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College of Arts and Humanities

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Name:

Mark Babbitt

News:

On Novemebr 2, 2006 the CWU Trombone Choir (made up of 20 undergraduate students from the music department) performed at the Seasons in Yakima for the Yakima Music Club. The trombone is directed by assistant professor of trombone, Dr. Mark Babbitt.

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GRADUATE STUDENTS

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FACULTY MEMBERS

Name:

Nikolas Caoile

News:

Nikolas Caoile, Director of Orchestras, has been selected as one of 40 conductors to compete at the 9th Cadaques Conducting Competition in Spain. The winner of the competition will be awarded a cash prize and will be engaged to conduct over 30 European orchestras over the course of the next three years.

Name:

Jon Hamar

News:

In January Jon Hamar was awarded a Golden Ear Award for Emerging Artist by Earshot. Earshot is a Seattle based jazz organization that each year gives awards citing extraordinary achievment in the field of Jazz music in the Northwest region. Jon is also celebrating the relaese of his new Cd Hereafter. Visit www.jonhamar.com to check it out.

Name:

Larry Gookin

News:

Professor Larry Gookin will be guest conductor of the APAC International Honor Band in Kobe, Japan this February. APAC is made up of six international schools; Brent International School Manila, Osaka International School and Canadian Academy Japan, Seoul Foreign School Korea, Shanghai American School and the International School of Beijing China. Professor Gookin recently received news that he is the recipient of University of Oregon's 2008 Distinguished Alumnus Award for the School of Music. He will be acknowledged during the University of Oregon's graduation ceremony this June in Eugene, Oregon.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh performed with the professional a cappella jazz quartet Just 4 Kicks as featured guest artist at the Olympic College Jazz Festival Nov. 17th in Bremerton, WA. Singh also adjudicated over 20 high school/junior high vocal jazz ensembles, many of whom were directed by recent CWU music education majors.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh conducted the North Carolina Middle School Honors Choir at the NCMEA conference held in Winston-Salem, NC Nov. 9-12. Vijay also gave an interest session for music educators on the topic "Musical Multi-tasking for Choral Directors". Prior to his guest conducting in NC, Vijay adjudicated the Inland Empire's National Association of Teachers of Singing competition Nov. 3rd at CWU and had two of his voice students place in the top 3 of their respective divisions ( his high school division student won the HS division).

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh sang the bass solos for Yakima Symphony Orchestra's production of Mozart's Requiem Nov. 1st in Yakima at the Seasons Concert Hall. Singh also adjudicated jazz choirs at the Edmonds Jazz Symposium held at Mountlake Terrace High School the previous weekend. Fellow CWU faculty member Chris Bruya was also invited to adjudicate jazz bands at the symposium.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh conducted the British Columbia Music Educators Association Honors Jazz Choir in Vancouver, BC Oct. 18-20. The select ensemble, comprised of the finest high school jazz vocalists in BC, sang a program featuring 3 of Singh's arrangements/compositions. Vijay also gave an interest session for music educators at the conference on rhythm section techniques for jazz choir directors.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh guest conducted the British Columbia Music Educators Association Secondary School Honors Jazz Choir in Vancouver, BC, Canada October 17-20th. The group was a select ensemble comprised of the finest auditioned students from the province of British Columbia. Singh also gave a workshop on jazz rhythm section/drumming skills for choral directors attending the conference. He will be adjudicating the Edmonds Jazz Symposium with fellow jazz faculty member Chris Bruya on October 27th, at Mountlake Terrace High School in Edmonds, WA.

Name:

Gary Weidenaar

News:

Gary Weidenaar has been engaged as a guest lecturer and clinician for the University of Kansas Choral Music Department in Lawrence, Kansas on October 4 and 5, 2007. Dr. Weidenaar will present lectures on the "L'homme Armé" choral tradition and on "How to Get a Job Overseas". He will also work with 6 of the KU choirs.

Name:

Gary Weidenaar

News:

Gary Weidenaar has been appointed to the position of Repertoire & Standards Student Activities Chair on the board of the Northwestern Division of the American Choral Directors' Association. ACDA, which is a non-profit organization comprised of over 20,000 Choral Directors, consists of seven Divisions. The Northwestern division includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. One of Dr. Weidenaar's first tasks will be to help organize logistical support for the Divisional Convention in Vancouver, British Columbia to be held in February 2008. (submitted July 8, 2007)

Name:

Linda Marra

News:

Dr. Linda Marra, Professor of Voice and Coordinator of the Voice Area, was honored as the Outstanding Teacher of the College of Arts and Humanities for 2007 at the CAH Banquet this Spring. Her former student, Claire Vangelisti, was one of the alumni honored at the banquet as well, and presented a recital in the music building Recital Hall.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh guest conducted the Clark County School District Jazz Honors Choir in Las Vegas, NV May 8-12, 2007. The select group of high school students rehearsed and presented a program of various vocal jazz repertoire including two arrangements by Singh. The CCSD is one of the largest school districts in the United States, with over 38 high schools serving over 60,000 students. This was the second consecutive year Singh was invited to conduct.

Name:

Dr. Bret Smith

News:

The CWU Preparatory Strings Program advisor Dr. Bret Smith is pleased to announce that the program will be the recipient of a $40,000, 4-year grant from the National String Project Consortium. CWU joins Baylor, Virginia Tech, and the University of New Hampshire in being selected for this round of grants, with the CWU grant funded by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). The Preparatory Program was founded in 1991 by CWU faculty to provide pre-service teaching experience for undergraduate students and to provide an opportunity for string study for the children of the Kittitas Valley. It currently consists of five ensembles led by CWU students and serves 85 young musicians. The National String Project Consortium provides initial funding to support the creation and expansion of university-community partnerships to support string teaching and learning, especially in areas without established school string programs.

Name:

Gary Weidenaar

News:

Gary Weidenaar served as one of three adjudicator/clinicians for the Mountain Region Choral Contest held at Graham Kapowsin High School on May 22, 2007. The festival included 16 choirs, each of which had a half hour split between performing and receiving a clinic from one of the three adjudicators. Gary rated all 16 and worked with 5 of the ensembles as an on-stage clinician.

Name:

Gary Weidenaar

News:

Gary Weidenaar adjudicated the Yakima Valley Music Educator's Association High School Choral Festival on April 11th at the A.C. Davis High School in Yakima. Along with two other judges, Weidenaar gave comments and ratings to each of the 14 choirs which sang throughout the day. He also gave 20 minute clinics to four of the choirs.

Name:

Dr. Bret Smith

News:

Dr. Bret Smith, assistant professor of music, read a paper and presented a poster entitled "The Development and Implementation of Washington's Classroom-Based Performance Assessments" at the symposium "Integrating Curriculum, Theory, and Practice: A Symposium on Assessment in Music Education" held March 28-30 at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr. Smith also met with state officials from Florida, South Carolina, and Kentucky to discuss aspects of these state's assessment programs. As chair of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) Special Research Interest Group on Assessment, he was able to meet and interact with many colleagues and discuss progress on several ongoing projects. He has also recently been appointed Regional Chair of MENC's Special Research Interest Group on Teacher Education, and will serve as the Northwest liaison for this national group.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh performed and adjudicated at the Powell River Vocal Summit in British Columbia March 30-31st, 2007. Singh performed with the professional a cappella vocal jazz quartet, "Just 4 Kicks", and was honored for his service to the festival and music education by receiving the prestigeous Frank DeMiero Award, given annually to a music educator who best represents the ideals and contributions founded by CWU alumn and legend Frank DeMiero. Singh has performed/adjudicated at the festival for over 12 years and has taken CWU's Vocal Jazz 1 Choir to perform as invited guests twice in the past 5 years.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh performed a program of opera and musical theatre crossover works as part of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra's "Drawing Room Diversions" chamber music series held at the Yakima Musuem March 22, 2007. Accompanying Singh on piano was CWU Music faculty Adjunct Professor of Piano, Barbara Pickett. Singh has become a staple performer of the Drawing Room Diversions concerts and has performed every year as part of the series since 2001. Vijay's presence in Yakima will be even more noticable next year, as YSO conductor Brooke Creswell has contracted Singh to perform the Bass vocal solos in next Fall's YSO production of Mozart's "Requiem," to be performed November 1, 2007 at The Seasons in Yakima.

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh adjudicated high school choirs in Wenatchee as part of the district choir festival held at Wenatchee High School March 21, 2007. There were 34 choirs performing, and Singh was especially proud of a number of choirs directed by recent graduates of CWU Music Education undergraduate and graduate programs.....the strong presence of CWU alumni in the region reinforces the the commitment of the department to music education and its history of excellence!

Name:

Vijay Singh

News:

Vijay Singh guest conducted the Nebraska-Wesleyan University Honors Choir in February as part of the Nebraska-Wesleyan Choir Festival. Past conductors have included many well known conductors, such as Paul Salamunovich, Aaron Copeland, Simon Carrington, Gregg Smith, Robert Shaw, Elaine Quilichini, and Eric Ericson. The choir performed the Nebraska premiere of Singh's composition "Plaudite" as the opening number and sang two other of Singh's compositions as part of the program. Singh also received an unexpected honor: Dr. William Wyman, Director of Choral Activities at Nebraska-Wesleyan, made an unprecedented invitation for Singh to return next year and commissioned a new choral work to be given its world premiere in February 2008.

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STAFF MEMBERS

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ALUMNI

Name:

Mark Babbitt

News:

CWU Alumni Don Immel gave a masterclass for trombone students in the music department at CWU on October 29, 2006. Don is currently principal trombone of the S�nderjyllands Symfoniorkester in S�nderborg, Denmark. Prior to Denmark, he was principal trombone of the Honolulu Symphony and associate professor of trombone at the University of Washington. While a student at CWU, Don studied trombone with current director of bands, Larry Gookin.

Name:

David Blink

News:

David Blink, (CWU Master of Music, '03) has been appointed to a tenure track faculty position on the music department of Yakima Valley Community College (Yakima WA) He has assumed the position of Director of Instrumental Music and Jazz Studies. You can reach him at dblink@yvcc.edu or (509) 574-4835

Name:

John Sanders

News:

John Sanders, B.M. '97; M.M. '02, has been granted tenure at Edmonds Community College, and appointed Chair of the Department of Music at that institution.

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OTHER

Name:

Hal Ott

News:

The newly-formed, Nothwest Flute Consort (including the CWU Flute Choir and over 30 professional flutists from around the Northwest) will perform a free concert in the State Capitol Rotunda in Olympia on May 13 at 2:00 p.m. Hal Ott will conduct and has served as coordinator. The program is divided into three segments: world/folk music, classical music, and jazz (featuring some notable jazz flutists throughout the region such as CWU alumni Matt Schneider as well as Bob Esperanza, Tom Russell, Nancy Curtis, Ann Linquist, andFronda Woods). The variety of styles presented will certainly appeal to a large audience. One of the most exciting things about this program is the inclusion of three contrabass flutes.

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