ON
THE BEAT
(To
other issues)
The
Official Newsletter of Moravian College Music Department
Fall 2001, Volume 6, issue i
CONTENTS
Greeting
Note
Welcome Notes
Notes from the Music Alliance
Staff Notes
Notes from Alums
The Music Department Receives Bank
Notes!
Student Notes
Meet Our Majors
Cook‚s Corner
As I look out from my office onto Bethlehem‚s Main Street at the beginning of this holiday season, I‚m reminded of all the previous students and faculty who took part in the Music Department in quests for musical knowledge, personal growth, and an understanding of our collective role in life. As you read this issue of On the Beat, I hope you take notice of the potential still present in the people described, as well as the forward direction of the department as a whole. Yet, the forward direction is only possible due to the sustaining efforts of those who came before. Remember, it‚s not that the department is doing well, it‚s that the people are still actively and willfully engaged in developing lifelong musical learning and expression. Enjoy this issue and keep coming back for more!
Mr. James Barnes, Chair of the Music Department
Dr. Hilde Binford
has taken a two-year position as music historian, replacing Dr.
Carol Traupman-Carr, who is serving as Associate Dean.
She is currently teaching music theory, musicianship, and
history courses, and will do a LinC writing 100 course next spring on
the topic of Music and Film. In
the fall of 2003, she will co-direct the Biennial Bethlehem
Conference on Moravian Music.
Hilde Binford is a
liberal arts college on two legs.
She has great interest in world travel, world religions,
paleontology, and geology, and has been a docent and lecturer for a
science series called „The Odyssey of the Mind.‰
She is most recently from Washington, D.C., where she had been
teaching at Georgetown U. She
has two charming boys, Trent, 12, and Alex, 9, who are enrolled at
Moravian Academy.
Her thoughts on her first semester at Moravian:
„I'm very
impressed with the level of support that the students receive.
I've especially enjoyed getting to know the sophomore class.
Going to La Boheme was great, and I'm looking forward
to Rent. Trent
and Alex enjoy coming down to the department, and they really loved
the haunted house (they recognized a lot of the music students).
Dr. David McConnell
is replacing Dr. Paula Zerkle during her yearlong
sabbatical. His
principal duties, of course, are to direct the Moravian College Choir
and Women‚s Chorus and teach choral conducting.
He is maintaining his position as organist and choirmaster at
the Episcopal Church of the Mediator in Allentown.
David McConnell‚s
master‚s degree is from Temple University, and his doctorate is
from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with
a dissertation on the Mozart Requiem.
His thoughts on his first
semester at Moravian:
„I have been most impressed with the Moravian students. So many of them seem to have a sensitivity and desire to give of their best˜something I didn‚t find in myself until graduate school. Perhaps young people are maturing more quickly than my generation did. Their level of maturity and commitment has made it a particularly rewarding experience to make music with them. I have performed the Faure Requiem several times in my life, but I have never led a better performance than here, in large part because of the emotional and musical commitment of our students. I feel sure the Vespers liturgies will also reflect their gifts and maturity. It is an honor to work with these young people.‰
The Music Alliance sponsored a picnic on the „Pleasure Grounds‰ of the newly renamed Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus. The event brought the Music Alliance together with students, faculty, and staff and their families. As people talked and ate heartily, others threw Frisbees, played wiffle-ball, tried their luck with hula hoops, and popped balloons. This time „music‰ was made by people getting together for food and a fun time!
In September, the Music Alliance funded three Dalcroze workshops on the topics of eurhythmics, solfege, and improvisation by Dr. William Bauer of Rutgers University. Dr. Bauer‚s visit was made possible through the hard work and planning of Barbara Liebhaber, Director of Music Education.
Sponsored by the Music Alliance and The Jacobs Piano Company, the Music Department presented a piano master class with Gary Graffman, a renowned concert artist and current president of the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia. The students performing for Mr. Graffman included Crystal Reinert (‚03), who played Chopin‚s Ballade in F Minor; Sarah Smith (‚02), who played Bach‚s Prelude and Fugue in F Minor (WTC !); and Kristy Bredin (‚02), who played Liszt‚s Prelude („Il Sospiro‰) in Db Major. The Alternate was Caress Prince (‚03). Following Mr. Graffman‚s illuminating comments, before a packed house in Peter Hall, the students and their teachers (Barbara Thompson, Dr. Debra Torok, Martha Schrempel, and Arianna Goldina, respectively) all repaired to lunch at the Café with Mr. Graffman.
The Music Alliance held it‚s Annual Dinner in Clewell Hall on Friday, November 2nd. The event celebrated the Music Alliance contributions to the Music Department. The evening included the awarding of the Monica and Richard Schantz Scholarship, a presentation by faculty member Dr. Debra Torok, and a post-dinner recital. This year the Monica and Richard Schantz Scholarship was presented to Justin DeAngelo (‚02). The award is given annually by the Music Alliance to honor a student of exceptional talent. The post-dinner recital was performed by JoLynn Dentith (‚00, ‚02).
Don't miss the recital by Metropolitan Opera star Denyce Graves at 8:00 PM Wednesday, March 20, 2002 in Foy Concert Hall. This event is sponsored by the Moravian College Music Institute and Music Alliance. Recital seating (all reserved) is $35 and $45.
Also attend the Denyce Graves masterclass with Moravian's voice students at 11:30 AM Thursday, March 21st in Foy Hall. All seats for the masterclass are $10.
Tickets for both events available January 2nd. 610-861-1650.
Last spring, Lou Carol
Fix was appointed the archivist for the Lehigh Valley chapter of
the American Guild of Organists.
This past June, the local chapter hosted a regional
convention, attended by over 400 organists from six neighboring
states and the District of Columbia.
Lou Carol presented a talk and performed on the Samuel Green
organ in Peter Hall. It
was the year of appointments: Lou
Carol was also named to the board of directors of the Friends of
Music.
Dr. Larry Lipkis
was commissioned by the Philadelphia Brass to create a short work for
brass quintet and organ to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of Greg Funfgeld‚s association with the First
Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem.
The Philly Brass, whose members include Moravian faculty
member Larry Wright and former faculty member Grant
Moore premiered the piece on October 28th and repeated
it on Thanksgiving Day. Larry is also gearing up for a trip to Texas
in January to hear the Houston Symphony premiere his new bassoon
concerto, Pierrot.
Dave Roth has
become an internationally known figure in jazz education.
In creating the new Jazz Studies Guide, he helped to
forge a partnership between the International Association for
Jazz Education and the Music Teachers National
Association. The
volume has already sold over 400 copies to date, and Dave has
received letters of grateful thanks from the leadership of those two
organizations. Dave will
also be leading a summer jazz improvisation day camp for middle
school and high schools students. The camp, sponsored by MCMI, is
already scheduled for the week of July 14th and will
feature guest artists, workshops in theory and history, small
ensembles, and jam sessions.
The College Choir, in the midst of Vesper preparations, performed the Requiem Mass by Gabriel Faure in a benefit concert to aid the victims of the Sept. 11th attacks. The program took place on October 16th and was very well attended by members of the college and community. Thanks to Dr. David McConnell and the choir members for creating this singular and moving response to our national tragedy.
Lauren Nicholas
(Œ01): „I
am now teaching three days a week and enjoying all of my students.
Teaching brings more energy and inspiration into my playing.
I must commend Moravian for providing me with wonderful
faculty who prepared me for teaching, performing, thinking, and
life-long growth. I will
talk to my high school students about their musical/academic goals
and give them the Moravian admissions literature…‰
Kelly Dolan (‚99)
is now working with Hildegard Press, a leading music publishing
company in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Beth Falcone (‚86) responded to the events of September 11th by quickly composing an anthem „We Choose Love,‰ which was recorded by students from Beth‚s voice studio as well as some Broadway professionals. The piece has already caused a sensation; the text as well as details of its brief history can be found on www.wechooselove.org.
This past summer the
Music Department was awarded a $25,000 grant from the Presser
Foundation to rebuild our aged Piano Lab. The funds purchased six new
Yamaha Clavinova CLP-950 keyboards and a multiple keyboard lab
controller system. After arriving in August, this equipment is
already heavily used by our music education and performance Keyboard
Techniques classes. However, the instruments are not just serving our
music majors. The non-major piano class also uses these instruments.
Every student and faculty member using the new instruments has been
impressed and pleased by the realistic touch and sensitivity on the
keyboards.
The full-sized 88-key
Clavinovas allow programmable touch, reverberation, brightness,
volume, metronome, and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
functions. The lab control system provides a learning environment in
which students at each station may work on their own music, listen to
others, or communicate with the instructor. Since the instruments
contain speakers, classes and individuals may opt to use the
instruments as regular acoustic keyboards that are complete with
fully functioning pedals.
In recognition of the
high level of Presser Foundation support, the College provided each
keyboard with the fastest iMac computers systems available. The
Clavinovas may now be used as composition and sequencing tools, as
well as presentation and Web page tools. In fact, students and
faculty can now practice their keyboard skills while checking their
e-mail!
It should also be
acknowledged that the benefits from a previous Presser Foundation
grant, the Teaching Systems Development Project (TSDP), are made
manifest by this current grant. Two of the TSDP-trained
Artist-Lecturers, Neil Wetzel and Debra Torok developed
course materials around the new keyboards and are now teaching Music
Technology Techniques on this new equipment.
Under the guidance of
Prof. Barbara Liebhaber, the Music Education seniors˜Nora
Cheatham, Christa Mosher, and Sarah Smith˜plus
cross-registration students Josh Salzman and Kate Deacon from
Muhlenberg, went to Communities In Schools, an alternative high
school in Allentown. They
gave piano lessons to tenth graders on the keyboards that we had
donated to the school, and also did a lesson on African drumming.
The students will continue to donate their time for lessons on
piano and on non-Western musical instruments.
The choir‚s
Christmas Vespers program, under Dr. McConnell‚s direction, was
previewed to an enthusiastic audience on Nov. 16th in Foy
Concert Hall. The selections include the hauntingly beautiful
Totus Tuus by contemporary Polish composer Henryk Gorecki and
a new work, The True Light, by Melissa Spangenberg
(‚03).
Kristy Bredin (‚02) successfully defended her honors thesis on November 21st. The thesis, an ambition examination of T. S Eliot‚s poetic masterpiece Four Quartets as musical analogy, was unanimously approved by her panel, which included thesis co-advisors Dr. Carol Traupman-Carr and Dr. Joyce Hinnefeld of the English Department. Larry Lipkis also served on the panel.
When not working on her thesis, Kristy was busy practicing her Beethoven. As winner of the Concerto Soloist competition last spring, she performed the middle movement of Piano Concerto no. 5 with the Moravian College Chamber Symphony on their November 11th concert, which also included Mozart‚s Symphony no. 40 and Holst‚s St. Paul Suite.
In
each issue of „On the Beat,‰ we invite one or two music
majors to introduce themselves, in their own words, to our readers.
My name is Nathan Diehl, but I‚m
often called Nate. I
come from Coopersburg, PA, which is 18 minutes away from Moravian to
be exact. It was there
that I completed all of my schooling in the Southern Lehigh School
District ˆ the place of employment for three Moravian College
music graduates. It was
through my years at Southern Lehigh that my love of music developed. I consider the education in music that I received
there to be priceless. I
loved participating in high school activities of concert band,
orchestra, jazz band, several choirs, plays, musicals, leading the
marching band as drum major, and participating in PMEA district and
regional choirs for three years.
I‚ve only been a college student for three months, but I‚ve enjoyed every minute of it. Here at Moravian I am a music education major. I‚ve studied piano for thirteen years, and I now study with Dr. Debra Torok. I also study voice with Greg Oaten. I am a member of the choir and Vocalis. I am also the president of the South Campus Council.
Like everybody predicted, choosing a
college was one of the most difficult decisions I‚ve ever had to
make. Growing up so close to Moravian, it‚s
difficult not to know the outstanding reputation of the
college‚s music program. I
never even had to research the school before putting it on my list of
possible colleges to attend. Now
that I‚m here I can confidently say I‚ve made the right
decision. I have grown
to unendingly appreciate the amazing music faculty, the small school
size, and the opportunities given to music students.
The education I‚m receiving is making me so excited to
get out into the world and spread my love of music.
Whether it‚s to young children, teenagers, or adults,
doesn‚t matter to me; I just want to teach people music.
First, two from that culinary wizard of the
3rd floor, Bill Bauman..
Cake:
2 pkgs. Pillsbury Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin mix
2 eggs
1 c. water
1 c. tonic water
½ c. vegetable oil
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp. pure almond extract
optional: 1 cup chopped or slivered toasted almonds
Mix all ingredients to form smooth batter.
Pour into prepared (greased) bundt or tube pan.
Bake 55 min. at 350°.
Check for doneness. May
require a few more minutes, depending on your oven.
Allow to cool.
Invert on serving plate.
Icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
¼ tsp. pure lemon extract
¼ tsp. pure almond extract
1 Tbs. Fresh lemon juice (from the de-zested lemon)
some water
2 cups dried pinto beans
pinch baking soda
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 bay leaf
salt
3 to 4 cups vegetable broth
½ cup tomato paste
1 Tbs. hot mustard
pinch cayenne pepper
½ cup molasses
1 ½ tsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. Bakon yeast (or real bacon)
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbs. wine vinegar
4 carrots
3 Tbs. butter (or substitute)
3 crisp green apples
fresh-ground pepper
Make a sauce of 1 cup of the broth, the tomato paste, 1 chopped onion, the mustard, cayenne, molasses, ginger, yeast, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar. Mix the beans thoroughly with the sauce.
Scrape the carrots and cut them into large pieces. Cook the carrot pieces in butter in a tightly covered skillet.
Peel and core the apples and slice them into rings.
In a bean pot or heavy casserole, make a layer of
beans, salt and pepper them, then a layer of carrots and apples,
another layer of beans, and so on, until the ingredients are used up. Pour enough broth over to just reach the top of
the beans. Cover tightly
and bake for 7 to 8 hours at 300 degrees.
Every 2 or 3 hours check to see if the beans are drying out,
adding more broth as necessary.
Serves 6 to 8.
You can cook the beans longer initially, which will then cut down on the baking time. Also, can use already cooked (canned) pintos.
And finally, one from James Barnes (inedible, but
successful):
The
next issue of ON THE BEAT will be released in June 2002. If
you are an alumnus, faculty member, current student, or supporter of
the Moravian College Music Department and would like to contribute
articles, information, recipes, or photos, please e-mail Larry Lipkis
(melal01@moravian.edu) or
sent a note to:
Dr. Larry Lipkis
Moravian College Music Department
1200 Main Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018