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Occasional Updates from the Music Department, November 2017

Volume I, No. 1 – November 2017 

A Warm Welcome

It is an exciting time for Augsburg University’s Department of Music. Welcome to this first Occasional Updates email that will help keep you informed about music at Augsburg. You are receiving this because you are a graduate, former student, faculty member, or friend of music at Augsburg. Should you wish not to receive these occasional updates, please unsubscribe using the button at the bottom of this email.

Our goal is to highlight happenings and people in the department and to guide you toward further information regarding performances and other opportunities to engage with Augsburg’s music faculty and students. Please know that we are delighted to hear from alumni and community members any time and we invite you to attend any and all music events that fit into your schedule.

New Faculty

The Department of Music is excited to welcome new full-time faculty members Rafael Rodriguez (orchestra and jazz ensembles) and Brian Lukasavitz (music business). In addition, we welcome new part-time faculty members Charles Hodgson (horn instructor) and Timothy Buzza (music education).

–Full faculty biographies and contact information.

Reinaldo Moya Named Schubert Club Composer-In-Residence

Many congratulations to composition faculty member Reinaldo Moya, who has been named the Schubert Club’s composer-in-residence.

National Search for Endowed Position in Choral Leadership

Thanks to the generosity of alumnus John N. Schwartz, ’67, Augsburg University is undertaking a national/international search for a professor of choral leadership and conducting to be appointed Fall 2018. Like many choir alumni, John was not a music major. He majored in business but found meaning in the choir and has been singing his entire life. The professorship will be named for John and will initially be supported by an operational fund that will provide funds for creative choral activities.

Tenure Track Search in Music, Media and Management

The department will undertake a national search for its first tenure-track professor line in music, media, and management, building on the highly successful music business degree program currently in place. The appointment will begin in August 2018. Augsburg music alumni and friends are invited to notify the consulting department head, David Myers, of any nominees for either position at myersda@augsburg.edu.

Curriculum Advances

During the 2016-17 academic year, faculty members Dan Albert, Reinaldo Moya, Annie Heiderscheidt, and Emma Moonier undertook extensive revisions of curricula in their respective areas of music, human development and learning, theory/composition, and music therapy. These extensive changes, approved by the university’s Academic Affairs committees, assure that Augsburg students are getting leading-edge educations that enhance their marketability, their musicianship, and their leadership in their chosen professions. Concurrent with the curriculum updates, the department is undertaking systematic student recruitment based on what we are calling the “Augsburg difference in music!”

Collaborations with Community Music Organizations

The department continues its important collaboration with the Cedar Cultural Center, bringing Augsburg students into music-making with diverse performers from across the globe. In addition, this has seen the Rose Ensemble in Residence in early November and will have a shared performance with the Augsburg Choir and the National Lutheran Choir in March. The department is also engaged in dialogue with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra regarding initiatives in inclusion and access that cross the boundaries of education, audience development, and new approaches to concert formats and programming.

Student and Alumni Highlights

The Augsburg Concert Band, under the direction of Dr. Erika Svanoe, performed at Thomas Edison & Humboldt High Schools, Trinity Lutheran Church in Sparta, Wisc., and Wabasha Kellogg High School in late October during their Fall Tour.

Congratulations to music therapy alum, Katie Lindenfelser on the Grand Opening of Crescent Cove, a respite and hospice home for children with life-threatening conditions, and their families who love them.

Faculty Activities

Daniel Albert (music education) has been active presenting workshops and clinics for national, state, and local professional meetings. In April, he presented his research study on the influence of composition competitions on students’ self-concepts as musicians at the 10th International Music Education Research Conference in Bath, England. This same study was published in Research Studies in Music Education, an international music education research journal. In September, he presented another research study on the influences of culture and community within schools of music on students’ occupational identities as pre-service music educators at the biennial Society for Music Teacher Educators Symposium in Minneapolis. Additionally, Daniel has presented several sessions for K-12 music educators at professional association conferences in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska, as well as served as a clinician for ensembles throughout the upper Midwest.

Trudi Anderson, Kathy Kienzle, Merilee Klemp, Jim Jacobson released “The Lyrical Pickpocket” a new CD on the Innova label of the American Composers Forum.

Dr Erika Svanoe had her piece “Steampunk Suite” performed this past July in Washington D.C. by The President’s Own Marine Band. She has also been recently commissioned to write a new piece for young band by the Minnesota Band Directors Association. Dr Svanoe will conduct the premiere at Minnesota Music Educators Association Mid-winter Clinic by the Encore Winds, a Minneapolis based community ensemble.