Channel 11 CBS/Dallas will be broadcasting the Klyde Warren Park Christmas tree lighting event in Dallas on Saturday December 15th at 6:30 pm featuring the UNT Two O'Clock Lab Band.
Preview Here:
WFAA SANTA'S HELPERS: #UNTCoM's patrons, faculty and staff exceeded their toy collection goals in hopes of bringing a brighter holiday to children of Denton County. @wfaa @JohnWRichmond2 @UNTPrez @UNTsocial @UNTnews pic.twitter.com/3gN3UyaRXJ
— UNT College of Music (@UNTCoM) December 13, 2018
WASHINGTON⎯Gunnery Sgt. Sara Sheffield, a graduate of the University of North Texas will participate in former President George H. W. Bush’s State Funeral as a vocalist with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Chamber Orchestra. The funeral is to be held on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at the Washington National Cathedral.
President Bush’s State Funeral marks the 14th such event for which “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band or Marine Chamber Orchestra has performed. “The President’s Own” was present for the State Funerals of the following former Presidents: Gerald Ford in 2007, Ronald Reagan in 2004, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1969, Herbert Hoover in 1964, John F. Kennedy in 1963, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, William Howard Taft in 1930, William McKinley in 1901, Ulysses S. Grant in 1885, James Garfield in 1881, Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Zachary Taylor in 1850, and John Quincy Adams in 1848.
“We have been fortunate to have had wonderful moments with every President we serve, but President and Mrs. Bush’s gratitude for our Marines and for the special music we provide in The People’s House was especially warm and always engaging,” said Marine Band Director Col. Jason K. Fettig. “He never missed an opportunity to connect with those around him and thank them for their contributions, and the men and women in the band who got to know President Bush both during his administration and in the many years beyond will always remember his ever-present appreciation and admiration for all those who served our nation alongside him.”
For more information, contact the Marine Band Office of Communication at (202) 433-5812 or visit https://www.marineband.marines.mil/presidentbush/.
At the third International Festival of Czech Music, the University of North Texas signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno and the Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. Partnerships among UNT and these two distinguished Czech universities have existed on for some time, but the formalizing of understandings is new and important. Dean John W. Richmond of the UNT College of Music observed that, "These partnerships create important opportunties for faculty and students alike. The initial momentum for these relationships was made possible, in large measure, through the generous support of the Czech Educational Foundation of Texas. We simply could not be more grateful to them for their enthusiasm, encouragement, and generosity."
Next steps in this partnership are likely to focus on opera, chamber music, music education, and composition for media.
What: The University of North Texas College of Music; College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences; Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures and Arabic program present “Rhythms of the Arab World,” a concert that culminates a larger project offering students hands-on, authentic experiences of Arab music.
When: 3:30 p.m. Dec. 2 (Sunday)
Where: Recital Hall in the College of Music Building, 415 Avenue C, in Denton.
Cost: Free
Parking: Guests can receive free event parking by contacting Ayesha Bakali at ayesha.bakali@unt.edu
Background: Sunday’s concert is part of a larger project to introduce Arabic music to UNT classrooms, particularly Arabic language and music classes. Musicians from Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture ensemble have visited Arabic language and music classrooms throughout the semester to offer workshops and introduce students to Darbouke (an Arab percussion instrument) and the Oud (the Arab lute). Al-Bustan, Arabic for “The Garden,” is an organization dedicated to presenting and teaching Arab culture through the arts and language.
Sunday’s concert will feature internationally acclaimed and award winning Arab musicians Hafez Kotain and Issam Rafea. Students from the UNT Arabic language program and ethnomusicology program will join the musicians for a percussion medley. The performance also will feature dabke (Levantine Folkloric dance), a solo performance of an Arab-Andalusian 12th-century song by doctoral musicology student, Júlia Coelho, and improvisation with doctoral enthnomusicology student, Yuxin Mei, on Pipa (Chinese lute).
The project is made possible by a Charn Uswachoke International Development Fund Grant and a grant from the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation.
Absolutely #UNTproud of our @UNTGreenBrigade drumline! What an amazing experience for these talented musicians and performers as they represented @UNTCoM ! @JohnWRichmond2 https://t.co/OfzBcciFSE
— UNT News (@UNTnews) November 29, 2018
What: The University of North Texas College of Music hosts the third International Festival of Czech Music. The program includes an academic conference, concerts, multimedia performances and lectures open to the public. For a full list of events visit https://czech.music.unt.edu
When: Nov. 27 (Tuesday) – Dec. 1 (Saturday)
Where: For conference, performance and lecture times/locations on the UNT campus visit https://czech.music.unt.edu/. A post-festival tour of five Texas-Czech communities featuring scenes from Leoš Janáček's Příhody lišky Bystroušky (The Cunning Little Vixen) will take place Dec. 2 (Sunday) – Dec. 8 (Saturday). For a complete list of locations and ticket information visit https://czech.music.unt.edu/tour.
Cost: Events are free of charge unless noted: https://czech.music.unt.edu/content/major-performances
Background: The University of North Texas College of Music hosts its third International Festival of Czech Music. This year, the festival helps commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia following the end of World War I. The keynote work of the festival is the Leoš Janáček opera Příhody lišky Bystroušky (The Cunning Little Vixen) directed by Jonathan Eaton, The Margot and Bill Winspear Chair in Opera Studies. The production features UNT opera singers and orchestra under the direction of Maestro David Itkin and includes the talents of children from the Dallas Czech School who portray the opera’s little foxes.
Other festival performance highlights include a production of Vít Zouhar’s “Coronide: A Serious (and yet delightfully comic) Opera about Love and Unverified Information,” the Dvořák “Piano Concerto” featuring internationally renowned Czech pianist Sára Medková, and the multimedia performance “Tastes: A Sound and Video Performance Recalling the Smells and Tastes of the Tea Ceremony in Shanghai.”
The conference will feature a day of composition and multimedia sessions featuring speakers and discussion about topics such as: Adaptive sound design in video games, game programming research and education at the Laboratory for Recreational Computing, and “The Sounds in the Machine: ‘Metroid’s’ Cybernetic Soundscape.” A second day of sessions will focus on general academic and music topics including the conference’s keynote speakers: Jaroslav Miller, rector of Palacký University, who will discuss “The Events of 1918 and the Formation of Czechoslovakia;” and Jaroslav Křivánek, pastor of the Hussite Church, who will present “The Formation of Czechoslovak Hussite Church after 1918.”
The UNT International Festival of Czech Music is co-sponsored by the Janáček Academy of Music and Palacký University Olomouc.
About the UNT College of Music
The College of Music is one of the nation’s largest and most respected comprehensive music schools. It offers fully accredited degrees from the bachelor to doctoral levels and is home to the world’s first jazz studies degree program. Faculty include internationally acclaimed artists and scholars in composition, conducting, ethnomusicology, music education, music entrepreneurship, music history, music theory, performance and performance and performing arts health. The college presents more than 1,100 concerts and recitals annually. UNT music alumni can be found around the globe in impressive, award-winning careers across a wide-range of music professions. Visit the College of Music online calendar at http://music.unt.edu/calendar and connect with the College of Music on Facebook at Facebook.com/UNTCollegeofMusic, and on Twitter at @UNTCoM
JAZZ SINGERS NEW CD DROPS: The UNT Jazz Singers newest recording, A Thousand Nights, is released to the public
"A Thousand Nights is the fourth album recorded by UNT Jazz Singers since I began teaching at UNT in Fall 2011, and I was aiming for it to showcase the diverse musical spectrum to which I strive to expose the students for their enjoyment and growth. For the first time, we asked our guest artists-in-residence who came to UNT during the spring of 2017 and 2018 if they would be willing to be on our album, and we’re honored and delighted that all three of them said “Yes”! The way that these beautiful artists gave of themselves both musically and personally during the time they were at UNT will leave an indelible mark on all of our lives, and we are confident that you too will feel the joy and passion of their music-making. In addition to the three guest artist tracks, of course, there are eight others, and I’m most proud of the fact that over half of the music was arranged by our students!" – Jennifer Barnes
https://jazz.unt.edu/untjazzsingers
