NEW YEAR'S RESOLVE

Happy New Year!

Hope the recent holidays were fun and relaxing for you, and filled with lots of great music. We had two holiday concerts on campus featuring brass, organ, choirs, and our Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Personally I enjoyed hearing the Messiah with The Cleveland Orchestra. Our B-W students were on break beginning December 12, so it was wonderful to have our music majors back on campus again on January 11 for the start of spring semester.

I rather enjoy writing and typing 2010; a new decade and fresh start. Have you made any New Year's resolutions? Like many women I always resolve to exercise more and lose some weight. But my real New Year's resolution is to learn to more fully utilize the features of all the remarkable technology at my disposal: my digital camera, PDA, GPS, and laptop.

Baldwin-Wallace College and our Conservatory of Music have a long-standing tradition and sense of excellence in service to students that in many ways has not changed in more than 100 years. We resolve to:

• Provide a quality education
• Be friendly and caring
• Challenge students academically and musically
• Get to know students personally
• Encourage community and involvement
• Provide experiences for real-life preparation

Did you receive your invitation for B-W at OMEA? Our Symphonic Wind Ensemble performs Thursday, January 28 at 6:30 pm in the Convention Center Ballroom, Cincinnati. And I hope many All-State students and their parents will stop to visit us at Booth #705 in the exhibit area.

Best wishes to you, in whatever way you resolve to make 2010 an outstanding year for you!

Sincerely,

Anita Evans

aevans@bw.edu

1-866-BW-MUSIC

Wrapping it up!!

Greetings friends! My name is Jessica Schlabach and I'm a junior, music therapy major here at the BW Conservatory. Things are sure winding down as the semester closes out!

As classes wrap up, we find ourselves buried in a mountain of papers and finals and juries (oh my!), finals week isn't all that bad for conservatory students! Most of our finals (because they involve a small evaluation of our musical skills learned in the courses we take) only take ten or fifteen minutes as opposed to a two-hour long final! I know that personally I have two papers that were due last week, one this week, and only two written finals this week! All in all I get to work here in the conservatory admissions office, practice, and only spend a total of four hours taking tests over the week...sounds like a sweet deal to me!

Juries aren't all that bad either. A jury is the "final" for your primary instrument. It sounds scarier than it is, because your private teacher assigns you a solo piece to play/sing (depending on your primary instrument or voice) and you prepare it. Then you play it for your private teacher and a couple other teachers from your department. As a double reed player, the bassoon teacher (Jonathan Sherwin) and my oboe teacher (Jeff Rathbun) throw a small, celebratory get together after juries to celebrate our completion of the semester...so I think juries are fun!!!

Friday, December 4th, I played in our last orchestra concert of the semester! I played in the first piece, Beethoven's Prometheus Overture, which was followed by the Vaughn Williams Fantasia on a Theme. The crowning achievement of the performance, however, was the absolutely fabulous performance of Mussorgsky's "Picture at an Exhibition." Sax soloist Kate Trudgen and trumpet soloist David Perkins were outstanding and shone over the already brilliant ensemble. All three pieces received a houseful standing ovation and much applause! I felt so lucky to be involved in such an amazing performance. What a fabulous. Way to close out a semester of hard work! Drilling all those technical passages while paying rigorous attention to intonation sure paid off. Nothing beats the glow of accomplishment after a performance!

Yesterday, Sunday, December 6th, marked our annual holiday concerts. Our Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Brass choirs, and almost every choir was involved in the two holiday concerts. The concerts were full of holiday cheer and merriment, proving to be the perfect way to close out the semester. I know my roommate and I are storing presents for friends under a tiny Christmas tree in our apartment in preparation for the season.

So, as the week ends we must leave our conservatory family for a small, refreshing respite. Classes resume on January, 11th along with rehearsals and more hard, rewarding work. Keep your eyes and ears open for some of the following scheduled concerts next semester:

February 5th--BW Jazztet
February 11-14th--Our Town, Opera
February 19th--BW Jazz Ensemble
February 24th--BW Brass Choir
February 26th--BW Symphony Orchestra
February 28th--BW Women and Men's Choirs
March 26th--Symphonic Wind Ensemble
April 9th--BW Jazz Ensemble
April 16th-18th--BACH FESTIVAL, featuring Bach's St. John's Passion
April 23rd-24th--Spring Musical (TBA)

And many more! Just visit our website
www.bw.edu/academics/conservatory/events/
to find the best concert for you!

Wishing you all well and a very happy holidays, Jes

Wild Party at Baldwin-Wallace!

Greetings from the B-W Conservatory!

My name is Ryan Garrett and I am a sophomore Music Theatre major from San Antonio, Texas. It’s been a crazy few weeks here on campus with the opening and closing of our Fall musical, Lippa’s WILD PARTY. Directed by the head of the musical theatre program, Victoria Bussert, the show featured choreography by Martín Cespedes and music direction by Brian Taylor.

A B-W graduate, Taylor is currently working actively in New York City as a music director. Working with a professional like Brian was a fantastic learning experience for me and for the entire company of the show. Baldwin-Wallace constantly gives students these incredible opportunities to work with professionals who are experts at their craft. The show turned out to be a tremendous success, garnering rave reviews in the local papers and proving to be a great learning experience for the students involved in the production. Here’s a slideshow video of the production: http://www.rogermastroianni.com/multimedia/wildparty/

It’s also been quite a Wild Party here in the admissions office. Just this past weekend, we had our first audition day for the music theatre program. There were 51 students in attendance who were able to observe a master class with New York casting director Bob Cline. It was a great day of new talent as we begin to build the new conservatory class of 2014.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Ryan Garrett
B-W Conservatory Admissions

Message to Conservatory

Greetings Bloggers- I just wanted you to know how proud I am of everyone @ the Conservatory. I sent this message out to all students, faculty and staff recently. B-W...it's a great place to be!

Dear Conservatory Family,

I was quoted several times this weekend saying that “it’s a good time to be at the Conservatory of Music at Baldwin-Wallace College”. This sentiment was kindled through various avenues, not the least of which is that plans are moving ahead with our conservatory building project despite a faltering economy and other challenging factors. I will be able to speak more fully as the next few weeks unfold. The work that we do in the final planning stages of our building will affect conservatory students, staff and faculty for many decades to come.

Even more exciting news however comes from what my ears and heart enjoyed this past weekend having had the pleasure to attend both performances through competition weekend at the conservatory, and by our student orchestra on Friday night led by conductor Dwight Oltman with piano soloist Dr. Sungeun Kim. I could not have been more pleased with the excellent performance by all of these musicians. In just four and a half quick weeks, they coalesced into a uniform ensemble displaying a wonderfully blended string sound, mature wind soloists with impeccable intonation, and a brass and percussion section capable of a complete range from subtleties to overwhelming power. Their performance of the Beethoven and Saint-Saens program proved these difficult pieces to be well within their musical and technical grasp. They set the bar exceeding high at this first performance of the year, and I look forward to hearing them exceed that level on each successive outing. The full to capacity crowd enjoyed the performance led by their commanding leader Dwight Oltman, and heard the artistry of a musician, pianist and magnificent soul of our own Dr. Kim.

I also had the pleasure to hear all thirteen finalists compete in the Concerto Competition on Saturday with Senior Music Education Major, Laura Schupbach winning. I hope you will attend the B-W Symphony Orchestra concert on Friday 4 December when she performs Samuel Barber’s masterwork for soprano and chamber orchestra, Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Hearing Laura’s performance and that of all twelve finalists helped to highlight the talent of our conservatory student body. I hope even more students will consider performing in this conservatory-wide competition next year.

Sunday brought the Hakola Vocal Competition to the fore, and I am pleased to announce that the winner of this scholarship award is soprano Jessica Waddle. Once again, all eleven performers exhibited the highest level of accomplishment.

Thank to everyone for your hard work thus far this semester. I wish I could attend each and every performance on and off campus, but alas, that just isn’t possible. Good luck in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Peter Landgren, Director
Conservatory of Music
Baldwin-Wallace College

Fall Happenings at the Conservatory

Hello Everyone! My name is Elizabeth, and I am the new BW Conservatory student blogger. In anticipation of my first blog, I was trying to narrow down exactly what I wanted to say about the BW Conservatory at this time of year. After taking one look out the window, I knew I had the perfect topic.

From a student's perspective, BW is GORGEOUS this time of year. As the weather starts to cool down and the leaves start to change, the campus seems to come alive with all of the students finally settling into their routines and making the most of their musical education. As always, this is also the time of year when mid-terms are right around the corner! However, on a day like today, when the sun is shining and a nice, cool fall breeze is floating through the air, it's the perfect opportunity for a walk down to Coe Lake to start on some of that much-needed relaxation!


Just in time to welcome the change of seasons, this upcoming weekend marks one of the first performance-packed weekends of the semester:

Friday September 25, 2009 @ 8pm: Our fabulous Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dwight Oltman, will perform The Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.4 featuring Dr. Sungeun Kim, one of the newer members of our wonderful piano faculty.

Saturday September 26, 2009 @ 1pm: 13 talented student instrumentals and vocals will compete in the Concerto Competition by performing 10 minutes of a major work for their specific instrument and orchestra. The winner of the competition will receive a cash prize and the opportunity to perform their entire work with the BW Symphony Orchestra later in the semester.

Saturday September 26, 2009 @ 8pm: The B-W Jazztet, directed by Greg Banaszak, will perform, featuring the "Take Five" Jazz String Quartet and 3 student vocalists. Mr. Banaszak will be touring with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra this October, premiering two new saxophone concertos in Paris and Vienna, and will conclude the tour with a performance at the 2009 Henry Gorceki Music Festival in Krakow, Poland!

Sunday September 27, 2009 @ 4pm: 11 vocalists will perform in the Hakola Vocal Competition in the hopes of winning an annual scholarship sponsored by long-time BW Conservatory faculty member, Mel Hakola.

Sunday September 27, 2009 @ 8pm: Henry Peyrebrune, our double bass faculty member, will give a recital featuring other members of our voice and instrumental faculty.


As you can see, there is hardly a dull moment at the BW Conservatory! There is always something to do, something to see, or something wonderful to hear....even if you are just walking by the practice rooms!


Elizabeth Wojtowicz
Student Ambassador
Conservatory Admissions

NEW LIFE

Three weeks into the fall semester, and things are rolling along smoothly and busily here at the Conservatory of Music. The new life, of course, refers to the 82 new freshmen that we are so excited about, including a pianist from Bangkok and three vocalists from Arizona. It's fun to watch the ebb and flow of the Conservatory community as some students graduate and new students arrive; yet the over-arching commitment to excellence in music and performance continues.

New life includes our new faculty: Andreas Metz, music theory; David Brockett, horn; Anna Maria D'Antonio, dance; Amy Hall, voice, and Boyd Mackus, voice. There are 68 artist faculty educating and supporting our 320 music majors.

The addition of our Conservatory annex (UCC Church) has brought new life because of the new opportunities for usable space! Though renovation and new construction lies in the future; the annex is supplying additional rehearsal, teaching, and studio space.

Last but not least is the celebration of new life to be for our Conservatory Office manager, Shannon Fujimura. She and her husband Dylan will welcome their new baby soon; but we took the opportunity to celebrate today.

Wishing you the very best as you find ways to breathe new life into your work and daily routines.

VALUE

What do I value at Baldwin-Wallace College? Many things, but mostly our students. Any college community is unique in its own particular combination of faculty, students, and staff; but it is the students that are ever-changing, give energy to the campus, and a reason for faculty to teach.


Take at a look at these two fine Conservatory students, Mike and Kristen. At this moment they are showing the campus to rising seniors and their families as part of our final summer cook-out. Mike is a music education and trumpet performance major from North Carolina. Kristen is a percussion performance major from Binghamton, NY; and is approaching her final year at B-W. They have worked tirelessly greeting admission guests this summer and getting us ready for the coming year. Our aquarium has become a key feature of our office (right down to naming the fish); and they are also creating play lists and facebook type pages for all our student assistants. Thanks Mike and Kristen, for all you have done to enrich our office!

WHAT'S NEW

The College has incorporated the use of vans for part of our campus tour. You get to see our quaint Berea downtown area and a glimpse of our beautiful Cleveland Metroparks system, as well as our diverse campus.

WHAT'S FUN

Several of those valued students came to my house for dinner on Tuesday and to play"Pit". Everyone is taking advantage of end-of-summer opportunities like the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center, the Cedar Point amusement park, or the show Pippin at Cain Park.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

My daughter will be applying to the musical theatre program at Baldwin-Wallace this Fall. My question to you is whether you want the DVD listed in the Common Application Supplement?

This answer has three parts:

• All music theatre students must audition on campus



• We don't require a pre-screening DVD for voice or music theatre



• Only instrumentalists may submit a DVD in lieu of a live audition

I wish you fun in your own favorite activities to make the end of summer special for you.

A pal at the Conservatory, Anita