Shenandoah Conservatory welcomed new full-time faculty members this semester: Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice Aaron Agulay, D.M.A.; Assistant Professor of Voice Stephanie Higgins, M.M.; Visiting Choral Artist & Conservatory Choir Director Harris Ipock, D.M.A. (in progress); Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Therapy Marisol Norris, Ph.D. (in progress); Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education Lynn Rechel, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor of Cello Julian Schwarz, M.M.; Assistant Professor of Music Theory Rachel Short, Ph.D.; and Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern Dance Laurie Taylor, B.S.
An essay on classical/jazz music and performance training titled, “Beyond Beauty, Brilliance, and Expression: On Reimagining Jazz and Classical Music Performance Training and Reconnecting with the General Public,” by Shenandoah Conservatory Dean and Professor of Music Michael Stepniak Ed.D., was published in a recent issue of the journal College Music Symposium. Read the essay here.
Professor of Dance Ting-Yu Chen, M.F.A, and Charlotte A. & Verne E. Collins Endowed Professor and Associate Professor of Music Education Jeffrey H. Marlatt, Ph.D., have taken on new roles at Shenandoah Conservatory, as the associate deans for student affairs, and faculty and academic affairs, respectively. A distinguished artist and former chair of the Dance Division, Chen has presented choreography and taught dance at renowned institutions in the United States and around the world. In her role as associate dean for student affairs, Chen is working closely with all leaders in the conservatory as well as key university resource centers related to the health and well-being and academic success of students. In addition to his esteemed teaching in the undergraduate and graduate music education programs at Shenandoah, Dr. Marlatt has most recently served as the assistant dean for student learning in the conservatory. In his new position as associate dean for faculty and academic affairs, Marlatt is the point person for issues impacting excellence in teaching, curriculum and students’ academic progress.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Education Lynn Rechel Ph.D., presented “The Musical Child: a Lecture/Lab Course in the Undergraduate Music Education Curriculum,” at a poster session at the Mountain Lake Colloquium for Teachers of General Music Methods in Pembroke, Virginia, in May. Rechel also reviewed session proposals for this symposium. Rechel presented a poster, “The Class within a Class: The Musical Child for Undergraduate Music Education Majors,” in August at the 23rd International Kodaly Symposium in Camrose, Alberta, Canada. In March, Rechel also presented a workshop session, “Let the Children Play!,” at the National Organization of Kodaly Educators (OAKE) Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Production and Recording Technology Mike Sokol, A.A., has published a number of articles on prosoundweb.com. Articles include a motivational piece for churches, “What Do Burned Engine Valves and Worship Teams Have in Common?,” one on music mixing techniques and philosophy – “Improve the Live Worship Sound Mix with These Tips and Techniques,” a tech piece on bass frequencies, “Lowering The Boom (Literally): Keeping Bass Energy Under Control As Part Of A Semi-Silent Stage” and an article about electrical safety for sound techs and performers – “Analyzing Failures in AC Outlet Testing and What It Means for Pro Audio.”
Distinguished Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Production and Recording Technology Paul DiFranco is the music licensing manager for the hit BET Network TV series, “The Quad,” which has been greenlit for a second season. Production began in Atlanta, Georgia, this September. The show follows the trials and tribulations of college life at an HBCU in Georgia.
DiFranco also just completed music supervision on the latest iteration of the “Bring It On” series of films, “Bring It On: Worldwide #Cheersmack.” Produced and distributed by Universal Studios, the film was recently released and is available on Netflix and Amazon. DiFranco secured songs by Lady Gaga, Iggy Azalea, The American Authors and more for the film. This latest rendition is unique in that it employs the device of a dark, edgy cheer team (The Truth) bent on ruling the cheer world.
Victor Brown Chair in Violin and Associate Professor of Strings Akemi Takayama, M.M., and Silvan Negruţiu ’13 appeared in four different cities (Xi’an, China; Okinawa, Fukuoka and Tokyo, Japan) this summer performing works by Cal Roskott, including his Violin Sonata. Negruţiu received a D.M.A. in Music Performance (Piano) from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in 2013. He studied with Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, Chair of Keyboard Division and Professor of Piano John O’Conor, Mus.D.
Associate Professor of Theatre Carolyn Coulson, M.F.A., led a Global Experiential Learning (GEL) trip on London theatre and history in May with 13 Shenandoah Conservatory theatre students. They visited Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford and saw over ten shows in London featuring actors such as David Tennant, Imelda Staunton and Damian Lewis. The group also had the opportunity to meet and talk with award-winning actor Adrian Lester at Shakespeare’s Globe (see picture). This summer, Coulson also directed “Oklahoma!” for Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre and submitted an article of travel writing for publication.
At the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) July (2017) board meeting in Tallahassee, Florida, Board President Linda L. Snyder appointed Janette Ogg Voice Research Center Director and Associate Professor of Voice (Baritone) David Meyer, D.M., to chair the NATS Voice Science Advisory Committee. Committee members include Drs. Robert T. Sataloff, Ingo Titze, Shenandoah Conservatory Adjunct Associate Professor of Vocal Pedagogy Wendy Leborgne, Ph.D., and Scott McCoy. The committee is a resource for current research and voice investigations, including vocal health and wellness, and participation in research and voice investigations.
Auxiliary Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music History Alanna Ropchock Tierno, Ph.D., recently returned from a two-month post-doctoral fellowship at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. While there, she pursued research for her current book project. While in Germany, she gave three presentations of her research. The first, “The Musical Legacy of the German Reformation,” was at a conference in Augsburg. She also served as co-organizer for the conference. She then gave a colloquium talk at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar in Weimar on June 28. The talk was on her dissertation research, “The Lutheran Reception of Josquin’s Missa Pange lingua.” She also presented a paper, “To the Glory of Whom? Josquin’s Missa de Beata Virgine in Catholic and Lutheran Ritual Contexts,” on July 5 at the Medieval and Renaissance Music conference in Prague, as part of the organized double session, “Ritual Matters: Composition, Revision, and Transmission in Renaissance Music for the Mass.”
Associate Professor of Music Education Stephanie Standerfer, Ph.D., presented “Reading and Literacy in Music: An Embedded Content Area Reading Course within the Music Education Curriculum” at the biennial meeting of the Society for Music Teacher Educators (SMTE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Sept. 7 through Sept. 9. She was also named the SMTE chair for the Virginia Music Educators Association.
Assistant Professor of Music Theory Rachel Short, Ph.D., presented “’This Thing Might Turn into Something: The Choreomusical Layers of Hellzapoppin’” at the fifth international Rhythm Changes Conference, Re/Sounding Jazz,” in Amsterdam on Sept. 1, with Chris Wells. Dr. Short and Wells analyzed the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers routine from the 1941 Olsen & Johnson comedy film “Hellzapoppin’,” synched up to Basie’s “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” recording, to which it was choreographed. They highlighted the clever and subtle musicality in Frankie Manning’s choreography that is obscured in the film when paired with a new musical arrangement by Freddy Martin.
Director of Musical Theatre and Assistant Professor of Theatre Kevin Covert, B.F.A., was appointed to the board of the Virginia Theatre Association. He specifically serves as the chair of the communications and outreach division of the board
Director and Associate Professor of Performing Arts Leadership David Edelman, M.F.A., has been appointed to the Scientific Committee of the international journal Cultural Management: Science and Education. He also attended the 30th Congress of the European Network on Cultural Management and Policy from Sept. 27, through Sept. 30, in Brussels, Belgium, where he presented his paper, “Emerging International Networks in Arts and Culture Research and Education.” And with Assistant Dean of Administration; Director of Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Performing Arts Leadership and Management Jennifer Green-Flint ’16, D.Prof., he co-authored a paper, “The Mind of the Artist/The Mind of the Leader: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About the Training of Arts Managers and Leaders,” that is being published this fall in the Journal of Cultural Management and Policy. Both Edelman and Dr. Green attended the Social Theory, Politics and the Arts Conference from Oct. 12, through Oct. 14, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they’re presenting their paper, “Narcissism, Empathy and Cultural Leadership.”
Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Conducting Tim Robblee, Ph.D., was a guest clinician at the University of British Columbia Wind Conducting Symposium from July 27, through July 31, in Vancouver, Canada. Alongside fellow clinicians Rob Taylor and Craig Kirchhoff, he taught 30 conductors in the areas of conducting technique, repertoire, rehearsal and score study.
This summer, Adjunct Professor of Vocal Coaching Robert Thieme, M.M., traveled to Panama City, Panama, for 10 days where he coached singers for the Fundación Opera Panamá, and accompanied them and a number of guest artists in a recital at the Iglesia San José Casco Antiguo, San Felipe. The program was titled, “Laudamous Te: Musica Sacra de Opera, Zarzuela Oratorio.” He also spent two weeks with the Richard Crittenden Opera Program in Washington, D.C., coaching singers in many opera excerpts.
Adjunct Associate Professor of Music Therapy Thomas Sweitzer ’94, ’10, B.F.A., Master’s Certificate in Music Therapy, is the executive director and co-founder of A Place to Be, a nonprofit organization based in Middleburg, Virginia. His organization is presenting “A WILL to Survive” at the Kennedy Center on Nov. 19.
Associate Professor of Voice and Coordinator of Musical Theatre Voice Matt Edwards ’15, D.M.A., was selected to serve as one of four master teachers in the 2018 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Intern Program. The program will take place at the University of Colorado-Boulder from June 4, through June 14, 2018. Edwards will teach alongside Margaret Cusack (Westminster Choir College), Brian Gill (Indiana University) and Jan Prokop (independent studio New York City and Montclair State University), as well as the collaborative piano master teacher Arlene Shrut (The Juilliard School).
Edwards has also received the 2017 Van Lawrence Fellowship by the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Voice Foundation to conduct real-time MRI research on professional musical theatre performers in New York City. Edwards is partnering with Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Aaron Johnson, Ph.D., at New York University School of Medicine, in this effort. In August, Edwards, Music Director (Theatre) and Assistant Professor of Theatre Rick Edinger M.A., and Assistant Professor of Voice Stephanie Higgins M.M., (DMA in progress), traveled to New York University to film MRI training videos to help teach Shenandoah musical theatre students. The videos show students how the various parts of the vocal tract move during singing and how those movements affect tone quality. The videos will also be used at the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute, held at Shenandoah, to help train voice teachers to analyze and troubleshoot the singing voice. This science-based approach to vocal training is the foundation of Shenandoah Conservatory’s Vocal Pedagogy programs. By understanding what is happening during vocal training, more effective teaching methods can be developed, which will drastically improve student outcomes.
Auxiliary Adjunct Associate Professor of Voice and Co-founder of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute Edrie Means Weekly ’84 M.M., and her co-authors, Rachelle Fleming, Linda Carroll, Gwen Korovin and Shenandoah Conservatory Adjunct Associate Professor of Vocal Pedagogy Wendy Leborgne ’94, Ph.D., recently had a research paper, “Vocal Health Care Survey Among Amateur and Professional Voice Users,” accepted for publication in the Journal of Voice. She is now a reviewer for both Plural Publishing and the world’s highly regarded journal for voice research and medicine, the Journal of Voice. Weekly also presented country music and musical theatre styles sessions this summer at the CCM Institute.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre Sally Anderson, B.A., B.Ed., presented her annual outdoor Shakespeare production in the gardens of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley on several weekends in September. Music direction was by Shenandoah Conservatory alumnus, David Landrum ’17. Anderson’s “As You Like It” is set in the South right after the Civil War, with the Forest of Arden being a campground of those (Confederate & Union) who gathered around Duke Senior and never returned home.
Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Professor of Dance Ting-Yu Chen, M.F.A., received a choreography commission to create “Waiting,” an original dance for James Madison University’s premier dance ensemble, Virginia Repertory Dance Company. The piece premiered on Oct. 13, and Oct. 14, as part of DanceShare at the Earlynn J. Miller Dance Theatre, and is being presented again on Dec. 7, through Dec. 10, as part of Dancescapes at the Mainstage Theatre of the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Invited by the dance company director and professor Shane O’Hara, Chen will be featured as a guest choreographer alongside with nationally and internationally known guest artists, including Washington, D.C.-based Christopher K. Morgan, John Dixon from East Carolina, and Michigan-based PJ Maske, artistic director of Urban Garden Performing Arts.
Adjunct Instructor of Music Therapy Bronwen Landless ’04, ’13, MT-BC, presented at the European Consortium for Arts Therapies Education (ECArTE) in September, in Krakow, Poland. The title of this year’s conference is “Traditions in Transition: New Articulations in Art Therapies.” She presented with Dr. Gerber and Ms. Biondo of Drexel University on the topic of Arts-based Research within Dominant Scholarly Traditions. She was also invited by the conference directors to present a masterclass in music therapy titled, “Facility-wide Performances: A Trauma-informed Music Therapy Approach to Building Community.”
Adjunct Associate Professor of Trumpet Chuck Seipp D.M.A., performed over the summer and has a full slate of fall masterclasses. In June, he performed a trumpet/organ concert in Sarasota, Florida, with Mary Mozelle and with the Shenandoah Faculty Brass Quintet at Reston Town Center in Reston, Virginia. In July, he performed in the United States Army Band Alumni concert in Washington, D.C. In September, he performed in a trumpet/organ/piano recital at The Villages at Orchard Ridge with Randall Sheets, with the Commonwealth Brass Quintet in Olney, Maryland, and in a trumpet/organ/piano faculty recital with Randall Sheets at Shenandoah University. He performed again with Mozelle in Sarasota and St. Petersburg, Florida, in October. He also taught three brass masterclasses in Florida in October, as well. He is also teaching masterclasses through the Shenandoah Faculty Brass Quintet School, October through December. He and Sheets performed a trumpet/organ recital in Culpeper, Virginia, in October and trumpet/organ recitals in North Carolina and Georgia, in November.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Voice (Soprano) Natalie Conte M.M., won the National Federation of Music Clubs (NAFM) Young Artist Competition in the female voice category in June. She will present recitals throughout the country on behalf of NAFM for the next two years.