51������ Music is inviting local music educators to immerse themselves in a two-week summer intensive focused on the Kodály approach—an internationally respected, student-centered method of music education that promotes deep musical literacy through singing, movement, and folk traditions.

Offered on 51������’s Cheney campus from July 21–26 and July 28–August 1, this intensive provides 77 educator clock hours and culminates in a Kodály Level I Certificate. It’s an ideal opportunity for K-12 music teachers seeking structured professional development in a collaborative and inspiring environment.

Participants will study with nationally certified instructors, including Anne Mileski, MM, a seasoned early childhood and elementary music clinician, and Dr. Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah, 51������’s Director of Choral Activities. Together, they will lead hands-on sessions in:

• Musicianship

• Conducting

• Pedagogy & Teaching Processes

• Choral Ensemble

• Music Literature

• Special Topics for Music Educators

The program also includes teaching demonstrations in collaboration with the Spokane Area Youth Choirs, offering real-world classroom application and pedagogy in action.

This “seedling” program is on the path toward endorsement by the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE). It aligns with OAKE’s mission to expand access to high-quality, research-informed music instruction.

“Whether you’re new to Kodály or looking to deepen your practice, this intensive will equip you with tools to create musically rich, developmentally appropriate curriculum for your students,” says Mileski.

Registration is now open! For questions or advising, contact Anne Mileski at amileski@ewu.edu.

]]> /cahss/news/the-clarinet-edited-by-jane-ellsworth/ Tue, 15 Feb 2022 23:11:03 +0000 /cahss/?post_type=stories&p=15293 2021 saw the publishing of the book The Clarinet that was edited by the 51������ Fine & Performing Arts Music Department professor Jane Ellsworth. Along with overseeing editing the collection of essays written by leading performer-scholars, Professor Ellsworth also wrote two of the chapters. The Clarinet “offers unique perspectives on the clarinet’s historical role in...]]>

2021 saw the publishing of the book The Clarinet that was edited by the 51������ Fine & Performing Arts Music Department professor Jane Ellsworth. Along with overseeing editing the collection of essays written by leading performer-scholars, Professor Ellsworth also wrote two of the chapters.

The Clarinet “offers unique perspectives on the clarinet’s historical role in various styles, genres, and ensembles, from jazz and ethnic traditions to classical chamber music, concertos, opera, and symphony orchestras.” (Boydell & Brewer Book Description)

Along with Professor Ellsworth, contributors to this volume include Eric Hoeprich, Albert R. Rice, Ingrid Pearson, Julian Rushton, David Schneider, Marie Sumner Lott, Colin Lawson, and S. Frederick Starr.

Professor Ellsworth is a professor of music History at 51������ and has performed across the U.S.A and internationally on modern and historical clarinets as a professional clarinetist. She has also published A Dictionary for the Modern Clarinetist (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015).

A review of the book highlighted how “The topics and writing style will engage clarinetists of all ages, and the footnotes, bibliographic in nature, point the motivated researcher further afield.” (Gregory Barrett)

Enjoy a moment of peace as our 51������ String Orchestra performs Antonio Vivaldi’s “Spring” from “The Four Seasons.”
Featuring Amanda Howard-Phillips on violin and directed by Dr. John Marshall.

The College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences would like to congratulate Sheila Woodward in being reelected Executive Vice President of the International Music Council Executive Board.

The International Music Council (IMC) was founded by UNESCO in 1949 and is the world’s biggest network of music organizations and institutions and represents music organizations across the world with 600 million members. It advocates access to music for all and works towards the advancement of five music rights: 

This past academic year, Dr. Woodward shared several of her international contacts with students across disciplines at 51������. In a speaker series funded through an Eagle Grant award, this included a collaboration with Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies in connecting students with Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, Director of the Afghanistan National Institute for Music. He discussed the rebuilding of educational opportunities for all in Afghanistan, including girls who had been previously denied education under Taliban rule. Since then, she has continued to share with students how the support of the international music community has led to the recent successful airlifting of students and teachers through Doha to Lisbon where they are now continuing their education.

Collaborating in two events with the Education Department, Dr. Woodward connected students with Dr. Marina Gall from the UK, addressing accommodations and technological innovations for students with different ability varieties, and with Dr. Brent Talbot of the USA, exploring diversity and equity issues in education. Dr. Woodward collaborated with Criminal Justice in connecting students with Dr. Mary Cohen of the USA regarding her prison choir program, as well as with Mr. Kenneth Bailey who had participated in her program while formerly incarcerated.

We look forward to the continued work that Sheila will do with the IMC and the message and resources she will bring to her students. 

For more information on the 51������ Music department: 

Join us for our virtual convocation at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 27.

Program

The Star Spangled Banner – Lyrics: F. S. Key/J.S. Smith: music
The 51������ Symphonic Choir
Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah, Conductor

When You Wish Upon a Star – Ned Washington/Leigh Harline
Adam Shiner, voice
Don Goodwin, piano

Etude No. 8 – N. Kapustin
Stephanie Zickau, piano

Gaztelu – S. Jenkins
Original Composition by Samuel Jenkins

Nexus Transition – Written/Produced by Shawn Trail
Gary Stivers, Drum Solo (marimba, electronics), Jake Mackie (Farfisa)

Ondine – C. Debussy
Christian Skok, piano

Gorgeous – Words and Music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick
Aries Maier, voice
Hannah Acheson, piano

Canned Heat – Eckhard Kopetzki
Jon Williams, multi-percussion

Cello and Push – Alexys Preston
Original Electronic Composition by Alexys Preston

Just One of Those Things – Cole Porter
Carmyn Parks, soprano
Mr. Michael Gerety, piano

Spring Fantasy (2019) – Diana Viskova
Original Composition by Diana Viskova
Diana Viskova, piano; Samuel Jenkins, violin
Nickolaus Harner, upright bass; Gavin Davis, drums

Winter Quarter 2020 | Mar. 6-14

“Silent Sky”

by Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Sara Goff

“When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love.

The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them. Social progress, like scientific progress, can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications; Henrietta Leavitt and her female peers believe in both, and their dedication changed the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.”

Spring Quarter 2020 | May 8-17

“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot”

by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Directed by Josephine Keefe

“Set in a time-bending, darkly comic world between heaven and hell, THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT reexamines the plight and fate of the New Testament’s most infamous and unexplained sinner.”

Fall Quarter 2019 | Nov. 15-23

“Urinetown The Musical”

Music by Mark Hollmann
Lyrics and book by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis
Directed by Jeff Sanders
Musical Direction by Carolyn Jess
Choreography by Angela Rose Pierson

“In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he’s had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom!

Inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, Urinetown is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, Urinetown catapults the “comedic romp” into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter.

“When I took the position here at 51������ in 2003, I was thrilled to come back as an Alum to work with the students here, knowing that I might be able to inspire other young artists to develop their talents and see where it might take them as it has for me.”

Since Jody Graves came to 51������ as a faculty member in 2003, she has been an outstanding professor who continues to inspire her students every day. And when it was announced that she was going to be inducted into the Steinway Teachers Hall of Fame, everyone who has worked with her knew it was well deserved.

Professor Graves has always put her heart and soul into teaching and has always seen it as more than just showing students how to play piano. “I believe in the true meaning of ‘educare’ (educate) which is to cultivate and draw out of the student the talents, skills and knowledge that are already present in them.”

Starting when she was 3 years old, Professor Graves learned the piano from her mother until she was sent to a teacher for further training at the age of 5. She enjoyed singing, trying out different melodies, and listening to records and playing tunes by ear. Ever since then, Professor Graves has been playing as a soloist and a collaborative artist in every kind of venue from international concert stages to nightclubs, festivals, and funerals.

“I had no idea that by learning the instrument I love I would be on a trajectory that took me from playing little house concerts in Wenatchee, WA to serving as a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. State Department in the Middle East where I have played concerts and talked with government leaders on the role of fine art in our respective countries.”

The Steinway honor is given to teachers “for their outstanding instruction and leadership in acoustic piano teaching. They use Steinway instruments in their teaching and performing practice and are influential with their time and talents in the region where they reside, and viewed by professional artists across the country as a top teacher of piano.”

Professor Graves is always working to keep her skills honed for the concert stage through daily work at the piano, which really helps her to be creative with her teaching. She works with students in one-on-one settings that foster an environment of trust and willingness to learn, and she works hard to pass on the knowledge of artistic delivery to her students.

“Music, of any kind, is not a peripheral activity.  It is at the center-point of every culture and reminds us of our humanity, our dreams, and our memories.  If I can be a small part of bringing something beautiful to a hurting world, then my training and talent has accomplished its mission.”

Even while serving as 51������’s director of piano studies, Professor Graves has continued to have a very successful career as a performer. It is important to her that she maintains her own work at the highest possible level so that she can ensure her students are getting the best instruction on piano performance.

“It is joyful, enriching and exhausting at times, but totally worth it!”

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In September, Jonathan Middleton, Music Department Chair and Composition Professor, and 51������ Information Systems and Business Analytics lecturer, Jeff Culver, attended the Experiential Classroom—a three-day clinic held at the University of Tampa designed to help attendees develop creative ways to teach business entrepreneurship.

One of the workshops included a competition where fifteen teams had two days to develop and present a 45-minute business case study and while Middleton is not a business professor, he decided to stick to the fundamentals of what he does.

He focused on asking a lot of questions and working to create an engaging classroom environment with the students to draw them in and in the end draw out the solution to the problem. Middleton understands that working with students this way helps the students claim ownership for what they are learning and helps them become more attached to the process.

And it paid off! The team led by Middleton was awarded first place!

While Middleton’s expertise is not in teaching business curriculum, he is excited to be working with the business and engineering departments on the new music major: BA in Music Technology and Entrepreneurship.

For more information on the new major, head on over to the Music Department website.

51������’s Music Department held its first annual Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy course on the Cheney campus last summer. Music educators from Washington and New York states explored a wide variety of world culture musics, including Hawaiian, steel drums, Klezmer, Mandingue percussion, Zimbabwe percussion, world dance, Salish drum and song, and Appalachian folk music taught by traditional artist-musicians, culture bearers, and experienced teachers of the greater Spokane region.

For five days (July 29th-August 2nd), participants developed ways to teach these musics using story, song, instruments, movement, and dance. They earned certificates in World Music Pedagogy awarded by after completing multicultural music units.

sponsored the class’ final performance/informance in the KPBX studio on the last day of the course. Information regarding next summer’s Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy Course will be announced Spring Quarter 2020.

Music Technology and Entrepreneurship Major – Mixing Music, Engineering and Design, and Entrepreneurship

The 51������ Music Department is excited to announce that they are offering a B.A. in Music Technology and Entrepreneurship this fall. The degree is designed to provide professional training for students who aim to succeed as creative entrepreneurs, performers, songwriters, engineers, and producers in the music industry.

This multidisciplinary degree seeks to create a foundation for creative critical thinking skills related to music technology, music media production, and developing business skills so that students can carve out their own path as a music and media entrepreneur. The program includes a contemporary music curriculum that addresses the dynamic and changing landscape of the music profession.

Required courses will include basic music theory, music technology, and entrepreneurship offered by three departments across three colleges taught at 51������. Students will take classes in 3-D audio, recording and mastering, sound design, designing new instruments, sonification, business planning, and start-up research, just to name a few.

Electives can include more entrepreneurship classes, song writing, American popular music, orchestration, performing with an ensemble, or learning to play an instrument.

The advancements in technology impact how music is performed, consumed, produced, and marketed, and there is an abundance of opportunity for today’s musician not addressed in traditional undergraduate music degree programs. Which is why the 51������ Music Department is excited to bridge the gap.

At the moment, the 51������ Music Department will be the only university offering this type of degree program in our region and are seeking accreditation under the new Creative Multidisciplinary Convergence and Technologies (CMCT) Category. They are excited to be in front of this growing trend in the music field, and are confident in the interest from students who do not fit the traditional classical and jazz offerings that are typical in most university music programs.