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College breaks ground on $57 million Imig expansion

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 21:18:39 +0000

College breaks ground on $57 million Imig expansion Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/04/2019 - 14:18

Jessie Bauters

On Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, the College of Music broke ground on the expansion of its longtime home, the Imig Music Building. Here are highlights from the event, courtesy photographer Glenn Asakawa.

To read more about the groundbreaking, check out this article in CU Boulder Today.

On Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, the College of Music broke ground on the expansion of its longtime home, the Imig Music Building.

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New endowment creates Christoffersen Faculty Fellowships in Composition

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 20:40:21 +0000

New endowment creates Christoffersen Faculty Fellowships in Composition Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/01/2018 - 13:40

Jessie Bauters

Associate Professor of Composition Carter Pann works on the new equipment in his office, purchased with help from the new Christoffersen Faculty Fellowship in Composition.

Ralph “Chris” Christoffersen has a long history in academia. First in Kansas, then at babyֱ��app State University where he served as president in the 1980s.

And during his entire career as a chemistry professor and an administrator, Christoffersen says there was another constant in his life: music.

“I’ve been active in music since I was a teenager. I started in choir, and had some strong instructors to show me how important music is. Then, throughout my career, I was doing music in parallel with everything else. I had an a cappella group that rehearsed at my house.”

Christoffersen, who moved to Boulder with his wife Barbara 25 years ago, turned a love of music and higher education into a service to the community in 2011. The couple donated $600,000 to the College of Music to create the Christoffersen Endowment Fund for the Takács Quartet, which helps keep the Grammy-winning quartet in residence at the college.

Recently, the Christoffersens saw another opportunity to enrich and sustain music study at CU Boulder.

“Barbara and I decided we were going to support areas that demonstrated real excellence. The Takács is a world-class organization, so we wanted to further their work. Then—when we heard about Dan [Kellogg] and Carter [Pann], and the Pulitzer nomination—we wanted to do the same thing.”

The Christoffersen Faculty Fellowships in Composition provide salary support for Kellogg and Pann and further funding to bring in guest artists, purchase new composition equipment for the department and travel to conferences.

It’s gifts like these, Kellogg says, that enable the composition department to find new ways to stand out.

“Our program is able to provide more creative outlets for students than those at schools with more national prestige,” the composition area chair explains. “And because we’re a relatively small program, just 20 students, this allows us to build on our already-strong core offerings.”

The endowment comes on the heels of another big gift to the composition department: Last year, an anonymous donor provided $80,000, which went toward the founding of the new Boulder Altitude Directive—or B.A.D.—ensemble.

Pann, who directs the ensemble, says the generous support has opened doors to unique opportunities for students and babyֱ��app alike.

“B.A.D. was founded with the first installment of that anonymous gift,” Pann explains. “Its mission is to premiere newly commissioned works by composition students, not only in performance but also in professional recordings.

“All six members of the ensemble—made up of the cream of the crop of graduate student performers—are paid with the funding from the donor.”

Carter Pann, Chris Christoffersen, Barbara Christoffersen and Daniel Kellogg at a dinner celebrating the Christoffersens’ latest gift to the College of Music.

Rounding out a banner year for composition at CU, Don and Maria Johnson—longtime friends of the college—endowed the $200,000 Architects of Music Fund, which provides scholarship support. It comes after the couple spearheaded a local celebration of the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence this fall, commissioning a piece from master’s student Conor Brown and creating a scholarship to send him to the Nordic country for research.

“We need to support our students through scholarships and opportunities like this,” Kellogg says. “Our goal is to take all the great things we’ve started, which the students love, and make sure they’re available in 30 years.”

The new endowment brings the Christoffersens’ lifetime giving to the College of Music to more than $1 million. It’s a gift the couple is proud to provide.

“The babyֱ��app at the College of Music are a treasure. That’s exactly why we’ve invested in them,” Christoffersen says.

Two composition babyֱ��app now have new titles and more resources thanks to two longtime friends of the College of Music.

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First Distinguished Lectureship on Music, Diversity and Inclusion hosts Native American music scholar

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 07:07:14 +0000

First Distinguished Lectureship on Music, Diversity and Inclusion hosts Native American music scholar Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/30/2018 - 00:07

Sabine Kortals

Ethnomusicologist Charlotte Heth speaks at the College of Music’s first Distinguished Lectureship on Music, Diversity and Inclusion on Feb. 28.

On Feb. 28, the College of Music kicks off its annual Distinguished Lectureship on Music, Diversity and Inclusion with a free lecture by Native American ethnomusicologist Charlotte Heth. Titled “Too Many Words—Not Enough Music,” the lecture will celebrate music that promotes diversity through artistry.

“It’s always timely to learn and deepen our respect for varying values and cultural traditions,” said Heth, professor emerita at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Perhaps especially true today, it takes courage to be tolerant, and to avoid making judgments about society—or about aspects of our society.”

Indeed, in an arguably “post-fact” world, Heth looks to the musics of the world—American Indian Music, in particular—as a means to make sense of and appreciate distinct and divergent cultures and associated societies.

“There are so many words flying around today,” Heth continued. “There’s so much judgment, anger and hate. But when we go beyond words and focus instead on the emotional aspects of music—beyond music theory—we recognize the important role it plays in all our lives, and how it can empower, heal and unify us.”

Specifically, Heth’s talk will center predominantly on the influence of music and dance on American Indian lives. “It’s all about bringing people together,” she said. “Beyond words and political statements and actions, making music together—whether you’re in a church choir or a marching band—does that. And when people come together and get to know other people from other cultures, we move past differences in culture and language toward greater understanding and respect.”

A citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Heth’s early research focused on Oklahoma Cherokee music and that of surrounding tribal groups. From there, her published, widely respected research and applied work expanded to include musical instruments, dance, education and related American Indian topics.

Heth joined the Peace Corps in 1962, teaching English and organizing a music club in Ethiopia. Upon her return, she taught in Los Angeles County public schools and earned her doctorate, followed by professional appointments at Cornell University and UCLA.

“Too often, music gets reduced to a formula, rather than a powerful means to connect and communicate,” she said. “I’ve been through segregation and discrimination in this country, and I was a white minority in Ethiopia. I’ve seen what we lose when we label groups of people, rather than protect the worth and dignity of every individual.

“If we can somehow recognize the individual through music, we elevate that person and we change perceptions.”

On Feb. 28, the College of Music kicks off its annual Distinguished Lectureship on Music, Diversity and Inclusion with a free lecture by Native American ethnomusicologist Charlotte Heth.

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babyֱ��app Music 2017

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 10:16:25 +0000

babyֱ��app Music 2017 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/24/2017 - 04:16

Jessie Bauters

Digital edition

Download PDF

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CU at the Dairy: new partnership launches Sept. 7

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 14:59:47 +0000

CU at the Dairy: new partnership launches Sept. 7 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/16/2017 - 08:59

Jessie Bauters

A new cross-town collaboration is giving College of Music babyֱ��app an opportunity to broaden their horizons and share their art with the greater Boulder community.

This fall, the Dairy Arts Center and the College of Music launch CU at the Dairy. The new performance series features CU Boulder music babyֱ��app in concert at the Dairy’s Gordon Gamm Theater. The venue offers different ways for babyֱ��app performers to explore their craft, collaborate with other local artists and engage with audiences.

“The amazing babyֱ��app at CU have such great ideas and projects they want to present,” says Sharon Park, Dairy Center music curator and 2017 doctoral graduate of the College of Music. “The Gordon gives them an intimate venue to pair visual art, silent film, dance or any other art form with music.”

Pianist David Korevaar

The series kicks off Sept. 7 with “Miraculous Mozart,” an evening with Helen and Peter Weil Professor of Piano David Korevaar. Assistant Professor of Violin Charles Wetherbee and other College of Music babyֱ��app and alumni will join Korevaar on stage for Mozart’s 14th and 15th piano concertos as the audience gets a bird’s-eye view of the open piano.

“This is an opportunity to bring to Boulder something I’ve only done abroad, which is conducting and playing with a chamber orchestra,” Korevaar says. “I’m excited to be a part of the first CU at the Dairy event; it’s fun to see the Dairy ‘growing up’ and taking its place as a performing arts venue in our town. I also hope this introduces more people to the excellence at the College of Music.”

Theory professor Yonatan Malin

Then, on Sept. 15, Associate Professor of Theory Yonatan Malin hosts a multimedia event in collaboration with the college’s violin studios and CU’s Program in Jewish Studies and International Film Series. “The Yellow Ticket” features a rare 1918 silent film about a young Jewish woman studying medicine in Tsarist Russia. Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and jazz pianist Marilyn Lerner perform the original score live, and Malin leads a panel discussion with the performers and CU babyֱ��app members about film, music and cultural awareness.

“The partnership with the Dairy is perfect for the screening of ‘The Yellow Ticket’ because it is of interest to CU students and babyֱ��app and the community at large,” Malin explains. “This project is already a partnership between the College of Music, the Program in Jewish Studies and the International Film Series at CU Boulder, so making it widely available and accessible for community members makes perfect sense.”

For the College of Music, these first two events are only the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Says Dean Robert Shay, “It's my belief that such collaborations strengthen all partners and generally help raise the visibility for the arts in our community. In a sense, we're all in this together, working to find new audiences for what we do.”

“The arts have this power to engage people in important conversations, find an outlet to escape reality and even heal,” Park adds. “By building this bridge between the university and the community, we are helping create a ripple effect of awareness of the role music plays in our society.”

The series will continue with a performance by Thompson Jazz Studies Director John Gunther and friends in the spring. For more information about CU at the Dairy and to purchase tickets, call the Dairy Center box office at 303-444-7328 or visit the Dairy Center’s website.

A new cross-town collaboration is giving College of Music babyֱ��app an opportunity to broaden their horizons and share their art with the greater Boulder community.

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Balancing Act: music student finds time to work out voice and football skills

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 22:17:21 +0000

Balancing Act: music student finds time to work out voice and football skills Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/02/2017 - 16:17

Jessie Bauters

Chance Lytle (center, number 74) in a spring huddle on the CU Buffs Football team.

Walk into the CU football locker rooms at the Champions Center on a quiet afternoon and listen closely. If you’re lucky, you might just hear Chance Lytle’s bass drifting out of an empty room.

“I’m able to fit in practicing in the football building. There are several quiet rooms and large, open rooms that are empty a lot of the time.”

Lytle will be a sophomore this year at the College of Music, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in music with a focus on voice performance. He’ll also join the Buffs football team on the field for the first time as a guard and tackle on the offensive line. He was recruited as a grayshirt freshman during his senior year of high school—right around the time he was picking up singing.

“I started playing violin in fifth grade, then cello until my senior year of high school,” he explains. “But then I had to get surgery on my shoulder because of football, so I joined choir during the second half of my senior year.”

The San Antonio native fell in love with singing, quickly learning a couple of pieces just in time to audition at the College of Music. Now that his shoulder is healed, he says he occasionally picks up his bowed instruments to give them a spin—when he can find the time.

“Football is every day until 11, and it’s every day, all year. There are off times when you’re not on the field, but then you’re attending meetings. That’s why I have to get in singing when I can. But both the football and music programs have done their best to accommodate me.”

Chance Lytle

Though they seem like fundamentally different pursuits, Lytle says football and music have more in common than just halftime performances.

“Both of them require unbelievable amounts of practice. That’s something that thankfully crosses over. That work ethic carries through to all aspects of my life.

“The way I try to approach it is to put as much into music as I put into football, and vice versa.”

Having been an athlete for 10 years and a musician for almost as long, Lytle has learned to balance his two passions, even finding a kind of serenity in the constant back and forth.

“I love them both. I enjoy having multiple passions and feel very lucky to have that. Both of them are an escape so I can never get tired of either one.”

And when it all comes together—whether on stage or on the field—the hard work is all worth it.

“I compare practicing scales to the constant grind of football practice. You may not enjoy it as much, but the payoff is great. The games and the performances are a blast.

“Plus, I get to hear the band and hum along with the chords during football games.”

Lytle hopes to work toward a degree in music education and someday teach and coach high school football.

For sophomore voice major Chance Lytle, football and music have more in common than just the halftime performance.

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Distinguished honorees Eklund, Campbell, Hobbs to be recognized at commencement

Anonymous — Wed, 03 May 2017 12:00:48 +0000

Distinguished honorees Eklund, Campbell, Hobbs to be recognized at commencement Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/03/2017 - 06:00

Jessie Bauters

At this year’s commencement ceremony, in addition to honoring the graduates who will become Forever Buffs, the College of Music will call out the varied legacies of three members of our extended community.

Alumni Alex Campbell (MME ‘60) and William Hobbs (BM ‘90) will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award, while Eklund Opera Program namesake Paul Eklund will he honored with the Distinguished Service Award. Though their backgrounds may be different, each speaker has been affected by music—and has returned the favor by having an effect of his own.

Alex Campbell (MME '60)

Alex Campbell

Alex Campbell has been a music educator since the 1950s. The babyֱ��app native grew up in towns all along the Front Range, earning his high school diploma in Cañon City. After graduating from the University of Denver with his bachelor’s degree in music education and spending two years in the military, he returned to Cañon City as music supervisor and director of choirs.

A couple of years later, he enrolled in the Summer MME program at CU Boulder.

“CU has a marvelous summer program. I could keep my job in Cañon City and in the military, and I could learn from great educators like Chuck Byers and Dean Imig.”

After completing graduate studies in 1960, Campbell took a job in Jefferson County Public Schools, first at Alameda High School in Lakewood then as district-wide music coordinator. He stayed there for many years, also serving as president of the babyֱ��app Music Educators Association in the 1970s and as southwest division president of the National Association for Music Education. He also retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve.

Campbell, who still plays piano and horn for two community bands in Jefferson County, says there’s a reason his life has always revolved around music.

“Music does things for you. It’s important in my life, and I think in a way, in everyone’s.”

As he prepares to return to Boulder for commencement, Campbell is reminded of his favorite part about being a student here: the people.

“I was always inspired to do good by the incredible students and staff here. It’ll be great to be back on campus.”

And the advice he’ll give students as he addresses them next week?

“The main thing is to enjoy what you’re doing.”

William Hobbs

Born in Austin, Texas, William Hobbs graduated from the College of Music with a bachelor’s degree in piano performance in 1990. After that, he got a master’s from Eastman School of Music and went on to a successful career as a repetiteur and conductor at many of the world’s major opera houses including the Opéra National de Paris, the Salzburg Festival, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington Opera and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

Hobbs has also served on the babyֱ��app of the Aspen Opera Theater Center of the Aspen Music Festival, CoOPERAtive at Westminster Choir College and the Juilliard School. He was twice invited to the National Theater of Tokyo as a visiting master coach.

Hobbs is the founder and artistic director of Opera Slavica, which had its debut at Merkin Concert Hall in New York in Summer 2009.

Paul Eklund with Opera Director Leigh Holman and Dean Robert Shay in 2014.

Paul Eklund

Boulder real estate developer Paul Eklund can point to a number of times when his life was colored by music.

First, as a boy growing up in the San Diego area.

“I took piano lessons and I always liked when my mom played the organ. But the moments I distinctly remember were when my parents would take me to the Starlight Operas when I was 8 or 9—and of course, when the Beatles came around in the 60s.”

Then in college, again music played a formative role.

“I had a girlfriend who really liked the piano, so she inspired me to start playing it again for a while. I also had a discussion with some friends one night about why people like music. We concluded that it was physical—like the rhythm of our hearts was synchronized with the music. That really stuck with me.”

After college, Eklund joined the Navy, where he says once again, the influence of music was felt.

“I was on leave in Salzburg, Austria, and I was chatting with a man in a pub there. He told me that he was a clerk in an office, but his real life was music. His job was secondary. That was inspiring to me.”

And when he moved to Boulder, one final sign.

“I got involved with a meditation group and when we chanted, something happened. My whole awareness elevated because of the music. So I started reading more about how important music is to different faiths, and virtually every religion is somehow associated with music. So I thought, ‘This is universal stuff.’”

All that culminated in 2014, when Eklund helped create a $2 million endowment to name the Eklund Opera Program at the College of Music.

“I’ve never studied music, but it’s always been a part of my life. In particular, I enjoy opera, because it’s so dramatic and you don’t see that kind of emotion expressed every day.”

Eklund says he’s excited to be a part of the momentum at the college, especially as his two passions come together to form the college’s curriculum.

“Business and music have always been so important to me, so I’m excited that there’s an entrepreneurship vein running through the College of Music. You have to educate yourself in business if you’re going to be a successful musician, and it’s exciting that the college is doing that.”

College of Music commencement is Friday, May 12 at 3:30 p.m. in Grusin Music Hall.

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It takes a team to make music

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 17:08:37 +0000

It takes a team to make music Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/06/2017 - 10:08

Jessie Bauters

If there’s one distinction that every student, babyֱ��app member and administrator at the College of Music can be proud of, it’s that the spirit of cooperation is alive and well at the college. The sense of camaraderie—of many different groups working together toward a shared goal—is one that permeates every aspect of musical study at CU Boulder.

Perhaps one of the chief reasons for that is the college’s prospering collaborative piano program.

“Faculty here really bring our collaborative pianists into the process from the beginning,” says Associate Professor of Collaborative Piano Alexandra Nguyen, who, along with Associate Professor Margaret McDonald, heads up the program. “There’s a knowledge that we bring something to the table.”

“And the babyֱ��app have always been very open to collaboration from the start,” says McDonald. “That helps make our program stronger as well.”

Although partnership doesn’t begin and end with the collaborative piano program, Nguyen, McDonald and their colleagues take their responsibility to heart each time they begin the music-making process, following in the footsteps of higher education pioneers from the not-too-distant past.

A history lesson

Nguyen says that, despite the program’s success in Boulder and other schools around the country, the phrase “collaborative piano” still raises eyebrows because it’s still relatively new to the music world.

“It had been called accompaniment for centuries. But the way these pieces are performed seems to have changed the perception of the role of the pianist,” Nguyen explains. “The earliest sonatas for violin and fortepiano were even written for the violin to accompany the piano.”

Composers like Mozart and Beethoven would premiere their own sonatas as the pianist. There was no such thing as an “accompanist” in the 18th and 19th centuries. Then came the advent of the piano virtuoso.

“With pianists like Liszt, there was suddenly this new group of superstar performers. They would ultimately develop the ‘solo’ performer, and the ‘solo’ performance, and that led to the distinction in roles.

“Until then, all pianists collaborated.”

Nguyen says with the help of British pianist Gerald Moore, who famously told people he’d rather play with others than by himself, pianists more interested in collaborating began to have a path. In 1947, the University of Southern California founded the first master’s program in accompanying; a doctorate program followed in the 1970s.

“Then New York pianist Samuel Sanders in the ‘80s coined the term ‘collaborative piano.’ The word ‘accompanist’ can make us sound subservient. But I don’t play an ‘accompano,’ I play a piano,” Nguyen asserts. “I just love to play with other people when I do.”

The term stuck, and since then, pianists like Jean Barr, Martin Katz and Margo Garrett followed Sanders’ lead. One of the discipline’s trailblazers, Anne Epperson, even helped start CU’s program.

A guiding principle

McDonald has been playing music since she was a child. She says she was always shy growing up, but getting up on stage gave her a voice and helped her open up to people.

“I’ve always loved to perform, but when there is even one more person on stage with you, you have their energy as well. I become a different person when I’m up there performing.”

McDonald first met Epperson as a performer in the Fischoff Competition. She then studied with her at the Music Academy of the West and then the University of California, Santa Barbara. When Epperson left California for Boulder, McDonald came with her.

“We both fell in love with this community. It just seemed like the right place to have a program like this, one that’s integrated with all the studios.”

Epperson and McDonald built the studio for several years until Epperson left to lay the foundation for another collaborative piano program at the University of Texas at Austin. That’s when Nguyen found herself in the foothills, after a winding road.

“I was actually going to be a medical doctor,” she says. “But after about a year, I realized physiology was not for me.”

After a stretch of odd jobs—retail, clerical work—Nguyen began accompanying friends on piano. One thing led to another, and eventually she made what ended up being a pivotal decision and attended the Music Academy of the West.

Nguyen, too, worked with Epperson at the festival and school. “I credit her for saving my career. I loved it—I loved working with other people. I went back to school and I decided I wanted to teach.”

A goal for the future

Today, Nguyen and McDonald pride themselves in their unique approach to training the collaborative pianists of tomorrow.

“Margaret and I both work with all of our students,” Nguyen explains. “That brings a balance to our students’ lessons. It’s challenging, but we make our different approaches work because we’re both listening for the same things.”

McDonald adds, “Our students also get feedback from the other babyֱ��app, and we provide feedback for instrumentalists and vocalists. It’s great for them to have those different perspectives.

“In addition to that, we have such a great team that works with our students: Suyeon Kim and Hsiao-Ling Lin, and Mutsumi Moteki, Nick Carthy and Jeremy Reger are all actively working with our students. They’re a crucial part of what we do.”

That’s what drew master’s student Mac Merchant to the program.

“The idea of having two lessons a week—and getting to play with every different kind of instrumentalist and ensemble—was appealing, along with the idea of working with acclaimed guest teachers and clinicians,” he says.

“One of my best experiences here was working with [guest artist] Martin Katz, one of the most celebrated vocal coaches in the country.”

In her mind, Nguyen sees collaborative piano at the doorstep of change.

“There are currently a handful of amazing pedagogues who built these programs, but they’re all going to retire in the next decade. Margaret and I have been talking about how we’re going to bring up the next generation of pedagogues—students who are interested in teaching, not just playing.”

Alumna Christina Lalog Seal took those lessons with her as a babyֱ��app member at Northern Kentucky University, where she teaches aural skills and piano.

“I am grateful for a depth of experiences at CU,” Seal says. “Rehearsing operas with Maestro Carthy at the podium and team-teaching Intro to Accompanying with Dr. Nguyen were some of my best memories.”

Regardless of what the future holds, one principle will always guide the teaching in the department.

“Collaborative piano is stimulating because it’s different every time. You can play the same piece with various partners and have completely distinct interpretations,” Nguyen says. “And you never know what opportunities will come from a collaboration or what new experiences your next concert might lead to.”

Doctoral student Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao, who has also studied with Anne Epperson, knows that firsthand. She performed in November at the Carnegie Hall showcase concert.

“That was the best experience I’ve had here,” she says. “As a collaborative pianist, it is an essential skill to be able to cope with different stage pressures and a variety of repertoire. In other words, you need to love performing! Having the opportunity to perform in such a venue was a great experience for me.”

McDonald says in addition to those high-profile performances, she’s pleased to be able to play with the best in the world right here in Boulder.

“There’s a sense that if you’ve played Carnegie Hall, you’ve made it. Which is true, but I’ve also performed with Paula Robison, Ian Bousfield and many others here. I’ve forged a connection with them: When you play together on the stage, it connects you a way that nothing else can.”

This Tuesday, March 7, Alexandra Nguyen takes the stage for Faculty Tuesday, joined by Patrick Mason, Harumi Rhodes and David Requiro. The free recital begins at 7:30 p.m. Find more information on the Faculty Tuesday page or watch live online.

Collaborative piano professors Alexandra Nguyen and Margaret McDonald explain the history and purpose of the collaborative piano practice.

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The perfect formula

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 14:47:12 +0000

The perfect formula Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/28/2017 - 07:47

Jessie Bauters

Caroline Vickstrom (front row, center) sings with her high school choir in Evergreen, babyֱ��app.

Caroline Vickstrom can point to the exact moment when she knew she wanted to be a choir teacher.

“It was after one of my conducting finals,” she remembers. “I walked out of class and I remember saying out loud, ‘How convenient. I love the thing I’m majoring in!’”

Vickstrom is finishing up a double degree in voice and choral music education this year. As she gets ready for student teaching in the fall, she’s been doing what many students do as they near the end of their time in college: She’s looking back on the road that led her here.

“My hint that I could do this as a career was actually when I took AP Music Theory in high school and really loved it. I was fascinated by chord structure, like math or science for music.”

Amid preparing for her seventh and eighth Eklund Opera productions, this spring’s “The Magic Flute,” and “Red Hot and Cole,” Vickstrom and her peers are taking the budding vocal jazz program at the college to a new level for a March 5 concert in Grusin Music Hall.

Led by graduate student Brian Stone, three small ensembles of CU students will perform alongside Fairview High School’s jazz groups. On the program are classics like “Georgia on My Mind” and more contemporary hits like “True Colors”—harkening to the a cappella heyday of TV’s “Glee.”

This isn’t the first time CU’s vocal jazz ensembles have performed with area high school students. Vickstrom, who has been with the program since its inception at the hands of alumnus Paul Thompson, was there last year when the student group Table of Five collaborated with Mead High School in Longmont.

“It’ll be cool to revisit that, but with a new group, a new director and a different high school. I think we’re going to be able to learn from them. Fairview’s jazz groups are solid!”

Preparing for the concert has been a different kind of learning experience for the aspiring music educator. In addition to working with guest clinician Stephen Futrell in the days leading up to the concert, both the CU groups and the Fairview groups will rehearse together.

“I’m getting close to student teaching, so I’m kind of on the border of these two roles of student and teacher,” Vickstrom says. “It’ll be great to have the experience of singing in an ensemble of younger students, as opposed to being in front of them conducting.

“Half my brain will be paying attention to what the Fairview teacher is doing, and the other half will be listening to the people around me. I think I’ll learn a lot from that both as a singer and a teacher.”

For Vickstrom, who has been singing in choirs since elementary school in Evergreen, the chance to forge a connection with a new group of people is what makes teaching music so rewarding.

“We’re all so close in age, so it’ll be a very collaborative experience. In our education classes, we talk a lot about our central philosophy and how it governs how we teach. I realized that my teaching is guided by this sense of belonging and community. That’s why I love teaching, and music enhances that.”

As she recalls what she learned in that conducting class—the one that she says solidified her career path—Vickstrom says it’s more than just the adrenaline high of standing in front of a great choir that makes her excited for the future.

“Intellectually, you’re never stuck. Music offers a little bit of everything. There’s the team-building aspect and supporting everyone else in a group. There’s also the math and breaking up a measure. And of course, the role history plays in a composition. You can dive into every subject through the lens of music. It’s a door to other things.”

The combined concert with the CU Boulder and Fairview High School vocal jazz ensembles is Sunday, March 5 at 2 p.m. in Grusin Music Hall. Find more details on the Events page.

BME Choral and BM Voice double major Caroline Vickstrom can point to the precise moment in which she knew she wanted to be a music teacher.

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CU Guitar Festival brings international musicians to Boulder

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 13:59:59 +0000

CU Guitar Festival brings international musicians to Boulder Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/31/2017 - 06:59

Jessie Bauters

CU artist in residence Matteo Mela works with a participant in the International Guitar Festival.

For three days this February, the classical guitar will once again take center stage at the College of Music. The third CU International Guitar Festival and Competition is Feb. 10-12 at Imig Music Building and Macky Auditorium.

Nicolò Spera, director of the Ritter Family Classical Guitar Program, organized the festival in 2013 as a tribute to the lyrical and ancient instrument for which so many have an affinity.

“The festival was born because we don’t often have people from all over the world come to Boulder. This is bringing together a community of people who play the guitar and people who love the guitar.”

The festival’s finale is the competition, which takes place all day on Sunday, Feb. 12 in Grusin Music Hall. Around 40 guitarists from far-flung places like China, Italy, Mexico and all over the United States will compete, with Lynn McGrath, artists in residence SoloDuo and other accomplished guitarists serving as judges.

Spera, who himself hails from Milan, says the competition is always a unique opportunity for the multicultural audience and the contestants to share in a common bond.

“They will get to meet people from other cultures who speak different languages—to find a different way to play guitar and view music and even the world,” he says. “We’ve tapped into that the last two competitions, and it’s happening again this year.”

Spera says his students will also expand his students’ musical understanding, especially those who may not be able to spend time abroad. “Paradoxically, to be a music student can be isolating. We spend so much time in the practice room that we forget there’s a whole world out there.

“It’s important for my students who can’t travel that we bring that world to them.”

Participants in the 2015 International Guitar Competition.

In addition to the competition, guest recitals are planned. On Friday night, Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli, who together make up the Italian guitar pair SoloDuo, will perform a free concert in Grusin Music Hall. And on Saturday, two CU alumni take the stage.

“[Cellist Kimberly Patterson and guitarist Patrick Sutton] have a great story,” Spera says. “They met here, began playing together here and now they have a wonderful career together as a duo. And soon, they’ll be married. We’re so excited to be hosting them this year.”

Spera says the power of music to bring people together is indescribable—yet unquestionable.

“These three days in Boulder, when people come together to share their love for music, can strengthen our determination and our bond. The fact that so many young people are coming is a sign of hope. In fighting anger and ignorance, there is hope in civil discourse and in education, and there is hope in music: The message rooted in our guitar festival has never been this inspiring, and this important.”

For more information on the CU International Guitar Festival and Competition, visit the event website.

Schedule of Events

All events are free and open to the public

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Schedule of Events

Guest artist recital: SoloDuo

Guest artist recital: Patterson/Sutton Duo

International Guitar Competition: Semi-Final Round

International Guitar Competition: Final Round

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