January & February 2020 College News

1 Dr. Tomas Clark being awarded with the 2020 Jazz Laureate Award at Texas State 2 Alumna, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Mora 3 Grammy award-winning, Attacca Quartet at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards 12 | January & February | College News MUSIC Music, Music Studies, Per formance, & Sound Recording Technolog y FACULTY ACCOLADES At the 32nd Hill Country Jazz Festival, the Jazz Faculty presented Director of the School of Music, Dr. Tomas Clark , a proclamation naming him the 2020 Jazz Laureate at Texas State. [ 1 ] Hank Hehmsoth , just returned from a research trip co-sponsored by the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University and Texas State School of Music. Hank has discovered previously “lost” video content from early 1960’s TV broadcasts of Just Jazz from WTTW/Chicago. Tese broadcasts were produced by NEA Jazz Master Dan Morgenstern, and include unreleased performances by legendary jazz artists Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, and many more. Tese videos were among over 60 boxes of Morgenstern’s memorabilia that Hehmsoth searched at the Institute of Jazz Studies. Videos will be made publicly available and online on Hehmsoth’s National Endowment for the Arts research website “Te Dan Morgenstern Collection, ” the complete archive of NEA Jazz Master Dan Morgenstern’s 70 years as a jazz advocate, scholar, author and educator. Hehmsoth is an external research scholar at Rutgers, and is named the Morroe Berger- Edward Berger-Benny Carter Jazz Research Fellow by the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University. Dr. Martin McCain recently performed as guest bass trombonist with the Boston Brass and the Brass All-Stars Stan Kenton Christmas show during the ensemble’s Texas tour on December 4th. He was also invited as guest 2nd trombone with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra in Honolulu for a week of concerts for the Nutcracker Ballet from December 9th through 15th. McCain performed as guest principal bass trombone with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra from November 21st through December 1st, in addition to serving on the faculty for the PRIZM Ensemble Winter Festival December 20th through 23rd. On January 26th, he was the featured guest artist at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Trombone Day where he performed a recital and led a masterclass. He was also invited as guest bass trombonist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra where he performed Richard Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie . Dr. McCain was also recently interviewed on Episode 129 of Te Brass Junkies podcast which features some of the top brass performers and pedagogues across the globe. STUDENT ACCOLADES Noel Ayala-Loera , Alejandro Gutierrez , Jenny Mountz , Jose Vela , Scott MacDonald , and Kelly Cohorst submitted recordings and were named quarter-fnalists in the prestigious National Trumpet Competition. Tree choral students were selected to participate at the Southwestern American Choral Directors Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas. Te Southwest division is comprised of 8 states. Graduate students Jenna Quiroz and Joung-a Yum were both chosen as semi-fnalists for the graduate conducting competition. Lucas Phillips is one of six undergraduate students to participate in the undergraduate conducting masterclass with conductor and composer Z. Randall Stroope. Te Texas State Jazz Ensemble performed at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival scoring a 137 out of a possible 140 from the judge’s panel. Students Dayne Reliford , Abel Alaniz , Isaac Pulido , Daniel Kerwood , Brian Golden , Roberto Aponte , and Hunter Moftt all received Outstanding Soloist Awards. ALUMNI ACCOLADES Valerie Cowan (M.M. 2014) recently earned the position of Flute Instructor at the Army School of Music at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, VA. She will be responsible for coaching student chamber ensembles and teaching lessons and masterclasses to all of the Army’s incoming futists as well as assessing and teaching Army futists who attend advanced and senior leadership Courses at the School of Music. While at the Army School of Music, she will have the opportunity to perform with the faculty woodwind quintet on university tours and at conferences across the country. Valerie is currently the fute section leader of the 282nd Army Band at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Her job as an Army musician currently involves performing in university recruiting tours and community outreach concerts with the band’s woodwind quintet, marching in ceremonial military functions, and leading the fute section in concert band tours and holiday shows. Almna, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Mora graduated with a Bachelor’s in All-Level Music Studies Instrumental Concentration in Spring 2017. She currently serves as woodwind professor for the Music Department at Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU). In December of 2019 Mora received a Master’s in Educational Leadership from SAGU. [ 2 ] SCHOOL ACCOLADES According to the gradreports.com Best Colleges 2020 listings, Texas State University has placed in the Top 5 of the Best 25 Music Schools in the nation. Additionally, Texas State University was the top-rated Music School on the list when it came to Student Review Scores. Tis study helps further prove that “It’s A Great Day to be a Bobcat!” Please visit gradreports.com for more information on this study and their methodology. GRAMMY AWARDS Attacca Quartet, the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Texas State University School of Music, had a banner year at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, January 26th. [ 3] Te group snagged both their frst nomination and frst win for their work on Shaw: Orange . Tis string quartet featuring Amy Schroeder , violin, Keiko Tokunaga , violin, Nathan Schram , viola, and Andrew Yee , cello, won the GRAMMY for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. Shaw: Orange contains ten tracks of the works of American composer Caroline Shaw. For more information on Shaw: Orange and other works, visit carolineshaw.com. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 13