FRIENDS AND ALUMNI OF

MUSIC AT MSU DENVER 1

AFFILIATE FACULTY

FEATURE: BETSY SCHWARM

GLESNER ...................... 3

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

AND FESTIVAL CHOIR ...... 4

FRI ENDS AND ALUMNI O F

MUSI C AT MSU DENVER

The Spring is Here Feel It, Smell It, Taste It, Play It

Spring semester is here and with it comes the promise of warmer temperatures, longer daylight hours, and new prac-tice rooms! Banging and clanging was heard throughout the ground floor of the Kenneth King Academic and Performing Arts Center last December and January, as crews renovated rooms 106 and 108, creating 14 new practice rooms for our students which will be available for use by February. We also are pleased to announce our new dedicated music computer lab, run by RJ Miller in his new role as the department’s Tech-nology Coordinator. We have an exciting semester ahead—

please follow the MSU Denver Department of Music on Face-book for weekly updates on upcoming concerts, celebrations, and events.

In this issue we are featuring our newest tenure-track faculty

member, our featured affiliate faculty member, and also one

of our many outstanding alumni. Thank you for your support

and dedication to our department—our success would not be

possible without it!

Josh Jackson, Distinguished Alumnus of MSU Denver’s Music Department Graduated 2009, Bachelor of Music Education by MB Krueger

When he attended MSU Denver, I found Josh Jackson to be one of those students who makes teach-ing rewarding and fun, and I am so pleased to see him flourishing as a teacher at this point in his life. I have two bookend anecdotes to share about Josh. The first is that the week before he started his first semester of voice lessons with me, I sent him an email suggesting five or six pieces we might work on during the semester. When he showed up for his very first lesson, he already had them all learned, so we were able to spend the entire semester making music out of them, and we made so much progress and had a great time in the process. He studied with me for three years, and was always prepared and self-motivated; I knew he would make a great teacher. The second anecdote is that this past fall, two of Josh’s former students from Chatfield High School came to MSU Denver, and both auditioned into the Chorale (our top choral ensemble) and both tested into the second se-mester of theory classes – a clear testament to Josh’s effectiveness as a teacher. I, like all of Josh’s former professors, am so proud of his accomplishments both as a student at MSU Denver and as a professional in the field. I recently asked Josh a few questions about himself, his student days, and his work at Chatfield High School. Where did you grow up? I was born in Holiday, Utah, but moved to Castle Rock, Colorado when I was 6 years old. What brought you to MSU Denver? My best friend was already attending MSU Denver and had great things to say about it. She thought they had a choir program too and thought I should check it out! I was originally a Computer Infor-mation Systems major, but after singing in Chorale my first year and quickly making connections with Music Department students, I realized I needed to change my major to Music Education. Do you have a favorite concert memory from your time at MSU Denver? My favorite concert memory was the Spring Concert of my freshmen year singing in Chorale. This concert followed my first college choir retreat - so I was not only connected with the music in a deep-er sense, but I also felt very connected with my ensemble. It was the first concert I can remember really feeling emotionally connected with the music I was performing. I had a solo too, which also made it fun!

S P RI NG NEW SLETTE R 201 4

JOSH JACKSON:

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS OF

MSU DENVER’S MUSIC

DEPARTMENT ................ 1

LARRY WORSTER TO

RETIRE ......................... 3

MARK HARRIS JOINS

TENURE TRACK ............. 2

PI KAPPA LAMBDA INDUC-

TEES AND INFORMATION .. 2

THE CUTTING EDGE OF

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY ...... 4

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Mark Harris was appointed to the new tenure track position of Studio Saxophone Instructor, after a national search. Certainly not new to MSU Denver Music, (he has been teaching here since 1991, which makes him a very wheezy senior member of the faculty) he welcomes the opportunity and challenge of this position. Mark brings the experience of a wide ranging per-formance career; classical saxophone performance degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and performances ranging from backing artists such as Cab Calloway, Billy Ekstein, Bob Hope, Johnny Otis and others at the Fairmont Hotel to performances with the (then) Denver Symphony Orchestra, to performances with Roger Waters, Fred Frith, Maria Schneider, and a host of others. Some of his favorite and most musically influential experiences were with his now colleagues Fred Hess and Ron Miles in the Boulder Creative Music Ensemble. He has long been involved with original music groups - Afro- Pop, art rock, experimental jazz groups, open improvisation, and some not readily categorizable. Through all this has grown a passion for teaching and learning, (he thanks his hardworking saxophone students for significant inspira-tion in that respect) and a desire to better understand how we teach and learn. Mark believes improvisation is a powerful and essential musical tool, is not specific to any genre and is something all complete musicians should be comfortable with. He has created the Improvisation for Classical Musicians class at MSU Denver to begin to address this. In it, performers develop skills simply relating to each other with sound, and exploring sound in a supportive environment- with very little written music. The class spends a sig-nificant portion of time “soundpainting.” Soundpainting is a sign language created by Walter Thompson, with which players can create music as a group in the moment. Mark headed to Sweden in January to study with Walter and to work with him on a guide for ensemble directors to use soundpainting with their groups. Looking forward, he sees a vibrant, energetic and growing department, with an outstanding and truly inspiring faculty. Mark feels as the world of music so quickly changes in a digital world, so should the focus of teachers. In his view, teachers should be constantly reassessing what students need to be successful participants in the world of music; to keep music vibrant, growing, relevant and compelling. How do we create complete musicians? How do we help students become master, lifelong learn-ers? How do we graduate the most curious, capable, creative musicians we can? If we do this, music will continue to grow. A significant piece of this puzzle is being an example to our students. Educators who are curious, creative, open, energetic, willing to be challenged, thoughtful, encouraging, and risk taking are much more likely to instill these traits in their students. This means a blurring of lines between genres, an openness to new musical experiences, a more aggressive collaboration between areas, and a real effort to find what is needed, what works and how we can implement new ideas in our teaching/learning structure.

Mark Harris Joins Tenure Track Faculty

Pi Kappa Lambda, a national music honor society that was founded in 1918, supports and promotes the highest level of musi-cal achievement and academic scholarship in institutions of higher learning that offer music degrees in one or more fields. The Kappa Theta chapter was installed at MSU Denver in October 2011, with 29 students and seven faculty members elected by the chapter since that time; their names appear below. Eligible students (minimum GPA of 3.5), alumni, and faculty are nominated each fall and spring semester, from which PKL fac-ulty members select the most outstanding candidates to be inducted. In order to be considered, though, nominees must have also demonstrated qualities of personal integrity, leadership, open-mindedness, creativity, and intellectual stamina. Other quali-fications include length of residency at MSU Denver and class ranking. In addition to the paid lifetime membership in PKL, induc-tees are provided with certificates and pins, and gold-and-white honor cords to wear at commencement to signify their accom-plishments.

KAPPA THETA CHAPTER

Officers:

Joice Gibson, President

Cherise Leiter, Vice President

RJ Miller, Secretary/Treasurer

Other Founding Members:

Michael Kornelsen

Larry Worster

David Kish

MB Krueger

Tamara Goldstein

Carla Aguilar

Erik Angerhofer

Lisa Cook

Trudi Wright

Pi Kappa Lambda Inductees and Information

2011-2012 Inductees:

Madeline Brazell

Samuel Cole

Katy Deditz

Christopher Keelan

Emily Mesenbrink

Jared Minaga

Will Moser

Mara Owen

Rory Reagan

Dominik Von Pichl

Denise Woodman

David Kish*

MB Krueger*

RJ Miller*

Trudi Wright*

2012-2013 Inductees:

Zachary Argotsinger

Kelly Blaha

Jared Brink

Deborah Solo Collins

Maren Glover

Christie Kleder

Carol Elliott Lynch

Lyat Michaelis

Teresa Petroski

Joshua Rigo

Elizabeth-Ann Rowlinson

Scott Watson

Catherine Williams

Katie Flannery*

Fall 2013 Inductees:

Sarah Baker

Lauren Maxwell

Erika Ray

Lauren Skinner

Terissa Thompson

Carla Aguilar*

Gregory Dufford*

* MSU Denver Music Faculty

Larry Worster to Retire

Affiliate Faculty Feature: Betsy Schwarm Glesner

Larry Worster has announced his retirement from the ranks of the tenured faculty as of July 31, 2014. He has worked at MSU Denver since 1988, starting as a part-time faculty member and entering the full-time faculty in 1995 to teach the core of the music history curriculum. He has been Department Chair twice and served for two years as the Director of Student Ser-vices Technology and Assessment and two years as Faculty Sen-ate Vice President. Space does not permit even a partial listing of his other service activities. His contributions to the institu-tion have always been student-centered, including his unstop-pable drive to develop scholarship support for our students. He began the effort to create a scholarship in his name that reached its first goal last month, achieving endowed status. His vision is that this fund, designated as a general award for de-serving students, will continue to grow. Worster looks forward to having more time to spend on his many ongoing projects: continuing to teach in the department as an emeritus faculty member, working on a new major text-book, having the time to develop as a guitarist and performer

of traditional Anglo-American mu-sic, and pursuing an “encore career” as a PGA Professional. He plans on splitting his time between his moun-tain cabin in Gold Hill and his winter home in Tucson, Arizona. As he looks back at his career with a bittersweet nostalgia, he observes that landing at MSU Den-ver seems the fulfillment of destiny. As he notes, “My early working life was filled with challenges, from simple confusion over career choic-es to drug addiction to poverty resulting from the life of a bar musician. In the middle eighties, everything turned around. I met a small group of incredibly inspirational life mentors that helped me get back in school and focus my energies on becom-ing a teacher. In my time at MSU Denver, I have been able to reach out to students with similar hurdles and pass that on.

Betsy Schwarm Glesner is a music historian based in Colorado. She serves on the music faculty of Metro-politan State University of Denver, and gives pre-performance talks for Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony Or-chestra. She also has a dozen years’ experience as a clas-sical radio announcer/

producer, through which she honed her music writing style to balance the interests of music professionals and the needs of casual listeners. She currently has three books in print - "Classical Music Insights," "Operatic In-sights," and "More Classical Music Insights," and is in the planning stages for a fourth devoted to the life and works of Mozart. Ms. Schwarm writes classical program notes for vari-ous organizations around the world. The domestic por-tion of that list includes the Colorado Symphony, Opera Colorado, Central City Opera, Cleveland Orchestra, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Mainly Mozart of San Diego, and the Huntsville Symphony, as well as Encyclopedia Britannica. Betsy Schwarm Glesner has taught at MSU Denver since 1990, making this spring the beginning of her 25th year! Congratulations!

Do you have a favorite classroom memory from Chatfield? I remember a rehearsal where my advanced mixed group learned an entire song without use of the piano. Some students had tun-ing forks and we had awesome discussions about intervals and some altered solfege. I remember thinking at that moment, "Maybe I can do this after all . . ." It was a neat memory - and reminds me that my students can be pushed to be better musi-cians every day. Do you have a favorite concert memory from Chatfield? Although each concert has moments of brilliance, and other mo-ments of unexpected disappointments, I can remember a few years ago my top group was commissioned to perform a piece by a local composer. At the concert, it was so awesome to have the composer stand after the number and to see his satisfaction with our performance. Looking at my students during the applause, I could see how proud they were of our accomplishment. We took black and white shapes and symbols written down by someone and transformed them into music FOR that person, bringing his vision to life. It was a neat experience for sure. Anything else you want to add . . . I am so proud to call myself an MSU Denver alumnus. I feel that MSU Denver prepared me extremely well for my current career pathway, and I love all the quality work they continually present to the public. MSU Denver's music department is "taking over the world" as I say. I wish to thank all of the wonderful and talented faculty at MSU Denver - for without them I could not continually make a difference for my students today.

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On Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4, MSU Denver's Symphony Orchestra and Festival Choir will team up to present an ex-

citing concert of choral and orchestral greats. Professor MB Krueger will conduct Francis Poulenc's Gloria, featuring faculty

member Michelle Diggs Thompson as the soprano soloist. Premiered in 1961, this is considered one of Poulenc's most cele-

brated works. It presents the text of the Gloria from the Roman Catholic mass in six movements that traverse a myriad of col-

ors and textures from jocular to mysterious to triumphant. Dr. Brandon S. Matthews will then conduct J. S. Bach's iconic Mag-

nificat, which Bach first composed in 1723 as a Christmas motet. He later reworked the piece, leaving out the interpolated

Christmas texts, and it premiered in the now well-known second version in 1733. The Magnificat text is a joyful burst of grati-

tude expressed by Mary at the news that she will bear the Christ child. Bach captures the ebullient spirit of the text in this

twelve-movement work, featuring the Symphony Orchestra, 5-part choir, and a range of student soloists. Please join us for

this end-of-year collaboration! Symphony Orchestra and Festival Choir / Saturday, May 3, 7:30 pm

Sunday, May 4, 7:30 pm / Tickets: $10, general; $8, seniors; $5, students

Box Office: 303-556-2296 http://www.ahec.edu/kingcenter/boxoffice.htm

For a complete listing of events visit us online at www.msudenver.edu/music/events

MSU Denver’s Symphony Orchestra and Festival Choir

The Cutting Edge of Music Tech

Our own RJ Miller has accepted a new position as the depart-ment's Coordinator of Music Technology. His duties now include training and supervising staff for the music technology lab; keep-ing the Department of Music on the cutting edge of music tech-nology in terms of resources and instruction; meeting and sup-porting a variety of instructional needs for faculty and students; aiding the Department in acquiring, installing, and utilizing tech-nology (both software and hardware) specific to music study; functioning as a faculty resource for courses requiring music technology; maintaining and developing instruction in music se-quencing and notation; developing new resources for instruction in electronic music media; assisting in the development of music technology curricula; editing, mastering, and producing audio/visual recordings, podcasts, etc.; obtaining licensing and clear-ance for the use of audio/visual materials by the Department; and coordinating with external partners to enhance music tech-nology instruction. RJ will also continue teaching classes.

(The NEW) Music Technology Lab, Plaza 246 Lab Hours of operation:

Monday - Thursday: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM Friday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Follow us on Facebook for the latest news and ‘note’-worthy events. Find our concert schedule, information on upcoming celebration events, and stay connected

with your former faculty.

Like us on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/MusicAtMSUDenver

The Friends and Alumni of Music at MSU Denver supports talented music students through annu-al scholarships. Joined with other departmental fundraising initiatives these scholarships will pro-

vide more than $50,000 to over 100 deserving students in 2014. Donate online at http://www.msudenver.edu/music/giving/

or send your donation to Metropolitan State University of Denver Annual Fund Campus Box 14, PO Box 173362, Denver, Colorado 80217-3362

Questions? Please contact the MSU Denver Annual Fund at 303-556-8424 or annualfund@msudenver.edu

Nothing replaces the feeling of watching a student who I have touched and who has surmounted obsta-cles walk across the stage at graduation. Nothing.” Worster will perform a farewell concert with musi-cians from Gold Hill on May 7th at 7:30 pm in the King Center Recital Hall. Tickets are $10, general; $8, sen-iors; $5, students. MSU Denver Community is free with a valid ID at the King Center Box Office: 303-556-2296. 855 Lawrence Way, Auraria Campus.

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