John J. Cali School of Music – Fall 2012

Director’s Corner…

Welcome to the John J. Cali School of Music.  We have an exciting year of great music making ahead of us – a year focused on chamber music.

With the goal of preparing our students for successful lives with music, the School is focusing on chamber music as an entrepreneurial enterprise, with initiatives that include a new Cali School of Music concert series at the Van Vleck House; 1st Thursdays Jazz at the Montclair Art Museum; a performance by the Chamber Orchestra and the Cali Camerata, joined by the Shanghai String Quartet, at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Concert Hall on March 6, 2013; a performance at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, N.J.; and the addition of a service-learning component to selected chamber ensembles.

Continuing our tradition of supplementing students’ training with world-renowned visiting artists, the Cali School of Music Distinguished Guest Artists this year include mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, flutist Robert Dick, jazz saxophonist David Bixler, and pianist Walter Hautzig.

Each of these initiatives augments the already-existing, world-class education of students in the Cali School of Music. Come join the excitement at some of our 200 John J. Cali School of Music concerts this year. It promises to be an exciting academic year at and I invite you to join us and experience for yourself the creative leaders of the 21st century.

Dr. Robert Cart,
Director

People Spotlights . . . Faculty, Students, Alumni

Faculty

BRIAN ABRAMS (Associate Professor—Music Therapy) served as Conference Chair for the Second International Health Humanities Conference: Music, Health, and Humanity, hosted by Montclair State University in August. In attendance at the three-day event at the Montclair State Conference Center were professionals and graduate students from various disciplines: medicine, psychology, literature, arts, music, and music therapy; and from universities and healthcare agencies and other human services organizations throughout the world.

MICHAEL ALBAUGH (Associate Director for Administration) was promoted to First Vice President of the board at the Arts Council of the Morris Area.

MAGDALENA BACZEWSKA (Adjunct Faculty—Piano) recently recorded a 4-CD classical piano album for the New Hope Fertility Center Music Collection, performed a recital with violinist Kinga Augustyn at the Sevenars Festival in Massachusetts, and served on the faculty and performed at the International Keyboard Institute in New York.

DON BATCHELDER (Adjunct Faculty—Trumpet, Brass Program Coordinator) is principal trumpet with the New York City Opera and a busy classical free-lancer. He was recently featured on the well-reviewed recording of Copland’s Quiet City in its original chamber music instrumentation, restored by saxophonist Christopher Brellochs. He is pursuing a Doctorate in Musical Arts degree at Rutgers University.

ROBERT BUTTS (Adjunct Faculty—Introduction to Music) conducted a reading of his opera Mark Twain and the General with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey (BONJ) and guest soloists in May and conducted the premiere performance of his opera in August. He composed the music to a libretto by New Jersey playwright Jewel Seehaus-Fisher. The performance was part of the 2012 BONJ Summer Music Festival. In September, the edition by Dr. Butts of Alessandro Scarlatti’s oratorio La Giuditta (1693) was used in a talk and performance at the Fall Salon presented by the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, Drew University program of Arts and Letters.

LISA DeLORENZO (Professor—Music Education) was awarded a 2012 Choice Book Award for her recent publication, Sketches in Democracy: Notes From an Urban Classroom ((Rowman & Littlefield, published in February), by the American Educational Studies Association. Her article, “Missing Faces in the Orchestra: An Issue of Social Justice?” appeared in Music Educators Journal (June 2012). During the 2011-2012 academic year, Dr. DeLorenzo presented at the National Network for Educational Renewal conference and the New Jersey Music Educators Association conference. She was also an invited clinician for the Westwood and Glen Rock school districts. Dr. DeLorenzo continues to research urban teaching and is presently working on a project to determine why there aren’t more teachers of color in the music education profession. Dr. DeLorenzo, along with MARISSA SILVERMAN (Assistant Professor, Music Education), visited and interviewed students at a number of New Jersey universities for this project. In addition to her responsibilities at the university, Dr. DeLorenzo taught eighth-grade general music weekly at the Cicely Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts in East Orange.

RENÉE ANNE LOUPRETTE is organist and associate director of music and the arts at Trinity Wall Street in New York City. She received a glowing review from The New York Times for her inaugural performance in a new organ series she directs, Pipes at One.

LORI McCANN (Assistant Professor—Voice) taught for the eighth year at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She also participated in multiple events at the National Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), where she was a representative of the New York City Chapter of the organization. Dr. McCann was an invited adjudicator for the Artist Awards (NATSAA), a panelist for the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory (Toronto) Achievement Program, and a co-presenter for the NYC-NATS-sponsored event, A Microphone Workshop, that addressed the interface between audio professionals and singers and their teachers, as well as microphone techniques. In August, she completed extensive training to become a member of the College of Adjudicators for the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory of Music Achievement Program, a highly effective, sequenced course of music study from beginner to advanced levels that inspires excellence through individual student assessments. As a Founding Voice Teacher Member, her aim is to help spread this excellent program of study to voice teachers and music schools throughout the country in order to help raise the level and scope of early training of the nation’s vocal students.

MARY ANN MUMM (Adjunct Faculty—Violin) traveled to “Esperanza Azteca” in Puebla, Mexico, for a teaching/performance residency in May. Also in May, she worked with “Filarmonica Joven de Colombia” in Bogata, Columbia. As FJC chair of strings, she helped the national orchestra prepare and tape the first international broadcast of the popular radio program From the Top. In June, she was guest soloist and artist teacher at the 2012  Alfredo St. Malo International Music Festival in Panama City, Panama, and she spent the month of July working with Youth Orchestras of the Americas in a Chilean residency and tour including work with conductors Benjamin Zander and Carlos Miguel Prieto. As coordinator of the YOA Leaders Program, she also oversaw musical outreach programs in major cities throughout Chile for the month. In August, she was on the ASTA/NJ 2012 Chamber Music Institute faculty.

MARK PAKMAN (Adjunct Faculty—Piano) was an adjudicator for the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition, Professional Music Teachers Guild Competition, Joseph Israel Bookstaber Competition, New York Regionals of the International Chinese Competition and served as one of the two judges of the 2012 Princeton Festival Piano Competition. He also performed and taught at the Summit Festival (Purchase, N.Y.) in July. In January, he served as translator for Moscow Conservatory’s Vice-President Dr. Larissa Slutskaya in her lecture on the History of the Moscow Conservatory Piano Department, given to Montclair State students, faculty and community.

PEG ROBERTS (Adjunct Faculty—Strings Technique) served as artistic director and faculty in the ASTA/NJ Chamber Music Institute, held at Kean University in August. Several Cali School students assisted as counselors and assistant coaches and performers: JHI-EUN GU (BMus, Education ’15—Violin; ASTA@ MSU student chapter President), ELAINE WISNIEWSKI (BMus, Education ‘13—Violin), EUGENIA KIM (BMus, Education ‘14—Violin), CHRYSELLE ANGDERSEN (BMus, Education ‘13—Violin),  and TERRENCE THORNHILL (MA, Performance ‘12—Cello). LINDA McKNIGHT (Adjunct Faculty—Double Bass), MARY ANN MUMM (Adjunct Faculty—Violin) and YEN YU (Preparatory Center Faculty—Violin) also taught at the Institute. Guest artists included the Shanghai Quartet (Cali School Artists-in-Residence).

HOLLI ROSS (Adjunct Professor—Vocal Jazz) released a solo recording, You’ll See, to great reviews. She performed with jazz master Mark Murphy at the Schroon Lake Jazz Festival. In addition, she was a guest clinician/instructor at Princeton University: Jazz Vocal Collective, presenting clinician for the Amy London Jazz Vocal camp, and performed at the Oscar Schindler Performing Arts Center Jazz Festival

CHIA-CHING SHEN (Adjunct Faculty—Pianist) gave a solo performance in the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center which was Broadcast live on WFMT 98.7 FM and streamed live at wfmt.com. She also performed solo concerts at the Edward Water College (Jacksonville, FL) and Wheaton College (IL).

MARISSA SILVERMAN (Assistant Professor—Music Education) published articles including “Community music and social justice: Re-claiming love,” in Gary McPherson & Graham Welch (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Education; John Dewey and James Mursell: An Introduction, Visions of Research in Music Education; and edited a special Issue of Visions of Research in Music Education; “Music and homeschooled youth: A case study,” in Research Studies in Music Education (33(2): 179-195); and two book chapters written with David J. Elliott: “Why music matters: Philosophical and cultural foundations,” in Raymond MacDonald, Gunter Kreutz & Laura Mitchell (Eds.), Music, Health and Wellbeing (Oxford: Oxford University Press) and “Rethinking philosophy, re-viewing musical experience,” in Wayne Bowman & Ana Lucia Frega (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Education Philosophy. (New York: Oxford University Press.). Her presentations at conferences include: “Expanded visions for music and music education” at the Second International Health Humanities Conference, Music Health, and Humanity, Montclair State University; “Educating the ‘whole’ child: Does happiness count?” at the International Society for Music Education, World Conference, Thessaloniki, Greece; “Round-Table – Community Music Today” The International Society for Music Education, Community Music Commission, Corfu, Greece; and “A Conception of ‘Meaningfulness’ in Life and How Music Education Can Help” At the Aims of Music Education. MayDay Group Conference 24 at Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI). She was also awarded a Fulbright Specialists Grant, Sibelius Academy, Helsinki Finland.

GEORGE SPITZER (Adjunct Faculty—Voice) sang in two concerts of Charles Ives Art Songs and Operatic Novelties of the 19th Century in the Lake Champlain area of Vermont. One concert was recorded on Lake Champlain Access Television (LCATV).

GWENDOLYN TOTH (Adjunct Faculty—Harpsichord) toured Europe in June and July, performing in the Netherlands, (two concerts near Groningen), Basel, and the Trevi nel Lazio “Trebantiqua” festival. She also released her latest CD, Music on the Arp Schnitger Organ in Noordbroek (Netherlands). She recently gave a CD release concert at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (N.Y.), performing works by Scheidemann, Pachelbel, and J. S. Bach. Toth and her husband, Dongsok Shin, performed a special Patrons concert at the Metropolitan Museum. They performed music of Mozart for four hands and one and two pianos on two of the antique instruments from the collection, which are rarely allowed to be played in public.

HEATHER BUCHANAN (Associate Professor, Director of Choral Studies) was in residence at Berklee College of Music in Boston in April. She presented a variety of Body Mapping workshops and lectures as part of their Performance Wellness Institute. Dr. Buchanan has accepted an invitation to write a chapter on Body Mapping for a new textbook Perspectives on Teaching Singing: A celebration of Voice Pedagogy in the 21st Century.

Cali School Director ROBERT CART’s new edition of Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Trois Mélodies, accompanied by his compact disc of these songs, was published in March 2012 by Music Minus One.  Last October, Dr. Cart appeared as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana in Auburn, Ala., and, as solo recitalist, he performed at Mansfield University, Rohrer Concert Series, and Wesley College.

DEAN DRUMMOND (Associate Professor, Theory/Composition) directed and played harmonic canons in a performance of Harry Partch’s Daphne of the Dunes at Zankel Hall in New York City. The concert was part of the American Mavericks Festival sponsored by the San Francisco Symphony.

KAREN GOODMAN (Professor, Music Therapy) presented two invitational addresses last spring: “Inaugural Lecture: Processes in Music Therapy,” Haredi College of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, and “Internalization of Theory to Practice,” Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. As a recipient of a Global Education Award, she also interviewed and observed multicultural music therapy clinical projects throughout Israel. Prof. Goodman is a contributor to Bio-Guided Music Therapy (Miller, 2011) and the forthcoming Dictionary of Music Therapy (Kirkland, 2012). She continues her consulting work with Creative Arts Healthcare at UMDNJ.

MARSHA HELLER (Adjunct Professor, Oboe) participated in many performances with the Queen’s Chamber Band, including world premieres of several pieces commissioned by the group. She had several Carnegie Hall concerts with the New York Pops, many performances with the Bronx Arts Ensemble, another world premiere with the Queens Symphony (not related to the Queen’s Chamber Band) and was a soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass in Avery Fisher Hall.

YIKYUNG DIANA HUGHES (Adjunct Professor, Piano) performed as soloist in the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra (N.Y.) in February 2012. In April, she was one of the pianists for the 3rd Annual Social Networking Concert in Saint Peter’s Church, NYC. Her trio premiered an American composer, Emma Diemer’s Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano.

KEN LAM (Associate Professor, Director of Orchestral Studies) gave clinics and masterclasses for the Hong Kong Scout Orchestra (Hong Kong), Clayton Valley High School (Calif.), Hereford High School (Md.), John P Stevens High School (N.J.) and music teachers of Howard Country Public Schools (Md.), judged competitions at Towson University (Md.), New Jersey Youth Symphony, Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra and guest conducted the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Kentucky Music Educators Association’s Inter-Collegiate Orchestra.

ERIC MILLER (Adjunct Professor, Music Therapy) delivered the keynote address in April at the Fifth International Conference on Music and Psychotherapy in Bangalore, India. The address related the development of psychological theory with bio-guided music therapy (Miller’s 2011 book of the same title). Dr. Miller also instructed a seminar in bio-guided music therapy at Vimhans Hospital in New Delhi for doctors, nurses and healthcare practitioners. He also presented at the Southeastern region of AMTA music therapy conference in Charlotte, N.C., in March. Last spring, Dr. Miller received a grant from David’s Fund to conduct a series of seminars across the US in bio-guided music therapy.  He will be bringing a “mini-Ott lab” on the road to facilitate student experiences with music and physiological measurement and intervention.

SUSAN PALMA (Adjunct Professor, Flute) released her solo CD Elegante in May. Joining her for this New South American Flute Music album are many musicians including  Borromeo Quartet, Branford Marsalis, Ivan Lins, Edward Arron, Cyro Baptista with music by Paquito D’Rivera, Pablo Ziegler, Ivan Lins, Heitor Villa Lobos.

JAN PROKOP (Adjunct Professor, Voice) published an article “Quality of Life Issues in Singers with Voice Disorders” in The Voice (Member Newsletter of The Voice Foundation, Winter-Spring 2012)

MARGARET ZUFALL ROBERTS (Adjunct Professor, String Techniques) organized the ASTA/NJ Shanghai Quartet Festival (January 29, 2012) at the Cali School. Shanghai Quartet members Weigang Li, Yi-Wen Jiang, Honggang Li and Nick Tzavaras coached chamber groups including middle school and high school students.

JULIA ROLWING (Adjunct Professor, Voice) was a semi-finalist in the Baltimore Liszt Society’s Competition, and, in March, sang the lead role in Puccini’s Tosca with the Abilene Opera, in Texas.

BRIAN HOLMAN (Adjunct Professor, Voice) gave recitals with internationally acclaimed tenor Francisco Casanova last spring in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Teatro Nacional) and Sharpsville, Pa. He collaborated with Metropolitan Opera Radio host Ira Siff and soprano Sabrina Palladino in a series of lecture recitals in New York City. He also conducted two performances of Verdi’s Aida with Vera Musica Productions at Columbia University Teachers College.

GEORGE SPITZER (Adjunct Professor, Voice) sang a recital in February of Kurt Weil Three Penny Opera selections at the Anne Goodman Recital Hall in the Kaufmann Center of the Arts in NYC. In March, he sang a recital of Charles Ives art songs at the Church of the Epiphany concert series with his chamber group Melodeon.

ANASTASIA SWOPE (Adjunct Professor, Voice) sang as the soprano soloist for the New Jersey premiere of Requiem by British composer Bob Chilcott in March, and the Rutter Requiem in May.

TANYA WITEK (Adjunct Professor, Flute) performed this year with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the Lenape Chamber Ensemble and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She appeared on a panel entitled “Meet the Moment: Preparing for College Auditions” at the New York Flute Fair in March and also served on the New York Flute Club’s nominating committee this spring.

DAVID WITTEN (Professor, Piano) was an adjudicator at the Mieczysław Munz Piano Competition at Juilliard School of Music. His concerts this spring included recitals in Leshowitz Recital Hall (March), and Middle Tennessee State University (March), followed by a Piano Master Class for the local piano students.

MEG ZERVOULIS (Adjunct Professor, Accompanist) made her commercial off-Broadway musical direction debut on Rated P…for Parenthood, a new sketch comedy musical that was originally developed at SOPAC (South Orange Performing Arts Center). As a conductor, Meg also helmed the inaugural NYC concert of a new music ensemble, Hotel Elefant.

Students

GEORGE SPITZER’s voice student, soprano KATIE CAREY (‘15, Music Therapy) won the gold medal in the Golden Key International Music Festival and sang in the winners’ recital at Weil Recital Hall in May.

JAMES OWEN (BMus ’12, Music Education) took part in the Student Research Symposium: Interdisciplinary Issues in Teaching and Teacher Education. Title of paper: “Teaching musicianship through discourse.”

RACHEL FRIEDBERGER (BMus ’14, Performance/Music Education), STEFANIE SANTORO (BMus ’13, Performance) and MARISSA WRIGHT (BMus ’16, Music Education), members of the MSU Flute Ensemble, performed at the New York Flute Fair at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City in March.

WILL HESS’s euphonium student DANIEL KERSTETTER (MA ’13, Performance) was a finalist for Music Teachers National Association’s Young Artist Competition and was named as a Semi-Finalist for both the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Competition and ITEC’s Artist Euphonium Competition, in Linz, Austria.  Montclair State’s Tuba Euphonium Ensemble has also been invited to perform a recital at the 2013 NERTEC conference.

Off-campus performances

Cali at Carnegie – In January 2012, students and alumni of the Montclair State flute studio joined SUSAN PALMA-NIDEL, TANYA DUCEVIC WITEK, MARISSA SILVERMAN and ROBERT CART in the inaugural performance of Cali at Carnegie, the first in a series of concerts to be presented at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Concert Hall.

On April 24, DAVID WITTEN presented Cali School piano students in an evening concert at Steinway Hall in New York City.

Ensemble Travel

MSU Vocal Accord: 2012 European Tour—The Montclair State University Vocal Accord, a 24-voice extra-curricular chamber choir auditioned from the University Singers, traveled to Europe in June last summer. Conducted by Dr. HEATHER J. BUCHANAN and accompanied by Steven W. Ryan, Vocal Accord gave performances at Austrian venues in Vienna, Graz, Gleisdorf, and Ottendorf, and concluded with a concert in the historic Chiesa Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice, Italy. The primary focus of the tour was a week-long cultural exchange with the University of the Performing Arts (KUG) in Graz, one of Montclair State’s International exchange sister institutions.

The tour repertoire profiled American composers, and one of the highlights was the European premiere of She Walks in Beauty¸ a University Singers 2011-12 Commission by Montclair State alumnus MARTIN SEDEK (MA, Composition—’11) who is also currently an adjunct professor at the Cali School. Other tour highlights included overwhelmingly positive audience responses and numerous standing ovations. The hospitality of our friends at the KUG was also outstanding.

A new and exciting dimension to the tour experience was the presence of a film crew from the School of Communication and Media. They recorded the complete tour experience, and are currently working on the production of a documentary film that will be released soon.

Alumni

JACK BLASZKIEWICZ (BMus, Performance ’10), a former piano student of MARK PAKMAN, was accepted as a full scholarship doctoral student in musicology at Eastman School of Music, where he is studying now.

STEVE POLANIN (BMus, Education ‘11) is the Vocal Music Specialist at Travell Elementary School in Ridgewood, N.J. He teaches general music grades K-5, works with other district music educators on curriculum benchmarks and assessment, and leads students in eight concerts a year. He is pursuing a master’s degree in education with a concentration in special education from Walden University, which will be completed in June 2014.

LESLEY FRIEND (BM ‘06, Voice Performance) was an Apprentice Artist with the Sarasota Opera in the winter of 2012. She will be the Soprano Artist in Residence at Opera Memphis for the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons.

MICHAEL MAHADEEN’s (BMus ’10, Music Education) composition Winter Lights (2008), was performed by the NJ Region I High School Orchestra, conducted by PATRICK BURNS (Adjunct Professor, Theory/Composition).