Spring 2022
A Note from the Chair
As we await a second snowstorm in Western PA and the furry rodent predicts more winter, it’s tempting to think of warmer venues and anticipate summer travels. COVID doesn’t help, although we seem to be cresting the latest wave and headed for a respite. Fortunately, things are heating up in Cogswell as musicians rehearse for a marvelous series of concerts later this semester. Just to name a couple: a fully-staged Carousel with orchestra on March 3-4, and the Jazz Festival with special guest James Moore on April 23. These in addition, of course, to the many offerings from the choirs, bands, small ensembles, and faculty and student recitalists that will soon crowd the calendar. If you’re in the area, I’d encourage you to stop by early and often.
Recently we had the wonderful return of in-person District Band festivals, two of them conducted by IUP faculty members Stephanie Caulder and Jason Worzbyt, and we look forward to performances by the IUP Symphony Orchestra and the Keystone Chamber Winds at PMEA in April. Please stop by the booth or the alumni reception if you’re there! We’re especially pleased to note that IUP President Michael Driscoll has authorized a search for a full-time, tenure-track director of the IUP Marching Band, and we hope to have that person on board in plenty of time to prepare the Legend for its 100th Anniversary celebration on Nov. 4-6.
I know you will enjoy reading about the many accomplishments of our faculty, students, and alumni in this newsletter. Please keep in touch – we love to hear from you!
Best wishes,
Matt Baumer, Chairperson
ANNOUNCING Summer Music Camp!
The IUP Department of Music will be holding the first Summer Music Camp June 26-July 2, 2022. The camp is for musicians on any instrument or voice who are rising seventh graders through high school seniors and will be led by IUP music faculty, alumni, and students. The camp features both residential and non-residential options. More information can be found on the Summer Music Camp website.
Marching Band 100th Anniversary Celebration
The 100th anniversary reunion of the IUP Marching Band will be held on November 4-6, 2022. Events will include participation in the Saturday football game, dinner on Saturday evening, and the premiere of Sustaining Grace: The Making of a Tradition as part of Bands in Review on Sunday afternoon. More information will be available soon on the Alumni Association website.
Thanks to the members of the Planning Committee for their work: Michael Bodolosky (1972, 1978), Kevin Eisensmith (1978), Anastazia Hall (2019), Brian Hopkins (2007), Michelle Hopkins (2007), Mary Megna (1984), Austin Widmann (BSED) trumpet major, CO for Fall 2022.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Indiana Hilton Garden Inn for the reunion. Use the code IUPMBR when booking your room for this reunion.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available. We look forward to seeing you back on campus in November!
Thank you to Mary Megna (BSED 1984) for providing pictures
Two Emeritus Faculty Honored
Two rooms in Cogswell Hall have recently been named for former members of the Department of Music faculty. On September 18, 2021, Room 126 was named The Sarah Mantel Music Theatre Hall. A committee led by current faculty member, Mary Logan Hastings, and retired faculty member, Susan Wheatley, raised over $35,000 to form a SCHOLARSHIP to honor the contributions that Professor Emeritus, Sarah Mantel, made in her 27 years of service. Dr. Mantel passed away in November 2021.
Room 316 was named for trombone professor, Christian Dickinson, who retired at the end of the 2020-2021 school year after 35 years of teaching. A committee composed of IUP faculty, alumni, and administrators worked to raise over $25,000 to support future activities by the IUP trombone studio. Plaques have been placed outside both rooms to honor the accomplishments of Dr. Mantel and Dr. Dickinson.
Find us at PMEA 2022
The IUP Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Alexandra Dee, and the Keystone Chamber Winds, under the direction of Jason Worzbyt, have been selected to perform at the 2022 PMEA Annual In-Service Conference, April 6-9 at the Kalahari Resort in the Poconos.
In addition to the performances, Jason Worzbyt and Craig Denison have be selected to present sessions at the conference.
We look forward to seeing our alumni at the alumni reception Thursday evening and at our booth in the exhibition hall.
Mark and Maggie O'Connor
The IUP Department of Music welcomed renowned fiddlers Mark and Maggie O’Connor as Edward R. Sims Distinguished Visiting Artists in November 2021. Their multi-day residency included teaching a masterclass for violin and viola students, giving lectures about the music industry and American musical traditions, leading a teacher-training session on Mr. O’Connor’s series of string method books, and teaching a fiddle workshop. The culmination of their visit was a performance with the IUP Symphony Orchestra (Alexandra Dee, conductor), side-by-side with the Johnstown Symphony Youth Orchestra (David Anderson, conductor). Mr. O’Connor performed his remarkable “The Improvised Violin Concerto” with the combined orchestras, improvising his solo part anew for the performance. Also on the concert were traditional fiddle tunes performed by the O’Connors, the IUP and JSYO strings, and 50 middle and high school string students from the region who visited IUP to take part in the concert, a rehearsal, and the O’Connors’ fiddle workshop.
Department Notes
Zach Collins was given the Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording for his album, Chronicle, at the 2021 Virtual Tuba Euphonium Conference (VTEC) in June. The Roger Bobo Awards for Excellence in Recording are named every two years by the International Tuba and Euphonium Association at their international conferences. Collins’ album was named the winner of the Solo Tuba category, being identified as the best solo album for solo tuba produced in 2019 and 2020.
Alexandra Dee, Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestral Studies, published three string orchestra arrangements of keyboard works by historically underrepresented composers. The arrangements are intended for student string orchestras, and two were performed at the 2021 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.
In May 2021, Alexandra Dee performed as violin soloist with the Johnstown Symphony Youth Orchestra, and in June, she presented research at the Oxford Conducting Institute International Conducting Studies Virtual Conference.
In January 2021, IUP clarinet professor Rosemary Engelstad, and IUP alumna and Director of Bands at University of Western Florida, Brittan Braddock (MA 2016), co-presented a session for music educators at the 2021 Florida Music Educators Association conference. Their session was titled, "Balance, Posture, and Gesture: Expanding Conducting Vocabulary for Better Health".
The IUP Jazz Ensemble rhythm section and Laura Ferguson hold a community jazz jam every Thursday evening at Josephine's Pizzeria & Enoteca from 8-10PM. The IUP Jazz Ensemble rhythm section includes Lily Carone on piano, John Makara on bass, and Paxton Mentnech on drums.
Laura Ferguson provided in-service professional development for music teachers in PMEA District 8 in October 2021. Her first session, "Jazz Choir Basics," gave an overview of the vocal style, microphone technique, and chord voicing used in jazz choirs. Her second session, "Taking Advantage of Free Media in a Hybrid General Music World," gave in-service general music teachers a chance to share and compare multi-media resources for asynchronous and hybrid instruction. Ferguson also recently led the PMEA District 6 Vocal Jazz Choir.
In January 2021 the IUP Center for Teaching Excellence recognized the IUP String Project, directed by Associate Professor Linda Jennings, as a High Impact Educational Experience. High Impact Practices are experiences or instructional methods that help to increase student engagement and support student success overall by improving retention and completion rates. Since 2004, the IUP String Project has provided a community string music education outreach program for the Indiana area as well as a unique teacher training program for IUP music students. As part of the National String Project Consortium, the IUP String Project supports national initiatives in string music education of mentoring future string teachers and providing more opportunities for young string musicians to grow through music. This video showcases great teaching practices in the String Project that integrate service learning for exceptional instruction and experiential educational opportunities for IUP students.
In March 2021, Linda Jennings co-presented a virtual session, "Producing a Golden Tone the Phyllis Young Way," for the American String Teachers Association National Conference. In April 2021, she presented a virtual session, "Playing the String Game: Creative Mini-Games for String Students," at the PMEA Annual State Conference.
In April 2021, Linda Jennings and Alexandra Dee hosted the IUP Cellobration Day 2021 featuring special guests, members of Cello Fury, a rock cello ensemble. The day brought together 20 middle and high school cellists from 11 schools to rehearse and perform traditional and alternative cello ensemble styles. In addition, Jennings was featured as a guest soloist at the IUP High School Honors Orchestra Festival in February 2021.
In May 2021, John Levey served as a judge for a composition competition held by the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra sponsored a commission in order to create a chamber work that would commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Sept. 11. Levey served on a panel with two other composers from the region: Nancy Galbraith (Carnegie Mellon) and Baljinder Sekhon (Penn State). The commission was awarded to Thomas Dougherty, a composer with strong ties to western Pennsylvania.
Heidi Lucas and Zach Collins toured Delaware and Eastern Pennsylvania with Eastern Standard in November 2021. The tour included performances at the University of Delaware, Temple University, and Delaware State University. In addition to the university performances, the group performed at Cape Henlopen, Mount Pleasant, Avon Grove, Sussex Academy, and Concord High Schools. The members of Eastern Standard also spoke to two classes at the University of Delaware.
Raquel Winnica Young, Instructor of Voice, made her debut in Minot as Amahl's mother in Amahl and Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti with the Minot Symphony Orchestra and Western Plains Opera. She also performed music inspired by Baroque Mexican Nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) and was the Stage Director of Marriage of Figaro by W.A. Mozart at FEMUSC Music Festival in Brazil.
IUP piano professor Henry Wong Doe presented, judged, and performed at the 2021 Nanyang International Piano Academy, Singapore, in January. The academy was held virtually, and attendees were pre-college and college students from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and South East Asian countries. Wong Doe recorded a performance for the opening faculty concert, judged the online competition, and presented a lecture on contemporary piano music from New Zealand. In February 2021, Wong Doe presented an online workshop for the Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania entitled, workshop, "Timing, Phrasing, Balance, and Pedalling: Refining Your Approach to the Piano." The attendees were around 40 students from private teachers in the greater Pittsburgh area, who are members of the Steinway Society. In October 2021, Wong Doe served as adjudicator for both college and high school divisions of the Marian Garcia International Piano Competition. The event was hosted by Penn State University and featured 16 college-level and nine high-school pianists from the US and abroad.
From a field of twelve competitors, three students were selected as winners of the IUP Department of Music Concerto Competition: David Earnest, trombone (BSED); Kayla Holsopple, tuba (BSED); and Austin Widmann, trumpet (BSED). They will appear as featured soloists with the IUP Symphony Orchestra or IUP Wind Ensemble on upcoming concerts.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania senior flautist, Colleen Welsh (BFA), was selected as one of six finalists in the West Shore Symphony Orchestra's fourth annual Concerto Competition. Welsh is a student of Therese Wacker.
The IUP Symphony Orchestra was included in the ensemble showcase during the Conducting Careers: Diverse Pathways to the Podium 2021 Virtual Symposium sponsored by Girls Who Conduct. The June showcase featured the IUPSO's performance of Roger Zare's "Starry Night" from October 2020.
Giving Opportunities
We want to invite you to invest in future IUP musicians. We have over 40 music-specific scholarship funds at IUP for prospective and continuing IUP music students. Your giving is important to ensure that IUP attracts the strongest musicians in our region and supports our current students. Use the buttons below to take a look at the various funds towards which you can contribute and to give to current and future IUP musicians.
Trumpet Reunion
The IUP Trumpet Studio will hold a Trumpet Studio Reunion on Sunday, February 20, 2022. Interested alumni are invited to attend Kevin Eisensmith’s Faculty Trumpet Recital, which will be held on Saturday, February 19 at 8:00 pm in Gorell Recital Hall. Rehearsal for the Alumni Trumpet Ensemble will begin at 10:00 am in Gorell. Following a luncheon, the Alumni Trumpet Ensemble will perform beginning at 2:00 pm. For more information, contact Dr. Eisensmith.
Jazz Reunion
An Alumni Jazz Reunion will be held on April 22-24, 2022. Rehearsals will be held Saturday morning, April 23. All alumni will receive complementary tickets to attend that evening’s IUP Jazz Festival, featuring the IUP Jazz Band and Jazz Ensemble with guest artist James Moore, trumpeter and member of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra. The Alumni Jazz Band will perform on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm. For more information, contact Dr. Eisensmith.
Percussion Reunion
Please reserve the weekend of Saturday April 30 for the first IUP Alumni Percussion Ensemble Concert. The concert will include graduates spanning six decades performing classics of the percussion ensemble literature. There will be a dinner the evening of Friday April 29. Rehearsals will take place during the day Saturday followed by a 7 p.m. concert in Cogswell 121. If you are (or know) a percussion alumnus who would like to participate, please email Ron Horner by Monday, February 15. Please include preferred email and year of graduation. We look forward to seeing many of you for some great music-making - and maybe a few surprises!
The Journey of Documenting “Amazing Grace”
For over 100 years, the IUP Music Department has produced through its dedicated and talented professors and students a marching band that has profoundly affected the lives of performers and audiences alike. Along the way a beloved tradition was formed in the playing of a special arrangement of “Amazing Grace” written specifically for IUP by Grammy-award-winning arranger Chris McDonald.
Through the support of the IUP Marching Band Alumni, the guiding technical hand of VerbaMEdia productions and the driven determination of IUP music alumna, Mary Megna, a film, Sustaining Grace, documenting the birth and unfolding of this impactful tradition is being created and will premiere on November 6th at Fisher Auditorium during Bands in Review at the 100th celebration and reunion of the marching band.
For further information regarding this project check out the trailer video above and the GoFundMe page if you wish to contribute and reserve your copy.
note, the trailer was produced prior to the 100th celebration being moved to 2022
Music Librarian Reflects on His Career
by Carl Rahkonen
I retired on June 4, 2021, retrenchment day, after nearly 34 years as a music librarian and professor. When I started working in the fall of 1987, the music library had just been renovated and the new facility occupied most of the third floor of Cogswell Hall. There were no furniture or shelves, and my first task was to get everything set up and moved back in. We stayed on the third floor for about seventeen years when we relocated temporarily to the basement of the Stapleton Library in 2004, while Cogswell Hall was being renovated. We moved back into Cogswell Hall to the current location in January 2006, with a new commons area, furniture, compact shelving, seminar room, storage room, computers, and equipment. The library was named for Harold S. Orendorff, the first Dean of the College of Fine Arts at IUP, since the new location occupied part of a former auditorium named for him. The Orendorff Music Library offers an ideal place for the IUP community to study, gather, and receive help to meet all their musical needs.
During my career, there was an “information revolution” which made all library materials accessible by computer. This happened gradually at first and accelerated with the coming of smartphones. I took part in creating the first on-line library catalog at IUP in the early 1990s. My predecessors had electronically cataloged all the books and were in the process of cataloging the vinyl LP sound recordings. In 1992, we started to catalog, bind, and preserve the music scores, a process that took more than twenty years and was accomplished mostly through the work of Teri McFerron and Laura Krulikowski.
The score collection is particularly strong in four areas: monuments and collected editions, opera and musical theater, wind ensemble scores, and the works of women composers. There were good academic programs in these areas, as well as the IUP Festival of Women Composers. We received substantial numbers of scores as gifts from many donors, particularly Charles A. Davis, who left an endowment for musical theater and band materials, distinguished alumna and voice teacher Joan Boytim, former professors James and Kristi Dearing, and brass ensemble music endowed by alumnus Jim Self.
I bought the first compact disc for the music library in 1988 and over thirty years that collection grew to more than 5000 CDs, which included donations of hundreds of CDs, particularly from Paul Arpaia, Jack Stamp, and Keith Young. We could not have imagined the impact of the internet, which made it possible to subscribe to listening databases with thousands of compact discs, or a site such as YouTube offering millions of music videos.
I especially enjoyed teaching at IUP. From my first year to my last, I taught the graduate “Bibliography of Music” course. My students included some of the very best performers, composers, and music educators. Over the years, the course changed substantially from being entirely print based, to being a “flipped class” covering the assessment of on-line resources using Zoom and D2L. I also taught a world music humanities course called “Ethnic Music and Culture,” mostly to non-music majors.
My career allowed me to do everything I ever dreamed of academically. The high points were two sabbaticals, the first to study fiddling, and the second Finnish American music. I really enjoyed playing viola with members of the Music Department, especially a series of recitals with Edwin Fry. In retirement, I hope to continue my research on folk and ethnic music. I am currently writing a book about Finnish American music and musicians. I may never finish (pun intended) the book, but it will keep me busy and out of trouble.
Alumni News
Cody Kelly (MA 2019) had his master's thesis “Teacher observations from using an informal learning framework in an elementary popular music ensemble,” accepted as a poster session for the 2021 NAfME All-Eastern Division Conference.
Arlene Huth, (BFA 2017, MA 2019) has accepted the position of Adjunct Professor of Voice at Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA. She began this position in fall 2021. Professor Huth, a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, studied voice in the studio of Dr. Joseph Baunoch while at IUP.
Marykate Kuhne (BSED 2016) graduated from Illinois State University in the Spring of 2019 with a Masters of Music degree in Wind Band Conducting and Clarinet Performance. Following graduation, she served as the Assistant Director of Bands at ISU where she directed the Symphonic Band and Pep Band, instructed conducting courses, led independent honors courses, and was the Assistant Director for the Big Red Marching Machine. After her time at ISU, Marykate moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois where she currently serves as the Director of Bands at Prairie Ridge High School. She leads two concert bands, percussion ensemble, guitar class, and other music electives throughout the school day. Extracurricular activities include Marching Band, Jazz Band, and Pit Orchestra. She enjoys living in the Chicagoland area and exploring the best local coffee shops.
Jonathan Walker-Vankuren (BFA 2015) has begun his second year on the Voice Faculty of Lebanon Valley College. Professor Walker-Vankuren teaches Private Voice, Song Interpretation: Analyzing Dramatic Context, Musical Theater History, and Musical Theater Repertoire. Before entering the world of academia, Prof. Walker-Vankuren apprenticed with Fort Worth Opera, Opera Southwest, and Opera Santa Barbara. He was also a Festival Artist at Savannah Opera and Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater. While at IUP, Prof. Walker-Vankuren studied voice with Dr. Joseph Baunoch.
Samuel Weiser (BSED 2014) has been named a winner of the Utah District in the Laffont Metropolitan Opera Competition and will compete at the Regional level in Denver, CO this February. Mr. Weiser just graduated from the Cafritz Young Artist Program of Washington National Opera. While at IUP Mr. Weiser was a voice student of Joseph Baunoch.
Dr. Samantha Balboa (BFA 2012) has accepted a position as Adjunct Professor of Voice at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX. Dr. Balboa teaches Applied Voice, Vocal Literature, Vocal Pedagogy, and Opera/Musical Theater Scenes. She was also selected to perform at the 2021 American Viola Society Festival presenting lesser-known works for Voice, Viola, and Piano. While at IUP Dr. Balboa studied voice with Joseph Baunoch.
The Keystone Quartet, made up of four IUP music alumni, Logan Carnes (BSED/BFA 2019), Zack Grass (BFA 2014), Michael Waddell (BSED 2012), and George Alberti (BFA 2011), returned to campus in August 2021 to record an album focused on the music of Appalachia. The album, Sweet Appalachia, will be released in 2022. In November, the quartet performed the album, live, in Gorell Recital Hall in November 2021. All members of the Keystone Quartet studied with Zach Collins.
Brenda Johnson (BSED 1994) is in her 27th year of teaching. She teaches orchestra in grades 4-12 in the Northeastern School District in York County. Johnson was the recipient of two teaching awards in spring 2020, the 2020 PA/Delaware American String Teacher Association Director of the Year and the Teacher Impact Award for York County by WITF (PBS station in Harrisburg).
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edited by Zach Collins
Oak Grove cover picture by Braden Murray, The Penna