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Wright State University School of Music

WSU Collaborative Partnerships

Silver Melted Into Sound and the celebration of diverse artists have created partnerships across the Wright State University campus. Collaboration of ideas and the sharing of resources have come from faculty, students, and administration to make this event a reality.

May 6, 2022

Silver Melted Into Sound is a music festival for concert band, vocal ensemble, and string orchestra designed to support the programming of diverse composers.

(9:00 AM) Southeastern 7th Grade Band

David Kestner, Conductor

  1. Canterbury Overture by Anne McGinty (Queenwood Publications, 1995)
  2. Night Fury by Carol Britten Chambers (Carl Fischer, 2017)
  3. African Folk Trilogy by Anne McGinty (Queenwood Publications,1998)

(9:20 AM) Springfield High School Orchestra

Katie Harford, Conductor

  1. Carpe Diem! by Richard Meyer (Alfred Music, 2007)
  2. Flight by Susan H. Day (Highland/Etling Publishing, 2014)
  3. Shanghai Hornpipe by Richard Meyer (Alfred Publishing, 2011)

(9:40 AM) Greenville Middle School Band

Brian McKibben, Conductor

  1. Etowah by Brian Balmages (FJH Music, 2008)
  2. Canadian Folk Fantasy by Anne McGinty (Queenwood Publications, 1991)
  3. Ancient Fires by Carol Brittin Chambers (Excelcia Music, 2021)

(10:00 AM) Springfield High School Band

Katie Harford, Conductor

  1. Luna y Fuego by Jorge L. Vargas (Grand Mesa Music, 2020)
  2. Impetus by Randall D. Standridge (Alfred Music, 2021)
  3. Ancient Conquest by Jay Coles (Birch Island Music, 2017)

(10:20 AM) Dayton Christian High School Band

Zach Greenwalt, Conductor

  1. Fanfare for the Third Planet by Richard Saucedo (Hal Leonard, 2006)
  2. Ember Skies by Kevin Day (Murphy Music, 2021)
  3. Chasing Sunlight by Cait Nishimura (Cait Nishimura Music, 2016)

(11:00 AM) Wilmington High School Symphonic Band

Matthew Spradlin, Conductor

  1. Rhythmania! by Carol Brittin Chambers (Excelcia Music, 2020)
  2. The Cave You Fear by Michael Markowski (Markowski, 2014)

(11:20 PM) Wilmington High School Wind Ensemble

Matthew Spradlin, Conductor

  1. New Wade 'n Water by Adolphus Hailstork (Hal Leonard, 2000)
  2. "Here Take This Lovely Flower" from Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs by Frank Tichelli (Manhattan Beach, 2002)
  3. Kalos Eidos by Carol Brittin Chambers (Excelcia, 2020)

(12:40 PM) Midview High School Symphonic Blue

Colleen Crayton, Conductor

  1. Spring Festival by Chen Yi (Hal Leonard, 2001)
  2. Albanian Dances by Shelley Hanson (Boosey & Hawkes, 2005)
  3. Africa: Celebration Songs and Ritual by Robert W. Smith (Belwin Mills, 2017

(1:20 PM) Yellow Springs School Orchestra

Brian Mayer, Conductor

  1. Unknown Path by Stephanie G. Pieczynski (2022)
  2. A Pirate's Legend by Soon See Newbold (FJH Music, 2004)
  3. Fingal's Rock by Felix Mendelssohn/arr. Kathryn Griesinger (Wingert-Jones Publications, 2017)

(3:20 PM) Midview High School Symphonic Silver

Colleen Crayton, Conductor

  1. China Sea Voyage by Gene Milford (Ludwig Music, 2004)
  2. Wicklow by Laura Estes (Excelcia Music, 2021)
  3. Tribal Journeys by Justin Harden (RWS Music, 2017)
Katahj Copley, composer

Georgia native, Katahj Copley (b. 1998) has a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Composition at the University of West Georgia. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Composition at the University of Texas at Austin.

Copley’s first work, Spectra, premiered on November 14, 2017 by the University of West Georgia’s Saxophone Ensemble. Since 2017, Copley has written over sixty pieces, including over twenty-five for Wind Band, for a variety of ensemble settings. These works have been performed by local Georgia high schools, such as Carrollton High School (his alma mater), Mt. Zion High School, Villa Rica High School, Central Carroll High School, and many more. He has had pieces performed by schools throughout the country as well. During his time at the University of West Georgia, Copley had written pieces for UWG’s Brass Ensemble, Concert Choir, Saxophone Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensemble and Wind Ensemble. His compositions have been performed and commissioned by colleges, organizations, universities and professional ensembles, including the 1st Infantry Brass Choir, Rhode Island Recording Ensemble, Nu Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi at Georgia State University, Axos Saxophone Quartet, the Admiral Launch Duo and the Atlanta Wind Symphony.

In February of 2020, Copley’s Sunshine was featured at the Georgia Music Educators Association’s District XIII’s performance and NOVA was premiered by the University of West Georgia’s Wind Ensemble at the College Band Directors National Association Southeast Division Conference. Copley has also received critical acclaim internationally with pieces being performed in Canada, the United Kingdom, China, and Australia. Recently, Copley has had two premieres at the 75th Annual Midwest Band Clinic.

Aside from composing, Copley is an excited educator who teaches young musicians the joy of discovering music and why music is a phenomenal language.

“Music for me has always been this impactful thing in my life. It can soothe, it can enrage, it can quiet and it can evoke emotions that are beyond me and this world we live in. I believe that music is the ultimate source of freedom and imagination and the most freedom I have had as a musician was through composing. Composition is like me opening my heart and showing the world my drive, my passion, and my soul.”

Avious Jackson, Clinician

Growing up in an Air Force family that lived many different places, Avious always found comfort in music. He became a member of his school and church choirs, then joined his middle school band as a trumpet player. His experiences in band left deep positive impacts on his life, and further cultivated his intense love for music. Driven by a desire to provide the same kind of experiences he was fortunate to have, he made the decision to become a music teacher.

Avious joined the instrumental music staff at Mason City Schools in 2008. While at Mason, Avious has taught several ensembles and grade levels, including Guitar Class, Middle School Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, and serves as caption head for the brass section of the Marching Band. Before joining the team at Mason, Avious served as Director of Bands and Orchestras at Stebbins High School in Riverside, OH. Memorable highlights for Avious include performances at Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, National Concert Band Festival, appearances in Bands of America Grand National Finals, and an appearance in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

Avious received his Bachelor’s in Music Education from Miami University in Oxford, OH in 2004. During his time at Miami, he was a member of several ensembles including Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Brass Choir, and Trumpet Ensemble. The opportunity to study trumpet with Jim Olcott, and conducting with Gary Speck, helped mold him as a musician. Professors such as Brenda Mitchell and Sam Reynolds inspired his philosophy of music education and helped him understand the importance of teachers and their impact on the world. In 2011, Avious completed a Masters in Music Education from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois.

In addition to his teaching duties at Mason, Avious has served as a clinician with bands across the country. He is also a part of the Marching Band staff at the Music For All Summer Symposium held yearly at Ball State University. In 2018 Avious was named Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Wind Band, Cincinnati’s official wind band. When Avious isn’t working in the band world, he enjoys working as a professional wedding DJ across the Cincinnati area.

Amy Kollar Anderson, Artist

Amy Kollar Anderson received her B.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Master of Humanities, with a focus in Fine Arts, from Wright State University. Anderson was awarded three of the "ReImagining Works” public art commissions for the Dayton Metro Library in 2014-17, a commission for the Miami Valley Hospital and the Woodbourne Centerville Library in 2018 and a Culture Works MCACD Artist Opportunity Grant in 2018 & 2020. View her artwork at KollarAnderson.com  or immerse yourself with a beer at the Nowhere in Particular Cabinet of Curiosities Brewery where she is creating mural artwork for the space.

Silver Melted Into Sound Composition Competition

Born in Dayton, Ohio, on June 27, 1872, Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first African American literary figures to garner critical acclaim on a national scale. Although he lived just thirty-three years, Dunbar's contributions in a variety of genres left a legacy that endures today. His poetry has a lyricism and rhythmic pulses that feel like music. With his connections to Dayton and Wright State University, it seemed fitting to draw our inspiration and festival title from a line of Dunbar’s poetry.

In alignment with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant awarded to the School of Music for the new music festival, Silver Melted into Sound, this Composition Contest is designed to increase repertoire written by underrepresented composers including people of color, women and other marginalized genders, or persons with a disability and/or draw attention to a leading minority poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar.

The composition must be written for one of the following ensembles and at the performance level of a high school, Grade 3 ensemble:

  • Concert Band – standard instrumentation
  • String Orchestra
  • Chorus - SATB

In celebration of his birth 150 years ago, the composition must be inspired by the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

To support the students of Wright State University Bands, Choirs and Orchestras please consider making a small donation here: wright.edu/give All donations are tax deductible.

WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY BANDS

Representing Wright State as the university’s premier wind band, the WIND SYMPHONY performs the finest in symphonic wind repertoire, ranging from transcriptions to state-of-the-art original compositions. Its student members, typically comprised of approximately 50 students, are chosen annually by competitive audition. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music

The Wright State University CONCERT BAND is a performing wind band open to all Wright State students from a wide variety of fields of study within the university. The band performs musical repertory ranging from pop concerts to wind band classics and contemporary compositions.

The Wright State University JAZZ ENSEMBLE is made up of students from a variety of majors across campus. The group performs repertoire from today and from throughout jazz history, offering students the chance to enjoy this uplifting music and to broaden their skills in the various jazz styles, in improvisation, and in section cohesion. The Jazz Ensemble typically performs both on campus and in the wider community.

The Wright State University Varsity PEP BAND is comprised of WSU students from any major across campus under the direction of Mr. Matthew Weaver. The Raider Pep Band provides musical entertainment and spirit at home men’s and women’s basketball games, as well as other select events around campus and the community.

WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY CHOIRS

COLLEGIATE CHORALE is the university’s primary choral ensemble. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music

MEN'S CHORALEhas performed for many schools, churches, retirement homes, various civic functions, and has been regionally televised. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music

WOMEN'S CHORALEperforms significant choral music selected from a wide variety of historical, compositional, and cultural traditions. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music

WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRAS

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA is the premier orchestra comprised of faculty and students, providing students an opportunity to perform side by side with their mentors. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA draws its members from the entire Dayton community, including university students, faculty, and other area musicians. The orchestra performs a large repertoire of classical music from the Baroque to the 21st Century. For a detailed biography please visit https://liberal-arts.wright.edu/music

Bill Jobert, Coordinator of Music Education Dr. Gretchen McNamara; Trombone
Ginger Minneman; Director Women's Chorale Dr. Shelley Jagow, Director of Bands
Dr. Jackson Leung, Chamber Orchestra, Piano Dr. In-Hong Cha, Symphony Orchestra, Violin

WSU BAND FACULTY

Dr. Shelley Jagow - Director of Bands

Dr. Christopher Chaffee – Flute

Katherine DeGruchy – Oboe & English Horn

John Kurokawa – Clarinet

William Jobert – Bassoon

Francesca Wantuch – Saxophone

tba – Trumpet

Andrew Bass – Horn

Dr. Gretchen McNamara – Trombone

Daniel Honaker – Euphonium & Tuba

Gerald Noble – Percussion

WSU VOCAL FACULTY

Ginger Minneman - Director Women's Chorale

WSU ORCHESTRA FACULTY

Dr. Jackson Leung - Director Chamber Orchestra; Piano

Dr. In-Hong Cha - Director University Symphony Orchestra; Violin

Tom Sobieski - Violin

Kevin Nordstrom - Viola

Dr. Franklin Cox - Cello

Maurice Todd - Bass

Leslie Stratton - Harp

Created By
Shelley Jagow
Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by スタジオサラ - "金と緑の背景" • moomsabuy - "Thank you for your support !" • mnimage - "Playing the trombone in orchestra " • Studio Gi - "Mani di coriste che battono il tempo musicale, fuoco selettivo" • stokkete - "Orchestra first violin section" • Dmitrii - "A white piano on a white brick wall. Copy space. Minimalism. Wide horizontal photo"