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6th Bethlehem Music Conference
Moravian College Music Institute
Save These Dates
Instrumentally Speaking
Music Education News
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Notes From Alumni
Meet Our Majors
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THE 6TH BETHLEHEM CONFERENCE ON MORAVIAN MUSIC
In October, the Music Department
hosted the 6th Bethlehem Conference on Moravian Music. Celebrating
the 250th anniversary of the Moravian Trombone Choir, trombones were
a natural focal point. The Moravian Trombone Choir played a concert,
there were several papers on the brass music of the Moravians, and the Hartt Trombone Choir came down for a lecture/recital. Other
highlights included a joint concert with the Central Moravian Church Choir and
the Moravian College Choir, drawing an audience of over seven hundred in the
The participation in the
conference is growing, as we continue to attract international scholars and
performers. We even learned of the Moravian music tradition among the Inuit in
MORAVIAN COLLEGE MUSIC INSTITUTE
The Moravian College Music Institute has some exciting events planned for Spring 2005.
SAVE THESE DATES:
At 7:30 PM Wednesday, January 26, 2005, the Moravian College Music Institute and Music Alliance will present the annual Great Artist Series featuring soprano, Ruth Ann Swenson. Ms. Swenson has won critical accolades internationally in theatres including the San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Paris Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera House. The recital will feature arts songs and arias by composers including Handel, Puccini, Massenet, Bizet, Rossini, and Verdi. Tickets are $50 reserved seating. There will be a Great Artist Celebration Reception with Ruth Ann Swenson immediately following the concert ($125 per person includes concert ticket). Contact the music department for an invitation.
At 11 AM Thursday, January 27, Ms. Swenson will teach
a master class featuring Moravian College vocal students. The
class is open to the public and tickets are $10 general admission. The
concert and master class will take place in Foy Concert Hall, located on the Hurd Campus of Moravian College, Main and Church Streets,
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For more information, contact the music
The Great Artist Series
is sponsored in part by The
8 PM Friday, February 18, 2005, will be a swinging night at Moravian College when world class trumpeter/composer, Nicholas Payton and his reconfigured band, Sonic Trance, take jazz fans on an unforgettable musical journey. Don't miss this opportunity to participate in an aural experience like no other. If you'd like to hear a sample of this talented musician's music, visit his website: www.nicholaspayton com. The concert will take place in Foy Hall and tickets are $20 general admission, $15 senior citizens, $10 students/children 12 and under. For more information, contact the Moravian College Music Department: 610-861-1650 music@moravian.edu
The performance by Nicholas Payton and Sonic Trance is sponsored in part by MCS Galleries and the Moravian College Office of Institutional Diversity and Multicultural Affairs.
At 7:30 PM Thursday, April 21, 2005, Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects presents "Landmarks of Dreams," inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall in Foy Hall at Moravian College. $12 general admission, $6 senior citizens, students, children 12 and under. Inspired by the art of Marc Chagall, "Landmarks of Dreams" explores the beauty of the human spirit through a suite of dances. The audience will experience whirling movements, a dancing violinist (Lisa Gutkin of the Klezmatics), and images of wanderers, refugees, animals and acrobats. The program will provide an opportunity for Moravian College students/dancers to perform with a professional dance company and work directly with the choreographer, Jody Oberfelder. As part of the residency, Jody will personally work with Mary Anne Hoffman, Artistic Director of the Moravian College Dancers and Dawn Ketterman-Benner, Faculty Advisor to the Moraivan College Dancers to teach the dance scene in which MoravianÕs students will participate. The dancers will therefore gain firsthand knowledge about what is entailed in, developing, producing, and ultimately, performing a professional work. In addition to participation by the MC Dancers, some Art Department students (under the direction of department chair, Anne Dutlinger) will create publicity for the event and assist with creating scenery for the program. Payne Gallery Director, Diane Radycki will also lend her talents to this project. The Music Department wishes to thank our fellow departments for their assistance with this collaborative effort.
This performance of "Landmarks of Dreams" is sponsored in part by the Moravian College Arts & Lectures committee.
STRANGERS AROUND TOWN
So you say you saw groups of witches with brooms, vampires, "Catholic school girls," hippies from the 60's, "old ladies," some "regular" MCMB&CG uniformed folk, Batman characters, "escapees" from the 1980s, some very noisy ballerinas (OK, so, one noisy real ballerina surrounded by 5 carrot-topped noisy ersatz ballerinas), a twirler, an angel, and a devil all led around Bethlehem by a cat? You must be talking about the Moravian College Marching Band & Color Guard in the City of Bethlehem's Halloween Parade! For their musical (and visual!) contributions, the city awarded the MCMB&CG the Committee Prize. Congratulations!
MCMB & CG CELEBRATES ITS 5TH YEAR!
Moravian competes with only one other Division III football college that sponsors a marching band, Lebanon Valley College. So, to celebrate the 5th year of marching, the Moravian College Marching Band & Color Guard traveled to Annville to support our football team and show our pride as representatives of Moravian College. Last year our band hosted Leb Val's band and in return they hosted this year's third-period get-together. For many of the students, the get-together was much like a reunion, as both bands claim members from the same high schools!
This year, the MCMB&CG overshot its membership goals. Instead of 45 members, we ended up with 52 students, including a student each from Penn State Lehigh Valley Campus and Muhlenberg College. Without enough uniforms, the MCMB&CG student staff designed this year's look: Black jeans, black shirts with an open collar over a lime green T-shirt, black suspenders, and a black beret. The fall 2005 band staff is already meeting to decide on uniforms for next year. As for the fall 2005 music (Beethoven and rock and roll), the band will again combine two home game shows into a long show to perform at high school marching exhibitions. New this fall, we hope to also present two student-designed shows.
The MCMB&CG bids a fond farewell to Drum Major Nicole Seaman who will be leaving
Moravian after this term. But
before she leaves, Nicole and the 2004 staff wanted to make sure that the
transition to new leadership would happen smoothly. Our two new drum majors will be
rising-sophomores Andrew Lynn and Jacquelyn Olimpo. Our new Head Manager will be Courtney Selander.
Senior Manager Joyce Owens will
continue in that position, as will Featured Twirler Emily Klein, Color Guard Instructors Katie Washer and Jennie Hoose, Drum line Instructor Andy Drago, Arranger Nate Kirby, and
Woodwind Section Leader Jen Kahl.
PIRATES TAKE OVER FOY
Prof. Jones and nephew Ryan
Jarrell
For two performances this November, the Moravian College-Community Orchestra and Opera Ensemble allowed pirates to take over Foy Concert Hall! Over 65 people put their heads together to figure out the logistics, study, and present costumed presentations of The Pirates of Penzance. Under the direction of Browyn Fix-Keller and James Barnes, college students and community players and singers spent three months learning style, characterizations, and stage craft for these performances of the much-loved 19th-century Gilbert and Sullivan comic operetta. Among the roles were community members Richard Shapp as the Major-General, George McCarty North as the Pirate Apprentice Frederic, and biology professor Christopher Jones as the Pirate King. Roles performed by students included Matthew Smyth as the Pirate Lieutenant Samuel, Gregory Lissauer as the Sergeant of Police, Jennifer Sherman as Mabel, Lisa Toth as Edith, Joyce Owens as Kate, Kirsten Ostrander as Isabel, and Kelly Schmidt as the Pirate Maid-of-all-work Ruth.
JAZZ PROGRAM EXPANDS
In recognition of the growing student and audience interest in MoravianÕs jazz program, the Music Department is proud and delighted that Moravian chose Prof. Neil Wetzel as the full-time Director of Jazz Studies! Neil is responsible for organizing the jazz faculty, directing the BIG Band, and overseeing the operations of the Jazz Combo, Fusion Ensemble, and Jazz Vocal Ensemble.
SPRING SABBATICAL
In spring 2005, after 15 years of service to Moravian, James Barnes will take a sabbatical! His tasks are to study marching band
arranging and drill writing. (He
also hopes to travel, think, write, and refresh.) During that time Neil Wetzel will take over the Director of Instrumental Music
duties. Artist-Lecturer and
conductor of the Women's Chorus, Eduardo
Azzati, will conduct the Orchestra. The Wind Ensemble will be conducted by
Artist-Lecturer Ronald Demkee who is the conductor of the Allentown Band and
Associate Conductor of the Allentown Symphony. Before leaving for sabbatical Barnes and
Demkee will recruit for Moravian at the five-day Mid
West Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference in
SUPPORT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
How does a college sponsor a marching band, color guard, orchestra, operetta, jazz program, wind ensemble, and 16 chamber ensembles? Certainly not with budget money alone! We depend on you (the reader) for support! Come to our performances and purchase tickets for yourself and your friends. And the next time you're at a performance, stop by the lobby and buy a $5 Music Department "Spirit Wiff" air freshener (Spring Rain scent -2 in a pack). Proceeds go to keeping our instrumental program strong!
MUSIC EDUCATION NEWS!
STAFF NOTES!
Lou Carol Fix (organ) gave a recital on the three-manual Austin organ at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, on Sunday, November 14. She played on the Heefner Organ Concert Series which sponsors six recitals each year in Bomberger Auditorium on the college campus. Her recital included works by Bach, Buxtehude, Sandresky, Locklair, Jongen and Dupre.
Barbara Liebhaber (Music Ed.) and Nora Suggs (MCMI flute) performed flute and piano duets at Lehigh Valley Hospital on December 1st at the annual board meeting event.
Larry Lipkis (Composition, Early Music) performed
twelve concerts with the
Carol Traupman-Carr (current Associate Dean and former Music History Professor) wrote an original arrangement of "Shenandoah" for the Main Street Brass Quintet (founded by Moravian grad Bryan Hay, '86), which was commissioned for and performed on their concert tour of England in July 2004.
* * * * * *
NOTES FROM ALUMNI
Emily Ralph (Class of '04)
Hello, friends and family!
I just wanted to let you all know that I have been published for the first time! Yesterday afternoon [Oct. 5th] the new issue of Rhubarb magazine arrived in the mail. My essay, "Standing in the Midst of Fire," was included as part of their Fire theme. This essay was a personal essay I wrote as part of a writing class in college which reflects on the passion and persecution of the early Anabaptists and a reconciliation conference in Switzerland in May, 2003. If you would like to read it, copies of the issue (Fall 2004, Issue 11) are available from Rhubarb for $7 Canadian (which the Internet tells me is about$5.50 US). Rhubarb's website is pretty outdated, so it is best to contact them by e-mail or postal mail at:
Rhubarb
Mennonite Literary Society
606-100 Arthur Street
Winnipeg, MB R3B 1H3
e-mail: melal01@moravian.edu
Jennifer Schaeffer (Class of '97)
HereÕs an update that Jenn just provided:
Ò[After graduating], I spent about two years in Ithaca NY during which time I sang with the Cornell University Chorus as well as an a cappella group called The Class Notes. In the summer of 2000 I returned to Pennsylvania to become a Nurse Practitioner. I received my Bachelor's & Master's degrees in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania and am currently working at Penn's Student Health Services as a Nurse Practitioner. My singing adventures in Philadelphia have led me to my current ensemble: the Ama Deus Ensemble, with Maestro Valentin Radu & Executive Director none other than Moravian's own Bonnie Fix- Keller. (Note: current student Matthew Smyth, Class of Õ06, is also a member of the ensemble).
MEET OUR MAJORS
Keith LaBar, Class of 2006
I started playing the piano in the third grade. While in elementary school I had a wonderful music teacher who also taught piano on the side and our personalities just seemed to click. I started off playing just what I am doing now, jazz and boogie. From the first time I started playing I knew that I wanted music to be part of my life and pretty much from then forward decided that I wanted to teach music because I wanted to show others my knowledge and let them fall in love with music just as I had.
At Moravian I am a junior and very active in many of the groups on
campus. I am the president of the Moravian Choir, as well as Delta Omicron,
the international honors music fraternity here on campus. I was also recently
accepted into Omicron Delta Kappa, the Leadership Fraternity on campus. I
perform in the Jazz Fusion Ensemble, the Jazz Combo, and
Off campus, I play in many groups, such as the Moravian College Jazz
Quartet and Initiality. I accompany some local choirs and vocalists as
well as play solo on many occasions. I am also the Pit or Sideline Instructor
for
END NOTES
SUBMIT!
If you are an alum, 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 Dr. Larry Lipkis (melal01@moravian.edu)
or send a note to:
Dr. Larry Lipkis
Moravian College Music Department
1200 Main Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018