recordings. I hope that many more listeners will enjoy Tajčević’s music and recognize his talent.”

Gail Eugene Wilson, associate professor of trombone, is retiring this year after almost 37 years with the ASU Herberger College School of Music. In his honor, his son, Brian Christopher Wilson, organized a March concert and party along with Wilson’s daughter-in-law and wife. More than 50 former students attended the concert and party, which included the performance of a commissioned piece by Douglas Akey, written for the occasion and performed by Wilson’s former student, Charlie Vernon, bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony. In a message to students and faculty, Wilson said, “Thanks is not enough to say, but it was amazing.”

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STUDENT SUCCESS: Tomorrow’s stars at ASU

FEATURED STUDENT: JAMILYN MANNING-WHITE
Jamilyn Manning-White, doctoral student in vocal performance, recently won the Young Artists Voice Division at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) 2009 National Conference held March 28–April 1 in Atlanta, Ga. MTNA competitions provide educational experiences for students and teachers, as well as recognize exceptionally talented young artists and their teachers in their pursuit of musical excellence. Manning-White was awarded a prize of $3,000.

“It was a very positive experience for me as I represented ASU and our wonderful, fabulous and exceptional School of Music,” Manning-White says. “Many young musicians had several questions about our school and what we offer, and I have arranged to keep in contact with them.”

Manning-White also was awarded the role of Clorinda in the Glimmerglass Opera production of Cenerentola, which runs July 19 – Aug. 23. A preview of the show was reviewed by The New York Times andrecognized Manning-White’s “strong, shapely performance of Dido’s final scene from the Cavalli opera.” Last June, Manning-White won the President's Award for the most promising young singer at the Jose Iturbi International Music Competition held at UCLA. The prestigious competition, which awards more than $250,000 in piano and vocal prizes annually, is the largest classical music competition in the world. Manning-White, who won $3,000 and was a semifinalist, was the youngest competitor in her field.

Manning-White earned her Bachelor of Music degree (summa cum laude) in vocal performance from Utah State University and her Master of Music in opera theatre performance from ASU. She was a Western Regional Finalist of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a winner of the National Association for Teachers of Singing competition in 2002. She is a student of Carole FitzPatrick.

American Educational Research Association conference dominated by ASU

Among the 30 music papers chosen for the 2009 international meeting of the American Educational Research Association, six of them – 20 percent – were from ASU. One of the six authors was Margaret Schmidt, associate professor of music. Four papers were from current doctoral students, Wes Brewer, Janet Cape, Danelle Larson and Sam Tsugawa; and one was from Jeananne Nichols, a recent graduate.

“This is a truly remarkable achievement for the ASU doctoral program in music education and a reason to be proud,” says Sandra Stauffer, professor of music education.

Yi-Chia Chen, a doctoral student in percussion, was the first-prize winner of the 2009 International Marimba Artist Competition, held by the Classical Marimba League (CML). The prizewinners were selected from among competitors in more than seven countries. All winners have been awarded an invitation to perform at The University of Minnesota and will receive live recordings of the concert. A new work also will be commissioned by the CML specifically for these winners. Chen also has been awarded a private recording session during her stay in Minneapolis. Chen earned both a bachelor's degree in music education from the National University of Tainan, Taiwan, in 2006 and a master's degree in percussion performance from ASU in 2008. She has performed with the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra and numerous orchestra and wind ensembles in south Taiwan. She was principal percussionist in the Percussion Ensemble of Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra from 2005 to 2006. Chen performed a showcase concert with the ASU Contemporary Percussion Ensemble at the Percussion Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in 2006 and was the first-prize winner of the 2007 PASIC Solo Marimba Competition. She is a student of J.B. Smith and Mark Sunkett.

Jim Defazio, master’s student in ethnomusicology, presented Returning to Sorrento: Diasporic Hybridity in Italian-American Popular Music at the City University of New York Graduate Center in New York, N.Y. in March. The presentation is part of a conference sponsored by the Calandra Institute, titled Neapolitan Postcards: The Canzone Napoletana as Transnational Subject. Defazio studies with Richard Haefer.

Jacob Harrison, doctoral student in orchestral conducting, recently was appointed director of orchestral activities and assistant professor of music at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He begins in August 2009. Harrison currently studies with Timothy Russell. He completes his ASU degree in May.

In 2006, Harrison was appointed music director of the North Valley Chamber Orchestra in Paradise Valley, Ariz. In addition, he has been a cover conductor for the Phoenix Symphony and has served as director of the ASU Sinfonietta as a graduate teaching assistant for the orchestra program. In 2007, Harrison was appointed resident conductor of the Chapparal Music Festival, a new music festival in Prescott, Ariz. A passionate supporter of contemporary music, he works with many living composers and has premiered numerous musical works for orchestras, wind ensembles and chamber groups. He is a regular guest conductor with the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME). Harrison also has worked with such groups as the Phoenix Youth Orchestra, the Scottsdale Community Orchestra, the Arizona Repertory Orchestra, the Poston Junior High Orchestra Program in Mesa, Ariz. and the Highland High School Orchestra Program in Gilbert, Ariz.

Christopher Hutton, master’s student and teaching assistant in voice, will sing the role of Silvio in I Pagliacci, by Leoncavallo in August, with the Sugar Creek Symphony and Song. Hutton has performed with numerous opera companies, including the Florida Grand Opera as Zaretski in Eugene Onegin; the Boston Lyric Opera's production of L'Italiana in Alger as Ali; Opera Theater Saint Louis as Dancairo in Carmen; and most recently, with Arizona Opera as Marullo in Rigoletto and ASU’s Lyric Opera Theatre as Gianni Schicchi. Upon completion of his master’s degree in vocal pedagogy in May, he will pursue a doctoral degree in vocal performance at the ASU Herberger College School of Music.

Dani Nguyen, undergraduate student in music education, made it through the first cut in the BMI John Lennon Song Writing Scholarship Competition with his song, Circles. According to the National Association for Music Education (MENC), 44 state finalists from a field of 93 entries were selected for final adjudication in the 12th Annual John Lennon Scholarship Songwriting Program for Young Songwriters. One $10,000 scholarship (first prize) and two $5,000 scholarships (second and third prize) will be awarded in June.

Brian Viliunas, doctoral student in clarinet, has been selected to participate in the 4th Carl Nielsen International Competition in Odense, Denmark, from May 30–June 9. One hundred and fifty clarinetists of 38 different nationalities applied, but only 48 candidates representing 23 different nationalities were selected for the competition. Viliunas also is the founder of The Sustainable Symphony, a student ensemble that recently was awarded $3,000 in start-up funds from the p.a.v.e. steering committee, the arts entrepreneurship program of the ASU Herberger College School of Theatre and Film.

Viliunas was awarded a prestigious Jacob K. Javits fellowship to support his studies at ASU. The Javits fellowships provide support to students of superior academic ability – selected on the basis of demonstrated achievement, financial need and exceptional promise – to undertake study at the doctoral and MFA levels in selected fields of the arts, humanities and social sciences. The fellowship provides money for tuition, as well as a stipend for living expenses. In 2007, only 14 graduate students were awarded Javits fellowships.

At just 26, Viliunas already has performed in seven states and seven countries. He has played with orchestras in Houston, Texas; Racine, Wis.; Waukesha, Wis.; and also the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, where he spent the last year as a Fulbright Scholar. While in Norway, Viliunas gave solo recitals and appeared as a guest soloist with the Lignum Clarinet Ensemble of Holland. He also was active as an educator and clinician for bands in Bergen and Voss (both in Norway), and as a frequent guest conductor and performer with the 2007 Norwegian Grand Champions, Dragefjelletmusikkorps. Additionally, Viliunas is a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas; he accompanied them on their first European tour. He was principal clarinetist on their DVD recording of Verdi’s Requiem, with conductor Placido Domingo. A native of Greendale, Wis., Viliunas has been successful in numerous competitions ranging from the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition in 2000 to the 2005 Carl Nielsen Clarinet Competition in Odense, Denmark, where he was the furthest advancing American. He holds degrees from Northwestern University and Rice University and currently is studying under Robert Spring, Evelyn Smith Professor of Music.

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ALUMNI NEWS: There’s no telling where an ASU music degree can take you!

FEATURED ALUMNI: COLONEL MICHAEL J. COLBURN
“ASU alumnus Colonel Michael J. Colburn, in his position as the 27th director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, is the most visible band director in the nation and perhaps the most important,” says Gail Eugene Wilson, associate professor of trombone. During his 20-year career, Colburn has served “The President’s Own” as principal euphonium, assistant director, and since July 17, 2004, director.

As director of “The President’s Own,” Colburn is music advisor to the White House, regularly conducts the Marine Band at the Executive Mansion, and directs the band at presidential inaugurations. He also serves as music director of Washington’s Gridiron Club, a position traditionally held by the director of the Marine Band. He was elected to the American Bandmasters Association during 2006.

Colburn joined “The President’s Own” in 1987 as a euphonium player, performing at the White House, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and throughout the country during the band’s annual concert tour. He quickly distinguished himself as a featured soloist, and in 1990 was appointed principal euphonium. Colburn also was active as a conductor for “The President’s Own” chamber music series and served as a tour coordinator for the Marine Band’s annual concert tour. In 1996, he was appointed assistant director and commissioned a first lieutenant. He accepted the position of senior assistant director and executive officer in 2001 and in 2002 was promoted to the rank of major. Colburn was promoted to lieutenant colonel the day before he assumed leadership of “The President’s Own” on July 17, 2004. He was promoted to his present rank on July 3, 2007, by President George W. Bush in an Oval Office ceremony.

While senior assistant director, Colburn worked to strengthen and expand the reputation of “The President’s Own” and especially was involved in the refinement of the Marine Band’s audition process and the development of the chamber music series. Colburn also is deeply committed to seeking new works for “The President’s Own.” As assistant director, he facilitated the commissioning of David Rakowski’s Ten of a Kind, a work that was honored in 2002 as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in music.

Colburn graduated from Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, Vt., in 1982. Following high school, he attended the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York in Potsdam for two years. He continued his education at ASU in Tempe, where he studied euphonium with Daniel Perantoni and earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance in 1986. During his study at ASU, Colburn also studied bass trombone with Gail Eugene Wilson. In 1991, he earned a master’s degree in conducting from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Benjamin Baron recently was awarded the Bowdoin International Music Festival Fellow to study with world-renowned clarinetist Igor Begelman this summer. The Bowdoin International Music Festival brings renowned artist instructors, performers, soloists and gifted pre-professional musicians from around the world to beautiful Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, each summer for six weeks of intensive music study, collaboration and performance. In addition to winning a $2,800 fellowship, as a fellow, Baron will perform in solo, chamber and orchestral festival concert series. He also will participate in educational community outreach concerts, teach/coach festival participants and perform in the Charles Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music.

Baron, who earned a Bachelor of Music degree from ASU, enjoys a diverse career of solo, chamber and orchestral performance. Appearances throughout North America and Europe have included solo engagements with the New Haven Symphony, Koninklijk Conservatorium Orchestra of Belgium, One World Symphony and National Youth Chorus in Avery Fisher Hall. Last summer, Baron was a soloist with Lehman Concert Artists for a conductor-less performance of Weber’s Clarinet Quintet arranged for string orchestra. In the upcoming season, he will perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the Sioux City Symphony.

Chamber music highlights have included a European tour with the London Winds, Verbier Festival, Music Festival of the Hamptons, Delft Festival and the Princeton Composers Series. He recently has performed with The Academy in Zankel Hall, the International Contemporary Ensemble in Merkin Hall and The Knights at the Whitney Museum, including a recording of Lisa Bielawa’s Chance Encounter. He has been the featured artist of the Sioux City Chamber Music Association and the Birnberg Chamber Music Series in Minneapolis, Minn. He has played such venues as Bargemusic, Weill Hall, 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Miller Theatre, Town Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium, Steinway Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Bachzaal in Amsterdam and the Mayflower Barn in London. Baron has received critical acclaim from The New York Sun, L’Orfeo Magazine, The Des Moines Register and in the newspaper, Reforma, a Mexico City-based newspaper.

An active freelancer, Baron has served as principal clarinetist for numerous orchestras, including the Albany Symphony, New Haven Symphony and the AIMS Opera Festival in Austria. In 2008 he was an acting member of the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra. Baron has been the principal clarinetist of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas since its inception in 2004, and has been a member of the Chamber Orchestra of New York since its debut concert in 2007. He served as bass clarinetist for the Berkshire Symphony’s 2007–08 season. He also has performed with the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera House, Belgian Radio Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Opera and Di Capo Opera.

Baron currently is on the faculty of the Lyric Chamber Music Society, helping to start an instrumental music program at the Harlem Day Charter School. He also is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music Summer Camp, and has guest taught at Louisiana State University, Williams College and Sarah Lawrence College. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies at ASU with Robert Spring, he completed a master’s degree at Yale University and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Manhattan School of Music.

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SUBMISSIONS TO E-NOTES SPOTLIGHT: Submissions about School of Music faculty, students, alumni and staff are welcome and accepted at all times throughout the year. Publication of items, however, is at the editor's discretion. Please send any submissions, comments or questions to Melissa.castillo-garsow@asu.edu.