September 2015 College News

Faculty Accolades Mark Cruz released three independent solo guitar CDs this summer - an all original, Dichotomy ; a cover tunes recording, Acoustic Interpretations ; and a Christmas CD, Ornaments . Mark Cruz served on the faculty of the Narnia Music Festival in Italy this July. Two of his students, Javier Saucedo and Thomas Randolph , participated and spent two weeks in intensive study. They performed solos and guitar ensemble literature as a duo and participated in a trio with a Juilliard student. Their performances took place in the beautiful Chiesa di Santa Maria. Michael Ippolito has received a commission to compose a new string quartet for the Altius Quartet, the Graduate String Quartet-in-Residence at University of Colorado-Boulder. Chamber Music America, the national network for ensemble music professionals, announced Altius and Ippolito as recipients in its 2016 commissioning programs, supporting the creation of new works for small ensembles. CMA will distribute a total of $475,000 to 21 ensembles through two of its major grant programs: New Jazz Works, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and Classical Commissioning, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Dr. Kay Lipton has been engaged as guest lecturer for Opera San Antonio’s 2015-2016 season. Lipton’s pre-opera talks, the first of them for Puccini’s Madama Butterfly , will take place on October 1st and 3rd in the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio. On September 13th Lipton will present “East meets West in Puccini’s Madama Butterfl y: Genesis, Style and Musical Language,” to the Opera Guild of San Antonio at The Argyle. Dr. Martin McCain has been appointed as the Affiliate Societies Manager for the International Trombone Association. In his new position, McCain will serve as a liaison for the various international trombone societies and will be MUSIC Music, Opera Dialogues of the Carmelites