|
|
|
|
Dear School of Music Alumni,
The fall 2019 semester was truly one of celebration, milestones and exciting new transitions for the School of Music.
Over the summer, we welcomed David Neely as our director of orchestral activities. His engaging programming for the UMD Symphony Orchestra has already included Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, Holst’s The Planets and Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten. I hope that many of you will join us in the spring as he leads the orchestra in a world premiere of Maria Newman's Our Rights and Nothing Less written in honor of Susan B. Anthony's 200th birthday, culminating with a performance in May of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
|
|
|
Classical violin meets virtual reality in this collaborative project by Irina Muresanu (violin) and Amitabh Varshney, professor of computer science and dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. Read the full story in Maryland Today.
|
|
|
School of Music Director Jason Geary was appointed to serve as a special advisor to the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities for a one-year term. In this role, Geary has been devising and leading a process that elaborates upon the University of Maryland Arts Initiative report prepared by a task force led by the dean at the request of the provost this past spring.
|
|
|
|
Chris Gekker (trumpet) performed the Arutunian Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra with The Apollo Orchestra in Washington, D.C., in September and played lead trumpet at the Hispanic Heritage Awards television show broadcast from the Kennedy Center on October 1. His new CD, "5," was released in October by HipBone Music with music written for brass quintet by Michael Davis and Cole Davis.
|
|
|
|
Associate Director for Engagement and Enrollment Management Lori DeBoy received a staff service award from the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) in recognition of her outstanding service to the University of Maryland School of Music. The award was presented at the ARHU Convocation on September 26.
|
|
|
|
The Collington Continuing Care Retirement Community Artists-in-Residence for the 19-20 academic year are IeSeul Yoen (D.M.A. piano) and Natalie Groom (D.M.A. clarinet). They made their performance debut together with a program featuring music by women composers. One of the goals for their residency is to highlight works by diverse composers and strengthen this intergenerational partnership by programming educational workshops and cultivating deeper interactions.
|
|
|
|
Congratulations to Oculus [Five] as they begin their new role as the School of Music's Fellowship Woodwind Quintet. Made up of members Thomas Wible (D.M.A. flute), Patrick Grimone (M.M. oboe), Michael Casto (D.M.A. clarinet), Molly Flanagan (D.M.A. horn) and Debra Loh (M.M. bassoon), the quintet is looking forward to a wonderful year with engaging performances at UMD and in the broader DMV community.
|
|
|
|
The Kurt Weill Foundation awarded Jesse Leong (D.M.A. conducting) the Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellowship. Established in 2015 to honor Rudel's extraordinary artistic achievements and dedication to the music of Kurt Weill, this award enables a young conductor in the early stages of a career to assist a master conductor in the preparation and performance of a work by Weill or Marc Blitzstein and expand their knowledge of these composers' works. The fellowship carries a stipend of $10,000.
|
|
|
|
Ceylon Mitchell II (D.M.A. flute) received a grant from Prince George’s Arts & Humanities Council. This grant enabled Mitchell to give a series of classical crossover performances at venues throughout Prince George’s County. The series highlighted African and Latin American cultures and demonstrated the unique development of Western-European classical flute music in the Latin American countries of Puerto Rico, Cuba and Brazil.
|
|
|
|
The Hornucopia Horn Quartet members Lauren Patin, Kat Robinson, Hannah Smith and Christine Stinchi (M.M. horn) performed at the 51st Annual International Horn Symposium in Ghent, Belgium, in July. The quartet performed pieces highlighting the natural horn as well as a current quartet written by female hornist Gina Gille.
|
|
|
|
The University of Maryland College of Arts and Humanities has released its annual Year in Review for the 18-19 academic year. This publication features faculty member Irina Muresanu (violin) on the front cover and highlights the amazing achievements of several faculty, students and alumni from the School of Music.
|
|
|
|
We are excited to announce our partnership with the International Florence Price Festival as we host its inaugural gathering here at The Clarice from August 20-23, 2020. The festival will include a diverse range of performers and speakers giving recitals, lectures and panels on trailblazing composer Florence Price and her contemporaries. Some performances will be free to the public, and most events will be free to UMD students, faculty and staff.
|
|
|
The Road to Steinway
Piano Alumnus Matthew Bachman Turns Businessman
Matthew Bachman ’05, ’07, ’14 didn’t begin studying music with a career in business in mind. He originally planned to go into academia. After receiving a dual undergraduate degree in piano and horn, Bachman continued at the University of Maryland for both his M.M. and D.M.A. in piano.
Through a graduate assistantship in piano technology, a different career path began to emerge. Because the School of Music (SOM) is an “All Steinway School,” Bachman was able to tune and work on the famous pianos. That knowledge and training ultimately led to his current role as a sales manager for Steinway & Sons in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
|
|
|
Bill Hullfish ’61, ’63 (B.S. music education, M.M. clarinet) has spent his career collecting, researching, recording and performing songs from the Erie Canal. Hullfish recently wrote "The Erie Canal Sings: A Musical History of New York’s Grand Waterway" using the songs of the canals to tell the story of the men and women who dug the canals and plied the waterways from 1817 to 1918. The book is set to be released on June 17, 2020.
|
|
|
|
Daniel (Duke) G. Thompson ’83 (M.M. piano) has been composing thought-provoking music since being diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) in 2007. Since then, he has developed a program for veterans with PTSD called Music for the Inner Self, which has enabled veterans to revisit and then begin to process the traumas that they have experienced. Currently, this program exists at Perry Point Veterans Hospital in northeast Maryland.
|
|
|
|
Sue Fabisch ’88 (B.M. voice) is the author of Motherhood the Musical, which has played across the U.S., Peru, Scotland and Australia. Other shows include the musical David Michael Finkelstein’s Bar Mitzvah, the children’s musical Poppy’s Pizza Palace and a brand-new two-woman comedy, Me & My SMother. An award winning songwriter for other artists, her songs have reached the #1 spot on Radio Disney. Fabisch’s own album hit the Top 10 spot on Billboard Magazine’s Comedy Chart, and her CD "The Avon Lady Album," featuring songs to inspire and motivate Avon Ladies, was marketed by Avon for their 3 million representatives worldwide.
|
|
|
|
Terell Stafford ’88 (B.S. music education) was designated the artistic director for jazz for The Philly POPS. In his new role, Stafford will continue to direct the All-City Jazz Orchestra, continuing a five-year-old partnership between the School District of Philadelphia and the POPS. Stafford will expand The Philly POPS’ programming in the schools by bringing in credentialed jazz musicians while creating programs to bring student performers into the concert hall.
|
|
|
|
Renee Todd ’93 (B.S. music education) is currently in her eighth year as director of bands at Ligon GT Magnet Middle School. Under Todd's direction, the Ligon Band program has grown to over 230 band members, with four wind bands and a jazz ensemble achieving superior ratings at both local and national music festivals. This month, the band will be featured at the 73rd Annual Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL, becoming the very first jazz ensemble to be featured from North Carolina.
|
|
|
|
Hayley Abramowitz ’08 (B.M. voice) will make her professional debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Marin Alsop in April 2020, singing Mahler's Symphony No. 4.
|
|
|
|
Justin Bland ’08 (B.M. trumpet) has quickly been establishing himself as one of Scandinavia’s most sought-after performers on historical trumpets. In 2020, his solo highlights include Haydn’s trumpet concerto with Copenhagen Soloists in Denmark, Hertel’s trumpet concertos with Arte dei Suonatori in Poland and Fasch’s concerto for trumpet, violin and oboe d’amore with ensemble Paulus Barokk in Norway. Bland’s edition of the Fasch concerto is expected to be published in 2020. Additionally, he will serve as the artistic director for Næstved Early Music Festival’s weekend festival in Denmark in October 2020.
|
|
|
|
Ellie Falaris Ganelin ’09 (B.A. flute) performed with the Greek Chamber Music Project on their 2019 tour in memory of the Holocaust, honoring the Sephardic Jews of Greece and the broader Mediterranean. The tour included a performance at Ulrich Recital Hall at the University of Maryland.
|
|
|
|
John Devlin ’11, ’15 (M.M. orchestral conducting, D.M.A. orchestral conducting) was recently named music director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. He is the ninth conductor to hold that title in the organization’s 90-year history. During the 19-20 season, Devlin will conduct 12 of the orchestra's concert weeks, including the WSO’s masterworks series.
|
|
|
|
Mary Ferrillo ’11 (B.M. viola) won a job with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) viola section. Ferrillo started her new position with the orchestra at the end of September. She joins her dad who is the BSO's principal oboist. Read her story in The ARTery.
|
|
|
|
Philip Ravita ’11 (M.M. jazz) recently received a Jazz2U grant from the Jazz Education Network, sponsored by the Herb Alpert Foundation. The intent of this grant is to enable musicians to bring jazz to local communities. In addition, his group will be releasing a new CD of original music in 2020. The CD features fellow UMD alumni Nuc Vega on drums and Greg Small on piano.
|
|
|
|
Patrick Cook ’13 (D.M.A. opera) made a surprise Metropolitan Opera debut on November 29 in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, replacing a colleague who was ill. He subsequently took over the role for all remaining performances.
|
|
|
|
Corey Sansolo ’15 (M.M. trombone) recently finished performing on the Lyric Opera of Chicago's run of Mozart's Don Giovanni. He will be rejoining them in the spring for their spring production of Wagner's Götterdämmerung.
|
|
|
|
Rachel Carlson ’16 (D.M.A. choral conducting) wrote an article entitled “Sight-Reading Insights from Professional Choral Singers: How They Learned and Implications for the Choral Classroom,” which was published as the feature article in the August 2019 issue of The Choral Journal.
|
|
|
|
Hannah Wynne ’17 (B.M. jazz) recently received her Master of Music in jazz performance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA.
|
|
|
|
Molly Jones ’18 (D.M.A. cello) is co-founder and co-director of Lumino Festival, a restorative retreat for young professional musicians. The festival celebrated a successful second season this past summer. Held at Music Mountain, CT, Lumino provides a haven for musicians to practice and collaborate without the distractions of technology. This year, Lumino welcomed an Alexander Technique teacher and hosted a concert at Music Mountain's Gordon Hall.
|
|
|
|
In July 2019, Peter Swanson ’18 (M.M. cello) made his conducting debut as principal guest conductor of the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra. He conducted works by Hovhaness, Bartók, Wiren, Kaiser, Janáček, Mozart, Sarasate, Saint-Saëns and Haydn. He also served as co-director of the orchestra's educational program, The Quartet Project.
|
|
|
|
Timothy MacDuff ’19 (D.M.A. viola) recently became the new associate principal violist in the Arkansas Symphony and the violist of the Arkansas Symphony's resident string quartet, the Quapaw Quartet of Little Rock.
|
|
|
Support the School of Music
Your gift to the School of Music can have a dynamic impact on students, programs and faculty. Scholarship support, faculty fellowships and artist residencies are just a few of the giving opportunities available. Learn more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
