Category Archives: student news

BGSU doctoral candidates conduct in New York City

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.

Trumpet Ensemble to perform at International Conference.

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

Thomas Darlington awarded Trumpet Scholarship

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.

BGSU voice students place in NATS

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

BGSU Men’s Chorus appears on national television

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.