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Alumni accolades ECU Community Music and Research Program
We are examining the effects of music instruction on successful aging. As part of this program, we will be offering group piano instruction and percussion ensemble instruction starting in January to older adults (ages 60-87). There is NO cost for participation in these programs. For more information on these programs, please contact Dr. Jennifer Bugos at 252-328-5721 or bugosj@ecu.edu.
Jazz at Christinne’s with “TomtheJazzman” Tom Mallison, host of “An Evening with TomtheJazzman” on Public Radio East, will serve as master of ceremonies for East Carolina University School of Music jazz studies program concerts at Christinne’s in the Hilton Greenville during the 2009–2010 academic year, beginning on Friday, September 11.
The evenings will feature performances by students and faculty from the ECU jazz studies program, as well as occasional guest artists. Christinne's will take reservations for dinner on concert nights. The number to reserve a table for dinner, starting at 6 p.m., is 252-355-9500.
“Jazz at Christinne’s with TomtheJazzman” featuring the jazz studies program performances are scheduled for Friday, September 11; Friday, October 23; Friday January 22; Friday, February 26 and Friday, March 26. All concerts start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.00 for students and $10 for the public, and are available at 1-800-ECU-ARTS or at the door.
Mallison began programming jazz as “TomtheJazzman” on Public Radio East over 24 years ago. “An Evening with TomtheJazzman” is the longest-running jazz program in North Carolina. Mallison is a contributing programmer, writer and photographer for JazzWeek magazine, the late International Association for Jazz Education, the Jazz Journalist Association and Pure Jazz Radio. He is co-founder of the Friends of Jazz at East Carolina University and was a charter member of the Coastal Jazz Society. He frequently conducts workshops regarding the changing landscape of jazz.
"We are delighted that Tom Mallison has agreed to serve the jazz studies program in this particular capacity,” said Jeff Bair, director of jazz studies. “He has introduced jazz to generations of music lovers in eastern North Carolina and will be a great addition to this concert series."
Franklin takes reins of Marching Pirates By Jeannine Manning Hutson, ECU staff writer
John Franklin was hired knowing he was staring down a deadline: Sept. 5, ECU’s home football opener.
Franklin began as director of the Marching Pirates on Aug. 4, meaning he had one month to turn 220 college students into a cohesive marching band ready to hit the field and impress the football fans.
Before joining the School of Music faculty, Franklin directed the athletic and symphonic bands at the University of West Georgia. At ECU, Franklin is director of athletic bands and associate director of bands.
Five days before fall semester classes began at ECU, Franklin had the marching band on its practice field at the bottom of College Hill for its first practice of the season. Yes, two weeks before the first home football game.
Franklin along with his student staff of drum majors and nine section leaders will teach the band the music and the half-time routine through multiple daily practices.
“They go in knowing the essentials (of being in a march band), but this is getting everyone on the same page,” Franklin said. “Half of our band is non-music majors.”
During the football season, the band will perform five half-time shows at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, learning 15 songs and the marching routine for each show. The band will also learn the 15 to 20 tunes to play in the stands, five pre-game songs including the National Anthem, and the music for the “Power Play” show they plan for this year outside the stadium as part of the pre-game festivities.
“We’ll play songs like ‘Hey! Baby’ and have lots of interaction with the fans at tailgating,” Franklin said.
ECU Senior Tremayne Smith, head drum major for the Marching Pirates, helped keep the program on track between band directors this summer.
“We worked orientation to sign up students for marching band, made copies and created folders, kept the communication going to the band, and kept planning over the summer since Dr. Knighten left.” Chris Knighten resigned as the marching band director in the spring for a similar position at the University of Arkansas.
Smith said he’s proud of the way the section leaders have stepped up to the challenge of preparing their areas and welcomed Franklin and his new ideas. “I hope this is an indication of how the season will go,” Smith said.
“Some directors come in and immediately try to make the program their own. Dr. Franklin has said, here’s some things we’re going to change and here are the things we’re going to keep for tradition. It’s a good mix,” Smith said.
On the first full day of marching band camp, the heat and humidity were aiming for a record even before 10 a.m. Franklin was sweating; the students were sweating; the sun was beating down on the open field. During a five-minute water break, Franklin used “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” references to get one of the horn sections motivated to come onto the field intending to impress the fans (and their fellow Marching Pirates) with their precision.
Joking about the heat, Franklin said he has worked in some of the hottest places for marching bands – tradition and temperature wise– Florida and Indiana.
Franklin completed his doctor of music degree in wind conducting at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, where he also earned his master’s of music education degree. He earned a bachelor’s of music education degree from Florida State University.
Chris Buddo, School of Music director, said that ECU is lucky to have Franklin coming in and gearing up so quickly for the football season.
“We are fortunate to have found a marching band director of John’s exceptional qualifications,” he said. “It is a tribute to his dedication and work ethic that he was in Greenville preparing for the upcoming football season three weeks after interviewing, and on the field with the band one week later.”
The rise of ECU’s football program was a ready-made recruiter for the Marching Pirates director position, Franklin said. The band has an opportunity to play at sold-out home stadium games before loyal Pirate fans and potentially at a bowl game.
Franklin said he was inspired to take this career path by exceptional band directors in his high school and college years. “Plus I’m a longtime college football fan.”
Four Seasons, New Music Festivals celebrate 10th anniversaries  The Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and artistic director Ara Gregorian bring internationally renowned musicians to eastern North Carolina and beyond for concerts, master classes, and interactive community outreach. In residence at the East Carolina University School of Music, the festival is celebrating its 10th Anniversary Season. Highlights of past seasons include more than 60 public concerts, 200 master classes, two performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and a six-concert tour of Israel.
The 2009-2010 season is highlighted by four residencies. Each residency includes back-to-back nights of concerts, master classes, open rehearsals, children’s concerts, world-renowned guest artists, and the greatest literature in the chamber music repertoire, all in ECU’s A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall.
In addition, the festival will present Children’s Residency III and debut the Master Teachers Next Generation Concerts, the newest component of the Master Teachers Program. These concerts will feature current and former East Carolina University students performing alongside Four Seasons guest artists and ECU faculty.
This year will also be marked by two specials events: the annual Donor Appreciation Event and the 10th Anniversary Celebration. Each event will feature special guest artists and programs in celebration of the festival and in appreciation of all those who have made its existence possible throughout the years. www.ecu.edu/music/fourseasons
ECU’s New Music Festival presents its 10th anniversary concert series February 24–28, 2010, celebrating the music of our time.
Highlights include evenings with ECU percussionist Chris Nappi; clarinetist Nathan Williams (ECU professor Christopher Grymes’ teacher and predecessor at ECU, as well as an instigating force behind the festival’s creation 10 years ago); Nathaniel  Bartlett’s (left) “Immersive Music” http://www.nathanielbartlett.com/; a guest composer appearance by Steven Dembski of the University of Wisconsin, and others.
The ECU symphony orchestra will perform at the festival again this year, featuring the winner of the fifth annual Orchestra Composition Competition; the premiere of a new work by Edward Jacobs, New Music Festival founder and director; and Mark Glick’s “The Wife of Bath” for Soprano and Orchestra, with guest soloist Karen Hall (orchestral version première).
The festival week will begin with a concert of student compositions—the Premiere Performances Concert.
For additional information about the festival, or to become a festival sponsor, contact: East Carolina University School of Music, 252-328-6851, or Edward Jacobs, NewMusic@ECU Festival Director, NewMusic@ECU.EDU, 252-328-4280.
Doskey releases piano CD  Green Mill Recordings of Greenville announces a new CD by school of music piano professor Henry Doskey for release September 1.
Entitled “Evening Concert,” the CD features music by Chopin, Ravel, Debussy, MacDowell and Rachmaninoff that is, for the most part, in a quiet mode. Several perennial favorites are included, among them “Claire de lune” by Debussy, and “To A Water Lily” by MacDowell.
This is the ninth CD recorded by Doskey for Green Mill Recordings in nine years. The company will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2010.
For more information, go to www.greenmillrecordings.com.
McCaslin releases tuba CD 
Tuba and euphonium professor Tom McCaslin has released his debut CD, “Inside Out” through Crystal Records. The recording includes an world-premiere interpretation of a transcription of the improvised guitar solos of Frank Zappa, given to McCaslin by legendary tubist Roger Bobo. Zappa’s widow, Gail Zappa, said, “This is definitely not for the faint of heart. This rocks my world.”
The CD includes a variety of works for tuba. The CD was supported by a College of Fine Arts and Communication Research and Creative Activity Grant.
The CD is available at Amazon.com.
Organist Scanlon joins School of Music Organist Andrew Scanlon has joined the School of Music to teach organ and sacred music. In addition, he will serve as the Organist-Choirmaster at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville.
Scanlon is an active recitalist, performing extensively on the organ in the United States and abroad.
Prior to moving to Greenville, Andrew Scanlon was a member of the organ faculty at Duquesne University, where he taught applied organ as well as courses in Service Playing, Choral Literature, and Liturgical Studies to undergraduate and graduate students in one of the nation’s largest sacred music degree programs. Between 2006—2008, he organized two international study tours for the organ students, taking them to Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, and he also organized two large-scale sacred music conferences at Duquesne, one in celebration of Jean Langlais’ music, and a second celebrating Olivier Messiaen’s centennial. From 2005-2009, he was also the Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, where he oversaw a music program which encompassed a semi-professional parish choir, a volunteer womens’ choir, a diverse and ambitious concert series, and an organ recital series. Scanlon was also the conductor of The Pittsburgh Compline Choir during that time. During his time as the conductor of the Compline Choir, Andrew Scanlon was credited with bringing the Compline Choir back to life, reorganizing it, tripling its membership, and broadening the choir’s already extensive repertoire. The Compline Choir’s new CD, Blessed, Heavenly Light is scheduled to be released this year.
Scanlon earned the Bachelor of Music degree from Duquesne University and the Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
Alumni recital October 16 The School of Music Alumni Board invites alumni from all years to attend the Second Annual Alumni Reunion & Recital to be held in the A. J. Fletcher Recital Hall on October 16, during homecoming weekend 2009.
The reception will be held in Rehearsal Hall Room 105 immediately following the recital.
Look for more information here as the weekend approaches, or contact Mary Jane Gaddis, 252.328.1268 or gaddism@ecu.edu.
Greater Love on iTunes 
ECU Chamber Singers CD Greater Love is now available for purchase on iTunes. Search by Dan Bara or by East Carolina University.
The American Record Guide said of the CD:
“The choral tone is extraordinarily fine: warm, solid, well blended, and superbly disciplined...I am inclined to think that the freshness and purity of sound we hear on this recording can only be obtained from well-trained young voices...There are many fine recordings of the Howells Requiem and Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, but I believe this one can stand with the best of them."
Music Therapy brings gamelon to ECU 
The ECU Music Therapy Program hosted the Music Therapy Association of North Carolina spring meeting April 24, at the ECU School of Music. In attendance were professional and student music therapists from across the state and music educators and world music students from Pitt County and ECU.
A five-hour continuing education workshop was conducted by ECU alumnus Dr. Michael Rohrbacher, director of music therapy at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. He brought a large gamelan "orchestra" from Bali, and participants learned to play and understand the role of the gamelan in Balinese society, as well as make applications to therapeutic and educational environments.
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together.
Dr. Barbara Memory, director of music therapy at ECU, coordinated the meeting and workshop.
Faculty accolades Five members of the Music Education Faculty represented East Carolina University by presenting sessions and research at the Society for Music Teacher Education conference September 10-12 in Greensboro, NC. This is a national conference sponsored by MENC and attracts people from all over the United States and Canada. The five members that presented at the conference were: Jeff Ward, Jay Juchniewicz, Linda High, Greg Hurley, and Michelle Hairston.
Hairston co-authored with educators from Boise State University, Susquehanna University, Florida State University, University of Cincinnati, and Arizona State University -“Influences on Career choice Among Music Education Audition Candidates: A Pilot Study,” Ward and Juchniewicz-“Secondary Music specialist Degree: A Preliminary curricular Model” and High, Hurley, and Ward-“Preparing Music Teacher Educators Through After School Music Programs for Children.”
ECU trombone professor George Broussard performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival 2009, “The Year of The Trombone,” for the opening ceremony, two performances with The Palmetto Posaunen and at the U. S. Custom House with Wycliffe Gordon. Broussard also toured Europe this summer as Dixieland Medley soloist with the American Trombone Choir (in Bad Neuenahr, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic); and as part of the Cramer Memorial Trombone Choir, a 24 member choir representing six countries (in Aarhus, Denmark).
ECU guitar professor Elliot Frank performed at the Fort Worth Guitar Guild Music Festival in July. Reviewers said:
"Frank had a highly studied technique that displayed an exceptional grasp of the architecture of the piece he was performing. He also did a nice job of explaining the common ground shared by two seemingly unrelated works on his program: a lute suite by Bach (BWV 998) and Capriccio, a work by contemporary composer Andrew Zohn, who will perform later in the festival. Frank’s insightful introduction made this modern piece, which was the highlight of his set, more enjoyable."
ECU music professor Jocelyn Nelson performed renaissance guitar at the Boston Early Music Festival on June 10 with soprano Amy Bartram. Nelson and Bartram have collaborated on a CD of early music to be released soon.
ECU educators Jennifer Bugos, Jocelyn Nelson, Mike Dixon and ECU student Alexis Groner have published research articles recently.
Bugos, J.A., & High, L. (2009). Perceived versus actual practice strategy usage by older adult novice piano students. Visions of Research in Music Education, 13, 1-26
Bugos, J.A., & Groner, A. (2009). The effects of instrumental training on non-verbal reasoning in eighth-grade students. Research Perspectives in Music Education, 12, (Accepted for Publication in March 2009 issue)
Bugos, J.A., Nelson, J. & Dixon, M. (2009). Podcasting: A method of enhancing course perceptions and performance in music appreciation. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 6 (1), 37-45.
Oboe professor Bo Newsome was one of five semifinalists in an international visual arts competition attracting 600 international entries from 60 nations,
The Maine Center for Creativity and the Sprague Energy Corporation selected Newsome’s design for consideration as one of five finalists in the “Art All Around International Design Competition.” The winning design—not Newsome’s—will beautify 16 oil tanks located in the port of South Portland, Maine.
On entry into the competition, Newsome begged the indulgence of the judging panel, explaining that he is a musician competing among visual artists to deliver an intricate submission: “Our proposal stops one step short of what every other proposal will probably excel at: submitting a sophisticated presentation of the actual graphic art to be painted on the tanks.”
“Tunetowers of Maine” proposed the combination of graphic art,
song and technological innovation to create an aesthetically engaging
landscape in which the oil tanks “sing” to Portland and the world. The proposed music would have been transformed into animated graphic musical notation and painted on the sides of the tanks, with the top of each tank illustrated with notation in a round format.
Student accolades Nathan Walker's composition "Leaves" will be programmed by the NC Master Chorale Chamber Choir, directed by Al Sturgis. His music will be hear on the group's "Time Passages" concert, on Thursday, March 25, 2009 at 8 pm in Kenan Recital Hall, Peace College.
November 1, 2009, Rachael Arnold, a senior at ECU double-majoring in flute performance and music education, was the winner of the Undergraduate Collegiate Division of the Raleigh Area Flute Association Competition. Rachael will receive a cash prize and has been invited to perform on the Winners' Recital of the Raleigh Area Flute Association on November 13, 2009 in Raleigh, NC. Rachael is a student of Christine Gustafson.
Nicole Frazee, graduate flute performance major, was the winner of the
Graduate Collegiate Division of the Raleigh Area Flute Association
Competition. Nicole will also receive a cash prize and will perform for the
Winners' Recital on November 13. Nicole is Graduate Assistant for Christine
Gustafson.
Tremayne Smith, ECU Marching Band Sr. Head Drum Major and senior music education major, was crowned ECU homecoming king during the fall 2009 ECU homecoming festivities.
Kyle Walker, sophomore piano performance major, was chosen the state winner in the Young Artist Piano Competition at the state conference of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association (affiliated with Music Teachers National Association).
His program included Bach: Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp Minor (Book I, Well-Tempered Clavier); Beethoven: Opening Movement of the
Sonata # 31, in A-Flat, Opus 110; and Albeniz “El Albiacin” (from Book 3 of Iberia).
Kyle currently holds the Olive G. Long Memorial Piano Scholarship and is a student of Dr. Henry Doskey.
There were six contestants; the Young Artist Division is basically the College Division, through age 26. ECU has had winners in this competition before, but Kyle is one of the youngest ECU students to win this division, which tends to be dominated by seniors and graduate students. He advances now to the Regional Competition, which will be held in Birmingham in January.
Congratulations, Kyle!
Steve Lewis, whose sheet music for his composition titled "A Just War" has been published and is available for sale at www.periferiamusic.com.
You can check it by clicking the following link:
http://www.periferiamusic.com/eng/detalle.php?id=459
Senior flute performance major Jamie Wilken, student of Christine Gustafson, has been accepted to the Christian Lardé masterclass in Paris for two weeks in July, 2009. Jamie has been granted a full scholarship--all course fees, room and board are covered. However, she will have to go back and forth to Paris from Brazil, where she and duo partner, guitarist Josinaldo Costa (former student of Elliot Frank and one of our first Music Alive! Exchange students), have been invited to perform in three chamber music festivals: Virtuosi na Serra in Pernambuco; the Villa-Lobos Hall in Rio de Janeiro under the aegis of the Guitar Society of Rio de Janeiro; and the Londrina Chamber Music Competition in Londrina, Brazil.
Alumni accolades ECU ALUM SILVERMAN IS AMTA 2009 FULTZ WINNER
AMTA is proud to announce the 2009 Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Grant winner: Michael Silverman, PhD, MT-BC. Dr. Silverman will receive a $15,000 Grant to fund his research project titled: "The effect of family-based educational music therapy on depression, satisfaction with life, and service utilization: A randomized effectiveness study with three month follow-up."
Congratulations Dr. Silverman!
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