April & May 2020 College News

1 G.I.A., Andi Ivins who was recently nominated to be part of the Graduate House of Representatives Photo: Gilberto Saldivar 2 Mariachi Lince de Oro's virtual at-home Facebook performance "Amaneci en Tus Brazos" 3 Mariachi Nueva Generacion's virtual at-home Facebook performance "Ojitos Verdes" 12 | April & May | College News MUSIC Music, Music Studies, Per formance, & Sound Recording Technolog y FACULTY ACCOLADES Over Spring Break, Dr. Ames Asbell , our Assistant Professor heading the viola studio, received word that she has been elected by the American Viola Society to be the organization’s next President-Elect. Dr. Asbell will serve as President-Elect from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023, and then as President of the national organization from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026. Following this exciting news, Dr. Asbell has also learned both of her proposals for lecture-recital presentations at the 47th International Viola Congress in Castelo Branco, Portugal have been accepted. Te congress is scheduled for mid-October 2020. Te Texas State Viola Ensemble was slated to perform at the 2020 American Viola Society Festival in Knoxville this June. However, due to ongoing events with COVID-19, the festival has been postponed to 2021. Dr. Cynthia I. Gonzales , Regents’ Teacher and Associate Professor, was elected to the Society for Music Teory’s Executive Board as a Member-at-Large. Her three-year term begins at the conclusion of the SMT conference in November. Dr. Gonzales is currently President of the Texas Society for Music Teory, a three-year term that concludes in March 2021. Jazz Associate Professor Hank Hehmsoth was slated for multiple performances at major festivals in April, including “A Night of Blues & Jazz” – Williamson County at Berry Creek Country Club, feature performer at “Te Georgetown Jazz Festival”, and a special club date appearance with legendary trumpeter Randy Brecker. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, these events were cancelled. Te 3rd Annual Fredericksburg Jazz Festival 2020 was live streamed, both via Facebook and YouTube on Saturday, April 18th, 2020. During the Jazz Festival, Hehmsoth gave a Digital Master Class “Hank's Six Rules of Success, ” which includes an hour of musical performance and professional advice. You can check out additional videos on the Fredericksburg Jazz Festival YouTube channel . STUDENT ACCOLADES Te following students who have been named recipients of the Texas Music Educators Association Collegiate Music Educators Award: Christian Clow , Rachel Fredrick , Rebecca Martinez , Matt Pehl , Kate Tane , Sara Trogdon and Anarra Whitcher . Graduate Instructional Assistant (G.I.A.) Andi Ivins was recently nominated by John Fleming , Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, to be part of the Graduate House of Representatives. [ 1 ] Andi is a native of San Antonio and received her undergraduate in Music Composition from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2019. Troughout the 2019 - 2020 academic year, she has served as the marketing assistant for the School of Music. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Music in Music Composition. Te Graduate House of Representatives serves as the graduate students’ branch of the Texas State University Student Government. Each college has two representatives appointed by their dean. Representative duties include addressing issues directly related to graduate students and volunteering at various on-campus graduate student events. Student worker, Christopher Murphy is currently serving his elementary student teaching placement within Austin ISD. With the outbreak of COVID-19, AISD elected to move to online instruction. Christopher said that Texas State defnitely laid a solid foundation for their student teachers that has “translated well to remote learning.” He explained that they were always taught to “be ready to jump in and do things,” something that has been a key piece of advice. Tis experience has allowed him to see how a district could potentially handle a crisis situation. Fifteen Texas State Graduate students have been awarded Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) International Peace Scholarships. Te P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund, established in 1949, is a highly competitive, prestigious scholarship program which provides funding for women pursuing graduate studies internationally in the United States and Canada. Scholarships awarded by the fund grant up to $12,500 in an efort to support education as fundamental to world peace and understanding. Te 15 students selected this year represent the largest group of recipients in university history and includes the frst recipient from the College of Fine Arts and Communication, the School of Music’s own G.I.A., Sa Ra Park . She is pursuing a Master of Music with a Music Teory Concentration and is originally from South Korea. Joshua Rodriguez , Bachelor of Music in Music Studies (Choral Concentration) minor in Music Composition student, has been named the recipient of the 2020 Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation Bettylou Scandling Hubin Scholarship for Music Technology. Tis scholarship will fund the professional production of an album featuring his latest compositions. Te production will take place at the Texas State University Fire Station Studios and will be produced by students in the Sound Recording Technology program. Te ensemble and collaborative artists featured on the album will be students in the School of Music. ALUMNI ACCOLADES Celeste Alexandria Morales has been accepted into the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. Recent graduates, Eloy Ramirez and Jett Walker have been accepted into doctoral programs. Eloy has now been accepted into Harvard for Musicology and Jett has been accepted in the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music for Trombone Performance. SCHOOL ACCOLADES Te Bobcat Marching Band was pleased to introduce Samantha Hernandez , William Phi , and Nicole Soler as their 2020 drum majors. See VocaLibre's "Never Alone" video here. Texas State’s Mariachi Lince de Oro and Mariachi Nueva Generacion have assembled video collage performances: • Mariachi Lince de Oro , Amaneci en Tus Brazos [ 2 ] • Mariachi Lince de Oro, El Relampago • Mariachi Nueva Generacion, Ojitos Verdes [ 3] • Mariachi Nueva Generacion, Teatro Mexico College of Fine Arts and Communication | 13