January February 2021 College News

Master of Music Orchestral Conducting student and Texas State Orchestra Graduate Assistant, Tyler Bainter Production of "Jingle Bell Rock" featuring Mariachi Nueva Generación and Ballet Folklórico students Production of "Jingle Bell Rock" featuring Mariachi Nueva Generación and Ballet Folklórico students 16 | January & February | College News 4 5 6 International Competition 2020 Talent Show Division in Charleston, South Carolina. In December 2020, Dr. Nico Schüler was awarded the Research Enhancement Program (REP) grant. As only one of four recipients from the College of Fine Arts and Communication this fall, Dr. Schüler received maximum funding for his grant entitled: Jacob J. Sawyer (1856- 1885) and the Rediscovery of African-American Musical Theatre. Jacob J. Sawyer, according to Dr. Schüler’s own 2013 Grove Music Online article, was an African- American pianist, composer, teacher, and arranger who wrote for and directed the Haverly’s Colored Minstrels. More information on the REP Grant and other recipients, please visit the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs webpage. STUDENT ACCOLADES Master of Music Orchestral Conducting student and Texas State Orchestra Graduate Assistant, Tyler Bainter was one of four accepted to be a participant in the College Orchestra Directors Association's conducting masterclass with Maestro Timothy Muffitt, music director of the Baton Rouge and Lansing Symphony Orchestras. [4] Music student Cutter W. González has been admitted to the International Conducting Workshop & Festival (ICWF) in Lviv, Ukraine in August 2021. The Texas State University Chorale has been invited to participate in the London Handel Orchestra’s special spring London Handel Festival. Each December the London Handel Orchestra, under the direction of Laurence Cummings, presents Messiah from Handel’s own place of worship, St. George’s church in Hanover Square, London. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the December 2020 performance was presented via livestream. The soloists and small baroque orchestra played from St. George’s and were paired with six pre- recorded choirs which comprised their Sing At Home Chorus. The overwhelming success of this event has given birth to a special Easter Monday performance in 2021. This April 5th event will feature choirs from the UK and around the world, one of which is our very own Chorale under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Babcock . Chorale along with Dr. Babcock’s ensemble at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepard in Austin are the only two choirs to be invited from the United States. Chorale will prepare three choruses from Messiah as part of the Sing At Home Chorus. The event will be livestreamed on social media for free to a worldwide audience, and will be available for several weeks after. For more information or to donate, please click here. ALUMNI ACCOLADES Kate Thane , a spring 2020 graduate, was recently named “Rookie Teacher of the Year” at Clements High School in Sugar Land. SCHOOL ACCOLADES On December 2nd, Dr. Denise Trauth shared her 2020 Holiday Greetings with the Texas State community. Among the videos presented by the Texas State University President was a performance of "Jingle Bell Rock" by students in Mariachi Nueva Generación and Ballet Folklórico. [ 5 - 6] This performance was filmed in the courtyard of the Taylor-Murphy History building on the University’s San Marcos campus. This venue’s history and architecture help make the performance all the more special. Before the School of Music was moved into its current location in 1981, Taylor-Murphy, built in 1951, was home to the Music Department before being renamed and rededicated to History in 1983. According the University Archives, the building’s architect, Harvey P. Smith, “specialized in Latin American architecture and designed the [then] Fine Arts Building using a Spanish colonial motif.” This design is seen throughout Taylor- Murphy’s hand-painted Mexican floor tiles and natural red roof. Smith helped to build and renovate 26 other buildings on campus in this style. Fall 2020 presented unprecedented complications for educational institutions and performance venues around the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas State University School of Music was charged with tackling these challenges head-on in an effort to assist our students meet graduation milestones and continue to safely share our art with the Texas State University and San Marcos communities at large. One avenue we were able to explore was live-streaming. Operations Manager of the Performing Arts Center, Candice Mongellow , Nick Swanson , A/V Lighting Supervisor, and their staff worked tirelessly over the summer with Dr. Joey M. Martin , the then-Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication and current-Interim Director of the School of Music, to outfit the Performing Arts Center with high-tech live-streaming and video recording equipment. This equipment included an AW- HE130 HD integrated PTZ camera from Panasonic. In tandem with two stationary Panasonic cameras, streams are shot from three angles simultaneously, creating high-quality, professional live-streaming experiences. Utilizing the new equipment, the School of Music presented 35 recitals during fall 2020. Robert Styers, Box Office Manager, worked to share these performances online through the Texas State Presents platform where they garnered more than 8,500 views! “This new video equipment has given a forum to our students to help promote themselves and in so doing, promote the talent held in our School of Music,” he says. Performing Arts Center staff streamed each recital live to txstatepresents. com where they were viewable during a 48-hour window. Friends and family of our students and faculty were able to enjoy these performances, including those who would not have had the opportunity to be present under ideal circumstances. William Phi has been selected for the Rosaura Garcia Gonzales ’52 Endowed Scholarship. William is a Music Studies major studying flute under Dr. Adah Toland Jones and voice under Myra Vassian and a member of the Theta Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity, and the Epsilon Tau chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, National Music Honor Society. #STUDENTSPOTLIGHT College of Fine Arts and Communication | 17