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Laurie
Lee Choi has studied at the Royal
Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University
of Central Florida (BA 1993), University of Tennessee, and Eastern
Kentucky University, where she graduated with a MM in Theory/Composition
in 2003. She has studied piano with Solon Reyes and Dr. J. Gary
Wolf, and theory with Dr. Barbara Murphy and Dr. Alan Beeler.
She has won the University of Central Florida Concerto competition
and the Steinway Young Artists of Central Florida Award. Ms.
Choi has been the organist and pianist at St. Luke’s Episcopal
Church, in Knoxville, TN, and has been an accompanist at the
University of Tennessee. Currently, she holds a full-time lectureship
in accompanying and class piano at Eastern Kentucky University.
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EKU BANDS
The activities calendar for
the Eastern Kentucky University Band program promises to be
an intensive one for the 2004-2005 academic year!
The Marching Colonels, under
the direction of Associate Director of Bands Ken Haddix, is
off to a great start. Enrollments are up, and there are plans
for entertaining halftime shows throughout the upcoming football
season. "We really had a great camp," said Haddix,
"It looks like the students are primed for a great season!"
Musical programs for Colonel halftimes will include: "The
Music of Paul Simon," and "Selections from Rocky,"
as well as a "A Tribute to True Patriots: Our Veterans."
Assistant Director of the Marching Band is Jason Koontz, with
Graduate Assistant Directors Kerry Evans, Adam Miller, and Pat
Price. Field Commanders are Kristen Bailey, Brian Huffman, and
Robert Thompson. Band Officers are: Jim Koehler, President,
Diana Wroebel, Vice-President, Cassie Smith, Secretary, and
Chris Currens, Treasurer. The Feature Twirler is Donna Dilmore.
All are looking forward to an exciting and productive fall season.
The EKU Concert Ensembles
(Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Players) will open their
Fall Season with the Annual Chamber Players Recital on Friday,
October 1, at 1:25pm (student recital hour) in Room 300 of the
Foster Building. Included on the program will be significant
works for small mixed-instrument ensembles, as well as wind
ensemble and full symphonic band. Several conductors will be
featured. The public is invited to attend. The Concert Ensembles
are under the direction of EKU Director of Bands Joe Allison.
The Annual EKU Middle School
Honors Band Clinic will be held on the Richmond campus on Saturday,
November 20. Approximately 500 guest students and band directors
from Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee will convene for
a intensive day of rehearsals, clinics, and concerts, culminating
with an evening concert of the Guest Honor Bands at 6:30pm.
The EKU Concert Ensembles will perform for our guests at 1:00pm
in Brock Auditorium. The concert will feature the newly-formed
EKU Men’s Chorus, directed by Hunter Hensley. The singers
will join the band in a rendition of Randall Thompson’s
classic "Testament of Freedom." This work will serve
as a stirring finale to a special program of exciting literature.
A companion event, the Annual
EKU High School Honors Band Clinic will take place February
17-19, 2005. Six-hundred nominated students and directors from
a 6 state region will participate in a number of clinics, master
classes and concerts. The headline conductor/clinician for the
weekend will be Col. Finley R. Hamilton, a native of Richmond,
and currently the Commander/Conductor of the United States Army
Field Band. Madison Central Band Director H. Brent Barton, as
well as other outstanding musicians will also direct clinic
ensembles. Several EKU ensembles, including the Symphonic Band,
Jazz Ensemble, and Percussion Ensemble will present for the
assembled guests and interested public. Contact the Department
of Music for a detailed schedule of events for this exciting
weekend.
Annual Spring Concerts by
both the Symphonic Band and Concert Band will be held in April:
the former on Tuesday, the 19th, and the latter on
Thursday, the 14th of that month.
Another significant happening
is the recent publication and release of "Inaugurals and
Other Beginnings," the latest edition of the EKU Symphonic
Band’s recording project. Three new recordings have now
been published in the last 5 years, with a fourth edition: "Cycles
and Sequences" due for release in October of this year.
The latest recording, "Inaugurals," is named in part
for EKU Professor of Piano Richard Crosby’s "Inaugural
Fanfare," which was written for the Symphonic Bands’
performance at the Tenth Presidential Investiture at Eastern
— the inauguration of President Joanne K. Glasser. The
disk contains several premiere performances, including material
from the Symphonic Band’s performance at the 48th
Kentucky Music Educators Conference in Louisville. Anyone interested
in obtaining a recording should contact the EKU Bands Office.
The ongoing band recording project is funded in large part by
gifts from University Alumni, and additional donation are needed
to continue this effort.
As mentioned earlier, the
Eastern Bands are active in the promotion of new music for the
concert medium. After commissioning the first large-scale work
for Symphonic Band in the University’s history in 2002
("A Stephen Foster Fantasy by South Carolina Composer-Laureate
Gordon Goodwin), several premieres have been undertaken by the
ensemble. Most recently, EKU has become a Charter Member of
the National Wind Ensemble Composition Consortium (NWECC). Initiated
at the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, the Consortium
is dedicated to expanding the serious band repertory by recruiting
and commissioning significant composers to write for this medium.
Member schools will have first access to both the composers
and their new compositions, providing a great opportunity for
the EKU ensembles. Among the 50 charter institutions participating
in the project: University of California at Berkeley, University
of Michigan, Arizona State University, University of Texas,
Dallas Wind Symphony, Florida State University, and the Eastman
School of Music. Obviously, Eastern Kentucky University is in
fine company!
On the home front, Dr. Alan
Beeler, EKU Professor of Theory and Composition, is in process
of composing a new work for the EKU Band, which will feature
Department Chair Rob James as soloist! "We are so thrilled
with this project," said Director Joe Allison. "We
had such great success with Richard Crosby’s pieces that
we just can’t wait to work on Alan’s!" (The EKU
Symphonic Band premiered a second Crosby work — the "Sonata
for Trombone" at the College Band Directors National Association
Regional Convention in Atlanta last March.)
Yet another new composition
is planned with Dr. Richard Bromley, recently retired Professor
of Theory and Composition at Eastern. This new piece is intended
to commemorate the University’s Bicentennial. "As
much as we have enjoyed working with several composers from
around the country the past few years, it’s a real treat
to collaborate with our own folks," Continues Allison,
"It certainly inspires our students and audiences to see
that we have great talents right here in Richmond!"
The students and faculty
of the EKU Bands are excited to begin a new year of exciting
opportunities, and hope that you will join them for their performances.
Please feel welcomed to contact Lisa Stanley (Band Administrative
Assistant), Ken Haddix (Associate Director of Bands), or Joe
Allison at 859/622-3161 for any requests or information about
the band activities at Eastern. You can also visit the website
at: www.music.eku.edu/bands
for further details.
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EKU
Clarinet Choir Performs at State, National, & International
Conventions
The EKU Clarinet Choir, under the
direction of Connie
Rhoades, performed at three conventions during the spring
and summer of 2004. Invitations to perform at these conventions
were a result of committee selection processes for each convention,
based upon a recording submitted from the Clarinet Choir's Spring
2003 recital. The first convention performance occurred on February
5, 2004 at the Kentucky Music Educators Association Convention
in Louisville, KY. This was followed by numerous performances
throughout the spring semester both on- and off-campus in continued
preparation for the national and international conventions to
which they were also invited. In June, the Clarinet Choir traveled
to Oklahoma to perform a recital at the 29th Annual University
of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium. This was followed by a trip
in July to the Washington D.C. area to perform a recital at
the International Clarinet Association ClarFest 2004. The EKU
Clarinet Choir was one of only three university clarinet choirs
chosen from around the world to perform at this convention.
The other university clarinet choirs were from the University
of Florida and Japan. Members of the EKU Clarinet Choir which
performed nationally and internationally include Tara Mann,
Sarah Kurk, Lisa Dahlhauser, Kristen Bailey, Kristal Merz, Brittany
Stewart, Jeffrey Klein, Heather Coombs, Diana Wrobel, and Ryan
Bertke.
EKU Clarinet
Festival
The fourth EKU
Clarinet Festival, hosted by Connie
Rhoades, Associate Professor of Clarinet, and the EKU
Clarinet Studio, was held on Saturday, April 17, 2004. Attended
by middle school, high school, and college-aged clarinetists,
the EKU Clarinet Festival featured David Etheridge, Professor
of Clarinet at the University of Oklahoma, and Andrea Cheeseman,
Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Delta State University. Highlights
of the all-day event included a masterclass about reeds given
by David Etheridge as well as recitals by both David Etheridge,
and Andrea Cheeseman. In addition, those who attended participated
in a clarinet choir which performed at the closing recital.
The EKU Clarinet Studio is looking forward to hosting the fifth
EKU Clarinet Festival which is scheduled for April 23, 2005.
For more information, please contact Connie Rhoades at (859)622-1342
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EKU Saxophone Studio
In April 2004 EKU’s jazz saxophone ensemble
"Saxophobia" was invited to play at the biennial conference
of the North American Saxophone Alliance. The group which
included Russ Kahmann, Randi Williams, Pamela Schneider, and
Katie Poplin, premiered arrangements of 2 pieces by Larry
Nelson, EKU’s Saxophone Instructor and director
of the ensemble — "Eyes of a Child" and "New
Kid in Town."
The conference, hosted by the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro, took place from April 28-30, This
was the first appearance at the conference by a Saxophone Ensemble
from Eastern. Saxophobia performed on the way at Maxwell
Elementary in Lexington, KY.
Guitar
Studio
The Guitar
Department is also proud to announce a newly forged partnership
with the EKU Community Education Department. Community Education
courses for guitar will now be taught by EKU guitar majors.
This collaboration will provide EKU guitar majors with practical
teaching experience, a stipend, and a new avenue for professional
development.
EKU
Flute Studio
The flute
studio attended the Flute Society of Kentucky's annual Flute
Day at Campbellsville University this past January. Then junior,
Sadora Bloom, performed the Nielsen Concerto for guest artist,
Gary Schocker, accompanied by Harriet Bromley. Also at Flute
Day, Assist. Prof. Kristen
Kean directed the Advanced Flute Choir in a performance
of Gary Schocker's piece, Views from Falls House. In other studio
news, Sadora Bloom, as one of the winners of the annual EKU
Concerto Competition, performed the Nielsen Concerto with the
EKU Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Mark Chambers.
Future performances from the studio include Prof.Kean's recital
on Oct. 6 in Gifford Auditorium, Sadora Bloom's recital, Dec.
5, a joint recital of the entire studio sometime in April and
a recital by sophomores Amanda Cupp and MaryBeth Paolucci, at
a date to be announced.
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EKU
Trumpet Studio
The
EKU Trumpet Studio, under the direction of Dr.
Joe Van Fleet, was invited to perform at the 2004
International Trumpet Guild Conference in Denver CO. The group
flew to Denver with the gracious support of Rob James and the
Dept. of Music. The 12 member ensemble performed on Friday night
at 8:00 before the Bobby Shew/Carl Saunders concert. It was
a feature time slot and the group performed admirably. The ensemble
was joined by EKU Alumnus Denver Dill.
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EKU
Jazz Festival April 30, 2005
The 2004
jazz festival featured two highly acclaimed jazz artists and
educators: saxophonist Sam Fagaly and pianist Simon Rowe. Along
with the EKU Jazz Ensemble and a number of high school and middle
school bands, the festival was a great success. This years'
event will be held on April 30 and will feature trumpet great
Bobby Shew. Any interested directors who would like to
have their bands participate in the "comments only" formatted
festival, please contact Joe Van Fleet at (859) 622-1356.
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EKU
Symphony Orchestra
The EKU
Symphony Orchestra continues to grow in size and quality with
each
academic year. The 2004/05 Orchestra is presently comprised
of 26 string
students and a full orchestral compliment of 24 woodwind, brass
and percussion
students. Last year's concerts included the World Premiere of
Alan
C Beeler's Symphony 2003 and a performance of Rimsky Korsakov's
Scheherazade.
On September 21, 2004 the Orchestra will present its annual
Kids
Gala Concerts. Giving two performances on this day, this concert
will introduce
the instruments of the orchestra and also include orchestral
settings
of folk songs from around the world. This program will expose
2600 fourth
and fifth grade students to the dramatic and varied sounds of
a full symphony orchestra. This concert traditionally concludes
with student conductors for the audience leading a sturing performance
of Sousa's Stars and
Stripes Forever.
In the
past, the orchestra has traveled to perform in Cincinnati, OH,
Somerset and Louisville Kentucky. The Orchestra will be travelling
to Oak Ridge, Tennessee on March 18th to perform for orchestra
students from Knoxville and the surrounding areas. The fall
Masterpiece concert includes Michael Glinka's Overture to Russlan
and Ludmilla, Dvorak's "New World" Symphony and Mozart's Concerto
for Flute and Harp with guest soloists, Kristen Keane, EKU flute/
theory instructor and Elaine Cooke, principal Harpist of the
Lexington Philharmonic. This concert will be presented on November
22nd at 8:00 p.m. in Brock Auditorium and is free to the public.
The EKU Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Dr.
Mark Chambers.
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Faculty
News
EKU
Vocal Area
Hunter
Hensley, after serving for three years as Visiting Associate
Professor, was hired to a tenure track position as Vocal Area
Coordinator. Hensley teaches applied voice and serves in the
student teacher supervision area. In March of 2003, Hensley
performed with the String of Pearls Baroque Ensemble, works
by Cavalli, Bach, and Telemann. The String of Pearls Baroque
Ensemble is comprised of professional early music performers
from Chicago, New Haven, and Lexington who meet for a week each
year to rehearse and perform. In April, Hensley gave a solo
recital of English Folk Songs for the Lexington Arts Council's
Lunch with the Arts at the Downtown Arts Center; and in May,
he was soloist in a concert of the music of Henry Purcell, with
Musick's Company in Lexington. Planned performances for 2003-2004
include, Airs de Cour with harpsichordist, Donna Boyd, and Lutenist/Theorboist,
Bob Reynierson; and a Stradella Italian solo cantanta, with
harpsichordist, Donna Boyd and Gambist, Craig Trompeter. Hensley's
focus in the early music performance area has led him to research
and study the performance practice of 8th c. Gregorian chant
with Richard Crocker, a world-renowned expert in the field.
Hensley, along with colleagues Boyd and Reynierson, have planned
a performance of Airs de Cour at the EKU Grand Reading Room
in April, 2004.
Vertrelle
Cameron-Mickens, adjunct instructor of applied voice, continues
as a candidate for the DMA in Vocal Performance at UK. Cameron-Mickens
, in April, was soloist with the Houston Symphony in a performance
of the Verdi "Requiem." Mickens is full time Director of Music
at The Second Presbyterian Church in Lexington, KY.
Patrick
Newell, in May, received the Doctorate of Music Degree from
Indiana University. Patrick teaches applied voice, vocal diction
and is responsible for the opera workshop program. During the
summer of 2003, Newell was music director for the CalRep Cabaret,
in California, Pennsylvania, where he also starred in "Sweeney
Tood" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Newell
will direct EKU's November opera workshop production of Richard
Faith's, "The Little Match Girl."
Joyce
Hall Wolf was promoted in April, to Associate Professor
and was awarded tenure. Wolf teaches applied voice and vocal
pedagogy. She is currently serving as the KY State Governor
of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). In October,
EKU has plans to send more than 20 applied voice students to
the KY NATS Student Auditions. In March 2003, Wolf and pianist
Kay Dawn McFarland presented the Lecture Recital "Treasures
from a Faithful Heart: The Music of Marjorie Adams" at the ATHENA
2003 Festival for Women Composers.
Initiation of a series of Vocal
Master Classes began with the 2003 Fall Semester. In
September, Roma Prindle, a member of the applied voice faculty
at Morehead State University, was the Master Teacher. In October,
Lance Brunner, Director of Graduate Studies in the School of
Music at UK, will lead the vocal area in a presentation of "Sound
Circle: Vocal Improvisation and Creation." November brings Richard
Faith, composer of "The Little Match Girl," to speak to our
voice students about his opera.
In February 2004, Joyce Hall Wolf and Patrick
Newell will perform the much admired, Hugo Wolf, "Italianisches
Liederbuch," a monumental cycle of 46 songs composed by Wolf
between 1890-1896.
On October 16th, our
voice faculty will perform and give a brief vocal pedagogy workshop
for the High School Choral Directors who attend the first annual
Fall Choral Festival. The festival activities are under the
direction of David
Saladino, Director of Choral Activities. Dr. Saladino, publicist
and executor for the musical estate of American composer Gordon
Binkerd has written an obituary, parts of which were published
in the Chicago Tribune. Mr. Binkerd died at his home in Urbana,
Illinois following a long illness. He was 87. Dr. Saladino will
be guest conductor for the Garrard County Choral Festival, which
will be held on Thursday October 9, 2003. The one-day festival
will consist of performances by schools from Harrodsburg, Lancaster,
and Paint Lick. A public performance will take place at Garrard
County High School in Lancaster, Kentucky at 7 PM. Professor
Saladino, has developed the First Annual Fall Choral Festival
at EKU, which he will host on Thursday, October 16, 2003. The
day's activities, for up to 25 high schools who each will send
four singers, will include rehearsals of five festival choral
works, a master class for selected members of the festival chorus
and a workshop for teachers hosted by the vocal coordinator
Hunter Hensley and the EKU voice faculty, a tour of the EKU
campus for the visiting choristers and a concert open to the
public at 7 PM in Gifford Theatre in the Campbell Building.
The evening concert will feature brief performances by two out
outstanding regional guest high school choirs; South Laurel
High School Chorale, directed by Mark Felts, and the Model Laboratory
School Women's Ensemble, directed by Senica Taylor. The EKU
University Singers will also perform on the evening concert.
Dr. Saladino will coordinate and host the Annual Central Kentucky
Music Educators Association Choral Festival on Friday, November
7, 2003 for which music educators from districts 7 and 11 will
bring 400 elementary singers all day rehearsals in the Foster
Building. The day will culminate with an evening performance
in Brock Auditorium at 7 PM. The EKU Madrigal singers will perform
for the Annual Fund Raising Concert of the Sunshine Seniors
of Louisville on Saturday, October 25. The Madrigal Singers
will present three performances of their 33rd Annual Madrigal
Dinner Productions in Keen-Johnson on the EKU campus, Thursday
December 4 Ð Saturday, December 6, 2003 For information about
tickets patrons may call Virginia King at 622-3691 or 622-2179.
On December 8, 2003
the EKU choirs with perform their annual Winter Concert in Brock
auditorium at 8 PM. The free concert will feature the EKU Women's
Chorus performing the Benjamin Britten Ceremony of Carols with
Lexington harpist Elaine Cook. The University Singers will perform
Daniel Pinkham's Christmas Cantata scored for choir, brass and
organ with EKU faculty member Hayward Mickens as the organist.
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Faculty News
Dr.
Richard Crosby, Professor of Piano and Music History,
was recently elected National President of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia,
the men's music fraternity. Dr. Crosby will serve as CEO of
fraternity for 3 years while continuing to serve as Governor
of the fraternity's Province 25. He was also elected as a Trustee
of the Sinfonia Foundation. He also serves as the Chairman of
the Professional Organizations Council for the American Classical
Music Hall of Fame.
Dr. Crosby was commissioned by the Kentucky
Music Teachers Association to write a new work for the Kentucky
Composers Concert held during their convention this fall. His
new work, Sonata for Trombone and Piano, will be given its world
premiere on October 19th at 8PM at UK's Singletary Center for
the Arts, featuring trombonist Ken Haddix with the composer
at the piano.
Rob
James, Chair of the Department of Music presented a clinic
on Performance Anxiety and How to Audition for College at the
2003 KMEA In-Service Conference, Louisville, KY. Professor James
also performed with the Kentuckiana Brass and Percussion Ensemble
while attending the conference. Mr. James will serve on the
Planning Committee for the 2003 Percussive Arts Society International
Convention
James
Willett performed with the Kentuckiana Brass and Percussion
Ensemble at the 2003 KMEA Convention in February and the Great
American Brass Band Festival in June. Additional activities
included participation at the National Civil War Band Symposium
in July.
Dr.
Joe Allison, Director of Bands at EKU, will be well-traveled
this Fall season. In addition to a number of visits for clinics
with bands in the immediate area, Allison will travel across
the country as an adjudicator/clinician for a number of high
school band competitions. His travel itinerary begins with a
2 day instructional camp in Loveland, Colorado (September 12-13),
where Allison will work with both high school bands, as well
as their design and instructional staffs. The purpose of the
clinic/camp is to prepare groups for the upcoming competitive
season. The next weekend (Sept. 20), Dr. Allison travels to
suburban Chicago, to adjudicate the 25th Annual Lake Park Lancer
Joust, traditionally the first "big" band show in the Midwest,
which draws top bands from several states for a prelims-finals
format competition. Several of the competing bands at this event
are perennial national finalists. On September 27, EKU's band
director will find himself in the Charlotte, NC area for the
Annual Fort Mill Exhibition of Bands. The first weekend in October,
Allison travels to nearby Johnson City, Tennessee, for the Bands
of America Regional Contest. Competing groups from several Southeastern
states (including Kentucky) will perform in the East Tennessee
State "Mini-Dome," a unique domed stadium on the campus at ETSU.
On October 11, Joe is in St. Louis for the Bands of America
Mid-American Regional Contest, to be held in the Edward Jones
Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams. On October 18, Allison returns
to Colorado, to Denver's Invesco Field at Mile-High Stadium
for the Colorado Bandmasters Association's State Championship
Contest. The following weekend, Dr. Allison will be at the RCA
Dome in Indianapolis for the Indiana State Secondary School
Music Association's (ISSMA) State Championship Contest, where
four divisions of competing groups will compete for honors.
November 1 and 2 finds a travel-weary director in San Antonio,
Texas for the Texas Unified School League's State Championships
in the Alamodome.
Dr.
Mick Sehmann and seven members of the EKU Horn Studio attended
the International Horn Symposium, held this year on the campus
of Indiana University. The Symposium, sponsored by the International
Horn Society and held at a different international location
each year, is a weeklong festival showcasing top horn players
from throughout the world. Mick performed on one of the featured
recitals as a member of the Central Kentucky Horn Quartet. This
quartet, which has performed at numerous events throughout the
region, is a professional group that also includes, Dr. Karin
Sehmann (EKU) and David Elliott and Joanne Filkins, (both from
UK). Here at home Mick continues to maintain a busy playing
and teaching schedule, performing with the EKU Woodwind and
Brass Quintets, the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, playing
many freelance jobs throughout the region, and teaching at both
the Foster Music Camp and the Governor's School for the Arts.
The
EKU Faculty Brass Quintet: Joe Van Fleet, Ken Haddix,
James Willett. and Mick Sehmann along with graduate student
Jim Young, released a new compact disc entitled "Brass Sketches".
The disc was recorded in Nashville in May of 2003 and is available
from any member of the group.
Joe Van Fleet has been very active in the local music scene. As
a performer in both the Owensboro Symphony and the Lexington
Philharmonic Orchestras for most of the summer and fall season,
his schedule has been hectic. In addition Jonathan continues
the numerous commercial and jazz gigs plus the occasional golf
tournament.
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