Music News

 

    • Alumnus, David Sartor, has impressive Academic Year
    • Graduate Conducting Assistant Alumnus releases new composition project
    • MTSU Jazz Saxophone graduate, Jovan Quallo, spotlighted in Nashville video
    • MTSU Music Graduate, Tyler Warren, New video project playing ALL instruments
    • Music Alumna, Allison Cowan, named top 50 educator by SBO Magazine
    • MTSU School of Music  Alumnus, Wayne Haun, Nominated for Grammy
    • MTSU Wind Ensemble Welcomes Guest Composer Maslanka to MTSU
    • Dr. Deanna Little, MTSU Flute Professor, spearheads "The Dolly Project"
    • Film of professor’s ‘Portraits’ captures black classical divas

      March 2017

      • MTSU Alumnus Dr. Silviu Ciulei has won another First Prize in an International Guitar Competition -  the Biennial Colorado Int'l Guitar Competition at the University of Colorado, Boulder, on Feb. 12.   His $3000 First Prize is one of a number of awards he has received in recent years, making him one of the most successful guitar competition winers in the USA.  He has won nearly every major guitar competition in America.  Other awards include: First Prize at the Indiana International Guitar Competition, First Prize at the East Carolina University Summer Guitar Festival and Competition, First Prize in the Texas International Concerto Competition, First Prize in the Columbus Guitar Symposium, First Prize in the Appalachian Guitar Festival, First Prize in the Schadt String International Concerto Competition.  Silviu presently is Professor of Guitar Studies at Furman University, SC.

      April 2016

      • MTSU Music Alum. Brad Rogers, Band Director at Oldham Co. High School, was named the Kentucky Music Educators Association 2017 High School Teacher of the Year.
        https://www.oldham.kyschools.us/index.php/news/staff-news/399-kmea-district-v-names-rogers-iqbal-music-teachers-of-the-year  Here is a link to the band web site with a bio on Brad Rogers: http://www.ocmsband.com/staff.html  Brad is in his 30th year now at Oldham Co. HS and is the current association president.

      • Ryan Frost – G.T.A. Percussion – Masters in Music – Performance and now Dr. Ryan Frost, has accepted the position of Director of Percussion Studies at Northern Iowa University
      • Andy Smith – G.T.A. Percussion – Masters in Music – Performance, and now Dr. Andy Smith, has accepted the position of Director of Percussion Studies at The University of Texas – El Paso.

      Here are their web pages and contact information if you wish to send them a note.
      Ryan - http://ryanfrostpercussion.weebly.com/
      Andy - http://www.innovativepercussion.com/artists/andy_smith


       

       Toman Cover

      In the Spring of 2015 Michael Toman received the Undergraduate Research Experience and Creative Activity grant from Middle Tennessee State University to record his first full length album. The album titled 'In Motion' is all originally composed material. The songs on the album highlight Michael's playing and writing he has done throughout his education at Middle Tennessee State University. During this process Michael was mentored by saxophonist and MTSU School of Music professor, Don Aliquo, who also played on several of the recordings. The rest of the rhythm section included Matt Endhal, and Jonathan Wires.


       Tracey Phillips accepted the Instrumental Album of the Year during the 45th Annual Dove Awards Pre-Show at Lipscomb University on October 7, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tracey graduated from MTSU School of Music in 2009 earning a BM with concentration in Theory Composition. While at MTSU, she traveled to Denver, Colorado to make a presentation on Convention-style piano accompaniment at the Society of American Music's annual seminar, a very rare feat for an undergraduate as most presenters are doctoral candidates or professors.

      Phillips has lived and worked in Nashville since 1994 and has been featured on the popular Gaither Homecoming videos. In addition, she has recorded and/or arranged for a number of well-known Southern Gospel artists, including The Speers, The Perrys and, most recently, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. She has been nominated for Dove Awards for her work on Daywind's instrumental series, and her own Christmas CD as well. She has recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague, Czech Republic. She composed original music for and performed for the movie "Billy, The Early Years," a full-length feature film recounting the early years of Billy Graham.

      Phillips has taught and accompanied for many years at Ben Speer's Stamps Baxter School of Music and the Alabama School of Gospel Music. She has also taught at the North Georgia and Texas schools. She has recorded two solo cds and two duet cds with her mother, Eloise, performing on piano and organ. Her solo piano arrangements are published by Word Entertainment.


       

       

      MTSU Music Alumnus Matt Palmer appears on the cover of Classical Guitar Magazine. His interview appears in the May 2014 edition. Published in England, Classical Guitar Magazine is the world's foremost international classical guitar periodical in the English language.

      Alumni, MTSU Guitar Grad - Matt Palmer

      MTSU Grad Matt Palmer will be headlining the MTSU Guitar Festival again this year May 27-30, 2015.   Check out his latest promo video: http://youtu.be/20ywgnzVsD8

      Matt was a featured performer in the prestigious Norsk Gitarfestival last week in Hamar, Norway. (Scandinavia most prestigious guitar series). Matt shared the bill with 2 other world renown guitarists (both GFA 1st Prize Winners) Lorenzo Micheli (Italy) and Marcin Dylla (Poland). http://www.norskgitarfestival.no/index.html Matt is a world class concert guitarist. In the past few years, he has performed solo concerts in Peru, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and across the US.  Matt teaches at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. He received his Doctorate from the University of Arizona. http://www.mattpalmerguitar.com/  (reported August 2013


       

Dr. Carol Nies, Director of Orchestras at MTSU conducted performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia and Cavalleria rusticana and suites from Carmen, La Boheme, Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro at the 2015 Rome Festival. She also served as Director of the Nashville Summer Orchestral Institute at the Blair school of Music.

 Adjunct Professor Matt Lund's jazz quintet released a self-titled album last November called "The Lund McVey Group."  It is their first studio album and was recorded at MTSU's studio B.  Lund is an MTSU jazz guitar master's program graduate.  Their saxophone player Jason McVey received his bachelor's and master's degrees in jazz performance from MTSU, and their bass player, Adam Bond, is an undergraduate alumnus of the MTSU jazz program.  The album contains ten of Lund's original jazz compositions. Please see www.reverbnation.com/lundmcveygroup for more information.


MTSU Guitar Faculty William Yelverton performed solo concerts and masterclasses during October and November 2014 at Mississippi State University and at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC.   Additionally, he presented student workshops at Centennial High School in Franklin, TN and at the Evergreen Charter School in Asheville, NC.   He also performed at Adams Place retirement community where he directs the "First Friday at Four"  MTSU student concert series.

Concert warmup  student performance NC  MS State post concert

1. Preconcert warm-up at Wofford College - 15th annual Troubadour Series   2. Student performance at Evergreen School, Asheville, NC. 3. MS State post concert 'meet and great'


Susan Ramsay, adjunct instructor for Music in the Elementary Grades for MUED majors, presented at NAfME (National Association for Music Education) on Tuesday and had over 100 people attend her session. Titled  "If You Build it, They will Move: Scaffolding in General Music Class." The session incorporated challenging singing and movement games that develop musical skill and concepts. Careful scaffolding, or process teaching, is need to provide the right amount of challenge and success for students in general music classes, and the session provided a model through the use of movement and singing games.


Dr. Joseph E. Morgan, MTSU Assistant Professor of Music History, has been selected to present at the 9th International Conference for Interdisciplinary Musicology (CIM14) at the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung in Berlin, Germany. He will be presenting a comparative study of the impact of technology on the development of the medieval motet and the contemporary mashup to an international audience of musicologists and music technology specialists.

Additionally, in September Dr. Morgan presented research that emerged from his recent book to meetings of the Southwest and Midwest chapters of the American Musicological Society.

Both studies have been chosen for publication in forthcoming proceedings and more information about the CIM14 can be found here: http://www.sim.spk-berlin.de/cim14_919.html


Tracey Phillips accepted the Instrumental Album of the Year during the 45th Annual Dove Awards Pre-Show at Lipscomb University on October 7, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tracey graduated from MTSU School of Music in 2009 earning a BM with concentration in Theory Composition. While at MTSU, she traveled to Denver, Colorado to make a presentation on Convention-style piano accompaniment at the Society of American Music's annual seminar, a very rare feat for an undergraduate as most presenters are doctoral candidates or professors.

Phillips has lived and worked in Nashville since 1994 and has been featured on the popular Gaither Homecoming videos. In addition, she has recorded and/or arranged for a number of well-known Southern Gospel artists, including The Speers, The Perrys and, most recently, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. She has been nominated for Dove Awards for her work on Daywind's instrumental series, and her own Christmas CD as well. She has recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague, Czech Republic. She composed original music for and performed for the movie "Billy, The Early Years," a full-length feature film recounting the early years of Billy Graham.

Phillips has taught and accompanied for many years at Ben Speer's Stamps Baxter School of Music and the Alabama School of Gospel Music. She has also taught at the North Georgia and Texas schools. She has recorded two solo cds and two duet cds with her mother, Eloise, performing on piano and organ. Her solo piano arrangements are published by Word Entertainment.


Dr. DentDr. Cedric Dent, MTSU professor of music, has been selected to receive a 2013 Heritage Music Award by the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. (NANM)! NANM was founded in 1919, and is the country's oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans.

Dent will be accepting the award at the Annual Convention to be held at the Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN from July 28–August 1, 2013.

Additionally, he will be presenting some of his research from his upcoming book "Music, Race and Church Doctrine: the Sound of Black Seventh-day Adventists" (working title) during the convention.

More information about NANM can be found at http://www.nanm.org/AboutUs.html.