Applause!

2008-2009

Dr. Frieda Gebert, associate professor of music at Campbellsville University, has spent part of her summer teaching in the Govenor’s Scholars Program at Morehead State University. She’s the first in a decade from Campbellsville University to teach at GSP. A full article is available here.
CU School of Music alum Rebecca Purdue ('97 BMME) was cast as 'Mrs. Potts' in Beauty and the Beast at the Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville, TN. This was a professional position and the show ran until August 24, 2008. Rebecca is beginning her second year as Director of Choral Music for DeKalb County High School in Smithville, TN.

2007-2008

CU School of Music senior Matthew Moore was a member of Rhythm X, a Percussion Independent World Class ensemble from Columbus, Ohio, who received first place in the 2008 Winter Guard International World Championship with their production, "Gone". Since forming in 2002, Rhythm X has competed in World Class finals six out of seven years, achieving the gold medal for the first time this year. See a photo of the winning ensemble here.
The Iota Sigma chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda recently welcomed six new members: Carmen Drake, Marcelo Ferreira, Heather Massey, Matthew Mittelkamp, Juliana Moura, and Denis Santos. See a photo of the new members here.
Dr. Wesley Roberts recently gave a series of organ recitals in March and April at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Louisville, Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church in Lexington, and the Loretto Motherhouse, in addition to a Faculty Recital on-campus in Ransdell Chapel. His programs in Louisville and Campbellsville featured the works of Kees Weggelaar, including one piece dedicated to Roberts, and Messiaen, the latter in celebration of the centennial of the composer's birth. Roberts' programs in Lexington and Loretto were devoted exclusively to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, and included participation in the Lexington AGO Chapter's annual Bach Marathon.
A Graduate String Quartet from CU competed in the McCauley Chamber Music Competition and placed second in the university division. The quartet was asked to perform in concert and for broadcast by the WUOL public radio station on March 26. Their performance will be re-broadcast on April 16. The quartet members are Jueun Kim, violin, Sung Man Lee, violin, Wan Soo Cho, viola, and Felix Borges, cello. Saulo DeAlmeida, adjunct music professor, is the coach of the quartet.
Dr. Lisa McArthur, associate professor of music and flute instructor at Campbellsville University, has been awarded the Jean Ritchie Fellowship for faculty in the fine and performing arts from the Appalachian College Association Inc. During the 2008-09 academic school year, McArthur will research the life and work of Gary Schocker, a world-renowned flutist and the most published living composer of flute music today. A book will be written in collaboration with the artist himself and with much of the research gathered from interviews with the Schocker family. Upon her completion of the fellowship, McArthur will return to her teaching position at Campbellsville University. She has been at CU since 1998, teaching both music theory and flute, as well as directing the flute ensemble. In 2001 she was named College/University Music Educator of the Year by the Kentucky Music Educators Association.
School of Music senior, Matthew Moore, was the winner of the annual Kentucky Music Educators Association Collegiate Composition Competition. Matt's winning composition was "Prelude" for marimba. He performed the solo on stage at the Center for the Arts in Louisville during the KMEA convention. Following the performance on Thursday night, Matthew received official recognition at the Friday morning General Session of KMEA. He received a check for winning. Matt is a percussion major and will graduate in May 2008.
Dr. Wesley Roberts was a co-presenter with Dr. Maurice Hinson at the January meeting of the Greater Louisville Music Teachers Association on their new book The Piano in Chamber Ensemble. Published in 2006, this text details the literature for piano in chamber ensembles from two to eight instruments. The Fairy Trio, an ensemble of three teenage musicians, played music by Elgar, Haydn, and Beethoven to illustrate their comments. The presentation took place at Gist Piano Center in Louisville and was attended by members of the local association.
Congratulations to the CU students selected for membership in the 2008 Kentucky Intercollegiate Band. The 100-member KIB is made up of the most outstanding members of our state’s College and University bands, as nominated by their directors. The Intercollegiate Band will rehearse and perform at the Kentucky Music Educators Association conference Feb. 7-10 in Louisville.

Selected as alternates are:
From the KMTA Convention held Oct. 20-23: Joanna Ximenes (M.A.) and Teresa Tedder (M.M.) gave a program entitled: "Brazilian Piano Music," and Dr. Wesley Roberts and his wife, Sida, gave a program entitled "Images of Chinese Music." Tedder was the Commissioned Composer and her new composition "With Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln--An American Idol" was premiered by the Mid-Kentucky Chorus. This work is a five-movement cantata for mixed chorus, soloists, and instrumental ensemble with a text drawn primarily from Lincoln's speeches and writings, supplemented by original text by Tedder. In the words of the composer, "The cantata attempts to convey both the simplicity and the complexity of Abraham Lincoln's life as well as the timeless and timely universal right for freedom and human dignity for all people."

Congratulations to these students for outstanding performances this past weekend at the annual KMTA Competitions in Danville, Kentucky:
Diogo Pimentel (MA in Music 2007) auditioned for and was awarded the position of Concertmaster for the University of Florida Orchestra. He is also a violinist in the graduate string quartet.

Wan-Soo Cho and Nilson Santos(both MA in Music 2007) were the only two students admitted into the graduate Orchestral Conducting Program this fall. Cho auditioned and was awarded Principal Chair of the viola section of the University of Louisville Orchestra, and he will conduct the UofL orchestra in a performance of Mozart's Overture - Marriage of Figaro on Sept. 16 at UofL. Cho is also the violist of the UofL graduate string quartet. Santos will conduct the UofL orchestra in a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnoland Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in a fall concert of the UofL Orchestra. Santos also serves as cellist of the UofL graduate string quartet.

Several CU students were recently elected to state-level Collegiate Music Educators National Conference (CMENC) offices. This is the seventh year in a row that a CU student has been elected President of the organization!

Congratulations to Dr. Reese Land! He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Illinois Champaigne-Urbana and has earned a DMA in Trumpet Performance with a minor in Musicology. Dr. Land is the newest full-time member of the music faculty and coordinates the trumpet studio and brass ensembles. During 2002-2003, Dr. Land taught at CU as an adjunct trumpet instructor.
Dr. David Hedrick, adjunct instructor of voice and music education and CU alum, recently received notification from the Lorenz Music Publishing Co. that one of his original choral compositions, "Alleluia! Praise God!", will be in the company's fall catalog. He will sign with the publisher this fall. Dr. Hedrick has also been invited to be guest conductor of the SATB choir for the Jefferson County Public Schools All-County Choir on January 17, 2007. His soon-to-be published composition will be one of the selections performed on that concert.

Rachael Hurt, a CU alum who studied for a Bachelor of Music in Church Music, recently swept the competition at the GMA Music in the Rockies festival in Colorado

2006-2007

Dr. Wesley Roberts gave a series of piano recitals in Kentucky and Ohioin March and April at Asbury College, the Loretto Motherhouse, the College of the Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, and Calvin Presbyterian Church in Louisville. Of special interest on his programs were pieces by George Crumb from Makrokosmos I-II, where Roberts strummed and plucked the strings of the piano, sung, and even whistled! Other works performed on the series were by J. S. Bach, Ibert, and Charles Ives.
A pipe organ of grand scale has been installed in the new Ransdell Chapel. The organ was dedicated on Sept. 5. Mrs. Nevalyn Moore performed the premier recital on the instrument that same evening.
On March 30, Dr. Mark Bradley and Dr. Frieda Gebert took five voice students to a voice competition held this year at the University of Kentucky. This competition included the very best singers from all colleges and universities throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, and southern Indiana. Two of our students won first place in their respective divisions. Marcello Ferreira won first place in the highest skill category called Post Advanced which usually includes mostly doctoral students. Belani Segunda won first place in one of the higher categories as well. Two other students were among the top three or four singers in their high categories, making it into the semi-final round of competition. These two students were Juliana Moura and Brittany Benningfield. We are extremely proud of these students. Many of the professors from some of the universities and colleges represented as well as their students were asking the question, “Where is Campbellsville University?” If you have an opportunity to see our winners on campus, please take a few moments and let them know how proud you are of their accomplishments.
Dr. Wesley Roberts served as Visiting Professor of Music at Shanghai Normal University for Fall Semester 2006 as part of Campbellsville University's new exchange program with the Chinese institution. Roberts, whose wife, Sida, was also a Visiting Professor in French, gave applied piano lessons to 68 students, presented five public lectures on piano literature, conducted four master classes, and gave a lecture/recital on the music of Jacques Ibert. He also assisted librarians in the music and audio-visual libraries in the selection of new materials for their collections. Roberts used the opportunity to study and attend concerts of traditional Chinese music, as well as to travel and experience Chinese life.
CU School of Music alumna Dr. Donna Irwin has been invited to present her dissertation research at the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education at the University of Arizona in Tucson in February. She was selected by they Symposium Advisory Board through a blind review process. Dr. Irwin will be a featured presenter. Her dissertation title is "The Rehearsal Frame as an Instructional Tool in Choral Music Education: A Comparison of Expert and Novice Choral Conductor’s Perception of Effective Teaching.
Eva Floyd (BMME '96)is having a research paper published in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. The article, “Teaching Strategies Related to Successful sight-singing in Kentucky Choral Ensembles” is appearing in the Winter/Fall 2006 issue of Update. This is a peer-reviewed paper. Update’s focus is to bring current research to both scholars and practitioners in music education; the journal is published by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
The String Chamber Ensemble and the University Chorale have both been chosen to perform at the 2007 Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) Conference in February 2007 in Louisville, KY. This is the first time the string ensemble has been selected to perform, and the first time a CU choral ensemble of any kind has been chosen.
Jennifer Tinnell, director of the Tiger Marching Band and instructor of music, received the 2006 Non-Tenured Faculty Excellence Award during the CU Centennial campus kickoff chapel/convocation service Wednesday, Aug. 30. Tinnell is also the praise team director of CU’s FIRST class program and participates in the university orchestra and wind ensemble. She was the assistant director of bands at CU from 2001 to 2005. Tinnell was named “Up and Coming Teacher” by the Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) in 2001.
School of Music alum and current graduate student, Rebecca Logan, has been named the new District Leader for the Kentucky American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. Becky is active as a solo handbell ringer and as a church musician. She is a staff member at Greensburg Baptist Church and is working toward a Master in Church Music degree.
Nevalyn Price Moore, School of Music faculty member since 1980, was named the 2006 Campbellsville University Distinguished Professor at Honors and Awards Day in April. Selected by a committee of the University Board of Trustees, the honor is awarded each year to a tenured faculty member and is the highest honor given a faculty member. Mrs. Moore was honored as the 2002 Kentucky Music Educators Association College/University Teacher of the Year and was the recipient of the 2002 Campbellsville University Academic Excellence Award given to a non-tenured faculty member each year.
The CMENC State Presidency will continue to be a CU student for (at least) 2 more years. Clint Warf will be the 7th in a row! Also, once again, CU will have 3 state officers for the next year.
Dr. David McCullough,professor of music and director of bands, has been highlighted by Auburn University Bands as a featured alumni.
Judith Chen Davis, adjunct faculty in piano, recently received the Permanent Professional Certificate from the Music Teachers National Association early this summer. This certificate recognizes excellence in teaching and the attainment of many years of service taking students to contests and festivals, and her attendance at conferences and workshops.

2005-2006

The School of Music is pleased to announce the winners of the Outstanding Freshman and Senior Awards for 2005-2006.
Two Campbellsville University ESL students, and soon-to-be undergraduate music students, won the Open Duet Competition that was part of the 2006 Weekend With Gary Schocker. They received awards and performed their duet on the final concert. They performed Three Dances for Two Flutes and Piano (by Gary Schocker!) with Corey Bonds. The winners are
Dr. Wesley Roberts is co-author with Maurice Hinson of The Piano in Chamber Ensemble: An Annotated Guide,2nd Edition, which was released on March 20. This expanded and updated edition describes more than 3,200 compositions, from duos to octets, by more than 1,600 composers. It is divided into sections according to the number of instruments involved, then subdivided according to the actual scoring. Keyboard, string, woodwind, brass, and percussion players and teachers will find a wealth of chamber works from all periods in this guide.
The 2006-2007 officers for the Campbellsville University chapter of CMENC are:
The Russell Springs Elementary Elementary Choirs, directed by Campbellsville University School of Music alum Jessica Lander Floyd, attended the KY Music Educator's Association District 10 choral festival for the first time on March 9, 2006. The Primary Choir received a Distinguished rating, and the Intermediate Choir scored a High Proficient. This is only the second year that RSEE has offered choir as an after-school activity.
The University Chorale and Handbell Choir performed at Duke Chapel in Durham, NC, as part of their Spring Tour. You can see and hear their performance at the Duke Chapel website. Look for the March 12 webcast.
The Campbellsville University Horn Quartet recently placed Runner-Up in the 2006 Midwest Horn Quartet Competition held during the Midwest Horn Workshop at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point February 24-26. Members of the quartet are Katherine Vinson, sophomore from Scottsville; Megan Polston, junior from Russell Springs; John Strickland, junior from Bardstown and Josh Pollock, juniorfrom Louisville. First place honors in the competition went to Northwestern University.
Congratulations to Dr. David McCullough and the Campbellsville University Wind Ensemble. They performed at the 2006 Kentucky Music Educator's Conference in Louisville on February 9, 2006. This was a prestigious honor for both the ensemble and the conductor, as well as the School of Music.
Seth Whitaker, a Campbellsville University music education major, was recently chosen to be center snare for the 2006 Cadets Drum Corps. This will be Seth's third and final season with the Cadets. The Cadets won their 9th DCI Championship in 2005.
Nilson Galvào Santos has been selected to participate in the 2nd Annual International Orchestra Conductor's Competition with the Sào Paulo Symphonic Orchestra! Registrants presented video tapes, curricular vita, recommendations and documents of experience to the selection committee who are making selections. The selection committee has until January 10 to decide on participants so this is a great indicator of their confidence in Nilson since he was chosen so early. This is a very significant achievement for Nilson. It is also good for Campbellsville University to claim this student. Please express your congratulations to Nilson on this great achievement.
Mr. Michael Grzelacyzk, Campbellsville University's saxophone instructor, has been invited to perform at the 2006 Biennial Conference of the North American Saxophone Alliance at the University of Iowa in February, 2006.
Mr. Marty Sharer, Campbellsville University's percussion instructor, director of the Jazz Ensemble, and assistant director of the Tiger Marching Band, has been awarded the 2005-2006 Fourth District University Teacher of the Year by the Kentucky Music Educators Association. He will be presented with the award at the 2006 KMEA Convention in February 2006.
Dr. Wesley Roberts was honored this October with the 2005 Distinguished Service Award at the Kentucky Music Teachers Association Convention in Morehead, KY. Dr. Roberts has been a very active member of the association for over twenty years. He was president from 1986 to 1988.
Aline Giampietro and Ro-Yen Huang both performed well at the 2005 Kentucky Music Teachers Association piano competitions this October. Aline received an honorable mention in the Bluegrass Young Artist Competition, and Ro-Yen earned an honorable mention in the MTNA Young Artist Competition.
Congratulations to the newest Kentucky Collegiate Music Educators National Conference (KCMENC) officers: John Strickland, president; Nell Haydon, president-elect; and Jamaal Stiles, secretary.
Cyndi Crowder ('94) is choral director at Colonel William Casey Elementary School in Adair County. Her choral group ENCORE has been selected to perform at this year's National Gifted and Talented Conference in Louisville on November 11-12.
Dr. J. Robert Gaddis, Dean of the School of Music, recently experienced what many musicians may declare as their dream of a lifetime--to conduct a professional orchestra. Gaddis was invited to be the guest conductor of the 90-member Busan (Korea) Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert on June 7 in Busan. He conducted the entire concert which included music by Mozart, LIszt, Saint-Saens, von Suppe and Vieuxtemps.
Yawen Ludden, a graduate student in the School of Music, recently submitted a proposal and has been accepted to give a presentation based upon her thesis at the 10th International Conference of CHIME -- the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research, October 5-9, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her topic is "Musicians in Shanghai During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976): An Introduction with Representative Case Studies."
On May 19th, the University Chorale left for Munich, Germany as part of their 2005 European Tour. It was the Chorale’s first international tour since the tragedies of September 11, 2001. Under the direction of Dr. Frieda E. Gebert, the ensemble visited and ministered with the Baptist seminary in Prague (Czech Republic), which is part of the European Baptist Convention. Eastern Europe is still emerging from behind the Soviet era “Iron Curtain” and support for ministry there is crucial to the future of the church. Campbellsville University wanted to be a part of this effort.
The School of Music is proud to announce its first inductees into Iota Sigma, our chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda. PKL is an honor society for upperclass music students. Congratulations to: Corey Bonds, Brooke Douglas, Dana Etherington, Jay Holt, Jason Logan, Marc Monroe, and Nuno Norberto. See a picture of the group.
On March 2, the School of Music hosted its annual Music Scholarship Competition for incoming freshmen music majors. Congratulations to Warren Akers, winner of the Instrumental category, and Anna Troth, the Vocal category winner! Warren is currently a senior at Campbellsville High School and plays trombone. Anna is a senior at Western Hills High School in Frankfort, KY.
Congratulations to Corey Bonds! He is currently student teaching with Kip and Monica Crowder with the Barren County Bands. They have been so impressed with Corey that they have decided to have him conduct one of the numbers with the high school band at their Regional Performance Assessment, which is coming up in a few weeks. This is an adjudicated festival and the ratings that the band receives from the judges will be published later this spring in the Bluegrass Music News. This is really a tremendous honor for him as it is not very often a student teacher would be given the privilege of conducting at such an important event for the band and school system.
The School of Music was well represented at this year’s KMEA Convention in Louisville, KY on February 3-5. Six students joined the All-Collegiate Choir, nine played in the Intercollegiate Band, and one performed in the All-Collegiate Jazz Ensemble.
Dr. Wesley Roberts gave a guest organ recital of Christmas classics at Elizabethtown Baptist Church, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, during the church's Advent Concert Series. He also participated with his wife, Sida, and daughter, Gabrielle, in a piano dedication program at Hampton Manor North Assisted Living Facility in Ocala, Florida, on December 28. The family concert featured a variety of literature for solo piano, piano duet, and violin and piano, and was a part of the dedication program for a piano donated to the facility by relatives. And, in an unusual occurrence, Roberts served as pianist for his daughter Gabrielle's Senior Recital at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, on January 10. Thedaughter and fatherprogram had been in the making for many months and featured music by Tartini, J. S. Bach, Ives, and Franck.
The School of Music offered its first Community Christmas Concert on December 3rd of this year. A wide variety of the school’s ensembles performed works of the season and led the audience in carols. The Faculty and students appreciate the active support of our local citizens and wanted to offer this concert as a way of saying, “Thank you and Merry Christmas” to our friends in the area.
The Campbellsville University Tiger Marching Band is enjoying one of its most productive seasons ever. Following a highly successful season in 2003, the 2004 TMB is at a near record enrollment with 98 members and has one of the most demanding schedules of performances in all of the band's 13-year history. The band will play for all six regular season "Fighting Tiger" home football games. The home games started on Sept. 4 against Austin Peay University and extend to the Nov. 13 game against in-state rival Pikeville College. In addition to the home games, the band will travel with the team to its away game against Georgetown College on Nov. 6.
The Campbellsville University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. Marty Sharer, left on their annual fall tour Monday, November 8th. The group performed nine concerts around central and western Kentucky, including concerts at area high schools and an evening concert at the Goodnight Auditorium in Franklin, KY. Special guests were the Campbellsville University Percussion Ensemble and Ms. Jennifer Tinnell, a Campbellsville University Faculty member. The group returned to Campbellsville Thursday, November 11th to perform their tour finale in the Gheens Recital Hall.
Peter McHugh, Adjunct Violin Instructor and Jamie Hofman, Adjunct Viola Instructor, were on a tour of Japan with the Louisville String Quartet from Oct 31st through Nov. 7th. They performed 6 concerts in Hirosaki and Nagoya. McHugh is also performing all 10 Beethoven Sonatas over the course of this school year.
The 25th Anniversary Handbell Choir Reunion was a smashing success! A total of 43 ringers participated. In attendance were alumni from the late 1970's who worked hard to earn money to purchase the bells but graduated before the bells actually arrived. They had an opportunity to ring, for the first time, in the Campbellsville Handbell Choir. Alumni from 1979, the 1980's, the 1990's, the early 2000's, and members of the current 2004-2005 Handbell Choir were in attendance for the social time and rehearsal on Friday night of Homecoming Weekend 2004. The alumni combined with the 2004-2005 Handbell Choir for a performance on Saturday. The concert focused on all elements of our ringing tradition including full ensemble performance, small ensemble performance, and a handbell solo by Rebecca Beasley, the first student to sign up for applied handbells when it was first offered. It was a multi-generational experience! There were parents and their children who have been involved in handbells, as well as several sets of siblings. Lloyd and Myra Sutton were part of the Church Music Conference group that undertook the fund raising efforts in the 1970's. Their daughter, Mary Carole, is a current ringer. The entire reunion was a fun time of re-acquainting, making pictures, ringing extra music for fun (LOVE those Disney pieces!) at the end of rehearsal, and performing together for a VERY responsive, large audience. And - LAUGHING!!! But wait! There's more!!! Every alumni ringer in attendance was presented with a shirt. The wording in the design on the shirt said, “Welcome to Camp Bells ville". What a great tradition of musical excellence for the past, the present, and the future.
The School of Music was well represented at this year’s Kentucky Music Teachers Conference in Murray, Oct. 15-19. Eun-Young Lee, bassoon, was named winner in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Young Artists Woodwind competition at the state level. Lee, a graduate student from Korea, was accompanied by Hui-Min Huang (Mina), a graduate student in piano from Taiwan. Ro-Yen Huang, a graduate student also from Taiwan, received an Honorable Mention for her performance in the MTNA Young Artists Piano competition.
Congratulations to these Campbellsville University students recently elected to state office in the Kentucky Collegiate Music Educators National Conference for 2004-2005: Back to School of Music Homepage

Updated09/26/2008