Regan Lackey, PatrickMcMurrey, JenaCarpenter andJustinEmmert. Nashville, TN37235 2201 West End Avenue Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt Mozart’s Opera Scenes,includedtheActIfinalefrom Lyric springproduction, OperaTheatre’s Cosi FanTutte with, from left, with, from PAID U. S.Postage Non-profit Permit No.23 Nashville, TN NEIL BRAKE

BLAIR SUMMER 2006 Vanderbilt University Composers A Complementof

page 12 From the Dean Music for the 21st Century An update on the Blair Commissioning Project

hree new pieces to be created for the Blair School’s Lowell Liebermann has been chosen to write a trio signature faculty ensembles and two of the three for horn, violin and piano for faculty member Leslie Norton Cover photo of Blair School composers (from left) Stan Link, Tcommissions for featured faculty solo performers (horn). Michael Rose, Michael Kurek and have now been determined. The ensemble commissions are Liebermann’s compositions have been performed inter- Michael Slayton by Daniel DuBois his issue of the Blair Quar- generously funded by a gift from the James Stephen Turner nationally by orchestras such as the Metropolitan Opera ter Note features the Family Foundation. Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Cincinnati Or- Tcreation of music—com- chestra and the Baltimore Symphony among others. Artists The Blair Quarter Note, the news- position itself. The Blair School’s Hungarian composer György Kurtág has been chosen to who have performed his works include James Galway, letter of the Blair School of Music, is published twice a year in coopera- faculty includes several outstanding FELVEGI write a string quartet for the Mstislav Rostropovich, James Levine, Leonard Slatkin, Ken- tion with the Office of Advancement composers of national and interna- Blair String Quartet. neth Schermerhorn and Joshua Bell. Communications for alumni, current tional renown. You will find their Kurtág studied piano with His Second Piano Concerto was premiered by the National students and their parents, and other friends of the School. profiles and the different ways they Magda Kardos and compo- Symphony with Stephen Hough, and his Flute Concerto was go about composing music. We also sition with Max Eisikovits commissioned by James Galway and premiered by him with The Blair Quarter Note, Vol. 30, report on an exciting new exchange before enrolling in Buda- the St. Louis Symphony and Leonard Slatkin. Galway also No. 2, Summer 2006 program between Blair student per- © 2006 by Vanderbilt University. pest’s Academy of Music performed the work with the Metropolitan Orchestra and formers and composers and those All rights reserved. in 1946. He later studied in James Levine at Carnegie Hall.

at the Royal Academy of Music in DANIEL DUBOIS Paris, attending the courses Editor, Bonnie Arant Ertelt London. Director of External Affairs, Cindy Steine of Messiaen and Milhaud. American Peter Schickele will compose a woodwind Contributors, Lisa DuBois, Kara Furlong, In addition, the Blair School has He retired as professor of quintet for the Blair Woodwind Quintet. MiChelle Jones, Ben Skinner Art Director, Donna DeVore Pritchett embarked on an important, excit- chamber music at the Acad- Composer, musician, author, satirist—Peter Schickele is Designer, Amy Blackman ing project of commissioning music from some of the world’s leading composers. emy of Music in Budapest in internationally recognized as one of the most versatile artists Perhaps you read about this project in our last issue. In this issue, we provide an 1986, though he continued teaching there until 1993. in the field of music. His works number well in excess of 100 Precollege, adult, and undergraduate alumni are encouraged to send their update on the composers who have been selected for these works, which will start He has worked as composer-in-residence with the Berlin for symphony orchestras, choral groups, chamber ensembles, professional or personal news to: to appear on our Concert Series in 2008. Philharmonic, with the Vienna Konzerthaus and in Paris for voice, movies and television. His recent premieres include the the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Cité de la Musique and Concerto for Cello and Orchestra “In Memoriam F.D.R.;” the The Blair Quarter Note 2400 Blakemore Avenue Finally, we present a report on the Blair School’s outstanding BMI Composer-in- the Festival d’Automne. Kurtág won the prestigious 2006 New Century Suite, commissioned by the New Century Sax- Nashville, TN 37212-3499 Residence series, which has been an important part of our concert life and educa- Grawemeyer Award for his ‘...concertante...’. ophone Quartet and premiered by them with the North tional mission since the first composer came in 1992. Carolina Symphony; the New Goldberg Variations for cello Or by e-mail to: [email protected] Susan Botti, who is on the composition faculty of the PETER SCHAAF and piano, performed by In all these endeavors, the Blair School reaffirms its commitment not merely to the University of Michigan, has been commissioned to write three Yo Yo Ma and Emanuel teaching and performance of music, but to its very creation—to the music of the pieces of 20 minutes each, forming one hour-long dramatic Ax; and Symphony No. Undergraduate alumni news now future. I hope you will enjoy reading of these composers and their important work. appears in Vanderbilt Magazine’s arc. These pieces will be for, respectively, (a) violin and piano; 1 “Songlines,” premiered class notes section. Any news sent by (b) violin, piano, and cello; and (c) violin, piano, cello and by the National Sym- undergraduate alumni is forwarded to Vanderbilt Magazine. singer (Botti herself). This is for the Blakemore Trio with the phony under Leonard first piece specifically for violinist Carolyn Huebl. Slatkin. Visit us on the Web at Botti won a coveted Rome Prize and has been in residency Among his ongoing www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/ at the American Academy in Rome since last September; she projects is a weekly, syn- Vanderbilt University is committed also received a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship. Her newest dicated radio program, to principles of equal opportunity orchestral work, Translucence, premiered in May with the Schickele Mix, which has and affirmative action. Cleveland Orchestra. Her EchoTempo (for soprano, percussion been heard nationwide Printed on recycled paper & orchestra), was commissioned and premiered by Maestro over Public Radio Inter- Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic (with Ms. Botti national since January and Christopher Lamb as soloists). The European premiere 1992. of EchoTempo (occurred soon after in the “Music im 21. Jahrhudert” Festival in Saarbrücken, Germany.

2 BLAIR Quarter Note can easily cloud understanding. The Arts are ambiguous…. So Skaerved handed Blair sophomore Micah Claffey the “Mar- the attempt at understanding is lent a certain tragic humor by quis de Coberon,” perhaps the greatest Stradivari cello on the reality that every musician knows that the listener will have the planet, and asked him to play. Rose says, “Micah is still to embark on the same act of creative misunderstanding.” in shock. He said it changed him forever. He said he could Two years ago, Blair School of Music hosted Sheppard feel every person coming through who’d ever played that Skaerved as a visiting professor in a recital of music by George instrument in all its hundreds of years.” Rochberg, who had been Rose’s mentor. During the visit, Oliver Waespi, from Switzerland, majoring in composition the violinist also conducted a series of workshops on col- and classical guitar at RAM, was profoundly struck by an laborations between composers and performers. From that exercise in which the musicians passed a single note around experience emerged a friendship between Sheppard Skaerved all the players to make a musical statement. “It was striking and Rose, and the genesis of a plan for a two-week exchange to observe that this single note, as soon as it was born, started program between students at Blair and the Royal Academy to lead a very rich musical life, changing constantly its color of Music. and weight…. Blues works in quite the same way…. Thus, a Sheppard Skaerved returned to Blair last November to musical tale was recounted with a single note, a very fragile audition students for the exchange program, and selected note though, with an inner life audible only to those who violinists Preetha Narayanan and David Repking, cellist Micah want to hear it.” Claffey and composition and piano student Gary Shields. This mixture of improvisation, experimentation and clas- A Tale During spring break of 2006, these four students plus Ben sical performance required a leap of faith by students who’ve Skinner, BMus’06 in musical arts and English, who served been tutored under a more structured process. “I personally as photographer and documenter, traveled to London where am not one for uncertainty, and I think that this made me they spent a week composing, performing, jamming, experi- uncomfortable at first,” wrote David Repking. “At first I was of Two menting, talking and creating with four Royal Academy of expecting to create something tangible to say that I had done Music students, all of whom were from various countries in it…. I had to change my expectations to something more Europe. The following week, the four RAM students spent abstract.” a similar week in Nashville, in an educational and creative In fact, as the students became friends, they found a com- Cities exchange at Blair. mon ground by hanging out together after hours and playing The key to the process was this: they had no specific the blues, a genre that lends itself easily to improvisation aim, no end goal in mind. According to Sheppard Skaerved, and abstraction. the conversations veered from very precise and exhaustive During the pedagogical portion of the exchange program, explorations of musical color and structure, to politics, ideas Sheppard Skaerved observed how the students avoided “free- and a lot of laughter. flowing creativity lapsing into rubbish.” A new exchange program between Blair and the Royal Academy of Music in During the course of their week in London, Sheppard “The simple answer is to witness the horror of what hap- London requires a leap of faith between student composers and performers pens when one does,” he says. “Once creative artists have wit- B y L i s a A . D u B o i s , P h o t o s B y B e n S k i n n e r nessed the road-crash of non-criti- cal creation, then they will hunger for detail, for precision, so that ichael Alec Rose, associate professor of composi- Like archeologists, composers and performers are con- that freedom can be chained. And tion, is creating a short violin piece based upon stantly conceding errors while attempting accuracy. They want I mean, chained. As Stockhausen Man artifact at the British Museum—an axe head to bring something new to the process of creating sound, but might have it: ‘Play a note. Any made of flint that had been found in a London city street they also want to get it right. note. But only the right note, in next to the skeleton of an elephant. The discovery, made by From this tension has emerged an original approach to the right place.’” an archeologist during the 18th century’s “Age of Enlight- teaching music, formulated by Rose’s collaborator, virtuoso In other words, this exchange enment,” was thought to be a weapon used by the Romans violinist Peter Sheppard Skaerved, a research fellow at the program incorporated a nearly when they invaded Britain some 2,000 years ago. During Royal Academy of Music in London. Sheppard Skaerved neurotic concentration on the the 20th century, however, archeologists used carbon dating believes that to truly understand a piece of music one must minute details of the past so as to determine that the artifact was actually several hundred try to assimilate an appreciation of the milieu that produced to more fully appreciate Bartok thousand years old. The original scientist was off by, oh…300 that work. In other words, what were the pressures of the and Brahms, as well as unfet- millennia or so. time, the personal circumstances of the composer, and the tered permission for exploration, “Part of my pleasure in the artifact is that it was originally instruments on hand that conspired to provide the moment so that composers Gary Shields misunderstood,” Rose says. “The first person to find it and in which a particular concerto emerged? and Oliver Waespi could break examine it and try to understand it got it wrong. I love that “The attempt to understand these circumstances can lend new ground by bouncing ideas Gary Shields (left foreground) and Micah Claffey (left) discuss the connection between composing and performing error.” enlightenment,” Sheppard Skaerved says, “but…the attempt with Nico Faruggia, in London and musical sounds off each other

 BLAIR Quarter Note Summer 2006  Witness to an Exchange Ben Skinner, BMus’06, went along to document the new Blair/RAM exchange, but came away with a new understanding of musical partnerships

B e n S k i n n e r

DANIEL DUBOIS n the summer of 2005, I assisted Professor Michael Rose with the research underlying Ithe composition of his violin concerto, writ- ten for Peter Sheppard Skaerved, research fellow at the Royal Academy of Music, London (RAM). The insights I gleaned from that work—which evolved into a full-scale English senior honors thesis—were thrown into active service when Blair and RAM students listen to Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Michael Rose in Ingram Hall. I took part in the exchange program between the Blair School of Music and RAM. Though I and their fellow performers. “To have a string ensemble in front “Music always asks too much,” Rose says, smiling. “Al- am a recent graduate of the Blair School (guitar, of a composer is such a luxury,” wrote Shields. “It amazes me ways.” musical arts), my purpose during the two weeks, that even in a group of ‘learned’ musicians there is still the Sheppard Skaerved explains that in the earliest centu- rather than acting as a performer or composer, capacity to be enraptured, impressed and even dumbstruck ries of classical music a close intercommunication between was to observe and document the exchange, in by ‘sound.’” composer, audience and performer was the norm, and only words and photographs, thereby making use of That interconnectivity between the creator of the sound in the last hundred years or so have classical composers op- my second major in English. I was able to witness and the sound created has spurred Rose to write works spe- erated in solitary confinement, away from their musicians. firsthand the unorthodox yet highly constructive cifically for Sheppard Skaerved, who has played Rose’s music “Now,” he says, “musicians spend all their lives training to be musical environment that was created in this in concerts all over the world, including musical mausoleum keepers, treating synthesis of performance and composition. the Balkans, Asia and Mexico. Handel, Stravinsky and Schumann as if As the performers and composers from both Rose says, “When I hear how he be- they were waxworks or mummies. The schools became accustomed to the workshops lieves in the living presence—whether work that I do with living composers … and to each other—with extended techniques, it’s Beethoven or Rose—when I hear helps my dialogue with the dead ones.” foreign styles and instruments and improvisation how he brings it to life, I’m aware of Last year alone, composers dedicated being the rule rather than the exception—I was my responsibility to the performer, of over 50 works to Sheppard Skaerved. amazed by how much music could be made in how much I have to learn from that In the event that his novel approach such a short time. I could hear the excitement performer, of what it means to write for to musical pedagogy catches on, other in the composers’ voices as they asked ques- a specific performer and to be inspired instructors, performers, composers and tion after question of the performers, seeing and by that bond. The connection between professors may also routinely demand hearing what was possible on their instruments composer and performer is the most that students acquire an intellectual and being able to hear immediately what they exciting, productive thing for commu- grasp of the history of a work before were imagining. The performers, too, appeared nicating to an audience.” they play it. If so, perhaps years down anxious to take part in the compositional pro- And yet, Rose admits, the stu- the road, as future performers prepare cess, making suggestions to improve playability dents were often skeptical of Shep- to learn a work by composer Shields or and tone, or simply supplying musical ideas of pard Skaerved’s insights, because they Waespi, they may discover that that par- their own. In a musical world that is normally so thought learning to play a piece well was ticular piece of music was born, oddly competitive, I was excited to hear ideas shared a big enough burden without also trying enough, out of a cross-Atlantic student freely for the benefit of all. Watching this, I saw to evoke its history and original sound. exchange program. how creative a group of people can be when a They argued that so much information free flow of ideas is allowed to occur, when an became debilitating, rather than helpful environment without fear of being wrong or to their performance. Blair’s Michael Rose in action. ridiculed is fostered.

 BLAIR Quarter Note Summer 2006  That this exchange worked so well within its curricular that I had with the RAM students as I learned not only about guidelines is a testament to its success outside of the work- aspects of European culture that were completely foreign to shops. Though nothing more than a few hours a day of contact me, but also heard new opinions and gained new perspectives between the exchange musicians was required, an equal if not on ideas and concepts with which I was already familiar, both Blair and BMI: greater time together was spent outside the music schools, musical and otherwise. in the cities of London and Nashville, in restaurants and in The best part of the Blair/RAM exchange has been the C our t es y

apartments. Here is where I feel the best exchange took promotion of musical partnerships. Whether they are be- o f place and where I enjoyed my time most. Though taking tween performers and composers in the practice room or b m i A Partnership photographs left me somewhat aloof during the workshops, during a meal together, they seem to be at the core of the I always felt part of the group during our meals and other best compositions and performances, for it is through these social times. The conversations begun in the workshops con- personal relationships that connections among musician, tinued, allowing me to take part in them. Ideas continued music and audience are best understood and most readily former president and CEO, Frances W. Preston. to be exchanged, though in these settings, topics outside of achieved. Though the exact notes played and written dur- The BMI Composers-in-Residence Series is the Blair music were discussed. Being undergraduate students in the ing the two weeks of the exchange may be ephemeral, the School’s public celebration of the partnership between com- United States, we Blair students had much to learn from excitement behind their creation and the possibilities for poser and performer. Since the first composer-in-residence our graduate, pan-European counterparts, and vice versa. I the future endure. came to Blair in November 1992, the series has allowed the enjoyed immensely the time I spent and the conversations school’s top-notch faculty and student ensembles the twice-

BEN SKINNER Del Bryant yearly opportunity to work with world-renowned composers during three-day residencies, culminating in a free public or over 15 years, the Blair School of Music and BMI have performance of the composer’s work. evolved a partnership celebrating the creative process Peter Boyer will serve during the fall semester as BMI com- Fin composing and performing. At Blair, this partner- poser-in-residence. At the age of 36, he has had his orchestral ship also includes a leadership role on the Blair KeyBoard. In works performed over 100 times by nearly 50 orchestras. A January, Blair welcomed Del Bryant, president and CEO of recording of Boyer’s work Ellis Island: The Dream of America BMI in New York, as its newest KeyBoard member. by the Philharmonia Orchestra (Naxos) received a Grammy Bryant, who grew up in the music business and was nomination this year for best classical contemporary compo- immersed in the creative process as the son of legendary sition. Boyer has also contributed orchestrations to the film songwriters and publishers Boudleaux and Felice Bryant scores for Mission: Impossible III (Paramount) and Fantastic

(writers of such classics as “Bye, Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Four (20th Century Fox). His LISA KOHLER Susie,” “All I Have To Do Is Dream” and “Rocky Top”) has work will be performed by the seen the company from every perspective in more than Vanderbilt Symphony Or- three decades of service at BMI. Perhaps his most important chestra conducted by Robin and successful long-term collaboration is that with BMI’s Fountain on November 29.

KEI T H SAUNDERS Jake Heggie will be at Blair for a three-day resi- dency during the spring semester. The composer of the opera Dead Man Walk- Participants in the Collaborative Composition in London exchange program (standing, from left): program co-founder Michael Rose, David Repking, Gary Shields ing and the musical scene and Micah Claffey (from Blair) and Pedro Mereiles, Nico Faruggia and Olivier Waespi (from the Royal Academy of Music, London, or RAM). Seated, from left: At the Statue of Venus (both Preetha Narayanan (Blair), program co-founder Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Annabelle Berthome (RAM) with librettos by Terrence McNally), he is the recipi- The Blair School provides Joy Calico, assistant professor of musicol- Michael Rose, associate professor of many opportunities for stu- ogy, who was the Anna Maria Kellen Fellow in resi- composition, who served as composer-in-residence ent of a 2005 Guggenheim dence at the American Academy in Berlin last fall. at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London Fellowship and a 2004 Meet- dents and faculty to broaden last October. Subsequently, he and violinist Peter Cynthia Cyrus, associate professor of Sheppard Skaerved launched an exchange program the-Composer Grant. The their musical studies by musicology and associate dean, who completed a between the Blair School and RAM—Collaborative composer of more than 200 participating in exchange month of language study and archival and codico- Composition in London. Jake Heggie logical work on a Goethe Institute stipendium in July songs as well as concerti, or- and development programs focusing on manuscripts at the Bayerische Staats- Thomas Verrier, associate professor and chestral works and chamber music, his work is championed bibliothek in Munich and at the Cistercian abbey director of wind studies, who conducted bands around the world. In the past of Seligenthal, a women's convent in Landshut, and orchestras last summer in Hong Kong and internationally by singers including Renée Fleming, Audra year, Blair students and fac- Germany. Guangzhou, China. His work there resulted in Hsin McDonald, Frederica von Stade and Bryn Terfel. At Blair Hsiao-Hung, principal erhu player of the Hong Kong his work will be performed by Vanderbilt Opera Theatre, ulty have spent time learning Jim Lovensheimer, assistant profes- Chinese Orchestra, coming to Blair last October to from colleagues in Asia and sor of musicology, who completed research on serve as soloist with the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony. directed by Gayle Shay, on March 13. Europe. These Include: post-World War II American music at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., as well as in New Peter Boyer York City.  BLAIR Quarter Note Summer 2006  December 1, 2 and 3 Blair Celebrates the Holidays with a series of free concerts featuring Collegium Vocale on Dec. 2 Free for All! The Blair Nightcap Series

Coffee and desserts provided for each preconcert lobby talk at 8 pm, followed he Blair School announces a “Free For All” Concert at 9 pm by a 50-minute music program. Series Season for the upcoming year. No tickets All concerts and talks are held at Turner Twill be required for faculty concerts, and all seats Recital Hall. will be open to the public. Plus, through a generous grant from BellSouth, Inc., a new “Global Music Series” September 25 “A Century of Shostakovich” features featuring Latin American and Spanish guitar stylist David pianist Melissa Rose with a Lobby Talk by Burgess in September and Darol Anger’s Republic of Belmont history professor Daniel Schafer. Strings (featuring Scott Nygaard) in October will be of- fered for greatly reduced ticket prices. Series highlights October 26 for the fall include: “In a Kernel” features pianist Mark Wait performing a program of short pieces se- lected for their focus and intensity. Lobby talk led by musicologist Stan Link.

November 6 The talented Plummer family asks you to “Czech us Out!” as violist Kathryn Plum- mer and her twin sister and violinist Caro- lyn join with niece Erin Hall to perform two selections by Czech masters Martinu and Dvorak. Musicologist Cynthia Cyrus leads the Lobby Talk.

October 20 Blair Celebrates Series For more information, contact the main “All the Things You Are: office at 322-7651 or visit www.vander- A Jerome Kern Celebration” featuring October 9 bilt.edu/blair and click on Calendar of the Blair Voice faculty Blair Celebrates Spanish Music Events.

November 3 Blair Woodwind The Blair String Quartet presents Quintet works by Mendelssohn, Kurtág The Blair and Beethoven Signature Series November 13 September 29 “Mostly Mozart” concert Guitarist John Johns and His “Lady featuring the Blair Friends” featuring Amy Jarman, soprano; Woodwind Quintet Jane Kirchner, flute; and Kathryn Plum- mer, viola Darol Anger September 30 Music by Blair Faculty Composers, featuring works by Michael Rose, Michael Kurek, Michael Slayton, Stan Link Blair String Quartet John Johns

10 BLAIR Quarter Note S u m m e r 2 0 0 6 11 Michael Slayton, assistant professor of music theory and composition, enjoys writing choral music and pieces for small ensembles; he notes Bartok, Scriabin and Debussey as particular influences in his work. Stan Link, assistant professor of the philosophy and analysis of music, writes haunting electro-acoustic music that combines computer-manipulated sound with passages written for one or two instruments, as well as straight acoustic pieces. Michael Rose, associate professor of composition, has a penchant for orchestral work and music for ballet. Michael Equal Temperament Kurek, who has served as chair of the department for the past 12 of his 18 years at Blair, writes orchestral music with the atmospheric quality of film scores. Blair composers complement each other But where do the pieces start? A lot of the actual “composing” takes place in the composer’s subconscious, emerging as themes and phrases waiting to be com- to the benefit of their students and their audience mitted to paper (and, in spite of the convenience afforded by notation software, pencil to paper is still the preferred method of these four). “Some of my best ideas B y M i C h e ll e J o n e s come to me when I’m driving in the car,” says Kurek. “I make a point to leave the DENISE radio off, and if I’m working on a piece, I’m going through it in the car, or [while]

T RUSCELLO walking from the car to the office.” He uses this downtime to sort through the music running through his head. “It’s there, kind of torturing me until I get it Michael Kurek, associate down on the page,” he says. professor of composition and DANIEL DUBOIS DANIEL chair of the composition/theory Though Kurek prefers to write during the early morning in his home studio, department, had two major cham- he also finds inspiration in Savannah, Georgia. “I’ll take a folding chair and just Stan Link, assistant professor ber works performed in April at the go sit, watch the boats go by and watch the ocean. For some reason that opens up of the philosophy and analysis of Blair School. The program included my pores, creatively, a bit more.” He says on his first visit there, “music just started music, has had numerous perfor- his Sonata for Viola and Piano, per- coming, kind of involuntarily, and I went back to my car, got a wrapper from a mances of his work this year, in- formed by violist John Kochanowski McDonald’s hamburger and drew five lines on it and wrote a theme down.” cluding In Ida’s Mirror, for alto flute and pianist Mark Wait, as well as Slayton says he often writes away from paper or piano. “I’ve written pieces on and computer-generated accom- the official world premiere of the airplanes, in restaurants,” he says. He jots things down in a sketchpad and goes paniment, which premiered at the full four-movement Trio for Violin, back later to fill in the blanks. “A lot of times things are living in my head. Even if Third Practice Festival of Contem- Violoncello and Piano, performed I’m working on other projects, I’m working out some kind of problem or getting porary Music in Richmond, Virginia, by Carolyn Huebl (violin), Felix Wang some kind of idea…you have to let this thing germinate and take root.” performed by Carlton Vickers of the (cello) and Melissa Rose (piano). Both Kurek and Slayton impress upon their students the importance of knowing Utah Symphony, who will release Both works will be recorded on a the piece on CD in early 2007. It new CD to be produced by David where a piece is going, of having some idea of its structure before starting to work. was also performed at the North Frost, winner of the 2004 Gram- “You have an outline on which to hang the details as you go,” says Kurek. “With Carolina Computer Music Festival, my Award for classical producer 20 minutes to fill, you can’t just string together a bunch of melodies, you’ve got the Symposium on Art and Technol- of the year. The Sonata for Viola to take one melody and put it through some kind of metamorphosis so that its ogy, in California and Buffalo, New and Piano was also performed this character transforms and takes you on an emotional journey.” As Slayton sees it, York, and at Bard College. Shadows year by German violist Michael Ber- “the two hardest measures to write in a piece of music are the first and the last. in Amber, a solo compact disk of gen. Kurek is currently working on How do you start a piece? Where does it begin, why are you choosing this note? seven of Link’s electro-acoustic The Letter of Sullivan Balloo for What medium do you want? What style are you looking for? What mood are you pieces will appear this summer on baritone vocal solo, women’s choir, trying to set?… But then also, how do I end this thing that I’ve created?” Albany Records. He is currently at wind ensemble, harp and piano, Getting started is never a problem for these four; writer’s block is not a part work on In Absentia, for piano trio for premiere during the 2006-07 of their lexicon. “I never have trouble starting a piece,” says Link. “I don’t get and percussion, and “...and my season. writer’s block anymore. Now the biggest problem is just finding the amount of starry lute bears the black sun...,” time that I need to finish all the ideas that I have.” It’s a sentiment echoed by his for two sopranos, flute, percussion colleagues. “I haven’t had [writer’s block] in many years,” says Kurek. “I have the and harp. opposite problem, really, which is a great problem to have—too many ideas and not enough time to write them down. I think if you spend a certain amount of ichael Kurek, Michael Rose, Michael Slayton and Stan Link. Anyone time conceptualizing what it is you want to say before you write it, then it kind familiar with the Monty Python canon might wonder whether the three of writes itself.” MMichaels of Blair’s Music Composition/Theory Department refer to “I get really scared at what I’m doing, and the problems that I’ve set for myself their colleague Link as “Michael” as well—just to keep things clear. But of course, feel enormous and intractable, but that’s not writer’s block,” explains Rose. “It’s music is no joke for these four men and they share a disciplined and pragmatic more of a confrontation. It’s never a sense that the music isn’t coming, it’s a sense approach to composing despite disparate styles and drawing influences from that in order for it to come, I’d better face this problem.” Right now, for example, myriad sources—art, poetry, nature, the sounds of a child. Rose is writing a concerto to be performed by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra

12 BLAIR Quarter Note Summer 2006 13 and a guest klezmer band called Brave Old World. “Three of the four musicians are not classically trained; they improvise…they have an essential model of what they’re doing, but it’s like jazz in a way,” he says. “So, how am I going to write a concerto when I’m not writing a concerto?” Other faculty “Sometimes I prefer parameters, but not always,” says Slayton, who at the mo- ment is relishing the freedom of a recent commission for a piano concerto, which has neither length or style guidelines. Still, he likes having the deadline and sense of purpose a commission provides. composers of note Obviously when a piece is commissioned for a particular performer, there are subtle influences on the composition (an instrument’s timbre, the performer’s tone) even if specific parameters are not given. Yet, this connection doesn’t neces- sarily result in a collaboration between composer and performer as there might David Childs, assistant professor of choral studies and director of the Vanderbilt be between choreographer and dancer. Nor do composers share and discuss their Symphonic Choir, has composed and published over 25 songs and choral arrange- DANIEL DUBOIS works-in-progress the way writers often do. “That’s not such a part of the culture,” ments with Santa Barbara Publishing, Alliance Music, Colla Voce Music and J.W. Pep- explains Link. He says that sharing files of developing pieces is not even commonly per. He is one of the most performed choral composers in high schools and middle done among his fellow computer music composers. schools in the United States. Most recently, his “Fuji” was premiered by St. Mary’s However, it is something these four professors do with their students. “All the International School, Tokyo, at the Central American Choral Directors’ Association Michael Rose, associate Conference, and “O Sacrum Convivium” was premiered by the Oregon State University professor of composition, has composition majors meet with us on Thursday afternoons,” explains Slayton. “We DANIEL DUBOIS Men’s Chorus. His “The Messenger” for the Oregon State University Singers was rotate holding the forum, and we talk about the composition process and what had six major works premiered in published earlier this year. He has recently received a commission from the Choral they’re working on and what we’re working on. It’s good for them to get a glimpse 2003-2005: A Grammar of Hope Arts Ensemble, Minnesota. into each of our worlds, because we’re all coming to this a little bit differently.” (piano quintet), The Night of the David Childs Iguana (for Nashville Ballet, who It is clear that for Kurek, Link, Rose and Slayton, working in close proximity Edgar Meyer, adjunct associate professor of bass, is known both as a performer reprised the work two seasons to and belonging to a fraternity of other composers also has a positive influence and an innovative composer who has recorded and performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Mark later), Thoroughfare of Light (piano on their working lives. “It’s a home base for a composer, which is a very impor- O’Connor, Bela Fleck, Mark Marshall and Sam Bush, among others. For his latest solo), performed at the Modern tant thing,” Kurek says, “because you have a community in which to work as a release, Edgar Meyer on the Sony Classical label, he not only composed all 14 Art Museum of Fort Worth, The composer. Whatever happens outside that community happens organically and tracks, but also played all the instruments for a CD that weaves together classical, Apparition (Nashville Ballet), The grows out of that.” jazz and bluegrass threads. Previous works include a violin concerto written for vio- Pedagogy of Grief (Third Viola So- linist Hilary Hahn, which was premiered and recorded by Ms. Hahn with the St. Paul nata) and Three Short Obsessions, Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed with the Boston Symphony under Seiji which violinist Peter Sheppard Michael Slayton, assistant Ozawa, featuring the premiere of his Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Skaerved performed in Mexico professor of music theory, is Ma, and most recently, he premiered his Concerto for Banjo and Double Bass with City, London, and other interna- currently completing the Sonate co-composer Bela Fleck and the Nashville Symphony. tional venues. Rose is currently Droyssig, a solo work for pianist working on three commissions for Ulrich Urban, professor of piano at Carl Smith, senior lecturer in music composition and theory, premiered his piece 2006-2007: Piano Trio No. 2 for the Hochschule fur Musik, ‘Felix Fire and Ice: Michelangelo the Writer at Blair in March, 2004. A masque for five the Carolina Trio, Violin Concerto Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’ in Leipzig, singers, narrator, cello, and harpsichord, it reveals the life of Michelangelo in his for Mr. Sheppard Skaerved (a por- Germany. He is also working on a own words, based on translations from his letters and poems. Other recent works tion of which he has already per- book project concerning the music by Smith include three pieces for unaccompanied choir. Two were commissioned by formed in Nashville, London and Edgar Meyer of composer Elizabeth Austin. Last Emory University in Atlanta: “Come, My Light,” text by Dimitri of Rostov; and “Piero Skopje, Macedonia), and Arguing November he was composer-in-resi- Saw Him Living,” text by Carol Stevens. The Lavender Fields; Renata’s Requiem is a with God: Concerto for Klezmer dence at Conservatoire Royale de requiem for unaccompanied choir in five movements set on poems by Czeslaw Milosz and Chamber Orchestra, for the Bruxelles, Belgium, where his Fan- and was commissioned by Washington University in St. Louis. Nashville Chamber Orchestra. tasy and Fugue for Two Pianos and Percussion Instruments was per- Sarah Page Summar, lecturer in aural studies, last November premiered her formed. His Through Stone Door work At Night, By Train for string quartet with Blair students Preetha Narayanan, Ellen for piano trio was performed at the McSweeney, Andrew Braddock and Micah Claffey. Recently, she has been commis- Festival International Albert Rous- sioned to write a woodwind trio for the Gemini Ensemble of Chicago. sel in France, and Zwei Gedichte for oboe, violoncello and piano, Deanna Walker, adjunct artist teacher of piano and director of the songwriting was performed in Germany, Bos- program, will have her Trio for Flute, Saxophone and Piano performed at the Blair ton and Hartford, Conn. His The School next January with herself as pianist and faculty colleagues Jane Kirchner,

Crescent and the Cross was com- DANIEL DUBOIS flute, and Frank Kirchner, saxophone. Next March, her Epilogue for Two Pianos will posed for the Nashville Ballet’s be played during the piano faculty recital. Her Family Plot in Four Scenes for soprano Emergence Project, choreographed and piano was chosen for performance at the CMS International Conference in Costa by Abdel Salaam, and it premiered Deanna Walker Rica in 2003.

DANIEL DUBOIS DANIEL in November 2004. 14 BLAIR Quarter Note Summer 2006 15 S T UDEN T S Joy Calico, assistant professor of musicol- arl Smith, senior lecturer in music composition ogy, attended the Annual Conference on Here’s one Cand theory, recently finished recording a CD for Politics, Criticism and the Arts, hosted by Precollege Naxos records consisting entirely of “Tudor” organ the Vanderbilt Philosophy Department in investment that will Blair precollege string students, led by music, the first recording devoted entirely to this April, where she gave a response to one of Kirsten Cassel, adjunct artist teacher of genre. The bulk of this type of music is preserved in the lectures. age as gracefully as cello, began monthly performances on The Mulliner Book, compiled in early to mid-16th cen- Allan Cox, professor of trumpet, and his stage at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in tury England by Thomas Mulliner. Without precedent wife, Hildegard, presented three trum- you do. March with the students performing solos, in keyboard literature, the music is composed in a pet and organ concerts in Nebraska last duos or in other ensembles. sophisticated style far more complex than any being October. In November, they performed in Three of the Blair children’s choruses used on the continent at the time—or for generations Louisville and in Nashville as part of the hen you establish a Vanderbilt Charitable Gift Annuity, you’re toured this summer under the leader- to come. Around the middle of the 16th century the style disappeared, and some Bud Herseth trumpet seminar. Adolf “Bud” Wnot only supporting the Blair School of Music, you’re giving ship of Hazel Somerville. Concert Choir of its compositional devices did not show up again until the 20th century. Herseth, principal trumpet, emeritus, with yourself guaranteed income for life. Fund your annuity with appreci- the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was (junior and senior high school girls) sang Two organs, both designed and built (structurally and tonally) in the manner ated securities and avoid part of the capital gains tax as well. in Anchorage and surrounding areas of 16th and 17th century northern European instruments, were used for the artist-in-residence at Blair in November, in Alaska, June 6-12. Choristers sang in recording. One, in Nashville, is in the small chapel at First Lutheran Church; the presenting lectures, clinics, and solo and Benefits on a $10,000 Single-Life Charitable Gift Annuity Savannah, May 26-29, and the Nashville other at Southern Adventist University, in Collegedale, Tennessee, near Chatta- orchestral master classes. Age Annuity Rate Yearly Income Boychoir at Blair sang for the American nooga. Recording in downtown Nashville in a chapel on a street corner, just off Jim Foglesong, adjunct professor of music Tax Deduction Guild of Organists in Lexington, May 19-21. Broadway and less than a block from the Greyhound bus station, presented its business, was named to the Honorary 65 6.0% $600 $4,042 share of frustrations. Recording sessions began late at night when traffic was Board of Managers for Eastman School of Parker Ramsey, principal harpist with the 75 7.1% $710 $4,749 less, but twelve takes of one short piece were needed due to the intrusions of Music as one of the founding members of Curb Youth Symphony directed by Carol 85 9.5% $950 $5,440 Nies, won the 2005-2006 MTNA National a bus, an ambulance, a train, a garbage truck and a helicopter. the new board. The Honorary Board’s pur- 90+ 11.3% $1,130 $5,859 Composition Competition, Junior Divi- The engineer for the project was Kevin Edlin, technical assistant, who has worked pose is to advise and counsel the school’s sion, for his composition Gaudeamus: on a number of the Nashville Symphony recordings with Naxos. Cynthia Cyrus, dean, senior administrators and board of To learn more, please contact Vanderbilt’s Office of Planned Giving at 615/343-3113 Choral Celebrations for Christmastide, for associate dean and associate professor of musicology, was helpful in resolving managers. Fogelsong, an alumnus of East- or 888/758-1999. Or e-mail [email protected]. three-part treble choir and harp. The piece some of the many notational issues and will contribute liner notes for the CD. man, joins fellow Eastman graduates Mar- ing in March was Garry Tallent, bassist in Stones, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails and was performed for the MTNA Convention ian McPartland, Mitch Miller and Renee Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band since the Cure and has composed soundtracks in Austin, Texas, by the Texas Choral Con- Fleming among others as members of the 1971 and an active recording session player for PBS, film and video games. sort with Parker performing on harp. Honorary Board. and producer. In April, Reeves Gabrels, Karen Ann Krieger, assistant professor of Blair had four student winners in the 2006 ALU M NI Jen Gunderman, adjunct senior lecturer best known for playing guitar for many piano and piano pedagogy, was shown in a N.A.T.S. Regional Competitions: Cameron in music history and literature, welcomed years with David Bowie, visited the class. Undergraduates taped piece playing piano for Gavin Tab- Rau, 2nd Place Senior Men; Glen Thomas two special guest lecturers to her History Active as a producer and songwriter, he has Precollege one, BMus’96, and his Palm School Choir Two Blair School students were honored Rideout, 1st Place Junior Men; Regan of Rock Music class this semester. Visit- also worked with artists such as the Rolling with recognition from the Fulbright Pro- Lackey, 3rd Place Junior Women; Jena Grace Huang received her D.M.A. in from Austin, Texas, when the choir was gram for study abroad. They are: Preetha Carpenter, 3rd Place Freshmen Wome piano performance from the University featured live on the Today Show in April. of Minnesota-Twin Cities in March 2005. DANIEL DUBOIS Narayanan, a senior violin performance Blair vocal students who attended and oe Rea Phillips, senior artist tea-cher Michael Kurek, associate professor of com- In 2004-2005 she was an adjunct faculty major from Memphis, who will study represented the school included Tierney of guitar and founder of the Vanderbilt position, was selected by the Panhellenic member at St. Cloud State University J Indian Carnatic violin in Madras, India. Bamrick, Adrianna Bond, Adam Diekhoff, Kung Fu Club, traveled in March to the Council and ten sororities at Vanderbilt as in St. Cloud, Minn., where she taught Christina Thompson, a senior violin musi- Justin Emmert, Kerri Glennon, Kaitlyn Chen Village in China’s Henan Province “best Blair educator at Vanderbilt” for the cal arts major from Pleasant Prairie, Wis., applied and class piano and performed as Greer, Abraham Hanson, Andrew Levine, with his mentor, Chinese Boxing Institute fall 2005 semester. was named a Fulbright alternate to serve a member of the faculty piano trio. She Jessica Morris, Amy O’Brien, Madeleine International president James Cravens, as an English language teaching assistant in O’Donnell, Bryan Ortega, Amanda is currently serving a one-year appoint- Douglas Lee, professor of musicology, and a select group of U.S. instructors, Germany. Pogach, Leigh Remy, Alex Reuter and ment as assistant professor and class piano emeritus, has edited the first volume of a to study with Chen Xiaowang, a 19th- Eric Smith. coordinator at the University of Georgia seven-volume compilation of the concer- in Athens. A former student of Roland generation grandmaster of Tai Chi Chuan. tos of C.P.E. Bach. Carl Philipp Emanual N eil B rake Schneller and Craig Nies, she received her For Chinese martial artists, who denote Bach: Sei concerti per il cembalo contertato, B.Mus. degree in 1999. skill level by how closely one aligns with a grandmaster, this is considered a great published in fall 2005, is a collaboration of honor. “It’s a little like a pilgrimage,” Phillips said. the Packard Humanities Institute in coop- Phillips practices Chinese boxing arts, such as Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Kua Chang eration with the Bach Archiv Leipzig, the F ACUL t y and others, with the strict goals of self-defense and health in mind. “Chinese box- Sachsische Akademie der Wissenschaften ing means that you train in the art of reading, controlling and projecting energy or zu Leipzig and Harvard University. The Three Blair School faculty were recently chi–that vital force,” said Phillips who has trained in Tai Chi Chuan for 20 years. compilation of concertos is the first in a awarded tenure at Vanderbilt: Jonathan He has learned to utilize chi in other disciplines. Each fall, he teaches a se- planned 80-volume series on the complete Retzlaff, associate professor of voice; mester-long course called “Tai Chi for Musicians” that helps students and faculty works of C.P.E. Bach. Lee began work on Thomas Verrier, associate professor of combat performance-related injuries and overuse syndrome. the compilation in 1985. wind studies; and Felix Wang, who not Upon his return, Phillips shared the experience with his students. “The Kung Fu only won tenure, but also was promoted to Melanie Lowe, assistant professor of music Club is truly a service–one of those areas as a faculty member that I take a lot of associate professor of cello. Other promo- history and literature, presented a lec- pride in. It’s been my good fortune to be involved with it for the last 16 years.” Nathan Brown and Regan Lackey perform the Act II tions included Melissa Rose, now associate ture at the Marcus W. Orr Center for the finale from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. professor of piano. – Kara Furlong 16 BLAIR Quarter Note Summer 2006 17 S T EVE

G REEN Visitors enjoyed the opening reception for the Betty Freeman photography exhibit in February. 2006 Commencement Honors and Awards Founder’s Medal: Dan Schwartz Alpha Lambda Delta Senior Certificates: New Music Library Jinwoo Back, Bonnie Brown, Dawson Director Announced Alma Mater Vocalist: Erin Kemp Gray, Crystal Jennings, Jennifer McNeil, DUBOIS DANIEL olling Smith-Borne has accepted David Repking, Dan Schwartz Hthe position of director of the Anne Student Marshals: Joanna Felder, Potter Wilson Music Library. He will Abigail Mace The MTNA Student Achievement Recog- begin work on August 1. nition Award: Catherine Nelson Smith-Borne is currently coordinator Banner Bearer: Preetha Narayanan of the music library at DePauw Univer- Martin Williams Award for most out sity, where he has developed and man- Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) College Honor standing paper: Andrew Hard and aged that library since 1997. Prior to Award: Christina Thompson Bethany Jo Whelan that, he was the Music and Fine Arts Li- Humanities at the University of Memphis. ference of the College Band Directors SAI Scholastic Award: Amy Cutright brarian at Butler University for 5 years. She also read a paper at the annual meet- National Association in February. More The Richard C. Cooper Award He has a B.M. (piano performance) DANIEL DUBOIS ing of American Musicological Society’s than fourteen high school and collegiate for campus-wide leadership in from Bowling Green State University, South-Central Chapter at Western Ken- ensembles from across the Southeast par- and a Masters of Information and Li- music: Lisa Bryington and Mer- tucky University. ticipated in the conference. The Blair Wind edith Schweitzer Ensembles’ performance featured works brary Science with a specialization in Thomas Verrier, associate professor and by visiting BMI Composer-in-Residence music librarianship from the University director of wind ensembles, coodinated Michael Daugherty, who also conducted a of Michigan. L. Howard “Zeke” Nicar Award hosting of the Southern Division con- clinic on connecting with repertoire. for most outstanding woodwind Crystal Jennings, BMus in musical arts, graduated magna cum laude on May 12. or brass student: Jennifer Ben- N eil B rake nett and Rosemary Rutledge The Elliot and Ailsa Newman Prize to a clarinet student for excellence in The Robin Dickerson Award to performance: Peter Cain an outstanding voice major, for excellence in performance and The Confroy-Lijoi Jazz Award for excel- scholarship: Adrianna Bond lence in jazz performance: Jon Lijoi

Delene Laubenheim McClure The S. S. and I. M. F. Marsden Award in Memorial Prize to a voice major Musical Scholarship for the most out- for excellence in opera perfor- standing major paper: ’05 Arts & Science mance: Nathan Brown alumnus John Dick

Blair Composition Competition The David Rabin Prize for excellence in Prize: Ben May musical performance: Preetha Narayanan

The Sue Brewer Award for The Margaret Branscomb Prize to the excellence in guitar or composi- freshman who best exemplifies the spirit tion/theory: Andrew Dunbar and and standards of the Blair School: Kathryn Jennifer McNeil Moreadith

The Jean Keller Heard Prize The Presser Scholarship to a junior excel- for excellence in strings: John ling in both performance and scholarship: Concklin and Joanna Felder Peter Cain Singer/Songwriter Raul Malo, former lead singer of The Mavericks, wowed the audience at Ingram Hall in February as he sang Sinatra classics with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra.

Founder’s Medalist Dan Schwartz with Dean Mark Wait 18 BLAIR Quarter Note S u m m e r 2 0 0 6 19 Regan Lackey, PatrickMcMurrey, JenaCarpenter andJustinEmmert. Nashville, TN37235 2201 West End Avenue Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt Mozart’s Opera Scenes,includedtheActIfinalefrom Lyric springproduction, OperaTheatre’s Cosi FanTutte with, from left, with, from PAID U. S.Postage Non-profit Permit No.23 Nashville, TN NEIL BRAKE

BLAIR SUMMER 2006 Vanderbilt University Composers A Complementof

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