Category Archives: conducting

Prof. Bruce Moss conducts Wheaton Municipal Band at Midwest Conference

The Wheaton Municipal Band, under the direction of BGSU professor, Dr. Bruce Moss, will perform for the 66th Annual Midwest Clinic on Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 8:30 a.m.at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.”This is a huge honor” says maestro Dr. Bruce Moss. “We are one of only two adult/community bands to have been invited to perform at this prestigious event.”

The Midwest Clinic – the world’s largest instrumental music conference – attracts thousands of instrumental music directors and performers from around the world. The invitation to perform is determined through a rigorous screening process. Acceptance to perform is a distinct honor at the highest level.

Going deeper into the music

Music education and performance reached a crescendo the week of Nov. 5 when the College of Musical Arts was visited by two nationally known professionals plus the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Seated in a small room in the Moore Musical Arts Center on Nov. 7, a group of student composers and faculty sat listening to a recording of an orchestral composition, each intently following along on the large scores before them.

What was unusual about the day was that the compositions were those of four of the students, and they had been performed the previous day by 72 members of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra in Kobacker Hall.

For student composers, having their work recorded by a full orchestra is a “golden ticket” to auditions and interviews, said composition faculty member Chris Dietz, who organized the orchestra’s visit. “It can be used to advance their careers.”

Furthermore, critiquing the pieces was none other than Bill McGlaughlin, a conductor, composer, musician and national radio personality. Perhaps best known for his work in broadcasting, as host of Peabody Award-winning “St. Paul Sunday” and “Exploring Music” (heard daily on Toledo’s WGTE-FM), as well as programs from Wolf Trap and the Library of Congress, he spent 25 years as an orchestral conductor, receiving numerous awards for adventurous contemporary programming.

The fact that the McGlaughlin’s residency as part of the annual Hansen Series coincided with the visit from the symphony was a happy coincidence, said Dietz. “It’s made the learning experience even more profound.”

Now McGlaughlin was listening to portions of works by graduate students Evan Williams, Corey Keating, Mark Witmer and Zachary Seely, offering comments and advice from the most practical (from “Have them warm up the tamtam (gong) so when it comes in it’s not so harsh,” to adding additional notation to make “conductors’ lives easier” and not writing notes that are too difficult for the musicians to reach) to the most aesthetic (“I love the way that dissolves,” and “That’s a great line, reminiscent of Sibelius,” “That’s a slinky chromatic” and “Don’t feel you have to rush it; give people time to get to where you are and let them luxuriate in that.”)

Interspersed with his critiques and questions, McGlaughlin shared a lifetime’s worth of musical memories, from driving in a car with the pioneering composer John Cage through the mountains of California to his difficulty in getting composer William Bolcom to say anything about his work even when they were to appear on a program. Thus he was understanding when trying to draw out Seely about his composition “Work for Orchestra 1.b.”

A first-year graduate student from New York, Seely said that while his composition sounded quite close to how he had heard it in his head, listening to it performed by the symphony was “pretty surreal.

Having that experience plus the input from McGlaughlin was an “extraordinary opportunity and something students at our level don’t often get,” said Keating, a second-year graduate student from California.

In contrast to Seely and Keatings’ compositions, which called for textural variations and unusual percussion effects and rhythms, Williams’s “Prelude in Tempore Belli (Music in a Time of War)” took a more traditional approach and contained several musical “quotes” from American military ballads.

“Overall, (McGlaughlin’s input) was really helpful. I see now there are several parts that I have to go back and work more on,” he said.

Also in the room was the couple who made McGlaughlin’s visit to BGSU possible. DuWayne and Dorothy Hansen, who funded the annual series dedicated to bringing top-level musicians to the college and the community. This year’s series also brought well-known jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson to campus for intensive work with the University’s jazz lab bands and vocal groups. Both McGlaughlin and Allison also gave public performances during their campus stay, he conducting the Wind Symphony and she singing with Jazz Lab Band 1.

The Toledo Symphony visit was thanks to the generosity of longtime supporter Karol Spencer, combined with funding from several areas of the University.

Wrapping up the reading session, Dietz asked McGlaughlin his opinion about the prospects for orchestras. “There’s a tremendous future for orchestras and I think the country is ready to come back. You’ve got the future in your hands. You’ll do really well,” the veteran musician predicted.

By offering opportunities like this, the College of Musical Arts is doing its part to make sure that happens.

Musician, conductor and broadcast journalist Bill McGlaughlin to visit BGSU

BOWLING GREEN, O.–Music students and fans of conductor, composer, musician and radio personality William (Bill) McGlaughlin will get to spend time with him when he visits Bowling Green State University Nov. 5-12. McGlaughlin’s radio program “Exploring Music” is heard daily at 11 a.m. on Toledo’s WGTE-FM, and across the country.

McGlaughlin is this year’s guest artist for the Dorothy E. and DuWayne H. Hansen Series in BGSU’s College of Musical Arts. The public is invited to an evening with him on Nov. 7. The free program begins at 7 p.m. in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center, where he will share his thoughts and approaches to music and the business of music.

He will also conduct the BGSU Wind Symphony in an 8 p.m. concert on Nov. 9, also in in Kobacker Hall. Tickets can be ordered online by visiting http://www.bgsu.edu/arts or by calling 419-372-8171.

McGlaughlin is most widely known for his work in broadcasting, as host of Peabody Award-winning “St. Paul Sunday” and “Exploring Music,” as well as programs from Wolf Trap and the Library of Congress. He says he is proud to have begun his professional life as an “honest musician,” playing trombone with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony. In addition, he spent 25 years as an orchestral conductor with posts ranging from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra to 12 seasons as music director of the Kansas City Symphony. Over that period, McGlaughlin received numerous awards for adventurous contemporary programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

During his visit to BGSU, he will work with composition, brass, conducting and string students and conduct the Bowling Green Philharmonia in a rehearsal.

The Hansen Musical Arts Series Fund was established in 1996 to bring significant representatives of the musical arts to share their talents with BGSU students and members of the Bowling Green community. Past Hansen Series guests have included Marin Alsop, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Craig Schulman and Bob McGrath from “Sesame Street,” among others.

For more information, call the BGSU arts box office at 419-372-8171.

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New Music Ensemble call for scores

The College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University has a rich tradition of promoting contemporary music through performance, education and outreach.  Home to the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, the college hosts the annual Music at the Forefront Series as well as the BGSU New Music Festival, now in its 33rd year.  Additionally, the college maintains a very active Music Technology program, offers a DMA in Contemporary Music with specializations in composition or performance and continually encourages its students, in all degree programs, to engage with the music of our time.

 

The New Music Ensemble at BGSU wishes to contribute to this tradition by offering a call for scores for performance on their February 14, 2013 concert.

 

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Guidelines for the Bowling Green State University New Music Ensemble 2013 Call for Scores

To view a pdf document of the information below, please use the following URL:

http://tinyurl.com/8cbqsz2

 

Prize:

Performance on the BGSU New Music Ensemble’s February 14, 2013 concert, a concert audio recording and/or DVD video as well as the option of having the performance streamed live on the web.

 

 

Submission fee:

-None

 

 

Eligibility:

Composers of any age, nationality or institutional affiliation, except those currently enrolled in or employed by Bowling Green State University.

 

 

Important dates:

– November 1 (11:59pm EST), 2012 – submission deadline (received)

– November 9, 2012 – selected work/composer announced via email

– November 30, 2012 – professional quality performance materials due from winner (received)

 

 

Required submission materials (online submission only, see end of posting for details):

-1 PDF file of the score, clearly labeled (composer_title_score.pdf). Details below.

-1 PDF information document, clearly labeled (composer_title_info.pdf). Details below.

 

 

Optional submission materials:

-1 mp3 audio file, clearly labeled (composer_title_audio.mp3). Details below.

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Score specifications:

-File clearly labeled (composer_title_score.pdf)

-8-15 minutes in total duration

-Instrumentation may be any subset of 7-14 players from the following list:

2 flutes (doubling piccolo)

1 oboe

2 clarinets (doubling bass or Eb clarinet)

4 saxophones total (S, A, T, B, multiples of one type possible)

1 bassoon

2 horns

2 trumpets

2 tenor trombones

1 tuba

2 percussionists (standard orchestral and wind ensemble percussion instruments available)

1 piano

1 harp

1 soprano voice

1 mezzo-soprano voice

2 violins

1 viola

1 violoncello

1 contrabass

 

-Works that incorporate electronics will be considered, include technical details in score preface

-Works that require an instrumental soloist will not be considered

 

 

Information document specifications:

-File clearly labeled (composer_title_info.pdf)

Please include–

-Composer name

-Composition title and date of composition

-Mailing address

-Email address

-Telephone number

-Composer bio (short)

-Instrumentation of submitted work

-Brief program note of submitted work

-Performance history of submitted work

 

If submitting a recording (optional), please include the following information on the information document as well:

-Performing ensemble

-Date of recording

-Composers are encouraged to include timing cues (for example, 0:36-1:42) and correlating score location (page and measure number) for 1 or 2 excerpts that they feel are most representative of the work.

Recording submission specifications (recordings are optional):

-The mp3 file should be labeled clearly (composer_title_audio.mp3).

-Mp3s of MIDI mock-ups will be accepted, but are not encouraged.

-Please send a single, complete file (timing cues may be indicated on your information sheet). Multiple files will only be accepted if the submitted work is in multiple movements.

 

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Submission instructions:

-All pdf and mp3 files should be uploaded to a single, new, clearly labeled folder within the composer’s Dropbox account. (The Dropbox file hosting service is easy to use, reliable and highly preferred, www.dropbox.com).

-A URL link to download this folder from Dropbox should then be sent from the composer’s email address to the following email address: cjdietz@bgsu.edu

-Files sent as email attachments will not be accepted and will not be opened.

 

 

Disclaimers:

-One composition will be selected for performance. However, the selection committee has the right to decline any and all submissions for performance should none be acceptable for the project. The selection committee’s decision is final and may not be appealed.

 

 

Questions? Please contact:

cjdietz@bgsu.edu

Christopher Dietz, Director

Bowling Green State University New Music Ensemble

 

 

Prof. Tim Cloeter contributes to a National Symposium in Washington DC

Prof. Tim Cloeter will present a paper at the National Symposium on American Choral Music in Washington, DC, June 29-30, 2012. The symposium celebrates a five-year collaboration between the American Choral Directors Association and the Library of Congress for the building of an American Choral Music website that focuses on the period 1870–1923. Cloeter’s paper, entitled “George Frederick Bristow’s Niagara Symphony: an Early American Symphonist Begins the Search for an American Musical Style,” grew out of his preparation of a performance edition from manuscript sources of the cantata-like fourth movement of the Niagara Symphony.