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News & Notes

August 16, 2007
The Music Department has a feature article in the Washington Post, regarding the new Steinway pianos and one of our donors, University Rector Sid Dewberry.

August 6, 2007
The Music Department has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, regarding the new Steinway pianos.

July 5, 2007
It is with great pleasure that we announce the invitation of the George Mason University Wind Symphony to present a concert performance at the 2007 Virginia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference. They will join The United States Navy Band, Commonwealth Wind Symphony (Adult Community Band- Richmond, VA), Herndon High School (Herndon, VA), Grafton High School (Grafton, VA), and Sandusky Middle School (Lynchburg, VA), along with several other instrumental and choral groups, for the 2007 conference.
The GMU Wind Symphony, under the direction of Prof. Mark Camphouse, will perform a challenging program, including pieces by Robert Jager, Mark Camphouse, David Gillingham, John Philip Sousa, and Paul Hindemith. Guest artists will include Prof. Anthony Maiello (conductor), Prof. Clyde Hughes (conductor), and GMU student percussion soloists. Rob Carroll, President of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Association, will also serve as guest conductor of the newly-commissioned work "Under Skies So Blue (A Centennial Anthem)" by George Mason University undergraduate student composer Vincent Oppido.
The 2007 In-Service Conference of the Virginia Music Educators Association will be held in Norfolk, VA on November 15-17, 2007. This annual gathering is attended by over 1,400 VMEA members of both faculty and student status. While many music education students and faculty attend the conference on an annual basis, the GMU Wind Symphony's last appearance at VMEA was in 2003.

July 5, 2007
Based on the descriptive submission of her current research in developing leadership, music faculty member Lorrie Berkshire Brown has been accepted as one of 12 internationally selected participants (called troubleshootees) for the 2007 Grounded Theory Trouble Shooting Seminar to be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, August 22-24, 2007.
The internationally respected research methodologist, Dr. Barney G. Glaser (the co-originator of GT along with the recently passed Dr. Anselm L. Strauss) of the Grounded Theory Qualitative Research Methodology [GT], hosts this seminar. Dr. Glaser is also the publisher of The Grounded Theory Review [GTR], an international peer reviewed journal and the director of The Grounded Theory Institute [GTI] that is a non-profit web-based organization dedicated to providing resources to grounded theory researchers worldwide. Facilitators of the Halifax seminar include Dr. Judith Holton, the Editor in Chief of The Grounded Theory Review and Dr. Hans Thulesius from the Kronoberg Research Center in Vaxo Sweden (peer-editor for The Grounded Theory Review). Each selected troubleshootee will have 45 minutes of seminar time devoted to their study. Troubleshootees also participate in a "troubleshooting question and answer forum" with Dr. Barney Glaser.

May 30, 2007
Music professor Dr. Michael Nickens has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, regarding his new "bobblehead" doll fundraiser.

March 26, 2007
The Music Department would like to thank the following individuals for their generous support of the 2007 Music Scholarship Concert:

Benefactor
Phaup Brown Wealth Management Group

Patron
Mr. and Mrs. J. Norman Crutchfield
Ms. Janice Dewire
Dr. James and Diane Gardner
Fred and Alice Heyer
Drs. Linda and Keith Monson

March 22, 2007
Music professor Mark Camphouse has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, titled "American Musician."

November 6, 2006
The Music Department has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, regarding new professor Dr. Michael Nickens and his contributions to the Pep Band.

August 21, 2006
Music professor Mark Camphouse (new to the Mason music faculty this fall) has received highly favorable reviews of his newly published Symphonic Fanfare (Alfred Music, Inc.). The J.W. Pepper Catalog calls the work "brilliant, eloquent and powerful." Banddirector.com says it is "an outstanding concert opener and superior learning experience." Camphouse's duties at Mason include serving as conductor of the University Wind Symphony and teaching courses in conducting and composition. Summer 2006 professional activities included serving as Coordinator of the National Band Association Young Composer Mentor Project in Illinois, guest conductor at the International Music Camp at the International Peace Garden in North Dakota, and as an evaluator for the National Wind Band Honors Program based in Houston.

June 28, 2006
Music student Adrianna Sgarlata won the crown of Miss Virginia on Saturday, June 24. Sgarlata graduated from Mason with a bachelor of music in 2005 and is currently working on a master of music degree. She is Mason's third Miss Virginia in five years. An opera singer who has been studying voice for nine years, Sgarlata has won numerous awards while at Mason, including first place in the mid-Atlantic region and twice first place in the state at the annual National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions. This event was displayed in a feature article in the Mason Gazette.

June 21, 2006
The Music Department has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, reagarding the GMU Chamber Singers' recent trip to Moscow, Russia.

March 23, 2006
Dr. Laura Mann was featured guest aritst at Averett Univeristy on March 23rd, singing a recital of all women composers entitled "In A Woman's Voice" in celebration of Womens'History Month. Concert/Opera Artist Mann is a 7th season Touring Artist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts and travels through the state presenting a variety of programs featuring opera, recital, and music theater repertoire.

April 19, 2006
Music Department faculty member Stephen Douglas Burton has been named as a recent addition to the Washingtonian Magazine Washington Music Hall of Fame. Professor Stephen Douglas Burton is retiring from George Mason University at the end of the spring 2006 semester. Professor Burton holds the Heritage Chair in Music and as a composer has received performances of his works by some of the leading ensembles in the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra.

April 10, 2006
Two George Mason University students won awards at the 2006 NATS Mid-Atlantic Regional Competition. Katelyn Sexton (Freshman Women - student of Patricia Miller) and Ilker Egingli (Continuing Education/Men - student of Patricia Miller) both won 3rd place. The competition was held at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 7-8. More than three hundred students participated in the two-day conference and vocal competition from colleges, universities and conservatories in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

March 31, 2006
The George Mason University Pep Band won the NCAA Battle of the Bands Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the 2006 Final Four. Mason beat out the bands from the University of California - Los Angeles, Louisiana State University, and Florida State University. Congratulations, Pep Band!

March 7, 2006
The following GMU vocal music students received awards at the 2006 NATS Competition, held at the Shenandoah Conservatory:

FIRST PLACE
Sissel Bakken (Continuing Education/Women - student of Debby Wenner)
Emily Castle-Dunn (Advanced College/Graduate Women - student of Patricia Miller)
Allan Chan (Senior Men - student of Debby Wenner)
Ilker Egingli (Continuing Education/Men - student of Patricia Miller)
Wayne Jennings (Sophomore Men - student of Patricia Miller)
Nichole Lewis (Freshman Women - student of Patricia Miller)

SECOND PLACE
Frances Mitchem (Continuing Education /Women - student of Patricia Miller and Lisa Berger)
Rebecca Roberts (Advanced College/Graduate Women - student of Patricia Miller)
Nigel Tangredi (Sophomore Men - student of Debby Wenner)

THIRD PLACE
Melanie Campbell (Advanced College/Graduate Women - student of Patricia Miller)
Nichole Dalusung (Senior Women - student of Patricia Miller and Lisa Berger)
Katelyn Sexton (Freshman Women - student of Patricia Miller)

HONORABLE MENTION
Jonathan Hoffman (Sophomore Men - student of Debby Wenner)

This year, the Virginia State National Association of Teachers of Singing Conference Had Over 400 voice students and teachers participating from colleges and universities Across the state. 26 GMU students competed, and 13 students won awards in their category.
1st Place winners in each category receive a scholarship check for $50, 2nd Place Winners receive $35, and 3rd Place winners receive $25.
The Mid-Atlantic Regional NATS Competition will be held at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC in April. All of these students are eligible to participate.

January 5, 2006
Dr. Sonya Suhnhee Kim has been invited to participate in Mozart's 250th Birthday concert on Friday, January 27, 2006, in Vienna, Austria. This particular "Mozartkonzert" will be held in the Wahringer (18th District) Town Hall, across from where Beethoven and Schubert were originally buried. A group of talented young musicians and alumni, who have international careers, will perform in this concert program, which will include a variety of compositions (concertos, a symphony and choral works). She will be performing a solo piano piece, as well as a chamber music selection with Viennese musicians.

PRACTICE ROOMS GRAND OPENING!
The new wing of practice rooms and teaching studios on the second floor of the Performing Arts Building will be open for use beginning Monday, November 7! Please be aware that this is still a move-in period, consisting of pianos being moved and tuned, and equipment being brought in. Please be patient during this time of growth!
On Tuesday, November 29, at 4:30pm, the official dedication of the new practice rooms and teaching studios will take place on the second floor atrium of the Performing Arts Building. If you are not in class at this time, please take time to attend this brief event to thank our donors, Don and Nancy DeLaski, for their generous contributions to this project.

October 29, 2005
Dr. Beth Bullard delivered a paper at the Study Session for the American Musical Instrument Society held as part of the annual meeting of the American Musicological Society in Washington, DC. Her paper was on a medieval-style double-reed instrument still played today in Spain: "The Gralla--Barcelona's Shawm With Regionalistic Overtones."

October 29, 2005
Concert/Opera Artist Dr. Laura Mann was one of four featured soloists on a concert for the High Oaks Foundation in Philadelphia, PA on October 29th. Dr. Mann presented 30 minutes of songs and arias by Schumann, Mendelssohn-Hensel, and Gustave Charpentier. Soprano Mann closed with three inspirational selections, including the world premiere of Leslie Bennett's "Feed My Sheep" scored for voice and orchestra, and a new arrangement of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," for which she commissioned a new orchstration. High Oaks is a beneficent organization furnishing aid to Christian Scientists in need.

October 8, 2005
New performing arts librarian and adjunct professor Steve Gerber presented a paper during the Atlantic Chapter, Music Library Association’s fall conference at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, October 7 and 8. In an illustrated lecture entitled “The Civil War, the Sentimental Aesthetic, and William Henry Fry’s Dying Soldier Symphony,” Gerber discussed the 1863 composition’s musical allusions to rhetorical topics common in Civil War-era sentimental poetry and his reconstruction of the score from the composer’s manuscript drafts jointly held by the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Fry (1813-1864) was a Philadelphia native who relocated to New York, where he was prominent as a composer, lecturer, and journalist associated with Horace Greeley’s abolitionist Tribune. Fry’s The Dying Soldier - Dramatic Symphony is the only known American orchestral work on a Civil War subject actually composed during the war. Gerber showed that its dramatic musical features mirrored conventional imagery from the genre of “dying soldier” poems that proliferated in popular culture at this time, and played a recording of a performance of his new edition by the University at Buffalo’s student orchestra.
Approximately fifty music librarians, archivists, and musicologists from six states and the District of Columbia participated in this regional gathering. Topics covered by other presenters included an overview of the Charlie Byrd Collection at Peabody’s Friedheim Library, a presentation on the rapidly-changing face of digitized music distribution in the era of ephemeral special-interest blogs, an inspection of marginalia on Renaissance and Baroque music theory imprints once owned by prominent musicians, and a comprehensive, well-commented bibliography of monographs on the subject of musical performance stress and its alleviation. Other business of the chapter included preliminary planning for the joint national meeting of the Music Library Association and the American Music Society to be held in Pittsburgh in 2007.

September 26, 2005
Dr. Laura Mann, professor of voice, has a feature article in the Broadside, George Mason University's Student Newspaper. Her article was titled "Chipping and Carving to Free Students’ Vocal Talents."

September 8, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the September Accolades of the Mason Gazette, regarding Dr. Rachel Bergman and Dr. Linda Apple Monson's joint lecture recital, “A Return to Jewish Roots: Viktor Ullman’s Variations and Fugue on a Hebrew Melody,” at the College Music Society’s International Conference in Madrid, Spain.

August 1, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the August Accolades of the Mason Gazette, regarding Dr. Sonya Suhnhee Kim on her recent piano performance in Tirol, Austria.

July 21, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, regarding Prof. Patricia Miller's trip to Korea.

July 20, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, regarding the current and upcoming construction of the new practice rooms.

April 13, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, regarding the success of George Mason vocal students at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Virginia State Voice Competition.

March 2, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the Mason Gazette, regarding their busy concert schedule through the rest of the month.

March 1, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the March Accolades of the Mason Gazette, regarding notable performances in the area by Prof. Patricia Miller, mezzo-soprano; Dr. Linda Apple Monson, piano; and compositions by Dr. Glenn Smith were performed.

February 1, 2005
The Music Department has a feature article in the February Accolades of the Mason Gazette, regarding the accomplishments of two professors. Dr. Rachel Bergman presented "Creativity in Captivity: Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis," at the annual National Opera Association (NOA) convention in New York City as winner of the 2004 NOA 19th Annual Scholarly Paper Competition. Dr. Lisa A. Billingham presented various workshops regarding choral techniques and the Laban Movement Theory in Norfolk, Virginia and Honolulu, Hawaii.