November & December 2015 College News

Faculty Accolades In a faculty chamber music concert given at the Performing Arts Center on October 21, Faith DeBow performed Bach on our beautiful historic replica Flemish harpsichord . . . using an iPad to read her music! Other performers included flutist Adah Toland Jones , violinist Paula Bird , and cellist Karla Hamelin . The Khasma Duo released their debut album “Switchback” featuring Michael Ippolito’s work pianoduo (2007) along with music by Marti Epstein, Symeon Waseen, Lawrence Moss, Cosimo Colazzo and Jean Ahn. The Khasma Duo was formed in 2012 by Ashlee Mack and Katherine Palumbo. The duo has dedicated themselves to the performance of works from the 20th and 21st centuries. Michael also served as a guest artist at Truman State University for their New Horizons Music Festival. The festival commissioned him to write a new wind ensemble work, called “Wayward Images,” which premiered there. Theory professor Cynthia I. Gonzales traveled to St. Louis to participate in the annual meeting of the Society of Music Theory, at which she chaired the session “Delight in Diversity” and delivered a paper titled “SMT Meetings 1978-2013: Which Composers and What Topics?” She also met up with Texas State alums Jose Garza and Amy Dixon Hatch . Dr. Joey M. Martin served as guest lecturer and conductor for the Kuesta Collegiate Choral Festival of South Africa in September. Choirs from Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, the University of Johannesburg, and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University participated in the festival. Dr. Martin McCain was recently invited to perform a week of concerts as principal bass trombone with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While in Asia, McCain also gave a masterclass and MUSIC taught lessons for students at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. He also performed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and presented a masterclass for University of South Carolina trombone students. Martin also recently completed two University residencies. November 2-4, he presented a masterclass and recital at Louisiana State University in addition to teaching lessons and coaching the LSU Trombone Choir. McCain then traveled to Boston November 9-12 where he presented a series of masterclasses to the trombone studios of Boston University, Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory. He also coached the Boston University Trombone Choir and Octet. Todd Oxford is a new Artist/Endorser for the Andreas Eastman 52nd Street Saxophone Line. He performed as a featured soloist on the Texas State University International Concert Series Faculty Showcase in early September. On September 24, he gave a Texas All-State Saxophone Etudes Performance and Master Class for the Roma, Texas Independent School District. SoM Alumnus Eden Gonzalez was the host. On October 11, he was a featured soloist for the National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors National Conference in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On October 13, he and percussionist colleague Bobby Lopez gave a recital and master class at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. On October 28, they presented a concert for the Feed Your Soul Music Series at Dell Children’s Medica l Center in Austin. TxState’s Aurora String Quartet , consisting of graduate students Ryan Coppin and Shijun Chen (violins), Xavier Garcia (viola), and Belinsol Martinez-Muñoz (‘cello), and the Andrea String Quartet, consisting of undergrads Joseph Waukechon and Kailey Johnson (violins), James Ximenez (viola), and George McQuade (‘cello), performed recently at Klein High School and Tomball Memorial High School. Their final concert combined both quartets for an outstanding performance of the Mendelssohn Octet. String faculty Dr. Lynn F. Ledbetter , Dr. Ames Asbell , and Dr. Karla Hamelin gave master classes on All-State and All-Region high school and middle school audition material for over 150 students, and performed a Beethoven Serenade. Dr. Rebecca Tast also met with students to explain and promote the H.M.S. Pinafore career option to become a music educator. Texas State Director of Orchestral Studies, Dr. Carolyn Watson , is a finalist in two categories of The American Prize for Conducting. The Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, conducted by Watson, has also been selected as a finalist in the high school orchestra division of The American Prize for Orchestral Performance. The American Prize is a national, peer-reviewed non-profit competition in the performing arts. The American Prize winners will be announced next month. Student Accolades Andrew McNair , a senior in the Bachelor of Music in Music Studies program, has been named an Academic Achievement Scholar. In addition to his involvement in the School of Music, Andrew is also involved with the Honors College and just returned from Luzerne Music Center in New York, where he worked over the summer as a voice counselor. First-year MM-Performance student Michael Martinez recently appeared as a guest soloist with the Southwestern University Wind Ensemble. Martinez performed Lars-Erik Larsson’s Concertino for Trombone. He is a student of Dr. Martin McCain . Dr. Joey M. Martin conducting for the Kuesta Collegiate Choral Festival of South Africa