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Students Win Competitions in Piano & Percussion

Mar 8, 2010 1 Leave a comment
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Pianist Sarah Blunk won the Gladys Casford Memorial Scholarship in piano ($1,000)  given by the Kansas City Musical Club, March 6, 2010.  Kudos to Sarah and her teacher, Richard Smith.

On the same day, percussion students of Michael Sekelsky competed at the annual Mid-Missouri Percussion Arts Trophy competition in Lebanon, Miss0uri.  The competition featured high school, undergraduate, and graduate student percussionists from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Indiana, competing in two categories (Marimba or Timpani) and two divisions (High School and Collegiate).  The following students earned trophies:

Tess Schurder, 1st place – Collegiate Timpani
Ian McClaflin, 2nd place – Collegiate Timpani
Rebecca Meads (Clinton High School), 1st place – High School Timpani

Other UCM competitors included:

Mat Thornton – Collegiate Timpani
Tess Schurder – Collegiate Marimba
Richard Evans – Collegiate Marimba
Ian McClaflin – Collegiate Marimba

The UCM Percussion Ensemble has been invited to be the featured ensemble, accompanying the featured guest marimbist at the 2011 MMPAT Competition.

Student Vocalists Perform in Denver

Mar 2, 2010 1, Alumni/Emeriti, Choral/Vocal Leave a comment
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Eight singers were chosen to represent UCM at the Southwest American Choral Directors Association (SWACDA) Conference held in Denver, CO last weekend.  Current students April Wilson, Alyssa Pate, Alyssa Latta, Krystal Thurm, Travis White, Mason Ross, Kiel Beardshear, Jacob Ritter all made the trip west for the conference.
They prepared the concert music and had the honor of singing for iconic conductor Dr. Craig [...]

Student Composer Success – Michael Martin and NYAE

Feb 19, 2010 Alumni/Emeriti, Keyboard, Music Tech, Strings, Theory/History, Winds/Perc Leave a comment
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Student composer Michael Martin took Honorable Mention in this year’s New York Art Ensemble Young Composers’ Competition!  His work The Cinnamon Peeler for clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano made the final round of the competition.  The NYAE competition is very well-known, and previous finalists have gone on to great success in other competitions and festivals.  Martin [...]

Professor Emeritus Frederic Homan Dies at 77

Feb 9, 2010 Alumni/Emeriti, Theory/History Leave a comment
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Professor Emeritus Frederic Homan, known to many of our alumni for his work in the music theory classroom, has died.  Professor Homan taught at UCM from 1962 (when it was named Central Missouri State College) until his retirement in 2000.  In his thirty-eight years teaching music theory and organ at UCM, he guided hundreds of [...]

Performing Arts Series Presents “Eclectica”

Feb 3, 2010 1 Leave a comment
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The University of Central Missouri’s Performing Arts Series presents Eclectica in concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, in Hendricks Hall, in cooperation with the UCM Jazz Festival.
Inventive, inspiring and thoroughly entertaining, Eclectica weaves sound-pieces together with a groove that is alive from the first note to the last encore. With sing-along choruses and three-part [...]

Music Alumnus New Front of House Engineer for the Kansas City Symphony

Jan 7, 2010 1, Alumni/Emeriti, Music Tech Leave a comment
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UCM alumnus Jeffrey Keirsey, a graduate of the music technology degree program, has recently been named the Front of House (FOH) engineer for the Kansas City Symphony. Since his graduation in 2006, Keirsey has been employed by Kansas City’s Harvest Sound, one of the largest KC-based event production companies, and the exclusive sound and [...]

Wenger Selected to Perform Down Under

Dec 27, 2009 1, Music Tech, Winds/Perc Leave a comment
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UCM trumpet professor Alan Wenger will premiere a new composition for trumpet and piano composed by faculty colleague Eric Honour on the new music recital at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Sydney, Australia in July 2010. Wenger says, “I am excited to showcase Eric’s great abilities and share his music with an international audience.” [...]

CMENC Chapter Works With Elementary and Pre-School Students

Dec 15, 2009 Music Ed Leave a comment
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Members of the University of Central Missouri’s CMENC chapter participated in a music-making workshop with area elementary and pre-school students.  This workshop was the first activity of the New Harmonies exhibit sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute and the Johnson County Historical Society.  The activities were designed for children aged 4-8.  They went to different stations [...]

Honor Wind Symposium 2009

Dec 8, 2009 Winds/Perc Leave a comment
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Nine members of the UCM Wind & Percussion faculty welcomed 79 high-school students to the campus on November 21 for the 19th Annual Honor Wind Symposium.

Students Achieve Recognition Through Audition

Nov 17, 2009 1 Leave a comment
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Missouri All-Collegiate Jazz Band – 2010
Two UCM students were recently selected by taped audition to participate with the 2010 Missouri All-Collegiate Jazz Band, MMEA Conference and In-service, January 2010 at Tan-Tar-A Resort, Osage Beach, Missouri.
Jacob Crawford: Trombone, senior Music Education major and student of David Aaberg / David Stagg.
Jim Lower: Drum set, junior Jazz Commercial Music [...]