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
NEW RANKING: The Hollywood Reporter has ranked #UNTCoM at 19 in the "Top 25 Music Schools for Composing in Film and TV." See our advertisement on slide 51 and details on slides 58 and 59. https://bit.ly/2K969GR
College Factual announced that the UNT College of Music has been named the BEST school in Texas for veterans studying music AND ranked #3 nationwide in the same category for 2019. View the article at https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-north-texas/news/university-of-north-texas-2019-college-major-top-ranked-veterans-ranking-visual-and-performing-arts_music/
FORT WORTH, TX—November 5, 2018 — The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with the University of North Texas A Cappella Choir. The first performance in this partnership will be the annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah under the baton of FWSO Associate Conductor Alejandro Gómez Guillén on Monday December 3, 2018 at Bass Performance Hall.
This group of exceptional young performers is part of an illustrious history of choral excellence including an international tour and various performances at national choral conferences. The new partnership will highlight the extraordinary level of musicianship achieved at the collegiate level in the North Texas region.
“We in the University of North Texas College of Music could not be more thrilled with the partnership that is emerging this year with our distinguished colleagues at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra,” stated John W. Richmond, Ph. D, Professor and Dean of the College of Music. “This inaugural collaboration of Handel’s Messiah is the first of what we hope will be many wonderful partnerships in the years ahead stretching across the gamut of our shared musical interests. We are so grateful to live among such gifted partners.”
“The University of North Texas A Cappella Choir is thrilled to collaborate with Maestro Alejandro Gómez Guillén and the Fort Worth Symphony for the December 2018 production of Handel’s much-loved Messiah. The 50-voice chorus and UNT soloists will share this masterwork in an exuberant and historically-informed performance,” said Allen Hightower, DMA, Professor and Director of Choral Studies, and Director of the A Cappella Choir. “We are so pleased to strengthen the relationship between the UNT College of Music and one of Fort Worth’s great artistic treasures, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.”
There will be a single performance of this program at Bass Performance Hall on Monday, December 3, 2018 at 7:30 PM. Tickets range from $27.50 – $82.50 and can be purchased by calling the FWSO Ticket Office at 817-665-6000 or by visiting www.fwsymphony.org.
About Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is deeply committed to uniting its community through performance, education, and outreach, reaching an audience of more than 200,000 annually. Since its beginnings in 1912, the FWSO has been an essential thread in the city’s cultural fabric and the very foundation of Fort Worth’s performing arts. Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya, now in his 19th season at the artistic helm of the FWSO, has led the orchestra into the 21st century to new levels of excellence. Under his leadership, the FWSO has performed at Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras. Throughout his tenure, the FWSO has released 13 recordings – with several being world premiere releases – garnering international acclaim. Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the FWSO have embraced creative collaborations through residencies, partnerships, and commissions. As the principal resident company of the acoustically superb Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, the Orchestra performs a full season of concerts featuring internationally-acclaimed guest artists and works by living composers. The Orchestra performs and partners with the Texas Ballet Theater, Fort Worth Opera, The Cliburn, and Performing Arts Fort Worth. Each summer at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the FWSO presents Concerts In The Garden – a series of family-friendly concerts that has become a city-wide tradition. Additionally, the orchestra hosts an annual Festival of Orchestras, providing an opportunity for non-professional orchestras across the state of Texas to perform in Bass Performance Hall. The FWSO keeps exceptional musical experiences at the heart of its community. After all—life is better with music!
Connect with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
View music video here.
DENTON (UNT), Texas - At the request of the Consul General of India in Houston, TX, the University of North Texas College of Music has produced and released an original arrangement and music video to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth.
“Gandhi has influenced and inspired the world through his example of peace and nonviolence,” said UNT President Neal Smatresk. “This has been a tremendous opportunity for our UNT College of Music students to be part of the global celebration of his legacy.”
The Consul General of India, Anupam Ray, asked if the UNT College of Music could create an original arrangement of one of Gandhi’s favorite Indian devotional hymns as part of the anniversary celebration. The College had less than four weeks to write, record and produce the piece, maintaining its original melody and text while adding the unique signature sound of the College of Music.
The request came in August, 2018 before the start of the fall semester.
“I knew that if anyone could make this happen, it was the outstanding faculty and students at our College of Music,” said John W. Richmond, dean of the College of Music.
Richmond recruited Rosana Eckert, principal lecturer in jazz studies and Vivek Virani, assistant professor of ethnomusicology, to coordinate student vocalists and instrumentalists for the production.
Virani is a cultural researcher with performance and teaching experience in North Indian devotional music and regularly performs spiritual songs in a mix of traditional and contemporary styles. As a child, he grew up singing and hearing the hymn chosen for the project.
“This was an incredible opportunity to reimagine this song in a uniquely UNT jazz-style arrangement,” Virani said. “It was very touching to me because it connected my cultural and religious upbringing with the work I do here at the College of Music.”
Eckert teaches vocal jazz and songwriting and is also internationally recognized as a live and studio vocalist, songwriter and arranger.
“The students and I learned so much throughout this process,” Eckert said. “We learned about a different language, different musical instruments, a different singing style, and a different performance tradition. We learned more about Gandhi and his philosophy, and we learned about working together to blend cultures.”
The hymn is based on a 15th-century poem by Narsi Mehta who is one of many religious devotional Bhakti poet-saints whose poetry was written in the language of the common people of the region, Gujarati. Gandhi was born and raised in Gujarat, India and the hymn was one of many he heard growing up. The hymn’s chorus, “A true person of God understands the suffering of the downtrodden,” undoubtedly resonated with Gandhi’s deep-felt beliefs and the hymn became one of his favorites. He used it often in public gatherings and political rallies and it has been associated with him ever since.
Eckert and Virani worked together to create an arrangement that is true to the hymn’s cultural style, while adding elements that make it unique to the jazz style of the College of Music.
Manjira (finger symbols) and the tabla (North Indian drum) are essential to the piece’s identity as an Indian devotional piece. Piano and double bass add a full sense of the jazz sound and a cajón (Peruvian box-shaped drum) compliments the rhythm of the tabla. Soloists in flute and violin provide a rich tonal quality that endures in an Indian style.
Eckert and Virani worked together to arrange the piece. Virani provided a melodic and rhythmic arrangement of the song and instrumental solos and Eckert re-harmonized and arranged the piece for the vocalists. The project was particularly challenging since neither Virani nor Eckert nor any of the students speak Gujarati.
“I got a translation of each line of text,” Eckert said. “Even though Dr. Virani does not speak Gujarati, he grew up with the hymn and had performed the piece before. I listened and recorded him as he sang, learning the diction line-by-line.”
Eckert and Virani rehearsed their arrangement several times with 11 College of Music vocal jazz students, including one full rehearsal with the instrumentalists. Eckert secured a studio, Luminous Sound, owned by College of Music alumnus Paul Loomis, for one eight-hour session. Working with Grammy-award-winning engineer Tre Nagella, the instrumentalists were recorded first, followed by the instrumental interludes and then the vocalists.
College of Music videographer Jordan Bailey recorded the session that was to become the music video. The vocal tracks were sent to College of Music alumnus Zach Yaholkovsky for some preliminary vocal edits to help Nagella meet the quick deadline, and the project was mixed by Nagella the next evening to complete the project on time.
“This remarkable collaboration made something happen that no one could have imagined individually,” Richmond said. “Not only was a wonderful piece of music forged, but wonderful friendships, as well.”
The original arrangement can be streamed or downloaded from numerous platforms including:
Music Video:
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBDfVuRh3_g
Original Arrangement:
iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/vaishnava-jana-to/1439093742?i=1439093743
Apple Music
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/vaishnava-jana-to-single/1439093742
Amazon
CD baby
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Aaron Olguin, (BM '16) & (MM '18) has been appointed Principal Bass of the Trondheim, Norway Symphony Orchestra. His tenure begins January 2019.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Jackie Gao (DMA, violin) was an associate producer on the documentary series "Treasures of The Earth" that won the Gold World Medal of The New York Festivals Best TV and Films 2018. This documentary series, filmed in multiple countries, has three episodes: Gems, Metals and Power. It was produced by NOVA and broadcast on PBS at the end of 2016.
"It will take us on a journey deep inside Earth to uncover the mysteries of how these treasures were created, and to explore how they have allowed humankind to progress and build our great civilizations." NOVA official webpage.
What: The University of North Texas College of Music presents the Czech opera “The Cunning Little Vixen” performed in English with the UNT Symphony Orchestra.
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8, 9, & 10 (Thursday, Friday & Saturday), 3:00 p.m. Nov. 11 (Sunday), with an additional performance at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 (Saturday) for the UNT International Festival of Czech Music. An “In-the-Know” pre-performance talk will be held at 6:45 p.m. before each performance.
Where: Lyric Theater in the Murchison Performing Arts Center, 2100 N Interstate 35, in Denton.
Cost: $35 / $25 / $15 for adults, $5 for students with additional discounts available for senior citizens 55+, children, UNT faculty/staff/retirees, groups of 10+. For tickets visit www.theMPAC.com or call 940-369-7802.
Parking: Free parking spaces will be set aside in Fouts Field for patrons attending performances at the Murchison Performing Arts Center. View the UNT parking map here.
More information: For a complete list of UNT College of Music events, including faculty and student recitals, 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.
Background: Leoš Janáček composed “The Cunning Little Vixen” in 1924.
“This is one of the most delightful operas ever written - a charming, funny, touching story about love and life cycles, based on a popular Czech cartoon series - a sort of ‘Charlie Brown’ of Czech opera,” said Jonathan Eaton, UNT College of Music Margot and Bill Winspear Chair in Opera Studies.
The opera charts the adventures of a charming, feisty, cunning little vixen and contrasts the fierce vitality and exuberance of the animal world with the human world. It's a perfect evening for newcomers to opera and cognoscenti alike.
DENTON (UNT), Texas - Collaborative pianists are getting their moment in the spotlight at the University of North Texas College of Music’s third annual CollabFest – the first conference of its type in the nation.
“Collaborative pianists are trained as partners. It’s about being present in a moment; intuiting, responding and dancing together with other artists real time – heart to heart,” said Elvia Puccinelli, associate professor of collaborative piano and vocal coaching. “We have the opportunity to work in all areas of classical music, though rarely do we have the opportunity to interact over an extended period with other collaborative pianists. That is one of the primary goals of CollabFest – to serve as a professional conference specifically dedicated to collaborative pianists.”
CollabFest is part of CollabWeek at UNT, which features a variety of events, including free, evening public performances Oct. 18 (Thursday) – 20 (Saturday). CollabFest itself is a paid conference Oct. 18 (Thursday) – 20 (Saturday), featuring sessions and masterclasses presented by guest artists and UNT faculty members from around the country as an opportunity to be reenergized, inspired artistically, rejuvenated and challenged.
“We are so excited to have the amazing Margo Garrett as our master clinician and keynote speaker this year. I have such deep respect for her personally and professionally. Though I never formally studied with her beyond several masterclasses early in my training– which were transformative, by the way - she is a major influence in my life, as I know she is and has been for so many musicians. This is the wonder of Margo Garrett!” Puccinelli said.
Garrett is a devoted teacher who recently retired from heading the collaborative piano department at The Juilliard School. She has served as co-director of the Tanglewood Music Center vocal fellowship program and is the recipient of many awards and honors including the American Society of Composers and Publishers “Most Creative Programming Award.”
American art song composer, Juliana Hall, a highly-regarded composer of vocal music, will serve as the conference’s composer-in-residence. Following her Master of Music in Composition degree from Yale, Hall went on to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship. One of the most prolific art song composers of our time, her works have been heard in 29 countries on six continents.
The free, public Thursday evening performance features the world premiere of “Cameos,” a setting of poems about American female visual artists by UNT Chair of Vocal Studies, Molly Filmore, who, with Puccinelli, will premiere the work. Friday’s public recital features students from around the country and Saturday’s recital features the CollabFest faculty.
Celebrating a “big birthday” of their mentor Alan Smith in 2015, Puccinelli and Lisa Sylvester, associate professor of practice at the University of Southern California, developed the concept of this event. Smith will be the master clinician for CollabFest 2019.
“2018 is the third year we have organized this event at UNT and it continues to grow. The number of colleagues around the country who reach out in interest about this is a sign to me that this is the right time and that we have struck a need in our pianist community,” Puccinelli said. “Being able to make music with another person is a thrill and an honor, and being in a room full of beautiful pianist souls who feel the same way is priceless.”
For a full list of events and recitals, please visit CollabFest 2018.
DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas College of Music will celebrate the music of Russian composers, some very familiar and some who are not typically featured in popular concert repertoire.
The concert will be performed by the UNT Symphonic Band, conducted by professor of music and associate director of wind studies, Dennis Fisher. A faculty member since 1982, Fisher is known for his extensive national and international experience as a conductor, arranger, clinician and consultant and has served as the principal guest conductor of the Volga Band, in Saratov, Russia since 2006.
“It is exciting to do an entire concert featuring Russian composers,” Fisher said. “To prepare, we brought in the composer and resident conductor of the Volga Band, Dennis Mariev, via Skype so that the students had the opportunity to collaborate with a Russian composer and experience the country’s culture.”
Mariev composed one of the pieces for the concert, Symphony No. 1, that will have its U.S. premier on Thursday.
“With more than 75 percent of the students performing with the Symphonic Band for the first time, I’m very proud of how they have grown in our short time together on this extremely demanding program,” Fisher said. “Attendees are sure to enjoy their exciting and exhilarating first concert of the season.”
For those who are unable to attend the concert in person, be sure to join us via live stream.
Ruth Mertens, a harp music performance student from Natchitoches, Louisiana, has been named the University of North Texas College of Music’s 2018-19 Presser Scholar and recipient of a $4,000 Presser scholarship. Dean of the College of Music, John Richmond and Director of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Harp, Jaymee Haefner presented Ruth with her award.
The Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award is presented annually to a student entering his or her senior year who has shown extraordinary musical and academic accomplishments. The Presser award is considered the most prestigious undergraduate award in music at UNT and is provided by the Presser Foundation that awards annual scholarships, grants and funds for the furthering of music education and music in America.
"I am so excited and surprised,” Mertens said. “UNT has such an outstanding music school and so many of my fellow musicians are worthy of this award. It was an honor just to be nominated."
The winner is nominated and selected by UNT music faculty. The scholarship has been awarded annually for more than six decades.
Haefner, who nominated Mertens for the scholarship, said, "In every opportunity, Ruth represents the best of the UNT College of Music and does so with poise and humility. Currently in her junior year, Ruth is preparing and performing repertoire which would be challenging for some doctoral students. In the summer of 2017, Ruth accompanied the UNT HarpBeats in their Hong Kong performance for the World Harp Congress which featured one of her arrangements. This past summer, she performed with the other members of our harp studio at Lyon and Healy Hall for the Summer Concert Series in Chicago. She is an exemplary student with many bright opportunities ahead and I’ve been so honored to work with her." Mertens said she credits Haefner for putting opportunities in her path to help her grow both as a musician and a scholar and that the scholarship will open doors for her to pursue a postgraduate degree."
The University of North Texas College of Music division of music education celebrated the first graduates of its master of music education summer program. The program was started in 2016 to accommodate teachers who want to continue their music teaching job while attending graduate school.
“We have a large music-education faculty of highly accomplished, broadly published, deeply devoted teachers and researchers who are working across many of the most urgent, complex and important issues in the profession,” said John Richmond, dean of the College of Music.
The UNT summer program combines practical skill development with an in-depth education that includes an expansion of critical thinking and a nuanced understanding of large issues affecting education.
“The UNT College of Music faculty is unsurpassed in experience and expertise,” said Sean Powell, chair of the division of music education. “Our program is 100 percent face-to-face. We take great pride in creating a close-knit community of learners.”
One of the program’s first graduates, Allison Murray, a music teacher in Carrollton, received her bachelor’s degree from UNT and was excited to be able to pursue a graduate degree in the summer program.
“I decided to pursue my master’s because I wanted to continue being a life-long learner and be a better teacher for my students,” she said. “I believe every student should have the opportunity to experience something bigger than themselves, to come together with a group of people and learn how to express themselves through music.”
Kelsey Nussbaum, a music teacher from Austin, found refuge in public school music education programs when she was growing up. She became a music teacher to provide a similar experience for students in public school orchestra programs.
“I have always planned on pursuing further education, but was not yet ready to leave my teaching position in Austin,” she said. “When I heard about the new summer master’s program at UNT, it seemed like the perfect fit. I knew about the school’s excellent reputation and the recent expansion within the music education department, so there was a lot of positive energy surrounding the program.”
DENTON (UNT), Texas — Assistant professor of jazz guitar at the University of North Texas, Davy Mooney and Tokyo-born drummer, Ko Omura have released their first album entitled “Benign Strangers.”
“The album’s title describes our creative experience,” said Mooney. “Ko had never met the rest of the band. He flew in from Tokyo and met everybody for the first time at the recording studio. It’s remarkable that people from far off places and different walks of life can have an immediate, dramatic impact on each other after meeting just once.”
Mooney and Omura toured together previously in Japan and recognized their strong musical chemistry. The two decided to collaborate on an album, each contributing five compositions. In January, Mooney and Omura joined John Ellis: saxophones and clarinets; Glenn Saleski: piano; and Matt Clohesy: bass to record the album in New York.
Mooney, a UNT College of Music alumnus, stays on top of the New York and international jazz scene, recording and touring when he is not teaching. He says that being a professional musician and a teacher is a perfect fit that benefits both him and his students.
“I am fortunate to get to collaborate with students who are incredibly innovative and performing at a really high level,” said Mooney. “It’s exciting to work with them and share what I’ve learned while on tour and in the recording studio.”
Mooney has recorded eight CDs as a leader and many others as a sideman. “Benign Strangers,” “Hope of Home” and “Perrier St.” are released on Sunnyside Records. Mooney has also self-published two novels, “Annalee” and “Hometown Heroes.”
DENTON (UNT), Texas - The University of North Texas College of Music announced that Martin Godoy, a doctor of musical arts student, won first prize in the Texas Flute Society’s 32nd annual Myrna Brown Artist Competition. The event, held each year in Denton, is widely recognized as one of the highest level international flute competitions and has no age limit. Godoy receives a cash prize and is invited to appear as a guest artist at the 2019 Texas Flute Festival.
Godoy’s success is sweeter because of his personal journey. Godoy is a Dallas native and a first generation college student.
“For me, going to college meant making a name for my family and to show that anything is possible,” said Godoy. “‘I’m so proud of you, Mijo,’ and ‘that’s my boy,’ are expressions I often hear from my proud parents. I like to think that I take a bit of each of them with me as I achieve my dreams in music.”
Godoy explains that he had incredible encouragement from teachers, counselors and family. In elementary school, music was his favorite class. His music teacher recommended that he audition for the All-City Boys Choir and he was accepted. In middle school, he joined the band and fell in love with the flute. From there, he excelled through all-city, region, region orchestra and state bands.
“Thank goodness for high school counselors.” Godoy said. “I honestly do not know where I would be right now had it not been for college. I have met so many people and have developed a wide variety of interests. My world is bigger and dreams bigger as a result.”
Godoy’s talent and drive landed him at the UNT College of Music where he found inspiration, friendship, guidance and a hunger for success.
“Winning a top tier competition like the Myrna Brown Flute Competition is a stellar achievement for any flute student, to win it as a first generation college student is all the more remarkable, as often students like Martin have not had flute lessons until they enter college,” said Terri Sundberg, professor of flute at the UNT College of Music. “He is incredibly gifted and has worked to support himself and pay tuition and expenses to earn three degrees by teaching flute and directing the Color Guard at Colleyville High School. He has blossomed into one of the top flutists in the country and is an example of what is possible with talent, drive and determination.”
DENTON (UNT), Texas - In March, the finest trumpet players from all over the nation will converge on the University of North Texas for the 26th annual National Trumpet Competition, the largest of its kind. Competitors will vie for thousands of dollars in prize money and have opportunities to network with other top talent.
“It’s truly a trumpet-centric event and one that brings together the brightest and best for healthy competition, networking and instruction,” said Jason Bergman, assistant professor of trumpet and host of the event. “UNT has a rich history of excellence in our trumpet studio that spans more than 60 years. We are embarking on a new period of excellence and bringing the trumpet world to UNT for this competition can serve as an impactful coming out party for our students.”
This year, 600 participants were selected to compete, including 17 UNT trumpet students.
“That’s the largest number we’ve ever had and is a testament to the hard work our students are doing,” Bergman said. “I think it’s fantastic that UNT students can compete in the premiere trumpet competition in the world at their home university. It’s sort of like competing in a hometown Super Bowl.”
The event also will feature guest artists who will perform with the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band and the North Texas Wind Symphony.
The event will be held March 8-10 (Thursday-Saturday) in various locations across campus. View the schedule here for event times and locations. The public is invited to free concerts featuring world-renowned guest artists.
One O’Clock Lab Band concert, 8:30 p.m. March 9 (Friday) features:
Frank Greene
Grammy-winning trumpeter and UNT alumnus Frank Greene is one of the most in-demand lead trumpet players in New York. He has performed as the lead trumpet in the CBS Orchestra for The Late Show, as well as with other big-named ensembles including the Christian McBride Big Band and The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band.
Carey Deadman
UNT alumnus Carey Deadman is a freelance trumpet player who remains one of the busiest studio and theater musicians in the Chicago music scene. He also is in great demand as an arranger, orchestrator, producer and teacher.
Scott Belck
Scott Belck, UNT alumnus, currently serves as the director of Jazz and Commercial Music and professor of Music at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he directs the CCM Jazz Orchestra and teaches applied jazz trumpet. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra.
UNT Wind Symphony at 2 p.m. March 10 (Saturday) features:
Ryan Anthony
Virtuoso trumpeter Ryan Anthony, noted for his varied career as a soloist, educator, chamber musician and orchestral player. Having departed the world-renowned ensemble Canadian Brass nearly ten years ago, Anthony quickly became one of the most sought after trumpet players in America both as soloist and an orchestral player.
Craig Morris
Trumpeter Craig Morris emerged onto the international classical music scene by winning the prestigious position of Principal Trumpet in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, assuming that post from the legendary Adolph “Bud” Herseth in 2001. A desire to more fully focus on his own artistic projects, however, led Morris to leave his position with the CSO and pursue a career as a soloist and chamber musician.
All of the guest artists, as well as the Dallas Symphony trumpet section, will present master classes for participants. Finals will be held March 10 and will culminate in a 9 p.m. awards ceremony.
What: UNT One O’Clock Lab Band directed by Alan Baylock, will perform with guest artist Jimmy Heath.
When: 8 p.m. March 1 (Thursday)
Where: Margot and Bill Winspear Performance Hall in the Murchison Performing Arts Center, 2100 Interstate 35E, Denton.
Cost: $15 for the public; $10 for UNT faculty, staff and Alumni Association members; free for UNT students. Students can pick up their free ticket at the Murchison Performing Arts Center box office. UNT faculty, staff, alumni and the public, may purchase their tickets at the Murchison Performing Arts Center online or by calling the box office at 940-369-7802.
DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas College of Music’s One O’Clock Lab Band is excited to welcome critically acclaimed jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath. The performance is at 8 p.m. March 1 (Thursday) in Margot and Bill Winspear Performance Hall in the Murchison Performing Arts Center, 2100 Interstate 35E in Denton.
"Jimmy Heath will provide our students with a unique perspective on playing jazz and the history of the music," said John Murphy, chair of the Division of Jazz Studies. "His career as a saxophonist dates back to the 1940s. He played with Charlie Parker. He spoke about his friendship with John Coltrane in the 2016 documentary ‘Chasing Trane.’ He's also a prolific composer and a veteran educator. At the concert, he'll be featured in a small group with members of the jazz faculty during the first half and with the One O'Clock Lab Band in the second half of the program, which will include his compositions."
The band is directed by associate professor of jazz, Alan Baylock.
“Jimmy Heath is a living legend,” Baylock said. “There are few people in the history of jazz who have had such a long and fruitful career.”
DENTON (UNT), Texas - On Monday afternoons during the University of North Texas fall and spring semesters, the Denton Senior Center is filled with the vibrant sounds of a traditional concert wind ensemble – woodwinds, brass and percussion all working together in harmony. But, there is something unique about the musicians sitting in the chairs of the two Denton New Horizons bands – they are either active adults or retirees.
Buddy Givens, who played music in college, the Air Force and a Shrine band, says when he moved to the area, he was looking for new musical opportunities.
“I saw an article in the newspaper regarding the band right after I had retired and had the time to devote to it,” said Givens, who’s played bassoon in the band for seven years. “Now that my wife has retired, she has joined the band as a beginner percussionist, so we are able to enjoy it together.”
The two bands, one strictly for beginners, the other for more advanced musicians who want to hone their skills or re-learn how to play an instrument, are part of the New Horizons International Music Association, created by Roy Ernst, a professor at Eastman School of Music. Debbie Rohwer, University of North Texas associate to the president, chief of staff and professor of music education, studied at Eastman and, after seeing the success of Ernst's program, brought it to Denton in 1998.
“I love this program and what it represents – anyone at any age can make music with others and have a great time doing it,” Rohwer said. “These individuals embody what it means to live life to the fullest, even at 92 years old, as one of our members is, and going strong.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of UNT’s New Horizons Band and they are celebrating the milestone with a special concert at 7 p.m. March 26 (Monday) in Margot and Bill Winspear Hall in the Murchison Performing Arts Center, located at 2100 S. I-35E.
Two UNT instrumental education doctoral students – Olivia Tucker and Samuel Escalante – work with the bands and will be conducting at the concert. Tucker says she has really enjoyed spending time with the band members as they prepare for the upcoming event.
“I love being a part of New Horizons because it is a meaningful way to extend music education outside formal schooling as a participatory, community endeavor,” Tucker said. “I think the group is a special slice of the arts, music and community spirit of Denton.”
Escalante says he loves working with the ensembles and helping the members realize their potential through music.
“What I enjoy most is everyone’s passion for being part of a musical experience purely for enjoyment, personal growth and socialization,” Escalante said. “I believe it is critical that we join and support community ensembles of all kinds.”
There are now six New Horizons Bands in Texas, with more than 200 across the world. Denton's bands alone have close to 80 members who come from cities across North Texas including Coppell, Carrollton and Dallas.
The Denton bands meet on Monday afternoons during the school year at the Denton Senior Center, 509 N. Bell Ave. The beginner band starts at 2:45 p.m., and intermediate and advanced players meet at 3:45 p.m. In addition to the anniversary concert, the bands offer performances throughout the year including appearances at the Denton Arts and Jazz festival each spring, and a benefit concert in the fall to raise funds for a local charity.
Eugenia King, clarinetist for the band, says that everyone in the band is extremely welcoming regardless of your skill level.
"I came in 10 years ago with only five months of clarinet training in high school,” King said. “I just want you to know that if I can do it, anyone can.”
DENTON (UNT), Texas - Jonathan Eaton, University of North Texas College of Music Margot and Bill Winspear Chair in Opera Studies, wants to transport his audience to a New York tenement in the sweltering summer of 1946 for a classic American story of love and loss, heartbreak and hope when he presents Kurt Weill’s classic, “Street Scene.”
“One of the fascinating things about ‘Street Scene’ is that the story is located in a gritty, urban, dirty, somewhat ugly, claustrophobic tenement environment with little light penetrating between the columns of the buildings into the canyons in between and no nature,” Eaton said. “Yet the piece is shot through with a different sort of light – human emotions, light-hearted moments, young love, old love, dying love – human nature. We welcome you to a dark urban world transfused by light.”
“Street Scene” is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Elmer Rice and the Tony Award-winning so-called “Broadway opera” features Weill’s inimitable jazz-inspired music and a uniquely American melting pot of characters.
“Their stories weave in and out in an almost cinematic kaleidoscope of lives and loves,” Eaton said. “Weill gives us a cross-section of humanity in all its richness, squalor, joy, banality and glory.”
What: UNT Opera director, the internationally known Jonathan Eaton, brings his expertise of Kurt Weill’s work to his interpretation of “Street Scene,” with opera music director Stephen Dubberly.
When: 8 p.m. Feb. 22-24 (Thursday-Saturday) and 3 p.m. Feb. 25 (Sunday). "In the Know" lecture 45 minutes before each performance.
Where: Lyric Theater at the Murchison Performing Arts Center, 2100 Interstate 35E in Denton. The event also will be streamed live at https://recording.music.unt.edu/.
Tickets: $35 includes dessert and wine; $25-$15 for all other seats at www.thempac.com. Discounts available for senior citizens; students; children; UNT faculty, staff and retirees; and groups of 10 or more.
Parking: Free parking will be available in the lot next to the MPAC, with overflow parking available in lots 4 and 26. View the UNT parking map here.
Dubberly will direct music for the opera, which will be presented in English.
DENTON (UNT), Texas - The University of North Texas College of Music is presenting a benefit concert in memory of Reuben Allred, an accomplished piano student who died unexpectedly in April 2017.
Allred was working on his doctorate of musical arts in piano performance and earned a graduate artist certificate at UNT. He was assistant chorus master of the Dallas Opera and served as artist-in-residence and guest lecturer at universities around the world.
“Mr. Allred was a highly respected and sought-after collaborator, accompanying 25 to 30 concerts each year,” said Regents Professor of Piano Pamela Mia Paul, Allred’s mentor at UNT. “He was also a very active solo pianist, coach, teacher, jazz improviser, studio musician and transcriber who performed with numerous ensembles.”
The benefit will be at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in the College of Music Recital Hall, located at 415 S. Ave. C, and will feature several faculty, as well as Allred’s closest musician friends. Funds raised at the event will be used for the Reuben Allred Collaborative Scholarship Fund.
“The scholarship was established in Ben's name in order to honor his life and his memory and in recognition of the many, many musicians – instrumentalists and singers – with whom he collaborated so enthusiastically and so professionally throughout his all-too-short life,” Paul said. “While he was also a most accomplished solo performer, I felt that his legacy would be honored best by establishing a collaborative scholarship in his name.”
Donations will not be taken at the door. For more information or to learn how to contribute, visit the event page.
Moody Performance Hall 4-11-2018 @ 7:30 PM
Tickets: theMPAC.com
Join us April 11 at 7:30pm in Moody Performance Hall to experience UNT faculty composer Joseph Klein’s Canetti-menagerie: a surreal soiree, a collection of solo and chamber performances depicting seven characters from Nobel Prize winning author Elias Canetti’s book Earwitness: Fifty Characters. These varied and eccentric personae come to life through haunting musical performances by UNT faculty and guest artists, dramatic visualizations by local artist Jessica Leza and readings from Canetti’s insightful and ironic studies of human behavior.
Composed in March 2015, Canetti-menagerie is a semi-improvisational open-form chamber work for five to eight performers, based on the composer’s collection of solo works, Character Studies after Elias Canetti, which is in turn based on in Canetti's 1974 book Der Ohrenzeuge (Earwitness). Begun in 1997, there are seventeen character studies in the series to date, composed for piccolo, bass flute, ocarina, basset horn, contrabassoon, alto saxophone, bass saxophone, trumpet, violin, violoncello, contrabass, guitar, percussion, glass harmonica, cimbalom, piano, and organ. In this performance, seven of character studies are paired with the chamber work.
In the chamber work, performers improvise in various duo, trio, and quintet combinations, developing musical fragments from these solo studies, which are used as raw material for a variety of musical conversations — not unlike the interaction of distinct characters at a social gathering. Whereas the character studies in this collection explore the psychological qualities of the characters portrayed in Canetti's Der Ohrenzeuge, Canetti-menagerie is more of a sociological study of these characters' various interactions — very much in the spirit of another one of Canetti's writings, Masse und Macht (Crowds and Power), an idiosyncratic yet penetrating study of group dynamics and power structures within various societal constructs.
Featured performers:
Carol Wilson and William Joyner, narrators
Elizabeth McNutt, piccolo
Kimberly Cole Luevano, basset horn
John Holt, trumpet
Christopher Deane, cimbalom
Jacob Garcia, percussion
Andrew May, violin
Madeleine Shapiro, cello
Location:
Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Street Dallas, TX 75201
Tickets:
Box Office Opens January 23, 2017 Tickets for concert only in advance through theMPAC.com - $10/$8
Evening of performance tickets available at the Moody Performance Hall: Only will-call tickets, cash or check.
What: Gospel Meets Jazz conducted by Brad Leali.
When: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 11 (Sunday).
Where: Paul Voertman Concert Hall, 415 S. Ave. C in Denton.
Cost: Free.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Brad Leali, College of Music jazz saxophone professor, presents his fifth annual Black History Month concert, “Gospel Meets Jazz,” at the University of North Texas.
“We are celebrating black history, the contributions of the African American culture, as well as sending the message that by working together we can attain peace, goodness and acceptance,” Leali said.
The performance will consist of UNT faculty/students and members of the Village Church in Denton and Morse Street Baptist Church choirs. It features vocalist Katina Butler and UNT professors Tanya Darby on trumpet, Quincy Davis on drum set and Pat Coil on piano. The choirs will be led by Bobby Hicks.
Azaria Hogans, Texas Woman’s University graduate student, will be performing a dance segment and Larry Willis, pastor for Morse Street Baptist Church, will be a featured special guest.
The concert will consist of a variety of songs from the gospel and jazz genres, including some new original materials.
Song selections include “Emmitt T.,” “Strange Fruit,” “Jesus is Real” and “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”
