College-News-September-2021

1 Members of the ensemble were graduate students Adam Koch, Tomas Torres, Andi Ivins, Jared Davis , guest Andrew Coldwell and graduate alumni Wesley S. Uchiyama-Penix (2020). 2 Dr. Michael Ippolito , Associate Professor of Music Composition, was recently featured on the debut album of c/o chamber orchestra, Divertissement! 3 Dr. Dimitar Ninov published a theoretical article in Musicological Annual , entitled “Interior Cadences in the Sentence of Schoenberg”. 14 | September | College News MUSIC Music, Music Studies, Per formance, & Sound Recording Technolog y FACULTY ACCOLADES Mysterium [1] recently performed at the Classic Game Fest in Austin, which is considered “the biggest retro gaming event in Texas,” with an estimated attendance of over 6000. Te ensemble performed music from several well know video games including Sonic, Undertale, Zelda, Castelvania, Star Fox, and Donkey Country as well as several structured improvisations. All pieces were arranged by current and former students of the ensemble. Members of the ensemble were graduate students Adam Koch, Tomas Torres, Andi Ivins, Jared Davis , guest Andrew Coldwell and graduate alumni Wesley S. Uchiyama-Penix (2020). Te ensemble was even featured on the Austin Chronicle website. Te Mysterium ensemble is under the direction of Senior Lecturer of Music Richard D. Hall. During September of 2021, Dr. Jason Kwak will be inducted into Steinway and Sons Teacher Hall of Fame. Te ceremony will take place in New York and his name will remain permanently in their hall of fame at the Steinway factory in Astoria, NY. Dr. Michael Ippolito [2] , Associate Professor of Music Composition, was recently featured on the debut album of c/o chamber orchestra, Divertissement! which was released on June 4, 2021. Te c/o chamber orchestra is a thirty-musician collective from a dozen European countries. c/o was founded in 2014 as an unconducted chamber ensemble that celebrates the responsibilities of collaboration and stewardship. As they deliver their performances much like a letter being delivered care of another, c/o delivers the works of composers through unique, organic performances. Divertissement! features Divertissement pour orchestra de chambre by Jacques Ibert, Divertissement pour instruments a vent, Op. 36 by Emile Bernard, Divertimento for string orchestra, Sz. 113 by Bela Bartok, and Divertimento for chamber orchestra by Michael Ippolito. Divertissement! was named BBC3 Record of the week for the week of July 19th, and has been broadcasted throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Te album has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, especially in regards to Dr. Ippolito’s work. Praise for Divertimento includes: Remy Franck – Pizzicato : Te Divertimento by the American composer Michael Ippolito…mixes motion and humor, irony and the grotesque in a highly entertaining manner, and is also notable for its fne orchestration. Jari Kallo – Adventures in Music : "Te album closes with Michael Ippolito’s spellbinding Divertimento…Concluding with an ingenious mixture of a sublime chorale and a turbulent whirl, Ippolito’s fnale is a delight." Dr. Dimitar Ninov [ 3] published a theoretical article in Musicological Annual , entitled “Interior Cadences in the Sentence of Schoenberg”. Another article accepted for publication in Facta Universitatis is named “Te Defects of a Reigning Teory”. As composer, Ninov participated in two virtual concerts given by the Composers Alliance of San Antonio (CASA): Ephemera Universalis (21 March, 2021) and Rites of Spring (23 May, 2021), with his symphonic cantata “Maiden Burns a Bachelor” and his Capriccio for Flute and Piano, respectively. Welp Magazine , an online publication focused on technology, recently released their list of the top 20 choral podcasts of 2021. Dr. Jonathan Babcock’s podcast Texas State Choirs Today made the list! Texas State Choirs Today focuses on interviews with visitors to the Texas State University Choral Department, including Gwyneth Walker , Craig Hella Johnson , and Derrick Brookins , as well as special on- site episodes from TMEA & ACDA Convention. Texas State Choirs Today is available on ListenNotes, Apple Podcasts, and on the School of Music website. Artist-in-Residence Dr. Craig Hella Johnson [4] was recently interviewed by Fox News’ Bryan Llenas for their America Together segment in celebration of Pride month. Te two spoke on Johnson’s life from growing up in northern Minnesota mining town in a religious family moving forward learning to accept himself. Llenas says “music and the stage saved his life.” It was “the one place that [he] could be totally authentic,” says Johnson. In pursuit of this feeling of authenticity, he In August Dr. Ian Davidson , Regents’ Professor, signed a multi-year contract with Trevco Publishing, the largest double reed publisher in the world, to publish his original composition. “Scenes at the Ranch”, inspired by fve paintings of American Painter, Georgia O’Keefe, and an encounter with the artist, was released earlier this month. Te work, scored for oboe solo, was premiered at the International Double Reed Convention in 2012. #FACULTY SPOTLIGHT College of Fine Arts and Communication | 15