News from the College of Musical Arts

CMA Violinists, Mark Minnich and Sally Williams –  aka “Revamped”  - appeared on Roundtable with Jeff Smith on Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 12:00 noon on Channel 13 abc.  They were also featured on the 5:00 pm newscast on Friday, May 4 on Channel 13 abc.  Click here to watch:

http://www.13abc.com/story/16525542/roundtable-with-jeff-smith

http://www.13abc.com/story/18163606/2012/05/07/bgsu-violinist-brought-together-by-the-love-of-music

Music is the connection that brought Sally Williams and Mark Minnich together, and it is music that is at the heart of their relationship.

The violin performance students met when they were in high school as members of an all-state orchestra. Their initial encounter, however, did not lead to true love. In fact, Williams recalls, she thought Minnich was “somewhat socially awkward.” They met again at a strings camp between her freshman and sophomore years at BGSU and before his freshman year.

Eventually, in the small, tight-knit community of the College of Musical Arts, where both were students of BGSU professor Vasile Beluska, they first became friends and then became inseparable in their love of music and their love for one another.

In 2008, they joined musical forces to create Revamped, playing at concerts, events, receptions and weddings. Their performances go beyond a traditional musical duet. Together they bridge the gap between the precision of classical violin and the energy of popular music by incorporating tricks and techniques that mesmerize their audiences.

As part of their classical music performances they may improvise by adding an interlude of music from “Star Wars” or “Mario.” Often Minnich will hand his violin to Williams and she gives him her bow. They play the instruments together, with her creating the pitch and him doing the bowing. Their passion for music and one another is visible during their concerts.

Williams, who grew up in Elyria, Ohio, started playing Suzuki violin at age 4. Minnich, from Swanton, Ohio, started learning violin at age 9 with Romanian violinist Anca Gavris, before switching to Beluska at BGSU the following year.

The talented couple is committed to its music, practicing a minimum of three hours a day, with at least one of those hours dedicated to their duet performances. Like true artists who live and breathe their music, “We never separate our affection from our music. The music seems like a natural extension of our relationship,” she explained.

Williams and Minnich are graduating May 4. She will earn a master’s degree, and he will receive a bachelor’s degree, both in violin performance. Beyond BGSU and the College of Musical Arts, they will become Falcon Flames when they marry this summer before heading to Penn State where they will have assistantships to earn advanced degrees. He plans to work on a master’s degree in violin performance, and she will pursue a master’s of education to further her research in the development of a new teaching method for beginner level, post-Suzuki-aged students.

“We also would like to continue our duo professionally, as well as performing in other ensembles together. As much as possible, we’d like to not distinguish what we do for fun and what we do to pay the bills,” Minnich said.

See them perform during the recent BGSU Leadership Gala at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHUvPOzEWUY&feature=youtu.be.

Katherine Kilburn and Octoavio Mas-Aroas both conducted recently on Interlochen Arts Academy 50th Anniversary Tour which included a stop in Alice Tully Hall in New York City.  The New York performance included Interlochen Alumni guest artists David Shifrin, clarinet and Ida Kavafian,violin in a concert celebrating 50 years of excellence in arts education.  Katherine was appointed conductor of the Interlochen Arts Academy Band in 2011 and Octavio was appointed conductor of the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra in 2008. Both Kilburn and Mas-Aroas are part of the doctoral studies program in conducting with BGSU’s Emily Freeman Brown.

The BGSU Trumpet Ensemble has been invited to perform at the 2012 International Trumpet Guild Conference in May. The conference is in Columbus, Georgia and takes place from May 22-26. Members of the ensemble are: Lance Witty, Jared Nicholson, George Hammel, Thomas Darlington, Angela Berens, and Kevin Rahrig. The ensemble will perform “Guilded Fanfare” by James Stephenson and premiere “El Regalo” by David Bixler.

http://music.columbusstate.edu/events/itg2012/index.php

Tom Darlington has been awarded a scholarship through the International Trumpet Guild to attend the 2012 ITG conference in Columbus, Georgia. Students auditioning for a scholarship were required to submit a recording of the following works (18-22 year old category):
1. L.J. Vannetelbosch: Twenty Melodic and Technical Studies for Trumpet, Etude #15 (Alphonse Leduc)
2. E. Ewazen: Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, mvmt. 3 (Southern Music Co.)
Tom is a Junior Music Education major.

On Saturday, March 3rd, the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Regional Auditions were held @ Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Three BGSU voice majors competed and placed! Tatiana Gorbunova, student of Robert Satterlee, was their accompanist. Most of the contestants in the competition were from Michigan, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada. The three BGSU singers are students of Prof. Myra Merrit:

Briana Sosenheimer 2nd place Category 12 Advanced Women & Men

Theresa Zapata 1st place Category 13 Advanced Women & Men

Sarah Dudley Honorable Mention Category 8 Junior College Women

The members of the Bowling Green State University Men’s Chorus had a busy spring break. Not only did they perform in the New York and Massachusetts areas, they capped off the week with not one, but two national television appearances.

The group arrived in New York City on March 7 and made plans to visit the set of “Good Morning America” on March 8. About 30 members got up early and found a spot in the crowd about four rows back from the front.

“We thought, well, we’re here, we might as well get noticed,” said chorus President Benji Cates, a junior majoring in music education from Mansfield. “We started singing some a cappella songs, but the lady who was the ‘crowd wrangler’ for the show didn’t seem fazed at all. But the tourists were all getting their video cameras out and taping us, they thought it was great!”

Cates says they saved one song to sing when newsreader Josh Elliott and weatherman Sam Champion came out to greet the crowd.

“As soon as they came out we started singing ‘Brothers Sing On.’ They both started gravitating towards us and said we’d be the entertainment for the weather segment. We got pulled onto the blue carpet and stood in formation for about five minutes waiting for our cue to start singing. “

“I didn’t think we’d get on TV — the Marquette University cheerleaders were there, too, and they’re cuter than us. But we stole the show.”

Minutes after their live national debut, Facebook pages and cell phones started lighting up with messages from family and friends.

“It was crazy,” said D.J. Zippay, a junior majoring in vocal music education from Edgerton, and chorus secretary. “I called Professor Cloeter, our director, two seconds before we were on and yelled at him to turn on the TV. While we were singing my phone was just buzzing.”

“Everyone had a ton of Facebook messages,” Cates said. “The University even mentioned us on its Facebook page. We felt really big time.”

“It was pretty awesome,” Zippay said. “I didn’t think we’d get on TV — the Marquette University cheerleaders were there, too, and they’re cuter than us. But we stole the show.”

The national exposure didn’t end there. Cates says a producer for the ABC’s “The Chew” handed them tickets to that day’s show. About 12 members headed to the studio. This time, it was one member’s unusual hairdo that got them noticed, not their singing.

“One of our members has a crazy red afro and Carla Hall, one of the hosts, saw it,” Cates said. “During a break she came up and was playing with it and dancing with him. After the show we went up to her and started singing the same song we sang on GMA. When we were done the executive producer came up and asked if we knew ‘Danny Boy.’”

Call it the luck of the Irish. It turns out “Danny Boy” was part of their tour repertoire. They were asked to stick around for the next show taping, which would be St. Patrick’s Day themed, and sing. The show aired March 16.

“This time we were right up front. We got a signal to stand up and just start singing and it went great.

“It was such an awesome experience to be on national television,” said Cates.

Yoobin Lee, viola is the winner of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Strings Competition, east central division. She will advance to the national finals on March 26, 2012 to be held in New York. NY. Yoobin Lee is a Graduate viola student of Professor Matthew Daline.