September_CollegeNews24

4 5 6 Craig Hella Johnson completed his first summer as Artistic Partner with the Oregon Bach Festival in June 2024. With the Grammy-winning choral ensemble Conspirare, Johnson released a new CD, Earth Vigil , featuring music by Robert Kyr in June 2024. This environmental oratorio focuses on the climate crisis. The Conspirare Artist Citizen Choral Collective, which Johnson founded in Fall 2023, “gathers local educators and singers to co-create a choral culture through exploring a variety of music and vocal sounds, community involvement, engaging rehearsals, and high-level performance.” In addition, Johnson serves on the Board of Directors of Chorus America, an “advocacy, research, and leadership development organization that advances the choral field.” In early-August, Adah Jones was a panelist for an event at the National Flute Association Convention titled “Careers in College Flute Teaching: A Path to Success,” along with four other university professors. Lynn Ledbetter presented two sessions for the American String Teachers Association Virtual String Teachers Summit on July 15 and 16, 2024. She performed with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra in an All-Beethoven concert on September 19, 2024. Ledbetter has been named to the American String Teachers Association’s ASTA Certificate Advancement Program Committee for 2024-2026. She continues to serve as president of the Texas State University System’s Council of Faculty Senates. Ledbetter was an adjudicator for the ENKOR International Violin Competition in July 2024. [4] Dimitar Ninov read an invited scholarly paper, “The Intricacies of Harmonic Dictation,” at the First Summit on Music Literacy, University of Cambridge, UK, 8-9 July 2024. The Youth Orchestra of San Antonio premiered his orchestral piece, "The White Rhino". [5] In July 2024, Suzanne Ramo , along with colleagues from the United States and Italy, launched a summer program for singers in Venice, Italy. Sull’Aqva is a two-week program offering lessons, lyric diction, stage deportment classes, and master classes, as well as outings aimed at cultural exchange. Students performed in recitals and a final concert with orchestra in the church of San Francesco della Vigna in Venice. Alec D. Scherer recently presented a roundtable research presentation at the 36th World Conference for the International Society for Music Education in Helsinki, Finland. His presentation, titled “Choir Directors’ Perceptions and Applications of Democratic Rehearsal Procedures,” is the latest study in his ongoing line of inquiry pertaining to the democratization of secondary ensemble classrooms. and is affiliated with UNESCO. [6] Nico Schüler presented the paper “From Out of Bondage to The Underground Railroad: Early African-American Musical Theatre” at the National Joint Conference by the American Musicological Society and the Society for Music Theory in Denver. He also presented “A Digital Humanities Project on Late 19th Century African-American Music” at the Texas Music Library Association Conference and a paper “On the Pedagogical Piano Works of Underrepresented German Composer Hanning Schröder (1896-1987)” at the Conference of the American Musicological Society Southwest Chapter. At the National Conference of the Music Library Association, Schüler presented a paper on “Commercial Databases and the Rediscovery of Late 19th Century African American Music.” Amanda Soto was keynote speaker at the 2024 Biennial International Early Childhood Music + Movement Association Conference: Foundations of the Future, held in Brownsville, Texas on June 27-29, 2024. Soto offered the following presentations: 1. Harmonious Diverse Horizons: Exploring World Music Through Young Musical Minds, 2. Texas Mexican Musical and Culturally Relevant Experiences for Young Children, 3. Around the World in 60 Minutes: Enriching Children’s Lives with Global Music Adventures. Jordan Stern performed with Western swing band Billy Mata and the Texas Tradition to sold out houses at the Cailloux Theater in Kerrville, and the Uvalde Opera House in Uvalde. The band performed a special show entitled For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price . In addition to performing on piano and vibraphone, Stern wrote the band arrangements for the show. Stern will continue to perform as part of the show at upcoming performances in Sweetwater on October 4, and in New Braunfels on Jan. 31, 2025. Vanguel Tangarov recently premiered a piece by French composer Camille Peppin, written for solo clarinet/bass clarinet, cello, and orchestra, with the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra. Following this exciting performance, he continued his summer engagements with a solo recital at the Clarinet Fest 2024 of the International Clarinet Association in Dublin, Ireland. During this concert, Tangarov teamed with his Texas State colleague Ian Davidson on oboe and pianist Ekaterina Tangarova for a chamber music project, showcasing the Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Piano by Édouard Destenay. Ron Ulen designed and directed Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in Jakarta, Indonesia. He presented masterclasses in German Lieder and gave recitals in Jakarta, Karawaci, and Malaysia and offered masterclasses in operatic literature in Germany, Italy, and Great Britain. Ulen was guest artist for the Opera Festival 2024 Gala Concert at the British Opera Academy in London. In addition, he gave performances in Italy. [7] 14 | September | College News College of Fine Arts and Communication | 15 Lynn Ledbetter performed with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra in an All-Beethoven concert Dimitar Ninov read an invited scholarly paper at the First Summit on Music Literacy, University of Cambridge Alec D. Scherer presented a roundtable research presentation at the 36th World Conference for the International Society for Music Education TXST Voice faculty Ron Ulen designed and directed Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro pictured are his cast members. 7