Monthly Archives: February 2015

An enduring gift to BGSU

faculty news, voice, voice-alumni

Ramona_Cormier

By Jordan Cravens

Service above self was the lifelong mantra of Dr. Ramona Cormier.

The former dean of Continuing Education and Summer Programs and associate provost at Bowling Green State University tirelessly put the University and Bowling Green community first and never sought praise or affirmation for her efforts.

Even after her death on Oct. 28 in Louisiana, the alternative energy crusader continued giving back to BGSU. Cormier made a $100,000 bequest to the University, which will benefit the Cormier Endowed Scholarship Fund. The scholarship fund was established for nontraditional students who have resumed classes after a break in their formal education.

Her final gift was symbolic of her lifetime of giving to BGSU and other organizations dear to her heart. Her philanthropy at BGSU extended to the Gish Film Theater, WBGU, Pro Musica, Library Enrichment, BGSU Opera, College of Musical Arts and many more.

Dr. Christopher Scholl, an associate professor in the College of Musical Arts and coordinator of voice/opera, said without generosity like Cormier’s the arts would cease to exist.

“Opera is the culmination of all art forms, music, theater, visual arts, dance and acting. It is very expensive to produce. Her generosity helped create productions that were visually and aesthetically pleasing,” Scholl said.

While always humble, Cormier leaves behind a legacy that has not gone unnoticed.

“Ramona Cormier touched the University and community in many, many ways,” said Wally and Diane Pretzer, former colleagues and long-time friends. “She was always willing to step up.”

Cormier came to BGSU in 1965 and remained until her retirement in 1990. She began as a faculty member in the Philosophy Department, but worked her way up the University ranks before she retired as dean of Continuing Education and Summer Programs.

During her tenure, she held numerous posts and belonged to a host of professional organizations, garnering a multitude of awards along the way. One of her greatest contributions to the philosophy realm was her development of research tools as associate director of the Philosophy Documentation Center. She composed many publications and was well-known as a high-caliber scholar. She later served as president of the BGSU Retirees Association.

Suzanane Crawford, who succeeded Cormier following her retirement as dean of Continuing Education and Summer Programs, called Cormier a “forward-thinker” with high standards and a relentless pursuit to advance the department and University.

“We called her the ‘orphan dean’ because she took on projects other deans didn’t want. This benefited our program, but also the institution and our students,” Crawford said.

“She left behind a sense of community, of positivity and a sense of forward-thinking that sometimes gets lost,” Crawford said.

Forward-thinking seems an appropriate way to describe Cormier who was a staunch supporter of alternative energy in an era where such ideas were almost unthinkable.

Cormier served the community in several capacities, including her time as a member of the Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities. She was an integral player in promoting wind and hydroelectric energy, solar power panels at the BGSU Ice Arena, load management and Green Power. She served four years as board chair.

She was strong in her convictions and didn’t shy away from giving her opinion, but she was also known as a good listener.

Prior to coming to BGSU, Cormier earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (1943), a master’s in music from the University of Southern California (1948) and a doctorate in Philosophy from Tulane University (1960). She also held teaching positions at the University of Tennessee, Tulane and Newcomb College.

Outside of academia, Cormier served in the U.S. Navy shortly after graduating from college in 1943. She retired in 1946 as a first class ensign.

Cormier was also known for being a master gardener, world traveler, excellent cook, wine connoisseur and avid Shakespeare fan. She was a native speaker of Cajun French and immersed herself in French culture.

Cormier was born on Jan. 21, 1923 in Breaux Bridge, La. She died on Oct. 28, 2014, in Sulphur, La., where she had relocated to be closer to her family. She was 91

Andrew Pelletier in Australian residency at the Queensland Conservatorium

brass-percussion, dma, faculty news

Andrew Pelletier

Andrew Pelletier,  Associate Professor of Horn, will be in residence at the Queensland Conservatorium of Griffith University, in Brisbane, Australia, March 9-14.  He will be presenting numerous masterclasses, coaching sessions and individual lessons and will present a recital on March 13.  Included in the program will be music of BGSU DMA candidate Cory Kasprzyk.

BGSU College of Musical Arts to host Student National Electroacoustic Music event

composition, composition-alumni, events, New Music
NSEME
BGSUElectroacoustics, in collaboration with the student new music group Praecepta, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, and the College of Musical Arts Composition Area, will host the 2015 National Student Electroacoustic Music Event (N_SEME) March 6-7, 2015 in the College of Musical Arts.
Over 60 student attendees from across the nation will attend to have performances of their electroacoustic and video works. Concerts are free and open to the public.
Events take place in Bryan Recital Hall and in Room 3002.
Friday 06 March:
Bryan Recital Hall Concerts at 10:30am, 2:30pm, and 8:00pm
Room 3002 concerts at 1:30, 4:00, and 5:00
Saturday 07 March:
Bryan Recital Hall Concerts at 10:30am and 4:30pm
Bryan Recital Hall keynote address and concert by featured guest Joo-Won Park at 1:30pm Room 3002 concerts at 9:30am, 12:00pm, and 3:00pm

16th Annual Conrad Art Song Winners Announced

events, keyboard, voice

conrad-winners-2015

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The 16th Annual Conrad Art Song Competition at BGSU was held on Saturday, February 20, 2015 in the Bryan Recital Hall in the Moore Musical Arts Center.

First Place Winners in the Undergraduate Division were Autum Cochran-Jordan, soprano (Dayton, Ohio) and Qincheng Zeng, piano. (Hubel-Zianning, China). Second Place were Rebekah Wehrly, soprano (Findlay, Ohio) and Peng Zhang, piano. (Shenyang-Liaoning,China) Third Place winners were Daniel Baumgartner, baritone (Findlay, Ohio) and Amy Faber, piano. (Tiffin, Ohio)

First Place winners in the Graduate Division were Desiree Johnson, soprano (Strongsville, Ohio) and Alphonsus Kiu, piano. (Bayan Lepas Penang, Malaysia). Second Place were Jennifer Creswell, soprano (Temperance, Michigan) and Chia-Jung Lin, piano. (New Taipei City, Taiwan) Third Place winners were Elizabeth Hood, soprano (Chelsea, Michigan) and Alphonsus Kiu, piano. (Bayan Lepas Penang, Malaysia)

Winners in the competition from the studio of Myra Merritt included Autum Cochran-Jordan, Rebekah Wehrly, Desiree Johnson, Jennifer Cresswell and Elizabeth Hood.  Daniel Baumgartner is a student of Sean Cooper, Alphonsus Kiu is a student of Robert Satterlee, Amy Faber is a student of Tom Rosenkranz and piano students of Laura Melton who were winners were Peng Zhang, Chia-Jung Lin and Qincheng Zeng.

Judges for the competition included Robert Peavler, baritone, Associate Professor of Voice at Eastern Michigan University, Dr. Mary Beth Armes, voice and piano instructor at the Edinboro University Community Music School, and Laura Silverman, Coordinator of the Accompanying Department of the School of Music at the University of Akron.

A total of six prizes were awarded: two first prizes of $1,500 each, two second prizes of $1,000 each and two third prizes of $750 each. The Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Fund encourages BGSU students to approach the art song in a serious and intense manner and enhance their learning experience by awarding financial prizes for singers and collaborative pianists.

Local physician and patron of the arts Dr. Marjorie Conrad endowed the Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition. A native of Philadelphia, Conrad practiced medicine in Wilmington, Del., for nearly 20 years before moving to Bowling Green in 1966 to marry local physician Dr. Roger Peatee. She began her medical practice here the same year, becoming the community’s first woman on the boards of MidAm Bank and MidAm Inc., and, from 1987–89, served as the first woman chief of staff at Wood County Hospital. She retired from the active practice of medicine in 1991. Though she studied voice as a young woman, she began studying voice again in 1993.The College of Musical Arts mourns the loss of Dr. Marjorie Conrad who passed away on Wednesday, October 8, 2014.  She was 92.

Top art song duos crowned at BGSU’s Conrad competition

events, student news, voice

Art Song Winners

The Sentinel Tribune writes –

Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two to perform an art song.

The Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition at Bowling Green State University honors not just the singer out front, but the pianist who provides the instrumental support.

On Saturday College of Music crowned the 16th set of winning musical teams.

The winners in the undergraduate division were soprano Autum Cochran-Jordan and pianist Qincheng Zeng. In the graduate division the winners were soprano Desiree Johnson and pianist Alphonsus Kiu.

Both sopranos study with Myra Merritt, and both said the chance to study with Merritt was what brought them to BGSU.

Zeng studies with Laura Melton and Kiu, who plans to specialize in collaborating with vocalists in his doctoral program, studies with Robert Satterlee.

Both duos had an international flavor Johnson and Cochran-Jordan are both from Ohio and Zeng is from Chion and Kiu from Malaysia.

They were elected in the finals Saturday night. The first round was held earlier in the day with 17 undergraduates duos and nine graduate duos participating.

That field was winnowed to six undergraduate duos and five graduate duos.

Also honored in the undergraduate division were: second place, soprano Rebekah Wehrly and pianist Peng Zhang, and third place, baritone Daniel Baumgartner and pianist Amy Faber.

Other honorees in the graduate division were: soprano Jennifer Cresswell and pianist Chia-Jung Lin, and third place, soprano Elizabeth Hood and pianist Kiu.

The winning duos share the cash prizes: $1,500 for first, $1,000 for second, and $750 for third.

The singers must perform songs from a variety of periods including one by a living composer and at least one each in  English, French, German and Italian.

This was the first competition since the death of its founder last October at the age of 92.

Conrad was remembered with a reserved seat and floral arrangement in the center front row of the Bryan Recital Hall.

Christopher School, the voice faculty member who coordinates the competition, said Conrad would always attend the event.

Until last few years she would come to both the first and final rounds.

The winners of the competition will perform March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Manor House in the Wildwood Preserve Metropark in Toledo.

BGSU Alumnus, Yutaka Kono, appointed director of the Burlington Chamber Orchestra

alumni, brass-percussion-alumni

Yutaka Kono

From the Shelburne News -“The Burlington Chamber Orchestra (BCO) has appointed Dr. Yutaka Kono of Shelburne as Artistic Director. Dr. Kono was born in Tokyo, Japan and began studying piano at age of 7 and began playing the tuba in middle school, where he continued when he came to the U.S. as an exchange student. He received a Bachelor of Music magna cum laude from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a Master of Music from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He became the first person ever to receive a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Tuba performance from The University of Texas at Austin.  While pursuing the tuba degrees, Dr. Kono also studied piano, composition, and conducting. He was placed as a finalist for The American Prize for orchestral conducting at the college/university level, and earned Bronze Medal of the Global Music award for his composition “Mamma at the Gate” last year.

The BCO is Vermont’s own professional chamber orchestra offering the community an opportunity to savor the gift of music and local artistry, and cultivate life-long musical relationships through performance and education. Founded in 2007 by Dr. Michael Hopkins to advance the arts and culture in Chittenden County and surrounding areas through the performance of new and traditional works for small orchestra, the 27 members are a spirited local ensemble of professional musician/educators dedicated to the joy of making music together.”

Read more about Dr. Kono and the BCO here.