Conducting

Meet Allan McMurray: Honoring a career in service to music

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Meet Allan McMurray: Honoring a career in service to music Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/26/2023 - 00:00

Marc Shulgold

His dad played a little ukulele and liked to collect sheet music, but that’s about how serious it got for music in Allan McMurray’s home way back when. And yet, the boy had developed a hunger. “I was learning trumpet,” he recalls. “We moved around a lot, and I found that music was a way to make friends.” He would spend time with his dad’s sheet music, connecting his trumpet to the song’s melody lines. “I liked practicing.”

His playing got good enough so that he could jam with a few small ensembles. “Later, I turned professional and was in a brass quintet, and I found I was not afraid to share my views on how a piece should be played. I’d say to them, ‘Why don’t we try it like this?’” The path toward a career as a conductor of winds clearly beckoned. But he was haunted by the memory of his parents’ scoldings.

“They wanted me to be a lawyer,” McMurray says. “For years, I kept hearing the same warning from them: ‘You’ll never amount to anything if you pursue music.’”

In 2013, McMurray retired after 35 years as professor at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music, directing the college’s bands, developing the master’s and doctoral programs in instrumental conducting, hosting the first College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Summer Conducting Symposium and becoming the first in the College of Music to receive a lifetime appointment as a Distinguished Professor.

No reason to stop there. McMurray has guest-conducted in 15 countries, guest-taught at more than 200 universities and conservatories, been keynote speaker at various CBDNA events and—you can catch your breath here—he has just been awarded the University Medal by the �� Board of Regents, one of five individuals to be honored on May 10 at a private ceremony on the Boulder campus.

Now, at age 76, McMurray is truly a man of the world. He continues to travel and work with no sign of slowing down. He’ll be conducting in Canada through April, then in Illinois, finally returning to Boulder early in May to receive his award. “�� will always be a significant part of who I’ve been as a musician,” he noted. “This [University Medal] is a great honor.”

Few in music can boast such an impressive résumé, and few can speak with such modesty and passion for their chosen profession. “My life has been so enriched by music,” he says. “I love working with students.

“You know, the term maestro translates as teacher. When I teach, I dialogue with my students a lot—I ask them about the score we’re working on. I tell them, ‘The score is your friend. Talk to it. Get to know it.’ I tell them that you have to work hard, and if you do, you’ll get closer to where you want to be. Learning is a journey. What’s better than that?”

McMurray bubbles with endless optimism, even in these chaotic times. Amidst all the divisiveness around us, there is a common source of unity, he reminds us. “Everybody loves music—from lullabies for babies to taps at the end, there is music. The world needs music. Life needs music.”

Congratulations on your well-earned distinction, Allan McMurray!

Professor of Conducting Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Allan McMurray was nominated for the University Medal by Dean John Davis and Conducting Area Chair, Professor of Conducting and Director of Bands Donald McKinney; Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Enrollment Management, and Associate Professor of Conducting and Music Education Matthew Roeder; and Professor of Piano and former College of Music Dean Daniel Sher. Also supporting his nomination was alumna Karen Fannin who earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from our College of Music, studying with McMurray; she’s now professor and director of bands at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

In 2013, Allan McMurray retired after 35 years as professor at the College of Music, directing our bands, developing the master’s and doctoral programs in instrumental conducting, and more. He was the college’s first to receive a lifetime appointment as a Distinguished Professor and he’s recently been awarded the University Medal by the �� Board of Regents.

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From �� Boulder to Denver—a music extravaganza

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

From �� Boulder to Denver—a music extravaganza Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/11/2023 - 00:00

Marc Shulgold

“It’s going to be a circus,” Gary Lewis remarks with a slight chuckle. The director of orchestral studies at the �� Boulder College of Music is only half-kidding as he describes the college’s long-awaited return to Boettcher Concert Hall which he’ll lead on May 2, closing out the academic year. With an admission-free concert boasting a combined chorus of 200, an orchestra of 85 and a guest appearance by 150 promising young musicians, maybe it will be a circus.

But why not go big, after all this lost time? COVID forced us to abandon our �� at Boettcher series in 2020—it normally runs every other year. “We’d planned to do Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ back then,” Lewis recalls. “Rather than perform it this year, we decided to do Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’ with the biggest forces we can muster. We’ll be involving all the �� Boulder choirs, including the Festival Choir—a �� entity consisting of students and singers from the greater community.” Those familiar with “Carmina” know it as a major challenge for huge chorus and orchestra (in this case, the �� Symphony Orchestra)—and as a serious test for three soloists. Lewis voices full confidence in his vocal trio. “Two are staff and faculty members, tenor Javier Abreu and baritone Andrew Garland. And the soprano is a marvelous graduate student, Dawna Rae Warren,” he says.

Orff’s spectacular oratorio may be the headliner, but this concert will also deliver a news-making world premiere commissioned by the Dr. C.W. Bixler Family Foundation—the Symphony No. 3 by renowned composer Carter Pann, �� Boulder professor of composition. Subtitled “On The Importance of Our Democracy,” the five-movement, 17-minute work was completed in just the last few months, according to Lewis. “It’s a charming work, with some incredible grooves and wonderful rhythms.”

“Yes, there’s some angst in it,” he adds, referring to the political underpinning. “But it stands on its own. Carter will be at the concert and he’ll say something about the meaning of the symphony. I talked to the players about it when we started to work on the piece.”

As its subtitle suggests, Pann does not shy away from current events. In a program note, he expresses his anxieties “with current insurgent, anti-democratic forces at the highest levels of government.” For the composer, the symphony simply portrays “a sense of personal insecurity.” Lewis felt that politics have always had a place in orchestral music. And they’ve had a place in his repertory at �� Boulder. “We’ve played the Shostakovich Fifth (Symphony) and William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony, and those expressed very strong political views,” he says.

Any controversy will disappear after Pann’s symphony when the Boettcher stage fills with 150 gifted young musicians from El Sistema’s music-training program. “We had invited some of them to join us a few years ago,” Lewis says. “But we’ve never had this many. We’ll probably fill up every corner of the stage. Most of them will have to play standing up. They’ll offer a few short selections and then we’ll all finish with (Beethoven’s) ‘Ode to Joy.’”

This is an opportunity for hundreds of young musicians to strut their stuff before a big audience in a big concert hall. It’s a huge deal, with a large crowd expected. Governor Jared Polis has been invited. “We want to get people aware of the College of Music,” Lewis concludes. “We’re trying to expand our reach.

“We are so proud of the product. I’ve been at �� Boulder for 15 years and it’s an honor for me to work here.”

Professor of Conducting + Director of Orchestral Studies Gary Lewis will direct �� at Boettcher—a gathering of forces from the College of Music—on Tuesday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Boettcher Concert Hall at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Admission is free, no tickets required. �� at Boettcher is funded by the Dean’s Annual Fund.

Above right photo: Carter Pann (left) dedicated his Symphony No. 3 to his close friend, Brian Scott Mason (right), “who has revealed himself as a touchstone of balanced integrity in my life.” Mason, a �� alumnus, is currently the District Attorney of Adams and Broomfield counties in Colorado. In 2016, he officiated Pann’s wedding.

In addition to Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and our collaboration with El Sistema Colorado, the College of Music’s upcoming �� at Boettcher concert will feature the world premiere of composer Carter Pann’s new work: his five-movement, 17-minute Symphony No. 3–“On The Importance of Our Democracy.”

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Announcing a University Medal and increasing diverse representation in music

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Announcing a University Medal and increasing diverse representation in music Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/01/2022 - 00:00

John Davis

Photo: Dean John Davis and �� President Todd Saliman show their school spirit at Saturday’s final home game.

Dear friends,

As the year sprints to a close, I look forward to ushering in the spirit of the season this weekend at our long-running, much-loved Holiday Festival. I hope to see many of you at Macky Auditorium, enjoying inspired, heart-warming performances featuring our talented students and faculty.

Meanwhile, I’m pleased to share glad tidings: Professor of Conducting Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Allan McMurray was just notified of his selection for the �� Regents’ 2023 University Medal! You’re among the first to know of this tremendous, well-deserved recognition of McMurray’s lifelong dedication to his craft at our college and beyond.

McMurray was nominated without his knowing by myself and Conducting Area Chair, Professor of Conducting and Director of Bands Donald McKinney; Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Enrollment Management, and Associate Professor of Conducting and Music Education Matthew Roeder; and Professor of Piano and former College of Music Dean Daniel Sher. Also supporting his nomination was alumna Karen Fannin who earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from our College of Music, studying with McMurray; she’s now professor and director of bands at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

McMurray is recognized as one of the leading teachers of wind ensemble and conducting in the world—he has taught and guest conducted at more than 200 colleges and conservatories internationally. At the College of Music, he served as director of bands and the Robert and Judy Charles Professor of Conducting from 1978 until 2013. McMurray will be formally recognized by the Board of Regents at the spring commencement ceremony in May 2023.

Complementing and building on McMurray’s trailblazing legacy, I’m also excited to share news from our current activities at the college: Just after Thanksgiving, I was thrilled to see that artists from the Sphinx Organization—who joined us at the College of Music for a series of master classes in September—were featured in The New York Times (They Were Ahead of the Curve on Diversity in Classical Music). These artists—including our new Assistant Professor of Violin Alex Gonzalez—are working to increase diverse representation in music, a key aspect of the College of Music’s emphasis on inclusive excellence. In brief, according to the Times, the Sphinx Organization has “started training programs and ensembles, and has pushed for more diverse repertory and orchestra rosters. It has promoted young soloists and arts administrators, and operates an ever-expanding annual conference. With a burst of new attention to phrases like diversity, equity and inclusion over the past two years, Sphinx’s steady, patient work has come to seem prescient.”

Indeed, the Times article well reflects the spirit of my vision to develop multiskilled, multifaceted universal musicians through diverse opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and a culture of belonging.

In these uneven times, our community is also in mourning following the Club Q tragedy. The College of Music joins the campus community in standing by the LGBTQ+ community, the Colorado Springs community, and the family, friends and loved ones of those so senselessly killed and injured on Nov. 19. Together, we’ll keep doing our part to foster a welcoming environment that promotes diversity of music, ideas and underrepresented identities at the College of Music.

Please take care of yourself and of one another this holiday season.

In the final Dean’s Downbeat of the year, Dean John Davis announces Allan McMurray’s 2023 University Medal; describes how the important, prescient work of the Sphinx Organization underscores his vision for the College of Music ... and more.

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Kedrick Armstrong conducts delayed premiere of Irene Britton Smith’s “Sinfonietta”

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Kedrick Armstrong conducts delayed premiere of Irene Britton Smith’s “Sinfonietta” Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 11/10/2022 - 00:00

Kathryn Bistodeau

Photo: In this brief video, meet Kedrick Armstrong and hear him share his discovery of Irene Britton Smith's “Sinfonietta.”

There’s no doubt about it, the career of Kedrick Armstrong—graduate orchestral conducting student—is quickly gaining momentum:

One of two �� music Buffs on The Washington Post’s “composers and performers to watch” list, Armstrong will conduct the world premiere of “The Factotum” with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in February 2023; meanwhile, closer to home, he’ll conduct the �� Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Irene Britton Smith’s “Sinfonietta” at Macky Auditorium next week.

Armstrong pulled “Sinfonietta” from the Helen Walker-Hill Collection in the American Music Research Center archives, and has been working on converting the original score to parts for an orchestra for over a year. “Immediately, I knew there was something in her language and in her writing that was different from anything that I had ever heard before, especially coming from a Black woman in the 20th century,” he says.

Smith was an elementary school music educator for most of her life and wrote “Sinfonietta” as her thesis project for her master’s program. According to Director of Orchestral Studies Gary Lewis, “It will likely be the first performance of the work since the year of its composition in 1956.”

Armstrong says he’s excited to conduct the overdue premiere, but also acknowledges a certain pressure that comes with the territory. “How do you interpret a work where there’s never been an interpretation before you?” he asks. “It feels like a lot of weight, but I continue to put myself in experimentation where you try something and you try again if it doesn’t go as you want it to.

“The biggest thing I hope audiences take away from this is that there is no ‘sonic monolith’ to Black music, even in classical music,” Armstrong adds. “There is such a wide variety of what Black composers are engaging with. I think that’s the key to opening up the door to true equity of Black composers, across the board.”

The �� Symphony Orchestra will perform “Sinfonietta”—along with Emilie Mayer’s “Faust-Ouverture” and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major—at 7:30pm on Nov. 16.

The career of Kedrick Armstrong—graduate orchestral conducting student—is quickly gaining momentum, including conducting the �� Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Irene Britton Smith’s “Sinfonietta” next week.

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College of Music summer programs + courses

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 06:00:00 +0000

College of Music summer programs + courses Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/07/2022 - 00:00

MarieFaith Lane

To support our students’ and our community’s musical development, the College of Music offers summer session courses and richly varied summer programming, including:

From May 31-June 3, the Panoramic Flutist—a program for aspiring and professional flutists—will host an interactive, four-day residential that includes workshops, master classes and/or private lessons, as well as experiencing faculty recitals and even enjoying yoga together.

And be sure to spread the word about Flute + Trumpet Day on June 11: Designed for high school students, this fun-filled day will include warmup sessions, classes, workshops, and performances featuring Professor of Flute Christina Jennings and Associate Professor of Trumpet Ryan Gardner.

“We’re very much looking forward to bringing high School flutists and trumpeters to �� for a day of music and community,” says Jennings. “The flutes and trumpets are sort of the pack leaders of their instrument families and bringing these shiny leaders together is a fun way of bonding and sharing the �� experience.”

Adds Gardner, “It’s been a great deal of fun to collaborate and to share ideas with Christina. We’re so excited to host and work with the students, to play fun music … and, most of all, to have a great time!”

The college’s Summer Music Academy further presents opportunities for both high school and middle school students to receive world-class music instruction. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, join us in making music together in-person again—from string orchestra, wind ensemble and concert band to piano.

Meanwhile, our �� New Opera Workshop (�� NOW)—part of the college’s Eklund Opera Program—is a three-week, interactive session for student singers and composers to collaborate and workshop both their own pieces and works by new opera professionals. Composer Kamala Sankaram—who has made a name for herself composing unique works utilizing unconventional methods and ideas, including exploring the interplay of singers with electronic and digital music—will join �� NOW this summer. Public performances of Sankaram’s “Joan of the City” opera will take place June 17-19: stay tuned for details!

Additionally, through the �� NOW Composer Fellows’ Initiative, student composers will receive individualized mentorship from world-renowned Gene Scheer and Tom Cipullo to create original 20-minute operas.

For professional wind and orchestral conductors, the college’s Conducting Symposia—led by College of Music conducting faculty and renowned guests—strengthen conducting technique, rehearsal strategies and more.

The College of Music’s Summer Master of Music Educationis designed to address a variety of interests, needs and areas of expertise for K-12 teachers. Students working toward an MME degree complete 12 hours of study in music education, 12 hours of study in music and six hours of open electives. This summer, the program will be offering a course in Music Teacher Wellness which will be co-taught by our Professor of Music Education Margaret Berg alongside Associate Professor of Music Education Frank Diaz of the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University Bloomington.

Speaking of wellness, don’t miss our Alexander Technique Summer Coursethat helps change the ways in which participants think about habits and movement. The program is designed to enhance overall well-being through exploration of Alexander Technique, Body Mapping, Biotensegrity, T’ai Chi and Qigong … and more.

To support our students’ and our community’s musical development, the College of Music offers summer session courses and richly varied summer programming.

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Two �� music Buffs among ‘composers and performers to watch’

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Two �� music Buffs among ‘composers and performers to watch’ Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/02/2022 - 00:00

Kenna Bruner

“I was so happy with ��’s commitment to diversity.
I’ve seen that reflected in so many ways. It’s been instilled in their program and is in the foreground.
It’s important for schools to dig in as innovators and leaders in preparing musicians.”
˜Kedrick Armstrong

Recently, The Washington Post published an article that listed “22 composers and performers to watch in 2022.” The list of classical musicians included two �� Boulder College of Music students: Kedrick Armstrong, a first-year master’s student in orchestral conducting and composer Anthony Green, who attended the Doctor of Musical Arts program from 2008 to 2012.

The list “represents a diverse variety of composers, performers and artists hitting their stride with work that resonates with the right-now,” classical music critic Michael Andor Brodeur wrote in this Jan. 22 Post piece.

A young conductor takes up the baton

Armstrong, 27, has recently guest conducted with the Chicago Opera Theater, the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Chicago-based RIZE Orchestra.

In its profile, the Post noted that Armstrong had “taken a lead role in confronting issues of diversity in classical conservatory curriculum.” An open letter Armstrong wrote in 2020 to the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music garnered nearly 1,000 signatories and “led to sweeping changes to concert repertoire,” according to the profile.

Driven to learn more about music created by Black composers, Armstrong discovered the Helen Walker-Hill collection housed in the American Music Research Center at �� Boulder. Professor Walker-Hill was an author of books on Black female composers and had amassed a collection of their works.

“I was immediately drawn to this music because much of it in the archive had not been published, performed or recorded,” Armstrong said. “I became obsessed with these composers and their music. That led me to enroll at ��.”

Armstrong was working full-time in Chicago as a church music director and freelance conductor. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the resulting unrest, he felt compelled to examine his music education and saw a lack of diversity in what he had been taught. He was driven to re-educate himself to try to learn about the music of people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.

“I made the decision to pave the way for future students so they can know there is this deep and rich legacy of these composers and performers,” he said.

Armstrong knew he wanted to be a musician from a young age. His early experience came in the churches of South Carolina, where he played gospel music. As he grew up, he attended music schools and summer music camps and found his focus shifting to classical music. Along the way, his gospel identity fell by the wayside.

“A lot of that part of myself got lost during my years of formal studying,” he said. “I felt far removed from who I was as a young musician. But from my research, I learned there is a rich diversity of Black composers and musicians in classical music, and that really started driving the question of: Why wasn’t I taught about them as I grew up? It lit a fire in me to find a way to give a voice to something I didn’t realize I had when I was in school.”

Armstrong continued, “I was so happy with ��’s commitment to diversity. I’ve seen that reflected in so many ways. It’s been instilled in their program and is in the foreground. It’s important for schools to dig in as innovators and leaders in preparing musicians. While there is still work to do, �� is doing an amazing job.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in music history, he began applying to schools for conducting opportunities. He was turned down everywhere he applied because he was told he was “too young and inexperienced.”

But his energy and fortitude opened doors for him. Eventually, he found an opening at DePaul University’s Opera Theatre and will lead a production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide there this June. He’ll also be making his subscription debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago next season.

“I made the best of the opportunities I’ve been given,” he said. “I feel like the happiest boy in the world sometimes.”

Inspired by Motown + mathematics

The Post's article noted that Anthony Green, too, had “taken a lead role in confronting issues of diversity in classical conservatory curriculum.” It described Green, 37, as a “prolific composer and multidisciplinary artist” and “a dynamic and unpredictable composer” who “uses music to investigate art and history and challenge existing models.”

“This mention in the Post feels like an affirmation,” Green said. “The way I lead my career is to use whatever opportunity I get to try to help other people. Particularly young black composers and young queer composers. What the article meant for my career is hopefully to continue this work of helping others and bringing awareness and social justice to classical music.”

In 2013, Green co-founded Castle of our Skins, a Boston-based concert and education organization centered on Black artistry, where he is the associate artistic director and composer-in-residence. Through his work and research with this organization, he came to a musical and personal epiphany about the contemporary world of classical music.

“As soon as we can overcome these antiquated, outdated and niche methods of education and performance, then we can bring this greater message to everybody that music is music,” he said. “And this music is not exclusionary.”

After finishing his master’s degree, Green applied for an ATLAS fellowship in the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at ��. When he came to Boulder for the first time and met the faculty, Green was happy to learn they were “eclectic and experienced,” and he felt he could thrive at ��.

When Green was in kindergarten, his teacher would play melodies on an old upright piano. Green watched his hands and carefully listened to the notes and then would play the melodies himself. From a young age, he was exposed to a wide variety of styles of music based on the tastes of the music people around him were listening to. Living in Providence, Rhode Island with his mother and brother, Green heard gospel and easy listening music. His older brother’s tastes gravitated to neosoul, rap, hip-hop and R&B, and some of Green’s close high school friends introduced him to alternative rock, heavy metal and pop. In the summer, he and his brother would visit their father in Arlington, Virginia, where he would listen to Motown, funk and jazz.

Green has many works and engagements in progress. He has been performing and teaching internationally in places including New York and Kenya. And he has taken advantage of opportunities in Vienna, Prague and Berlin.

In February, the Artaria String Quartet along with string players from Walker West Academy premiered his composition “Joy Diptych” in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Over the last year, Green composed a concert-length piano sonata that centers on the life and legacy of author James Baldwin. Commissioned by pianist Jason Hardnik, who will perform the premiere in Salt Lake City in March. A second performance in June will happen in Rhode Island, the home state of both Green and Hardnik. This concert was partly funded by Green’s second piano teacher, Dr. Donald Rankin.

In the fall, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble in San Francisco will perform a new chamber opera titled Tenderhooks. Using an adult comedic libretto by Mark Labowskie, Tenderhooks is an examination into how periods of isolation during a pandemic can cause people to confront themselves and become painfully aware of certain negative mindsets and behaviors.

“I work with visual artists, movement artists, spoken word artists, culinary artists, historians and designers,” Green said. “My focus is Black artistry through music.”

Green likens his creativity as a faucet with a constant flow of ideas that rarely turns off.

Recently, The Washington Post listed “22 composers and performers to watch in 2022.” Included were two �� Boulder College of Music students: Kedrick Armstrong, a first-year master’s student in orchestral conducting and composer Anthony Green, who attended our Doctor of Musical Arts program. Be inspired by the impressive trajectory of their careers and learn how both confront issues of diversity in classical conservatory curriculum.

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The transformative power of music

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

The transformative power of music Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/16/2021 - 00:00

The goal of the music+ campaign is to raise funds for the College of Music’s people, programs and initiatives, including through scholarships, community outreach, faculty research and program development.

Kedrick Terrell Armstrong is one of the students benefiting from scholarship support as he works toward a master’s in orchestral conducting. Check out the following video of Kedrick’s recent rehearsal with the �� Philharmonia Orchestra and see how your gift can support students' daily lives:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6cy5z0NyC0]

As a conductor, Kedrick uses joy and curiosity for all music to foster understanding and fellowship within diverse communities. He has conducted the Chicago Opera Theater and Knox-Galesburg Symphony and is an alumnus of the Chicago Sinfonietta’s Project Inclusion Freeman Conducting Fellowship program, where he also served as assistant conductor during the 2018-19 season.

Kedrick is on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Black Musicians and uses his voice and platform as a Black conductor to advocate for the performance, publication and preservation of minority voices in classical music. He graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois with a Bachelor of Music degree in music history and literature, and he’s now working toward his master’s in orchestral conducting here at the College of Music.

We thank our donors for supporting students like Kedrick and empowering �� Boulder communities to create the future of artistry! To further support Kedrick and other students like him, consider making a gift to our music+ campaign by the end of the year.

Give to music+

Kedrick Terrell Armstrong is one of the students benefiting from scholarship support as he works toward a master’s in orchestral conducting.

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Pandemic workaround: Choral Conductors Colloquium

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Pandemic workaround: Choral Conductors Colloquium Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/05/2021 - 00:00

Olivia Lerwick

“Why is it important to preserve the arts? To me, that's like asking why we need air to breathe," says Raul Dominguez. "The arts are vital to human expression and therefore vital to humanity.”

Indeed, Dominguez—originally from Houston and a current choral conducting and literature doctoral student at the College of Music—is a fervent proponent of the essentiality of the arts in our lives. So when the COVID-19 pandemic hit last March, he realized he needed to do something to make arts education available to students over the summer.

With a grant from the Entrepreneurship Center for Music, Dominguez founded the Choral Conductors Colloquium, partnering with prominent conductors to offer five free Zoom lectures to learning choral musicians. “We had viewers from every continent except Antarctica," he says, further noting that participants represented more than 50 countries. “Some participants came for one or two lectures and many watched all five. For participating �� students, we were able to offer extra credit.”

Dominguez secured a webinar license from the Office of Information Technology which enabled him to direct all funding to the colloquium itself, engaging top-tier lecturers from choral programs such as St. Olaf College and the University of North Texas.

"When our own mentors foster a culture of collaboration, we students gain the ability to achieve a socially distanced connection," he adds. "That kind of access to the minds and hearts of wonderful mentors energizes me to pay it forward.”

While Dominguez hoped to offer a sense of purpose and community to student conductors who couldn’t complete their summer fellowships or internships, the 2020 colloquium was much more successful than he could have anticipated. Dominguez plans a follow-up colloquium in the same virtual format this summer: stay tuned!

The COVID-19 pandemic blindsided not only arts organizations and presenters but also arts education and mentorship. Fortunately, doctoral student Raul Dominguez knew just what to do.

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Collaboration

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 20:32:06 +0000

Collaboration Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/13/2020 - 14:32

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Allan McMurray

When I was a graduate student studying conducting, my mentor recommended an autobiography by conductor Bruno Walter titled Of Music and Music-Making.

In that little book, Walter dispelled the notion that a conductor must be a tyrant (as many of his peers believed) and eloquently described his relationship with music and with those who make music. He described his craft as “creating a spiritual communion.” His words reminded me of the musical experiences that had been most meaningful to me and to this day resonate as a reason that we teach music, make music and listen to music.

Fast forward to 1978, when I joined the faculty of the College of Music. Creating and participating in musical growth with faculty and students became the fuel for 35 years of exciting collaborations.

The community of artists and scholars at the College of Music understands and desires musical connections. And with those connections come listening, anticipating, reacting, leading, following, adjusting and communicating. Students at the College of Music must listen to each other and must seek unity of style, pitch and tempo before the beauty of their music is delivered without distraction. And the example for this awakening comes from the faculty.

In my third of a century at ��, I was awakened by magical performances from faculty artists who collaborated with me and the ensembles I conducted, as well as faculty composers who entrusted us with premieres of their masterful creations. But it was not just College of Music students, faculty and staff who sought a connection: Non-music majors also participated in countless hours of dedicated rehearsal and performance, not because it was part of their curriculum, but because the opportunity to make music was a requirement of their life.

Music needs collaboration. It needs people to share in a passionate commitment to informed listening and informed intuition in real time. It needs diverse points of view that agree to create “spiritual communion” in service to an artistic representation of imagination in sound. It needs historians to study where we came from and how music was conceived; it needs theorists to study and reveal the language of music; it needs composers who create new sounds in new ways; it needs performers on every instrument and every voice who bring the printed page to life while revealing their own musical DNA; and it needs recording engineers who capture the fleeting moment of beauty and save it for future audiences.

For a century, the College of Music has inspired a community of artists who celebrate the humanity within us all. And it has been one of the great honors of my life to contribute to this community with students who have enriched my life with their relentless pursuit of artistry.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Allan McMurray shares his thoughts on one of the College of Music's biggest assets.

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“A grander context”: Thomas Verrier

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 06:00:00 +0000

“A grander context”: Thomas Verrier Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/12/2020 - 00:00

Sabine Kortals Stein

“My time at �� Boulder was so important in shaping the direction I’ve taken in my career,” says Tom Verrier (DMA ’98), associate professor and director of wind studies at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. “The vibe of the whole university and my work with various faculty—Allan McMurray, in particular—put what I do in a grander context. I do my best to convey that spirit to my students, too.”

Indeed, Verrier not only conducts the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony, he also serves as artistic director of the Vanderbilt Music Academy in Berlin, Germany—a joint project with musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic—and was the founding director of the Conductors Lab in Aix-en-Provence, France.

“Through music, we share in the human experience,” continues Verrier, whose teaching duties include undergraduate and graduate-level courses in conducting, pedagogy and education. “A year before I applied for the doctoral program, I did a conducting symposium at �� Boulder. At one point, all the conductors went to the mountains—and I recall an overlook and this incredibly grand view of nature.

“To this day, and throughout the last 22 years, that broader view has inspired the types of activities and projects I pursue, as well as my approach to music-making … which hopefully inspires my students, too. Those seeds were planted at �� Boulder.”

Verrier went on to serve as a clinician for Yamaha Music Latin America, taking on the role of program director of the Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical Instituto de Desarrollo Musical, a collaborative project of the Blair School of Music and the Ministry of Culture of Costa Rica.

“At Vanderbilt, I’ve been really fortunate to have a platform for creativity,” he says, citing the encouragement of concert pianist Mark Wait—dean emeritus and professor of music emeritus at the Blair School of Music, formerly on the �� Boulder College of Music faculty—as key to his career at Vanderbilt. “Mark really empowered his faculty to look for broader connections and purpose in why and how we make music.

“For me, I’ve always felt a connection among method acting, music and being a conductor.”

So for three semesters, Verrier took acting classes in New York, flying there every other Tuesday to study John Strasberg’s method, which requires actors to go beyond emotional memory and use a technique called “substitution” to temporarily become the characters they are portraying.

“The main takeaway from my experience of method acting was the importance of developing your sense memory to the point where you’re able to recreate a feeling—the warmth of holding your coffee mug in the morning, the feeling of being cold—so that your presentation is much more real,” says Verrier. “To develop that sense memory, you learn to pay really close attention to detail in everything you experience, which then translates to how you experience a range of musical styles.

“Since then, I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities to continue to find new contexts—the bigger ‘why’—for music-making, and to share those opportunities and connections with my students. Band music is an incredible vehicle for that.”

Fluent in Spanish, Verrier has accepted invitations to conduct throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe. He has presented and/or conducted performances at conferences of the Congreso Iberoamericano de Directores, Compositores, Arregladores e Instrumentistas de Bandas Sinfónicas (Tenerife, Canary Islands), the Asian Pacific Band Directors Association (Macau and Hong Kong), the Hong Kong International Band Fair, and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. He’s also a member of the American Bandmasters Association and serves on the executive board of the College Band Directors National Association.

“Learning about each other’s cultures and playing each other’s music creates understanding across boundaries,” notes Verrier. “Globally, we get to know each other better through music.

“Music is this wonderful expression of different worlds, reflecting unique insights into distinct cultures, and building bridges among people that lead to positive social interactions and shared cultural activities.”

Currently a self-described “Zoom expert,” Verrier is a strong believer in human-to-human connections. “I hope this time of social distancing is giving us all a real appreciation for coming together in shared group activities. When this time has passed and we’re able to make music together again, I believe we’ll come back with a splash—and that there will be an incredible resurgence of group art.”

Ensembles under Verrier’s direction have been selected to perform for the International Society for Music Education (Tenerife, Canary Islands), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) National In-Service Conference (Nashville), the North American Saxophone Alliance (Los Angeles), southern and western division conferences of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), as well as the CBDNA National Conference in 2015. Furthermore, Verrier has guest conducted the United States Army Field Band, as well as professional ensembles in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, China and Spain. He also served as consultor artístico with the Dirección General de Bandas of Costa Rica and he is the artistic advisor of the Hong Kong Wind Ensemble.

Alumnus Tom Verrier (DMA ’98) has made a career out of his passion for music, conducting ensembles around the world.

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