Conservatory Faculty News: Spring 2018
Faculty members perform, present, record and publish
Coordinator of Strings and Professor of Bass Donovan Stokes, D.M., was a featured performer and clinician at the Richard Davis Bass Conference on March 29 and March 30, along with jazz giants John Clayton and Christian McBride. On April 4 and April 5, Stokes served as a guest teacher and performer at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, presenting his original compositions in recital. On April 9, he presented a solo recital at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Stokes then premiered his new Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra with the Berry College Orchestra in Rome, Georgia, April 10.
Associate Professor of Music Education Stephanie Standerfer, Ph.D., has been invited to present “Uses for Augmented and Virtual Reality Technology in Music Education Programs” and “Shared Assessment Strategies’ Impacts on Music Teacher Identity” at the 2018 World Conference for the International Society of Music Education in Baku, Azerbaijan, in July.
Assistant Professor of Dance Tiffanie Carson, M.F.A., presented her work, “Find Your HAPPY” (2017), at the New York Jazz Choreography Project April 28 and April 29, at the Salvatore Capezio Theater in New York City. Thirteen Shenandoah Conservatory dance majors traveled to New York City to perform the piece. The NYJCP is a celebration of jazz dance featuring original works by emerging and established choreographers.
Visiting Choral Artist Harris Ipock, M.M., performed with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in headline concerts at two divisional American Choral Directors Association conferences: the Central Division conference in Chicago, Illinois, Feb. 15, and the Western Division conference in Pasadena, California, March 15. The Santa Fe Desert Chorale is conducted by Joshua Habermann, who guest conducted Conservatory Choir in last year’s Bach-Handel Festival. The choir released its first commercial recording, “The Road Home,” March 16, on Avie Records. Also, Ipock’s recording with Yale Choral Artists, “Statements,” was released March 9, on Naxos Classical.
Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Conducting Timothy J. Robblee, Ph.D., conducted a 10-day tour of Asia from Feb. 26 through March 7. Highlights from the trip included a two-day residency with the bands at Hong Kong International School, where he conducted the high school honor band for the Asian Pacific Activities Conference Asian division. The band welcomed 90 members from six international schools. This was followed by a two-day residency with the bands at Macau Anglican College in Macau.
Chair of Instrumental Division and Professor of Saxophone Timothy Roberts, D.M.A., will perform John Williams’ “Escapades” with the Orquesta Sinfónica EAFIT in Medellin, Colombia, in June. He also recently released a new solo recording of “Canfield: Sonata After Poulenc,” for Alto Saxophone and Piano by David Deboor on the Enharmonic CD label. The recording received a strong positive review in the professional CD journal, Fanfare.
Chair of Dance Division and Assistant Professor of Dance Maurice Fraga, M.F.A., was invited to teach at the 2018 Performatica Festival in Puebla, Mexico, from March 12 through March 17. Over the course of Performatica, workshops, roundtable discussions and performances were convened with the goal of facilitating international and intercultural exchange of practices, knowledge, theory and culture as related to the contemporary discourse of body movement, expression and philosophy.
Chair of Conservatory Academics Division and Professor of Music Education David Zerull, Ph.D., recently presented two sessions at professional development conferences in New Jersey and Maryland. In February, he presented “The Musical Rehearsal: Helping Students Make Music With Effective Rehearsal Techniques and Shared Interpretation of the Work Being Performed” at the New Jersey Music Educators Association Conference held in East Brunswick, New Jersey. He utilized a demonstration group from Marlboro High School where alumnus Patrick Dalton ’99 (Master of Music in Music Education) is the director of bands and orchestra. The session included specific strategies and techniques to use when rehearsing bands for effective and musical performance. In March, Zerull presented “Teaching the Art of Music for Meaningful Student Assessment” at the Maryland Music Educators Association Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland. The session focused on developing educational outcomes appropriate for band and orchestra ensemble class and connecting individual student assessment to the expected outcomes. The result is a demonstration and record of individual student growth and achievement in the art of music.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education Lynn Rechel, Ph.D., presented “Songs, Chants and Musical Games for All Students in Pre-Kindergarten” at the 2018 Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children’s state-level conference in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The conference was held from March 8 through March 10. She also served as the guest conductor for Virginia Beach City Public Schools All-City Elementary Colonial Chorus March 24.
Graduate Programs Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Conservatory Academics Rosemary Green, Ph.D., attended the Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students conference at Kennesaw State University in Georgia March 22 and March 23, where she gave a research presentation, “Acknowledging Doctoral Students’ Reading Experiences.” She has conducted an ongoing research project with Shenandoah Conservatory graduate students to learn how these students develop, understand and deploy their own reading practices. Green also conducted the roundtable discussion, “Applying the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) to Our Projects.”
Associate Professor of Music History and Literature Laurie McManus, Ph.D., presented a paper on “Richard Wagner, Max Graf and the Birth of Psychoanalytic Music Criticism” at a conference devoted to Wagner around the year 1900 in Oxford, England, on April 10.
