November December 2020 College News

1 (Left to Right) Tommy Metzger, Daris Hale, Nicte Sobrevilla, and Ian Davidson who worked on a pair of recordings earlier this month 2 Body Shift Collective, an Austin-based dance company 3 Conspirare Christmas , which was presented virtually on December 7 14 | November & December | College News MUSIC Music, Music Studies, Per formance, & Sound Recording Technolog y FACULTY ACCOLADES Dr. Lynn Brinckmeyer was recently published in the December 2020 issue of the Southwestern Musician. Her article, "Motivating Middle School Singers," outlines strategies she has found efective in teaching young singers by keeping music education exciting and motivating. Dr. Brinckmeyer, who leads the Hill Country Youth Chorus, writes in her article about the human experience of working with young singers. She explains that the quality of the journey is just as important as the outcome. For more strategies curated by Dr. Brinckmeyer and other work from music educators across the state, please click here for the December 2020 edition of Southwestern Musician . Daris Hale , Ian Davidson , and Stephen Girko published a pair of recordings earlier this month. Tis project brought together faculty from the School of Music and students from the Texas State University Sound Recording Technology Program. Student engineers Nicte Sobrevilla (’21) and Tommy Metzger (’19) captured the sound in the initial recording sessions in Evans Auditorium and did all of the track editing. [ 1 ] Te recordings are available world-wide through iTunes, Spotify, and CDBaby. Richard Hall was the lead composer on the screen dance flm Tule , a collaborative work between German dancer/choreographer Heike Salzer and Texas State Dance Professor Ana Baer . It was recently selected to be shown at the following festivals: American Dance Festival’s “Movies by Movers” Online Film Festival, Exchange Choreography Festival in Oklahoma, the Dance Days Chania Festival in Chania, Crete, Greece, International Videodance Festival of Mexico City, Te Athens International Digital Festival, the 5th Festival International de Videodanza de la Ciudad de Mexico, V C(H)orta – Festival de Curtas do Faial in Portugal, the InShadow Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Frostbite International Film Festival. Richard was also commissioned to compose music for the screenndance work Being Together , a collaborative work between Ana Baer , the Texas State Merge Dance Company and the Body Shift Collective, an Austin-based dance company. [ 2 ] Te screen dance work was recently selected to be shown at the following festivals/performances: Austin Community College’s Annual Fundraiser, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival at the University of El Paso, Festival Internacional de Cinema de Lleida Visual Art in Lleida, Spain, College of Adaptive Arts in Saratoga, CA, the Rodi Festival in Tessaloniki, Greece, and the Moving Images Film Festival in Nicosia, Cyprus. Dr. Craig Hella Johnson , Texas State University Artist-in-Residence, and Grammy award-winning group Conspirare have stayed active in sharing their music. During November, Conspirare celebrated Native American Heritage Month by recognizing and showcasing alto Keely J. Rhodes and tenor David Kurtenbach Rivera. Te concert, Conspirare Christmas , was presented virtually on December 7. [ 3] Tis performance featured guest appearances by Frederica von Stade, Joyce Di Donato, Patty Grifn, Carrie Rodriguez along with members of the Dallas Street Choir and focused on Native American composers and performers, including Rhodes and Rivera. Conspirare’s frst virtual performance Unity: Songs of Invitation is available to be viewed online . Dr. Craig Hella Johnson is also spearheading a new two-year faculty workgroup called Catalyst. Te primary focus of Catalyst is tackling issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the School of Music. Dr. Johnson is joined this year by faculty and staf visionaries including Utah Hamrick , Adah Jones , Daveda Karanas , Martin McCain , Ludim Pedroza , Caroline Steiger , and Danton Bankay . Catalyst aims to present a theme and activities that complement the University’s campus- wide Common Experience program to help further the workgroup’s goals. Dr. Martin McCain's recent virtual recording projects included collaborations with the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, Black Excellence Trombone Choir and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. He was interviewed on three podcast episodes: Tat’s Not Spit, It’s Condensation Ep. 67 and Te Musician’s Guide to Being Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise Ep. 74 and 78. He discussed various topics from what it means to be a modern musician to social justice issues in America. He also led several A CONCERT IN THE PARK On November 17th, the Texas State Symphonic Winds presented their frst in-person performance of the fall 2020 semester under the direction of Dr. Kyle Glaser and graduate conductors Chase Failing and Tess Jones . Clad in performance masks and bell covers, Symphonic Winds presented a socially distanced outdoor concert featuring works by Delibes, Holst, Grainger, Tchesnokov, and Sousa outside of the JC Kellam building on campus. Te scenic view of the ponds outside served as a picturesque backdrop to the excitement surrounding this live performance opportunity–something that has been lacking during the COVID-19 pandemic. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 15