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This page includes recent achievements, performances, and publications of the School of Music faculty.

Faculty: If you would like your achievements to be published on this page, please use our online submission form, or submit via email to fanfare@northwestern.edu. (Note: If you are submitting digital images to go along with your news item, you must use the email address and attach those images to the email.) Your information may also be included in the next issue of Fanfare. We reserve the right to edit your item for either online or print publication.

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Carlos Abril (music education) presented a paper in March at the International Conference of Cultural Diversity in Music Education in Seattle, WA, based on a recent study examining culturally responsive teaching in the secondary instrumental music program. In February, he presented a session on multiculturalism in general music education at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference in Cincinnati. In April he presented two papers at the MENC National Biennial In-Service Conference in Milwaukee, WI. His article "A study to measure the perceptions and status of music programs in secondary schools across the United States" was recently published in the Journal of Research in Music Education.

Stephen Alltop (conducting and piano) performed a recital of works for baroque violin and harpsichird with Oberlin College Faculty member Marilyn McDonald in Door County, WI, in February. In March he conducted the U.S. premiere of Shaun Davey's The Relief of Derry Symphony as part of "Siamsa na n'Gael: A Celebration of Celtic Music" at Chicago's Symphony Center. Actor John Mahoney, percussionist Noel Eccles, and vocalist Rita Connelley were part of the collaboration. Also in March, Dr. Alltop was featured on the guest speaker series at Chicago's Fourth Presbyterian Church, delivering a lecture on Handel's Messiah. In May, he performed organ continuo with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in Bach's Mass in B minor. 

Linda Austern (musicology) gave invited lectures during March and April at Princeton University and the University of Wisconsin, served as chair and respondent to a panel on the Stuart masque at the annual conference of the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music (where she also began her new duties as Chair of the Society's 2009 Program Committee), and published a review in the interdisciplinary journal Renaissance Studies.

Janet R. Barrett (music education) was the keynote speaker at the Arts and Education Forum, sponsored by the Southeast Center for Education and the Arts, and presented an invited address for the Music Teacher Education Special Research Interest Group at the Music Educators National Conference event held recently in Milwaukee. She also presented a curriculum paper at the American Educational Research Association conference in New York. Recent publications include "Music Teachers' Lateral Knowledge" in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education and a chapter, "Assessing the Strength of Interdisciplinary Connections in the Music Curriculum," for a book published this spring by GIA.

Marcia Bosits (piano / piano pedagogy) presented a lecture-recital in November titled "The Influence of the Tango in Contemporary Piano Literature," for the European Piano Teachers International Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia. An author in the area of piano pedagogy, her article "Character Pieces by Black Composers: A Discovery for Teachers and Performers" was published in the summer 2007 edition of the EPTA Piano Journal.

Karen Brunssen (voice and opera) was the mezzo soprano soloist last summer in Duralfe's Requiem with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus and Orchestra performing at Millenium Park in Chicago. In February she was in-residence teaching at Cambridge University in England, where she worked with singers, choristers, choirs, choral and organ scholars from fourteen of the colleges including, Clare College, King's College, Jesus College, Magdelene College, Selwyn College, St. Catherine's College, Caius College, Emmanuel College and others. Also in February she presented a session on "Ages of the Voice" at the North Central Division American Choral Directors Association Convention in Grand Rapids, MI.

Elizabeth Buccheri (piano and collaborative arts) will return this summer to the Aspen Music Festival, where she teaches classes and conducts in the opera program, plays in chamber music concerts, and assists Music Director David Zinman with special vocal projects. In September, Buccheri will begin her 21st season as an assistant conductor at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Steven Cohen (clarinet) taught for three weeks last fall at the Oberlin Conservatory as a sabbatical replacement. In February he played principal clarinet with the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans for a concert celebrating the Historic New Orleans Collection. This spring he performed (and in some cases taught classes) at DePaul University, Northwestern University, the Longy School in Boston, the Virginia Commonwealth University, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Indiana University. He performed in Wilmington, NC, on a Holocaust remembrance concert as part of a week’s activities. Also this previous year, he has performed with the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble, the Chicago Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony. This summer he will return to the Aria festival in Williamstown, MA, and to the Brevard Music Center as principal clarinet. This fall he will perform as guest artist for the Ball State University clarinet day.

Drew Edward Davies (musicology) received the 2006 Wiley Housewright Dissertation award for his work The Italianized Frontier: Music at Durango Cathedral, Español Culture, and the Aesthetics of Devotion in Eighteenth-Century New Spain. For more information, read this press statement. In April, Davies traveled to Cuba to present his paper "México galante: Hacia una historiografía más precisa de la música italianizada en la Nueva España" (Galant Mexico: Toward a Precise Historiography of Italianate Music in New Spain) at the Casa de las Américas in Havana. The same month, he also presented "Dramatizing the Magi and Adoring the Child: The Epiphany Theme in the Seventeenth-Century Villancico" at the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music Conference at the Huntington Library near Los Angeles.

Julian Dawson (piano) conducted The Magic Flute and Carmen for the Intermountain Opera in Bozeman, MT. He is now principal conductor of that company. He also performed Beethoven's 4th and 5th piano concertos in Normal, IL, and Sioux Falls, SD, respectively, in September 2007 and April 2008.

Robert Hasty (conducting and ensembles) was invited to be in residence for the Madison (WI) Music Festival in February, where he worked with all instrumental and choral students. This was made possible by a grant awarded by the Appleton Education Foundation. Dr. Hasty was the "mainland" adjudicator for the Hawaii Chapter of the American String Teachers Association Parade of Orchestras in April 2007, held at the Pearl City Cultural Center on the Island of Oahu. The Academic Committee of Northwestern's ASG selected Dr. Hasty to the Faculty Honor Roll, where he was honored in a reception in May 2007. He led a conductor workshop at the Illinois American String Teachers Association Fall Teacher Enrichment Workshop last October. In November, Dr. Hasty served as the conductor for the Illinois Music Educators Association Senior Orchestra for District 3 at Illinois State University. He led the Iowa State Honor Orchestra, and audition-selected ensemble of students across the state, in February. Also that same month, he gave a talk titled  "Bow Style by Style Period" at the DuPage County Music Clinic.

Maud Hickey (music education) has been accepted to present a paper at the International Society for Music Education biennial meeting in Bologna, Italy, this summer. She recently published a paper with Betty Anne Younker, Northwestern University alumna and current associate dean at the University of Michigan, titled "Examining the profession through the lens of social justice: two music educatorsí stories and their stark realizations." The article was published in Music Education Research.

Lee Hyla (composition) has seen the release of a new recording that includes two of his works. Released by BMOP Sound, Lives of the Saints includes the title track and At Suma Beach. Mezzo-soprano Mary Nessinger performs on both pieces with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose conducting. For more information, visit www.leehyla.com.

Margaret Kemper (nonmajor organ) performed three organ recitals this spring: at Kenilworth Union Church in February; at the Presbyterian Homes' Elliott Chapel in April; and at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in May. The May recital was in celebration of the announcement that Garrett Seminary has established a permanently endowed Margaret McElwain Kemper Music Ministry Scholarship for organ and church music students enrolling at Garrett.

Rex Martin (tuba/euphonium) delivered the commencement address for the School of Fine Arts at Illinois State University in May. In addition to being the commencement speaker, he also performed a concerto at the ceremony, accompanied by the ISU Wind Ensemble. Professor Martin recorded a solo CD in Osaka, Japan, which was released by WAKO Records. The CD was recorded from a single live solo recital.

Inna Naroditskaya (musicology) presented two guest lectures at the College of William and Mary: one on Azerbaijani improvisation, and one on the ethno-musical map of Chicago. In June, she took part in an interdisciplinary symposium in Istambul, Turkey. Her presentation focuses on Two Operatic Heroines as Markers of a Century of Azerbaijani Culture.

Ryan Nelson (conducting and ensembles) presented a series of lectures on rehearsal techniques and score study while in residence at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro last October. Dr. Nelson conducted the Northwestern University Symphonic Band at the College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Conference in Omaha, NE, last March. He also gave a rehearsal masterclass on Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral at Brandon University (Manitoba) in February, and he had a clinic residency with the Shawnee Mission (KS) School District in April. His guest conducting engagements this year have included: Alle-Kiski Honors Band (Pittsburgh, PA), Westman Honor Band (Brandon, Manitoba), and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Region III State Band (Holidaysburgh, PA). Dr. Nelson will speak at the International Society for the Investigation and Promotion of Wind Music Conference in Echternach, Luxembourg, in July 2008. He will be music directing the regional premiere of All Shook Up at the Marriott Theatre (Lincolnshire, IL) at September.

Anne Waller (guitar) will perform as part of the Waller and Maxwell Guitar Duo at the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes. She will also teach a master class. This summer's festival honors guitarist Oscar Ghiglia on his 70th birthday. Maestro Ghiglia has been teaching and performing at Northwestern during a spring residency for the past 22 years.

Amy Weller's (conducting and ensembles) scholarly edition of Anton Reicha's Missa Pro Defunctis (Requiem) was recently published by A-R Editions as part of their "Recent Researches" series.

Gail Williams (horn) premiered the three commissions in the 2007-08 school year that she had written for her students with the Charles Deering McComick award. This next year, she will record these works. Professor Williams taught at the Domaine Forget International Festival in June 2008 and will teach at an International Brass Festival in Melbourne, Australia, in September.

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Submit Your Faculty News

You can now submit your faculty news through the form below. If you would prefer, news can also be submited via email to fanfare@northwestern.edu. (Note: If you are submitting digital images to go along with your news item, you must use the email address and attach those images to the email.) We reserve the right to edit your item for either online or print publication.

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