Last fall, Music Education Professor Dr. Bonnie Jacobi, had her research published The Journal of Historical Research in Music Education. Her article titled “In Burst of Fresh Song” - William Churchill Hammond and His Christmas Caroling Choir at Mount Holyoke College explains how he not only helped to reinstate the musical celebration of Christmas after Puritan beliefs had precluded it in New England, but also provided one of the first experiences for American women to tour as professional performing musicians, premiering new music throughout the northeastern United States.
On Nov. 3, 2015, Dr. Joel Bacon, Stewart and Sheron Golden Chair of Organ and Liturgical Studies, performed at Baylor University’s celebration in honor of Emeritus Professor of Organ, Joyce Jones. Dr. Jones, Bacon’s former teacher, had an illustrious career at Baylor where she was the Joyce Oliver Bowden Professor of Music, Professor of Organ, and Organist-in-Residence from 1969 until her retirement in 2012. Dr. Jones had a significant impact on the lives of countless individuals, students, faculty, and staff alike, and thanks to her dedication, Baylor owns one of the finest instrument collections of any academic institution. The School of Music celebrated her legacy by naming the tracker organ in Markham Organ Studio the Joyce Jones Létourneau Organ. Dr. Jones, who has been a guest artist-in-residence at Colorado State University’s annual Organ Week since its inception in 2013, earned a D.M. A. from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Sacred Music degree in composition from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, a national organization with over twenty thousand members, and the composer of numerous published works.
Dr. James David, associate professor of Composition and Music Theory, will be honored at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest 2016 this summer with a full concert of his work. Additionally, the CSU Clarinet Studio Clarinet Choir, directed by Dr. Wesley Ferreira, assistant professor of Clarinet, has been invited to perform as a feature ensemble at the conference. ClarinetFest 2016 “Inspirations,” will take place on the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., Aug. 3-7.
Dr. Bryan Christian, special assistant professor of Music Theory, has been offered a book contract by Oxford University Press and will be the sole editor of The Oxford Handbook of Spectral Music. The book, which will have have forty-nine chapters by contributors from around the world, will be the first in an extensive collection of spectral music scholarship in English. The Handbook will provide critical and theoretical readings of spectralism, extensively cover proto-spectralism (showing the roots of the aesthetic movement in earlier music), and discuss the major composers of the various spectral and post-spectral traditions.
Dr. James Kim, director of Choral Activities at CSU and director/founder of Colorado Bach Ensemble, is in the midst of a series on Colorado Public Radio. On the first Sunday of each month starting in Dec., the Bach expert and scholar is conducting in-depth discussion and audio-illustrated analysis of the finest Bach cantatas on David Rutherford’s ongoing Sacred Classics Top 10 Series. The popular series has included recent interviews with nationally renowned scholar and biographer, Jan Swafford, about Beethoven's nine symphonies.
Series Summary: J.S. Bach summarized his life by saying that he “worked hard.” The twelve hundred surviving works in his catalog attest to that, but perhaps the most astonishing portion is his cantatas. When Bach arrived in Leipzig in 1723, he composed a new cantata nearly every week. This odyssey lasted several years and represents a fifth of his entire output. Dr. James Kim joins David Rutherford on Sacred Classics to highlight the top 10 cantatas from this remarkable period in Bach’s life. Each month, Dr. Kim gives his insight on the importance of the month’s featured cantata, its content and context, with musical examples throughout to illustrate his points, demonstrating Bach’s ability to marry text and music in each of these masterpieces.
“Bach’s music sustains, empowers, and strengthens me. It’s a necessity, not a luxury. We need it whether we realize it or not.” – James Kim
ON-AIR SCHEDULE:
FEBRUARY 7:
Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80
MARCH 6:
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1
APRIL 3:
Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106
MAY 1:
Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170
JUNE 5:
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150
JULY 3:
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51
AUGUST 7:
Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4
SEPTEMBER 4:
Herz und Mund und Tat un Leben, BWV 147
OCTOBER 2:
Ich habe genug, BWV 82