College-News-September-2021

4 5 Artist-in-Residence Dr. Craig Hella Johnson was recently interviewed by Fox News’ celebration of Pride month. Dr. Eric Wright presented the Superintendent’s Coin of Excellence to Pfuger Elementary Music Teacher Beth Wilson 16 | September | College News Lilian Vo (bassoonist) was awarded undergraduate student travel funds to attend the Eastern Music Festival for Summer 2021. has been on a mission to help others “fnd their light.” His longtime friend Sandra Derby says “one of Craig’s many gifts is his ability to encourage people to bring their whole selves to a performance.” “When you can create a space where people feel safe to express from their natural gift, authentically, that’s when the real deepest beauty begins,” says Johnson. He established the choir Conspirare in 1991 which won the Grammy for best choral performance in 2015. In 2019, Johnson was awarded the Texas Medal of the Arts. One piece Conspirare performs is Johnson’s own “Considering Matthew Shepherd,” a concert honoring the life of Matthew Shepherd, a young gay man who lost his life in a hate crime in 1998. Tis piece was Johnson’s “coming out as a composer.” Johnson’s message to the youth in the LGBTQ+ community is to “fnd the courage to love yourself so fully. You have something so beautiful and unique to ofer. Please ofer it to the world, because the world is less if you don’t.” Dr. Kevin E. Mooney’s article “Erlkönig: Goethe, Schubert, and Resurrecting the Son” has been published in the College Music Symposium Vol. 61, no. 1 (2021). At the Honors College Awards Ceremony on May 4, 2021, Dr. Kevin Mooney received the John R. Hood Honors Professor of the Year Award. “Tis award is chosen by Honors students and awarded to a professor who has taught an Honors class in the fall or spring semester. As we aim to provide a laboratory for innovative teaching that leads to undergraduate research and transformations in students’ perceptions, this award is made to professors who have made an impact on honors students.” (Ceremony Program) ALUMNI ACCOLADES Recently, Matt Hurtado (BM 2015) was invited to become a member of the Yokohama Euphonium Ensemble (YEE), one of Japan’s oldest euphonium ensembles and sponsored by the Agency of Cultural Afairs (Government of Japan). Yokohama is the birthplace of the euphonium in Japan and the YEE is one of the oldest euphonium ensemble organizations in the country. Te Yokohama Euphonium Ensemble 横浜ユーフォニアム合奏団 will have 5 performances through the end of November in an efort to spread awareness about the instrument, performing around the Yokohama, Tokyo, and Chiba areas in Japan. YEE performs a variety of classical, pop, and jazz arrangements with both large and small chamber ensemble settings. Dr. Gilbert Garza , alumnus of the Bobcat Saxophone Studio was hired as Saxophone Instructor at Texas A&M University in Kingsville. On Wednesday, May 5th, Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright presented the Superintendent’s Coin of Excellence to Pfuger Elementary Music Teacher Beth Wilson [5] , who is an alum of the Texas State University School of Music. Hays CISD said the following about Wilson on their Facebook page: Wilson, who has taught music at Pfuger since 2013, is a “cornerstone” of the campus, said Pfuger Elementary Assistant Principal Emily Marshall. She lauded Wilson’s ability to generate excitement among Pfuger students as they learned music literacy of all forms this year. In addition, Wilson created more than 300 music videos on Schoology for students across the district to learn and enjoy. STUDENT ACCOLADES Lilian Vo (bassoonist) was awarded undergraduate student travel funds to attend the Eastern Music Festival for Summer 2021. [6] During her time there, Vo met musicians from all over the world, played in chamber groups with coaches, and attended studio classes. Vo worked with bassoon faculty members George Sakakeeny, Eastman School of Music and Karla Ekholm, principal San Francisco Chamber Orchestra in weekly studio classes. Vo also participated in daily rehearsals for weekly concerts with rotating repertoire. Tis repertoire featured many well-known works, with Vo’s favorite being Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Vo’s favorite part of the festival were the nightly concerts, consisting primarily of faculty chamber performances with a faculty orchestra concert on Saturday evenings. “I really got to learn and absorb information through watching professionals perform”, says Vo. Vo’s time at the Eastern Music Festival was unforgettable. “I am extremely grateful that I got the opportunity to attend this festival. I got to meet so many amazing people and I was able to create connections and friendships with them!” #ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Texas State University School of Music Alumnus Martin Kesuma recently released his album Detours through Centaur on July 16th. Detours features Granados’ Allegro de Concierto, Vine’s Five Bagatelles, Ginastera’s Piano Sonata No. 1, Suprana’s Tembrang Alit, Takemitsu’s Train Tree Sketch II, Kapustin’s Variations, Op. 41, and the title track, Distinguished Alumnis Wayne Oquin’s Detours. Lynn René Bayley of Te Arts Music Lounge wrote a review of Kesuma’s performance, calling it a “truly outstanding recital disc, worth acquiring. You could listen to this one two times over and still not get tired of it!” A graduate of the School of Music, Kesuma studied under Washington García and Jason Kwak before studying at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is currently fnishing up his doctoral studies with Anton Nel. In September, Kesuma will move to Toronto, where he has been accepted with full scholarship to study with James Anagnoson in the Artist Diploma Program at the Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 17 6