Text Only Version

Conservatory News: Midsummer 2017

The Shenandoah Conservatory Jazz Ensemble toured the Pacific Northwest from May 17 through May 26. Nineteen students and four faculty (Harrison Endowed Chair in Piano and Associate Professor of Jazz Piano Robert Larson, D.M.A., who led the tour; Auxiliary Adjunct Associate Professor of Jazz and Trumpet Craig Fraedrich, M.M., ensemble director; Adjunct Associate Professor of Classical and Jazz Trombone Matt Niess, D.M.A., guest trombone artist; and Associate Professor of Piano Karen Walker, D.M.A.) traveled with the ensemble. Highlights included performances at Reynolds High School and the University of Portland, as well as a trip to Multnomah Falls on the Columbia River in Oregon; performances at the Central Washington University Jazz Festival as a featured college ensemble and Bellevue College, as well as visits to the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, Bainbridge Island and the Future of Flight Boeing Museum in Seattle, Washington; a performance at Pat’s Pub, Vancouver’s most popular jazz venue, and tours of the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada.

Abbie Allison ’18 was invited to participate in the Nuevo Mundo Festival in Oranjestad, Aruba, for ten days this summer under the leadership of artistic director Simon Gollo. This unique opportunity for Allison began after a busy summer schedule including 22 performances playing in the pit orchestra with Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Allison is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Performance (Horn) under the tutelage of Adjunct Associate Professor of Horn Joe Lovinsky, Artist Diploma.

The graduating acting class of 2017 worked with Greg Allen, the founder of neo-futurism, to develop an original piece. That work was taken to Signature Theatre; it is the first original work the acting program has taken to a professional Washington, D.C. theatre. Students in the acting program participated in a city-wide active shooter training in Winchester for medical and law enforcement; one of the first of its kind in the country. In the 2016-17 academic year, theatre students also worked with students in the Music Production and Recording Technology and Mass Communications programs to create a collaborative film. Also, the Musical Theatre program was featured in Backstage. https://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/backstage-experts/countrys-only-musical-theater-program-dedicated-poprock-musical/

The music therapy program is involved in several innovative efforts. The conservatory has integrated graduate music therapy students into the Interprofessional Education program (IPE). Students will complete the four-unit IPE certificate, alongside students from various health professions programs. The music therapy program, in collaboration with the voice pedagogy program, hosted the first graduate research symposium in the spring 2017 semester, “A Celebration of Scholarship,” in which students presented their thesis research. Additionally, the Judith Ruebush Townsend Scholarship in Music Therapy is a new annual scholarship being established this year for a student in the music therapy program. One or two scholarships will be awarded each year to a rising senior preparing for an internship and who exhibits excellence in leadership, scholarship and service.

The Musical Theatre program’s pop-rock focus was featured in a Backstage interview with Director of Musical Theatre and Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre Kevin Covert, B.F.A. The entire interview can be read at https://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/backstage-experts/countrys-only-musical-theater-program-dedicated-poprock-musical.

Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy’s (SCAA) Top of Virginia Youth Chorale (known as the Tops) sang, in June, with multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated group Celtic Woman at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia. The Tops performed two songs with the group, “Amazing Grace” in the first half of the concert and “You Raise Me Up” towards the end of the show. You can watch video of “You Raise Me Up” on Facebook.

Rising junior Jonathan Wyatt ’19 is attending the Atlantic Music Festival in Waterville, Maine, for a month this summer to study with distinguished faculty, including composers George Tsontakis, Ken Ueno, Hannah Lash, Robert Paterson, David Ludwig and Pierre Jalbert.

Drake Stoughton ’18 received the Presser Award at Shenandoah, a prestigious award given to an outstanding member of the junior conservatory class. He also placed second in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Southern Region instrumental solo competition at the University of South Carolina in February and was placed in the top college saxophone quartet (out of 45 national college-aged saxophonists) at the American Saxophone Academy at the Eastman School of Music last summer. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and studies with Professor of Saxophone Timothy Roberts, D.M.A.

Viola performance major Anna Dye ’18 was invited and is attending the Brevard Summer Music Festival with a sizable scholarship, while fellow viola performance major Ucee Nwachukwu ’20 was accepted to and is attending the NYU Steinhardt Summer Strings Program with a scholarship.

Maya Lončar ’18 was awarded first prize in the Collegiate Division in the Appalachian State University International Guitar Competition in April. Second- and third-prize winners were from the Cleveland Institute for Music, among the strongest guitar programs in the United States. Lončar won third prize her freshman year and this year won the grand prize for this competition. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Performance (Guitar) and studies with Director of Guitar Studies and Professor of Guitar Julian Gray.

The Bass Ensemble performed at the International Society of Bassists convention on June 8 in Ithaca, New York. The conservatory also hosted its annual Bass Coalition summer workshop from June 12 to June 16 and welcomed 30 bassists from ages 13 to 50. Professor of Bass Donovan Stokes, D.M., Inez Wyrick, Mark Rubinstein, Kevin Johnson ’11, Eric O. Hansen served as faculty and Argentine bassist and composer Andrés Martín was the featured guest artist.

Check out “I Remember Clifford” from a live performance at the International Society of Bassists convention:

Shenandoah University will award two full, four-year scholarships to Shenandoah Conservatory as part of the first-ever Teen Actor Awards, an initiative created by Professor of Theatre and Master Teacher of Acting Larry Silverberg and launched earlier this semester.

“There has never been a competition like this,” said Silverberg. “This is a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind competition that not only allows high school seniors to compete for an impressive amount of scholarship money, but also provides additional learning and growth opportunities for high school students of all ages.”

The coveted grand prize – $160,000 in scholarship money to Shenandoah Conservatory – will be awarded to two high school seniors, one male and one female. These two winners will also receive a photo shoot in New York City with renowned headshot photographer Jeff Mosier. In addition, six other senior finalists, three male and three female, will each receive a Conservatory Award of up to $12,000 per year.

“I think it’s awesome, and I really wish it had existed when I was in high school, because senior year of high school is the worst, and I didn’t know anything about how to get into colleges,” said Shenandoah Conservatory sophomore acting major Abigail Haggerty, who serves as a student spokesperson for the contest. “So this is great because you learn how to make an audition video. I had no idea how to do that when I was a senior in high school.”

In her role as a student spokesperson, Haggerty is in the process of creating videos that will help the students understand what it’s like to be a college student majoring in acting or musical theatre, since she says it was a bit of a shock once she enrolled in her program and realized just how much hard work goes into this type of major.

“I feel lucky to be a part of this. I hope that I can be a face of what it looks like to be a college acting major or musical theatre major, and serve as a mentor from afar,” said Haggerty. “They don’t get to meet me, but they can watch the videos to understand what’s going to happen once they join a college community. Looking back when I thought about college, it was just this distant blur, but I hope this will solidify it in their minds.”

High school freshmen, sophomores and juniors who enter the competition will compete for one of seven finalist slots, one of which will receive a fully paid scholarship to the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Community Division Summer Musical Theatre Intensive (SMTI) Preprofessional program. In addition, three male and three female winners from this group will each receive a fully paid College Audition Coach’s Online Prep Program in acting or in musical theatre with Mary Anna Dennard, an internationally recognized college audition coach.

As part of the $49 entry fee, students receive a copy of Silverberg’s book, “Winning Your Acting Auditions,” as well as access to an online workshop with Silverberg, “The Seven Keys to Winning Your Acting Audition.” Both will help students prepare for the competition, which includes creating a monologue video and submitting their entry by Feb. 1, 2017. Finalists will be chosen and notified later that month.

“Just by entering, you get books and you get contacts with people who know what they’re doing and know how to teach you how to audition,” said Haggerty. “If I had been able to read some of the books that they’re getting, I would know so much more. And being able to contact people? That would have been awesome to just email someone and say, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing – please help,’ and for someone to say, ‘Here – do this,’ or to be able to go online and find a video that answers your question.”

The two high school drama programs attended by the senior division winners will each receive a library of 100 theatre books from Smith & Kraus Publishers, the number one theatre book publishing company in the world.

“The mission is to give high school drama teachers the support they need to help their students be successful,” said Silverberg. “There are a great amount of resources and online tutorials not only for students through this competition, but also for teachers through the newly launched Acting Teacher Studio. I am so excited to provide this much-needed resource to drama teachers around the world.”

Rules for the Teen Actor Awards competition, including information related to the Shenandoah University admissions process, can be found at teenactorawards.com/rules.html.

Shenandoah Conservatory’s Theatre Division will present “Blue Stockings” – a moving, sometimes humorous, play that resonates with today’s ongoing fight for women’s equality in the classroom and beyond – from Friday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 13, in Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre on the campus of Shenandoah University (1460 University Drive, Winchester, VA, 22601).

Set in 1896, the play focuses on the young women of Girton College, Britain’s first college to admit women, who are preparing for battle. After sacrificing their reputation in society and studying ferociously to match the grades of their male peers, the women are told they will not be able to graduate. Branded as “blue stockings” (a derogative term for an educated woman considered “unmarriageable”), the women wage a yearlong fight for education and self-determination.

“Shenandoah University is unique in its history for providing women opportunities in higher education,” said Director of Acting and Associate Professor of Theatre J.J. Ruscella, M.F.A., who directs the university’s production of “Blue Stockings.” “From its earliest years where women were admitted as students and served on the faculty, to today where both the president of Shenandoah and the chair of the university’s board of trustees are brilliant female leaders, it is important that we remind the younger generations of the struggles and triumphs it took to get us where we are today.”

Leading up to the weekend performances, an exhibit will be on display in the lobby of Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre beginning Monday, Nov. 7, providing historical context regarding the women’s movement in both England and the United States, as well as the history of Shenandoah University and the roles that women have played in its development, including current leaders.

“The process of working on this exhibit has been so interesting for me, simply because of the experience of listening to women from all walks of life share their experience,” said Shenandoah Conservatory Production Manager Elizabeth Albert. “Every woman has a story, and it’s been fascinating getting feedback from community members, faculty, staff, administrators, students, family, friends, and more. All of these stories illustrate at the same time the differences between us and that which makes us the same.”

The exhibit, created in partnership with the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, will also contain a slideshow of quotes from community leaders, as well as university staff, faculty, and students that were gathered via a survey created and disseminated by the university. Artifacts and sample costume pieces from the era in which the play is set will also be on display.

“The Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum is thrilled to partner with Shenandoah University to help tell the story about the importance of education for all,” said Museum Education Specialist Diane Jackson Schnoor, Ph.D. “The museum’s mission pairs beautifully with ‘Blue Stockings’ as we actively seek to spark curiosity and engage children through provoking questions and hands-on exhibits and play. We hope to use the exhibit pieces to continue the conversations sparked by this production of ‘Blue Stockings.’”

After its installation at the university, the exhibit pieces that the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum helped develop for and with the university will be displayed at the museum beginning the week of Nov. 22 and continuing throughout the winter months.

A screening of “Iron Jawed Angels” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6, will kick off the week. The 2004 film details the suffrage movement in the United States and star Hilary Swank, Julia Ormond and Angelica Huston. The screening will be in Glaize Studio Theatre (accessible via the lobby of Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre) and is free and open to the public. A brief “ArtsEngage” discussion about the history of the movement will be held before the screening and is led by the dramaturg for “Blue Stockings,” freshman student Rachel Louis.

A dialogue with Ruscella and select members of the cast will be held after the play’s Saturday matinee. Audience members are invited to join the conversation in the lower portion of the house immediately following the performance.

“The community has banded together in our efforts surrounding ‘Blue Stockings’ to remind us how far we have come,” added Ruscella. “It’s important to teach our young women that it was not that long ago that women were not seen as equal citizens. The stories of our past are important, to inform our youth of what their parents and grandparents fought and strived for. But maybe even more important are the stories we inspire women to tell themselves about themselves. That they are good enough. That they are smart enough. That they can be the next great scientist or engineer or doctor. This week the community comes together to celebrate our past in order to inspire the women of the future. As a father of a thirteen-year-old daughter, I want her to see herself for all the amazing potential that lives within her. To me, this week is about coming together for our daughters.”

“Blue Stockings” is presented at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11; 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12; and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13. Tickets for each performance are $20 general admission, $17 senior citizens and $10 for military, students, and youth. Tickets and information are available at the Shenandoah Conservatory Box Office, (540) 665-4569, located in the lobby of Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre and online at conservatoryperforms.org. “Blue Stockings” is written by Jessica Swale and directed by J.J. Ruscella.

Director of Acting and Associate Professor of Theatre J.J. Ruscella, M.F.A., is the first professor to create online courses for an innovative, comprehensive digital curriculum produced by Education Axis, a startup with the goal to provide new educational resources to students around the world.

“Education Axis has something very special here, in both the brilliance of its individuals and the openness of its culture,” Ruscella said. “They’re forward-thinking as far as innovations in technology that we haven’t even accomplished yet, and the impending impact of those upon education is being addressed in the minds of these amazing individuals. It’s just fun to be a part of, and an honor to be chosen as the first course instructor.”

Ruscella’s course, Introduction to Theater, introduces students to a variety of concepts surrounding theatrical history and practice, including story forms, theatrical roles, and a critical survey of theatre history. The course will be broken into 40 sections averaging 10 minutes of rich video lecture per lesson, allowing students to take the course at their own pace, with opportunities for deeper study throughout each lesson.

Education Axis’ mission is to equip students worldwide with quality, accessible education. Ruscella’s course will be one of more than 100 courses in the complete high-school-level curriculum. Educators from a wide range of backgrounds will provide expertise on subjects from science to the arts, in order to create a unique blend of courses. “The goal of Education Axis is to help make a better world by providing affordable, quality tools of learning for all people,” said Aaron Linne, one of the founders of Education Axis. “We are overjoyed that the talents of Ruscella and the art of theater will be made accessible to the furthest reaches of the globe.”

For several years, Shenandoah University’s Division of Physician Assistant (PA) Studies has collaborated with Shenandoah Conservatory acting students to provide graduate students with the means to enhance their learning through simulation exercises. Interprofessional case learning is a critical component of today’s health education, and learning in small groups helps PA students to practice what they are learning as they react to various types of simulated patients.

“Simulation in the form of standardized patients provides an opportunity for students to engage in real-life experiences while they’re in the formative stages of their learning,” said Director and Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Rachel Carlson, Ed.D. “It provides depth and breadth and gives them the opportunity to learn how to gather information from patients. I think it also helps student actors as they practice their craft.”

CASE STUDY APPROACH TO SIMULATION

Physician assistant students approach simulation using a small-group case study approach, where the professor serves as an observer and facilitator. Each student brings his or her strengths and weaknesses to the scenario, and each is assigned a role to play.

“The hardest part as a facilitator is to remain quiet, but that’s our job,” Carlson emphasized. “We ask probing questions and let them talk themselves through the process.”

In simulation, PA students conduct the interviews and ask questions, interacting with their student counterparts who serve as standardized patients. The actors follow a script describing patient names and ages; medical, social and family history; and symptoms and medication. From there, they have to develop their characters and play the roles required for the exercise.

Each case is delivered through Blackboard, and each PA student is assigned a specific leadership role. They use their laptops to view the case; take and share notes; look up information in electronic library resources or search Google for terms and descriptions.

Each student takes a turn interviewing the standardized patient (i.e., acting student), while the others observe and take notes. Then each one returns to the small group to discuss what worked or didn’t work and to fill in the gaps of information needed as they work collectively through the case.

“We know, and the evidence has shown, that when students learn on their own and together, they retain the information better,” said Carlson. “When they come across problems or need to puzzle through the answers required for a particular symptom, they spend time in the literature, asking the right questions and gathering the information they need to make good diagnostic decisions.”

With each case scenario, students gain more confidence in themselves as well as in their ability to ask the right questions. They learn to address the issues related to the case as they interact with the simulated patients.

“It’s really impressive for us to see the growth that occurs from these sessions,” said Carlson. “They enter the program as individuals who know very little about medicine, and then they turn into clinicians, right before our eyes.”

‘PRACTICING’ WITH STANDARDIZED PATIENTS

“Working with the standardized patients is a good experience,” said first-year PA student Kaitlyn Robinson. “It’s the most real-life experience we can get in the classroom. You never know what you’re going to run into, and it lets us practice in a variety of situations.”

Robinson said the simulation exercise helped reveal some things she needs to work on as a provider.

“I had never worked with multiple patients at once,” said Robinson. “The ‘family member’ I interviewed was giving me lots of data, but the patient who needed the medication didn’t offer much feedback at all,” she said. “That was difficult, because they were bickering back forth, and it was hard to get them to focus on the what I needed to know.”

It’s also an exercise, she said, that requires some imagination.

“We’re not actors, we’re PA students,” said said. “So, in simulation, you have to remember that while you’re looking at a 20 year-old college student, she represents a 49 year-old, obese woman with diabetes. You have to look beyond this young, fit person and envision who this person represents.”

“We’re used to practicing on one another,” explained first-year PA student Amy Moorhead. “So there’s a level of comfort there, but it doesn’t feel very real. When we have someone in front of us that we don’t know, it’s a little more natural, like you’re actually with a patient. They give you a response and stay in character, and we don’t get that when we’re just working with each other.”

“Patients won’t know what you’re going to ask, and they sure aren’t going to know how to respond in medical terms,” said first-year PA student Walker Necessary. “So it was a great experience to talk to a ‘real’ patient, and to see how our skills are right now, and how we can improve them.”

According to Moorhead, it’s not the medical issue but the human factor that makes working with simulation patients so rewarding.

“Patients are so much more than their clinical signs and symptoms, and even though something may be very clear on paper, people aren’t simple. So, being able to connect with a person wherever they are seems to be the way to get a better health outcome.”

INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

The opportunity for PAs and actors to collaborate in an academic health care setting appears to be a win-win for both PA and acting students. In this second year of patient simulations conducted in small-group settings, collaboration between the School of Health Professions and Shenandoah Conservatory continues to evolve.

“There aren’t many schools of health professions within a university that are connected to a conservatory,” said Carlson. “This opportunity to cross disciplines is not something every institution can do.”

— Contributed by Cathy Loranger

Whether posing as a patient reacting to a new medication, a young mother with a sick child, a terrorist in a SWAT exercise, or an overly helpful good Samaritan, simulation actors train people to practice today for tomorrow’s realities.

The demand for actors as trainers continues to grow across the United States, and simulation now takes many forms in the fields of medicine, law enforcement, emergency first response, litigation, business, education and national security. It also offers a steady source of income for trained actors to serve as standardized patients in hospitals, medical schools and health-related educational programs.

“I think simulation is important because it gives acting students a twofold view of their profession,” said Adjunct Associate Professor of Acting Sally Anderson. “First, when they’re going through a simulation, they serve as a tool for someone else. They have to consider the goals and objectives of the person who is hiring them. Second, they learn how to act as characters they may eventually play in a movie or commercial. In that way, it is invaluable training that will help them greatly in their future professions.”

Shenandoah Conservatory students are trained in improvisation, acting, interactive performance, story and technology. This broad-based approach makes them ideally suited to perform in training simulations or in scenarios that require interpersonal interaction.

“Nearly every teaching hospital has a standardized patient unit,” said Anderson. “They pay actors $20 to $60 an hour, depending on the invasiveness of the standardized patient work, from working with medical students gathering physical histories, to psychological, PTSD and grief situations, to teenage traumas.”

Other simulation opportunities include helping lawyers to choose a jury or practice with witnesses; training police units and SWAT teams; providing high-profile business sales training; serving as unruly students for teachers; or acting in living history/museum settings, where Anderson says a majority of students may find jobs after graduation.

The largest opportunity, she said, remains in the area of health care.

INTERPROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND BEYOND

Under Anderson’s leadership, student actors have worked interprofessionally with students in Shenandoah’s School of Health Professions — particularly the physician assistant studies and respiratory care programs — helping to train emerging practitioners.

And the opportunities for collaborative learning through simulation continue to grow. Other academic programs, including psychology, athletic training and nursing, are also calling on Anderson’s students to help provide interprofessional case learning for their students.

To prepare for standardized patient simulations, actors receive a case study with an individual’s medical and social history.

“It’s bare-bones facts, but we get to spice it up and bring it to life,” said senior acting major Lizzie Hinton. “It’s fun because we get to create our own characters based on the facts we’re given.”

According to senior acting major Caleb Forsythe, the rules provided in each case serve as the scaffolding for character development and provide clues for the interviewers.

“It’s actually a very in-depth experience,” he said. “You really have to be ready and on your toes. If you don’t have the history, all the factors as a character in a relationship can’t occur. You have to be aware and fully invested.”

WORKING IN THE COMMUNITY

In addition to simulation patient work, students in Anderson’s class also engage with local community groups.

“We’ve done a lot of training with police,” said Hinton. “Last week, we did a school shooting simulation…with gory makeup, gunshot wounds and broken bones. We were weeping and panicking. It was actually really fun, because it feels like you’re in this dire situation, but in the end, nobody’s really hurt.”

Anne Williams is a lawyer in private practice in Winchester, Virginia, and the Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Clarke County, Virginia. She and Frederick County (Virginia) Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Heather Enloe helped Shenandoah acting students to participate in a law firm simulation scenario.

“We arranged for a judge to preside over a mock jury selection,” said Williams. “Once we had selected our ‘jury,’ we had several students leave the courtroom and watch a scene from a movie as if they were eyewitnesses to a criminal act. Those four students were then called into court to testify as if they were witnesses, facing both direct and cross-examination in front of the mock jury.”

At the conclusion of the abbreviated “case,” the jury decided whether the “defendant” was guilty or innocent. Enloe and Williams questioned the students about what they didn’t uncover about their juror characters, how they could have discovered that information better, and whether they picked “good” jurors for their respective cases.

“I believe the students learned a lot about the judicial process, and it was a great tool for Heather and I as lawyers,” said Williams. “Jury selection can be a daunting and intimidating aspect of litigation. However, the more frequently a lawyer can do it, the more comfortable the lawyer will be. Therefore, I feel that using simulation in the legal field for jury selection would benefit many lawyers.”

And what do students think their clients learn from these experiences?

While acting is usually considered an art form, it turns out it is also a great way for actors to serve the communities in which they live. 

“I’m going to definitely try to do some simulation work,” said Hinton. “It’s a great way to keep in touch with the community and to help people in a clear-cut way.”

— Contributed by Cathy Loranger