Congratulations to FIU School of Music graduate Sarah Payne, who was one of three winners at the Metropolitan Opera FL District Auditions on Saturday, January 17th.

It is well known that singers who compete in this district come from all over the United States and are among the best singers in the region. Many are young artists at Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Sarasota Opera, among others.

“I am very proud of Sarah and the tremendous progress she has made over the past two years. She’s an exceptional person with an exceptional talent. I’m confident that she will continue to make all of us at FIU very proud as she moves on to the next round,” said FIU Opera Theater Director Robert B. Dundas.

Soprano Sarah Payne, a native of South Florida, is a 2014 graduate of Florida International University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance.  This past summer, Ms. Payne performed the role of Contessa Almaviva with the Miami Summer Music Festival under Maestro Michael Rossi of the Washington National Opera. After performing with the festival, Ms. Payne spent two weeks in Salzburg, Austria studying with renowned American soprano Helen Donath at the Mozarteum University. During her time in Salzburg, she was named a finalist in the annual International Richard-Strauss-Competition and has been invited to take part in next year’s International Wagner Competition in Bayreuth, Germany. While at FIU, Ms. Payne performed the roles of Anna Maurrant in “Street Scene,” Poppea in “Aggrippina,” and The Governess in Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” with the FIU Opera Theater, all under the musical direction of FIU’s Maestro Grzegorz Nowak.

According to Ms. Payne, “the FIU School of Music has allowed me to grow exponentially as a musician, as well as an artist. I will forever be grateful to Professor Dundas as well as the rest of the voice staff for their continued support.”

Ms. Payne will next compete in the Southeast Regionals in Atlanta, GA in February. She has received enthusiastic offers of support from a number of entities, including Basler Fashion Art House, who will outfit her for this next round. Follow her progress in Georgia by clicking here.

The FIU Festival of Jazz Bands, now in its third consecutive year, will take place at the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center on Saturday, February 7th from 12pm until 9pm.

The festival is a FIU community initiative designed to prepare local area high school jazz bands for their upcoming annual festival performances. Each year, eight to ten bands are invited to each perform three pieces for faculty and guest clinicians, who then critique and workshop directly with the students. Afterwards, the performances and workshops are also recorded and given to the band directors.

According to festival director Jamie Ousley, “the FIU Festival of Jazz Bands is important to our community because South Florida has become a major center of jazz education, which includes excellent middle school jazz programs, national award-winning high school jazz bands, and at least 8 vibrant college jazz programs. Jazz is an important American artistic contribution to the world, and it’s exciting to see south Florida cultivating the next generation of artists.”

Participating schools this year include New World School of the Arts, Felix Varela, Southwest Miami, Palmetto Senior, Miami Senior, Hialeah, Robert Morgan, and Ronald W. Reagan-Doral. The public is welcome to attend all high school performances and clinics at no charge, including a master class given by Grammy-winning John Fedchock. Joe Donato from the Miami Jazz Cooperative will serve as MC for the festival.

The festival will conclude with a concert at 7:30pm featuring esteemed jazz artist John Fedchock, the FIU Studio Jazz Big Band directed by Jim Hacker, and the FIU Jazz Faculty Ensemble. The performance is free to all festival participants. For more information regarding the evening closing concert, please click here.

The festival was sponsored, in part, by WDNA public radio, Miami Jazz Co-op, Rick and Margarita Tonkinson, and through a grant provided by XO Brass.

The music of Pablo Chin, a Costa Rican composer based in Chicago and an ’06 CARTA graduate from the School of Music, engages with self-designed methods that aid in generating sophisticated polyphony, and that reveal unforeseen musical trajectories. These methods derive from the composer’s concerns with the role of calculation and intuition in his work. Recent works draw inspiration from the narratives of film and literature, phonetic structures in text, and the exploration of iconic Latin rhythms and metrical spaces.

Chin’s music has been performed in 11 countries and across the U.S. states. He has been commissioned by Ensemble Recherche, International Contemporary Ensemble, members of the Anubis Quartet, the MAVerick Ensemble, Chicago Humanities Festival, Latino Music Festival of Chicago, Claremont Concert Orchestra, and ensemble dal niente among others. His music has also been performed by artists including Ostravská Banda, Donatienne Michel-Dansac, Pierre-Stéphane Meugé, Marino Formenti, Claire Chase, Eric Lamb, Gan Lev, and Marcus Weiss.

Chin earned his doctoral degree in composition from Northwestern University, where he has been awarded the Cacavas Award, William T. Faricy Award, and William Karlins Award. There he studied with Hans Thomalla, Jay Alan Yim, and Aaron Cassidy. In master classes he has worked with Richard Barrett, Oliver Knussen, Chaya Czernowin, and Kaija Saariaho among others. His music has been commissioned for and performed in prestigious international festivals of new music, including the 45th and 46th Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Ostrava Days 2009, and Centre Acanthes 2011. Currently Chin teaches theory, aural skills and composition at Saint Xavier University, and is co-founder and artistic director of Fonema Consort.

The Fonema Consort Ensemble is scheduled to perform as part of the New Music Miami ISCM Festival on Friday, January 16th at Miami Beach Urban Studios on Lincoln Road. Chin was recently awarded the Dotacion Musical from Costa Rica’s ACAM, to fund the production of his first album, which was released in the spring of 2014. (Source: www.pablochin.com).

The New Music Miami ISCM Festival welcomes a variety of innovative and well-known composers and performers from all over the globe in celebration of its 19th successful season in South Florida.

The festival, founded by Professor of Music in Composition and Composer-in-Residence at the College of Architecture + The Arts Miami Beach Urban Studios Orlando Jacinto Garcia, provides exciting performances along with master classes and panel discussions with the invited guest artists. Garcia’s own solo and chamber works have been nominated for Latin Grammys in 2009, 2010, and 2011 in the best contemporary classical composition category. The recent release of his cd,”Auschwitz” on the Toccata Classics label in September 2014 received positive reviews by both Grammophone and The New Music Web International Review.

The 2015 festival will open on January 16^th with a performance on Lincoln Road at the College of Architecture + The Arts Miami Beach Urban Studios. The Fonema Consort Ensemble, a new music ensemble hailing from Chicago, will perform music from the Americas, including works by Joan Arnau Pamies, Shawn Lucas, FIU Alumnus Pablo Santiago Chin, and the South Florida premiere of a new work by Orlando Garcia. 

On Friday, January 30^th at 7:30pm, the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center invites audiences to enjoy a program featuring violinist Jennifer Choi and the FIU NODUS Ensemble, joined by the strings of the FIU Symphony Orchestra. The concert will feature the world premiere of una marea creciente (a rising tide), a new work for violin and string orchestra by Orlando Jacinto Garcia. Garcia shares the following details, “The title was suggested by the ascending sonorities that can be heard in different sections of the work as well as the melodic contour of the solo violin part. The title is thematic in that it represents current concerns about sea level rise, which is an issue of greater concern to me now that I am living on Miami Beach.” The concert will also feature the US premiere of a work by Canadian/Polish composer Peter Paul Koprowski with Grzegorz Nowak and Garcia conducting.

Other artists in upcoming concerts include FIU composer Jacob Sudol, the Calloway-Sudol Duo, composer and pianist Amy Williams, the Bugallo-Williams duo, cellist Charles Curtis, violinist Mari Kimura, flutist Robert Dick, FIU School of Music alumni composers, and performances by FIU’s new music ensembles and FIU’s Ensemble-in-Residence the Amernet String Quartet. The festival runs from January 16th- April 17th.

For more on this season’s schedule, click here.

It was recently announced that FIU’s long-time tuba/euphonium professor Jay Bertolet will assume a two-year position as President of the South Florida Musicians Association, AFM Local 655, beginning on January 2, 2015.

The South Florida union was formed in 1913 and represents the interests of professional musicians from Key West to Vero Beach. The union is comprised of recording and freelance musicians who perform at cultural institutions such as the Kravis Center, the Broward Center, and the Jackie Gleason Theater, among many others. 

“I am humbled and honored to be elected to the position of President of AFM Local 655.” said Bertolet. “I’ve been a member of this local for almost 30 years and it gives me great pleasure to offer my efforts to help make the local a valuable resource for the musician community of South Florida.”

In addition to his teaching responsibilities at FIU, Mr. Bertolet is an active freelance performer in the South Florida area. He is Principal Tuba and Cimbasso for the orchestra of the Florida Grand Opera. He serves as the Principal Tuba and Cimbasso for the Miami Symphony Orchestra, the Palm Beach Symphony, the Klezmer Company Orchestra, the Symphonia Boca Raton, and Keith Brion’s New Sousa Band. He also plays Cimbasso for productions of Opera Naples and Opera Tampa as well as for the renowned singer Andrea Bocelli. 

To read more about Jay Bertolet, click here.

Grzegorz Nowak, director of the FIU Symphony Orchestra and the Conducting Program, has been appointed as the first Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de España, beginning this season.

Grzegorz Nowak began his international career by winning the first prize at the Ernest Ansermet Conducting Competition in Geneva and special honors, including the Grand Prix Patek Philippe, Rolex Prize, Swiss Prize, and American Patronage Prize, and received in Basel the Europäische Förderpreis für Musik for the European Musician of the Year. He honed his skills at Tanglewood on a Serge Koussevitzky Fellowship with such masters as Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Erich Leinsdorf, Igor Markevitch, Maurice Abravanel, and Gustav Meier, before assisting Kurt Masur with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, he has conducted the world’s finest orchestras. In Europe, Grzegorz Nowak has worked with such prestigious ensembles as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, RAI orchestras in Milan, Rome and Turin, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, Berliner Symphoniker, Belgian National Orchestra, Luxemburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra of Spain and the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon. He has also conducted many times in Scandinavia, performing with the Philharmonic and Radio orchestras of Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen.

Grzegorz Nowak has served as Music Director of such orchestras as the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Opera in Warsaw, SWR Radio Orchestra in Germany, and Sinfonia Helvetica, and Festival Musique & Amitié Festival in Switzerland. He is Artist-in-Residence at the Florida International University in Miami, was honored with the Distinguished Teacher Award during his tenure as Asst. Professor at the Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and with the title of Honorary Professor from the University of Alberta.

In 2010, Grzegorz Nowak came to FIU from London, where he is the principal associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Audiences will be able to see him and special guest Mark Gibson conduct the next performance of the FIU Orchestral Masterworks Series, set to take place on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 7:30pm. To read more, click here.

To read his biography, click here. 

To see the announcement made by Orquesta Sinfonica de España , click here.

The FIU School of Music is pleased to announce a composition workshop in Assisi, Italy this summer.

This summer study abroad program will give music composition students the opportunity to receive an overview of contemporary sacred art music and compose a new work with the guidance of, FIU head of composition and composer in residence, Dr. Orlando Jacinto Garcia. In addition, the work they create will be rehearsed and an archival recording will be provided by the Suono Sacro Ensemble in residence at the Suono Sacro International Music Festival in Assisi, Italy. A number of student works to be selected by the ensemble in conjunction with Dr. Garcia will be presented at the closing concert of the Festival.

The language for the course will be English and no knowledge of Italian is required. A limit of 12 students will be accepted into the workshop.

LOCATION DESCRIPTION

The program will be held in the city of Assisi, Italy, home of the Suono Sacro Festival. Facilities for rehearsals, lectures, and master classes will take place in the city at selected locations, including churches and schools.

HOUSING

Students will be staying at the Cittadella residence space especially designed for study abroad programs.

SEMESTER

Summer B 2015

DATES

Abroad: July 12—25, 2015

Application Deadline: February 28, 2015

A portfolio of scores with recordings required by the deadline

Interviews in person or via Skype: March 2015

COURSE

MUT 5930 : Special Topics (3 credits)

CREDITS

3 Credits

COST

The estimated program cost of $2175 includes: accommodations in student residences, breakfast, and mandatory international health insurance.

The program cost does not include: airfare, daily meals, some local transportation, FIU course instructional fees ($203.59/credit), or the $175 non-refundable study abroad fee.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Dr. Orlando Jacinto Garcia Professor of Music

Program Coordinator for Music Composition

Composer in Residence, FIU School of Music

FIU College of Architecture & The Arts Miami Beach Urban Studios 420 Lincoln Road, Room 439, Miami Beach, Florida 33139

Tel: 305-535-2617 or Email: garciao@fiu.edu

OSA scholarships available.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To contact the FIU Office of Study Abroad, click here. 

To learn more about funding your study abroad experience, click here.

To download the flyer, click here.

Contributing Editor of Miami New Times Abel Folgar recently ranked FIU jazz musician Robert “Be Bop” Grabowski” as #3 on his “Miami’s Top Ten Jazz Musicians” list. According to Folgar, “South Florida used to be a jazz mecca. These musicians helped ensure that distinction.”

Robert “Be-Bob” Grabowski is a bassist, composer, educator, and jazz radio personality and has been an Adjunct Professor in Jazz Studies at Florida International University School of Music for the last twenty one years. Active as a bassist in the Miami jazz scene, he has also produced major concerts and festivals for both academic and public venues.

He has composed a large amount of music, resulting in his first solo efforts, The Bob Grabowski Group, Gecko Island, Darwin’s Dance, Midnight Samba, and Deepest Blue, as well as playing on many other’s recordings. A sixth CD of his work is underway and as part of the Absinthe Trio, he released the Absinthe Trio “Live” CD in January 2006. He finished the Fifth Edition of his textbook, “The Evolution Of Jazz” and was a  Jazz Educator in residence at the Larry Rosen Jazz Roots Concert Series at the Arsht Center. He is also an avid diver and underwater art photographer and opened his new gallery space in Miami in February 2011.

Others musicians listed include:

1. Arturo Sandoval

2. Robert Thomas Jr.

3. Bob Grabowski

4. Billy Rolle

5. Melton Mustafa

6. Jesse Jones Jr.

7. Don Wilner

8. William T. Peeples

9. Ira Sullivan

10. Pete Minger

To read the Miami New Times article, click here.

The FIU School of Music is pleased to announce its first Study Abroad Program. Participating students will have the opportunity to experience music study outside of the traditional classroom led by FIU School of Music faculty Dr. David Dolata and Dr. Joel Galand.

Students will explore the art of music editing and analysis with a special emphasis on the music of France. While in France, students will experience life in Tours, a historical medieval university town and visit Loire Valley chateaux, including the Chateau de Chambord, where they will attend a festive evening of music, dance, acrobatics, and period costumes to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the ascension of François I to the throne. The visit will be capped with the Bastille Day celebration at the Tours city hall, the Hôtel de Ville. The program includes a long weekend in Paris to experience the milieu in which the music students study was created and to take in the diverse contemporary Parisian musical scene. Highlights of the Paris visit will be a tour of the Paris Garnier Opera House, Montmartre, and the Gregorian Chant Mass at Notre Dame de Paris.

 Location Description

Classes in Tours will take place in a classroom within a 12th-century tower with vaulted ceiling, stained glass windows, carved wood furniture, and original tapestries within the Centre d’Etudes Supérieures de la Renaissance (CESR) at the Université François-Rabelais de Tours—CNRS, one of Europe’s leading research institutes. Additional visits by train or chartered bus will transfer students to Paris, the Chateau de Chenonceau and Chambord.

Housing

In Tours, students will be housed at “La Croix Montoire,” a university dormitory in the historic center of town within easy walking distance of CESR, dining, shopping, and the train station. In Paris, students will stay at a hotel with breakfast included within walking distance of the Gare Montparnasse rail station.

 Semester & Dates

Summer C

On Campus: June 3—26, 2015

Abroad: July 1—15, 2015

 Courses & Credits

This course is a 6-credit program. Students must sign up for two 3-credit courses as listed below:

Undergraduate-

MUH 4680 Music History Seminar

MUT 3611 Form and Analysis

Graduate-

MUH 6937 Special Topics in Music History

MUT 5629 Analytical Techniques

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To contact the FIU Office of Study Abroad, click here. 

To learn more about funding your study abroad experience, click here.

To download the flyer, click here.

CONTACT DR. DAVID DOLATA

FIU School of Music, Modesto A. Maidique Campus, WPAC 140

Telephone: 305-348-2076

Email: david.dolata@fiu.edu

On November 13th, music student Karla Gutierrez took to the stage to share her “Fearless Journey” with audiences at TedXFIU.  

Originally from Cartago, Costa Rica, she has a master’s in business administration and for many years worked as a human resources coordinator at a Swiss corporation. Unfulfilled and yearning for a life in which she could explore her passion for music, she encountered grief and obstacles that prevented her from furthering her talents in the arts. Before passing away, Gutierrez’s mom urged her to pursue her dream of becoming a professional singer. Gutierrez quit her job and moved to Argentina to study jazz, so she could enroll at the FIU School of Music in order to hone her performing and composing skills as a Music Technology/Voice major.

She has since performed in classical choirs, salsa orchestras, jazz combos, symphony orchestras, and musical theater ensembles. She is currently working on a indiepop record with FIU alumnus and Costa Rican composer Fabrizio Montero. An active member of the FIU community, Gutierrez is founder of the student chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the president of the Electro­Acoustic Research Society and participates in the International Student Peer Mentor Program.

“I like Ted Talks because I feel connected to the idea of sharing stories that would encourage others to focus on the joy and continuous discovery of life, accepting challenges and overcoming fears. I’ve seen many Ted Talks that have moved me and inspired me in this way, such as My Creations, A New Form of Life by Theo Jansen, The Creative Genius by Elizabeth Gilbert, How the Worst Moments in Our Lives Makes Us Who We Are by Andrew Solomon, among many others.” Gutierrez continues “I thought that this year’s theme, “Fearless Journey,” would apply to my story about the transition from a business career to one of music. Receiving this opportunity is a great chance for me to hopefully inspire others to follow their passion.” 

To read more about TedXFIU 2014 “Fearless Journey,” click here.

The story was posted by FIU Student Media Staff Writer Samantha Davis and is available by clicking here.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, teachers from all over Miami-Dade County flocked to the Wertheim Performing Arts Center for one of the biggest art events of the year. ARTS@FIU was a professional development day for any and all arts teachers to gain knowledge and learn techniques to engage the students in their classes.

Bryan Petorak, District Supervisor of the Performing Arts Division of Academic Support and the Office of Academics and Transportation for the Miami-Dade Public Schools system, was the man behind the event. Petorak oversees professional development for teachers, curriculum related to the performing arts, implementation of legislation that affects the performing arts, scheduling district performances and much more, so it was important to him that ARTS@FIU be engaging and informative.

Petorak met with FIU faculty prior to the event to shape ARTS@FIU into a day that would benefit Miami-Dade County teachers.

“I wanted to identify sessions that we could offer for all of the disciplines that we have here with art, music and theatre,” Petorak said.

According to Petorak, ARTS@FIU has just focused on music education the last two years but expanded to include theatre and art this year.

The event began at 8:30 a.m. with an introduction by Petorak and a video he showed in which Dr. Maya Angelou directly spoke about how to have a positive impact on peoples’ lives. Petorak then read one of his favorite poems by Dr. Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning” to prepare the teachers for a day of learning how to impact their students’ lives.

At around 9 a.m. the teachers broke off into music, art, and theatre sessions.

“Teachers are participating in these sessions just as students participate in classes and courses. They can then take new information to their classes that will be useful,” Petorak said.

One session, “Participatory Culture: Creativity in Music Programs” led by Evan Tobias, Assistant Professor of Education at Arizona State University, analyzed the song “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons to reveal the ways in which society interprets music. The session featured a variety of covers, parodies, remixes and mashups of the song as a way to get music teachers thinking about how they can spark creativity in their classrooms and encourage students to share ideas with each other.

“My favorite part about today is getting together with colleagues and learning new techniques for the classroom,” said Ana Maria, a music teacher at Laura C. Saunders Elementary School.

David Cruz, an orchestra, chorus, and theater teacher at South Miami Senior High, enjoys connecting with his students.

“The greatest thing about teaching music is watching the growth of the students, sharing music with them, and influencing their lives,” Cruz said.

Other sessions at the arts event included Directing and Playwriting, an orchestra session in which teachers practiced playing their violins, and more.

FIU students played an integral role throughout the day.

“We made sure that we met and greeted the teachers and assisted with the workshops. It was beneficial for me to see how teachers think,” said Namdzy Marcelin, a freshman majoring in Music Education.

ARTS@FIU was a chance for students to see what their work as future teachers will be like.

“The best part about today was being able to interact with people who will eventually be my peers and getting an idea of what I can bring to the school system,” said Alex Toussaint, a sophomore majoring in Music Education.

ARTS@FIU is one of several professional development days for Miami-Dade County teachers and brought in a significant number of teachers this year.

The FIU School of Music would like to thank the Johnny Mercer Foundation for their generous and continual support of music initiatives throughout Miami-Dade County. This year, they have provided over 30,000 enrichment program guides for public school teachers and their students, in addition to awarding fellowships to four School of Music students. For more information, click here.

On November 9th, the Amernet String Quartet, FIU’s Ensemble-in-Residence, performed with Cantor Daniel Gross in a program of Jewish works to commemorate the 76th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Writer Lawrence Budman of South Florida Classical Review offers his critique.

As part of an ambitious series of music and dance performances, the hall (Bailey Hall) hosted a concert of Jewish music Sunday afternoon marking the 76th anniversary of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass).

On the night of November 9, 1938, supposedly in response to the killing of a German diplomat in Paris by a Jewish youth, over a thousand synagogues were torched and homes and businesses of Jews were looted and destroyed. Nearly one hundred people were killed and thirty thousand were arrested by the Gestapo and taken to concentration camps. It was a prelude to the Holocaust, the annihilation of Europe’s Jewish population (as well as gypsies and homosexuals) on a scale difficult to perceive even today.

The Amernet String Quartet was featured in a program of rarely heard chamber and vocal works. For Michael Klotz, the group’s violist, the concert had a personal dimension: his grandparents were survivors of Auschwitz.

When composer Viktor Ullmann was murdered at Auschwitz, the world lost a genius. A pupil of Schoenberg, Ullmann composed his String Quartet No. 3 in 1943 at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. (Ullmann wrote over 20 works at Terezin, not all of which have survived.)

Lasting just over ten minutes, the compact score is in four continuous movements. Opening in the romantic vein of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, a Presto turns harsh with over lapping instrumental lines. The desolate Largo is the heart and soul of the score, deeply imbued with tones of impending tragedy.  A concluding Allegro vivace is at times playful but also dark and angular. The superbly crafted score brought out the Amernet’s plush tonal sonority and lithe blending of timbres.

The quartet also gave a forceful performance of Ernest Bloch’s Paysages. A multifaceted composer, this three movement suite comes not from Bloch’s Judaic, neo-classical or modernist periods but is a musicological exploration of the sounds of Alaska, the Swiss Alps and the Congo. From the high harmonics of “Alpestre” to the wild dance rhythms of “Tongataboo,” this is a highly imaginative work that poses instrumental challenges, easily handled by the Amernet foursome.

Cantor Daniel Gross was the featured vocal soloist in a series of Yiddish and Hebrew texts. Resident cantor at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Gross has sung baritone roles with leading regional opera companies. His deep bass-baritone resounded in the opening Esa Enai (I Will Lift Up My Eyes) by Israel composer Mordechai Yardeini. Four Yiddish Songs in luminous arrangements by Leo Zeitlin prominently featured Klotz’s mellow viola. Devoid of vibrato and strong in the lowest depths, Gross was vociferous and moving in the traditional Eyli, eyli (My God, My God), light and witty in the child’s play of Pattycake, pattycake and strongly reverent in the Kaddish Prayer of Rabbi Levi-Isaac.

Incisively accompanied by Alan Mason on piano, Gross encompassed the operatic histrionics ofRachem (Have Mercy) by the late Miami-based composer Mana Zucca. A pop infused setting by Ofer Barnoy of L’Or Vador displayed Gross’ smooth legato while he turned Yiddish theater entertainer for Abraham Ellstein’s hilatious Yidl Mitn Fidl.

Grossd concluded with a stirring rendition in Hebrew of the traditional Im Eshkachech (If I Forgot You Jerusalem). As an interlude Amernet violinist Misha Vitenson and Mason sweetly conveyed the Viennese schmaltz and sadness of Fritz Kreisler Liebeslied (Love’s Sorrows).

To read more on South Florida Classical Review, click here. 

On Friday, November 7th, roughly 300 high school choral students from seven Miami-Dade County Schools will partake in a the FIU Choral and Vocal Festival located at the Herbert and Nicole Performing Arts Center. Throughout the day, students will be participating in rehearsals, masterclasses with vocal faculty, and choral clinics with special guest conductor Dr. Ann Howard Jones of Boston University.

At Boston University, Dr. Jones is professor of music and director of choral activities. She conducts the Symphonic and Chamber Choruses, supervises conducting students in the Concert Chorus and the Women’s Chorale, teaches graduate choral conducting, and administers the MM and DMA programs in Choral Conducting. Dr. Jones is also the conductor of the BU Tanglewood Institute Young Artists’ Vocal Program Chorus, an auditioned ensemble of high school singers who rehearse and perform at Tanglewood in the summer. Recognized as a distinguished clinician, adjudicator, teacher, and conductor, she has led many all-state and regional choruses, workshops, and masterclasses in the U.S., Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. From 1984 to 1998, Dr. Jones was the assistant conductor to the late Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony choruses, where she was the assistant conductor for choruses, sang in the alto section, assisted with the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers and helped to organize the Robert Shaw Institute.

According to newly appointed FIU Choral Director Dr. Kathryn Longo, “the FIU Choral Festival began last year with three area schools. This year, we are expanding the event to offer more students a chance to work with an excellent clinician and experience some of what the choral and vocal program at FIU has to offer.”

Participating schools include Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School, South Miami Middle School, South Miami High School, Ronald Reagan/Doral Senior High School, Young Men’s Preparatory Academy, Miami Arts Charter School in Homestead, and John A. Ferguson High School.

The festival activities will culminate in an evening performance at 7:30pm featuring choral ensembles from each school and the FIU Concert Choir. The concert will close with a combined chorus of over three hundred singers led by FIU Vocal Director Robert B. Dundas, FIU Professor Mark Aliapoulios, and Dr. Howard Jones. To learn more, click here.

On October 28th in the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, violist of the Ehnes Quartet and member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Richard O’Neill gave a masterclass to both undergraduate and graduate viola students. His appearance was the first in a series of masterclasses given by distinguished musicians who are appearing on the Friends of Chamber Music of Miami 2014-15 concert season.

After working with O’Neill, graduate student Victor Torres explained, “this was an amazing opportunity! It was truly an honor and privilege to work with such an outstanding violist.”  

These artists will impart their knowledge to students of the School of Music and selected high school students. Other featured artists include internationally acclaimed violin soloist and recording artist James Ehnes, President and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music Roberto Diaz, Juilliard piano professor and pianist of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio Joseph Kalichstein, and renowned British pianist Stephen Hough.

Michael Klotz states “with the new Friends of Chamber Music of Miami- FIU Distinguished Artists Masterclass Program, FIU continues to increase the quality of education to its already outstanding programs. This series of masterclasses features a most distinguished roster to which the students will undoubtedly benefit greatly from their expertise and knowledge.” 

This initiative, conceived by President of Friends of Chamber Music of Miami Julian Kreeger and FIU viola professor Michael Klotz and generously supported by CARTA Dean Brian Schriner, is another example of the “Worlds Ahead” activity at FIU. All classes are free and open to the public.

Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church and the FIU School of Music and will together present a Solemn Vigil Mass on the Eve of All Saint’s Day on Friday, October 31st at 7:30pm at St. Patrick’s on Miami Beach. The Mass will be officiated by His Excellency the Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski and will be broadcast live on the Global Catholic Network, EWTN. FIU’s Choral Conductor S. Mark Aliapoulios will lead the FIU Concert Choir and the FIU Symphony Orchestra as they perform Mozart’s sacred work “Missa Solemnis.”

When asked how this partnership came to fruition, FIU Vocal Studies Director Robert B. Dundas explained “I am a congregant at St. Patrick’s. I was approached by Father Roberto Cid who had wanted a performance of the Mozart Mass for many years, but had been unsuccessful in his search to find an ensemble who could do it. I knew immediately that our elite choral ensemble, the FIU Concert Choir, would perform beautifully. As time passed, more people became involved in the project and we are now very fortunate to have the Archbishop of Miami celebrating the Mass as well. I am very happy that we have established this wonderful partnership with St. Patrick’s Church. It has one of the most beautiful sanctuaries in South Florida and the pastor and his entire congregation seem very receptive to having FIU music faculty, ensembles, and students perform there.”

The Mass will feature the Saint Patrick Church Choir conducted by Brother Mark Spencer, the church’s Director of Music and Liturgy. They will be accompanied by pianist Jared Peroune and Principal Cantor Steven Wilson.

According to Father Cid, “this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience, music, art, and beauty. In the context of the celebration of the greatest gift of God, the gift of Himself in the Eucharist. Beauty is one of the ways that enable the human spirit to the contemplation of God who not only is beautiful, but beauty itself and the source of all beauty.”

The community is invited to attend at no charge.

Address: St. Patrick Catholic Church, 3716 Garden Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33140

For more information: St. Patrick Catholic Church; Tel.: 305-531-1124  

According to the American Liszt Society, “Franz Liszt was perhaps the most misunderstood musician in the history of our art. One has only to read a few pages of Alan Walker’s monumental biography of Franz Liszt before realizing that, in truth, Liszt was a deep thinker, and he had a profound effect on the musical minds of his day. His inspiration, genius, and generosity influenced the development of musical thought well into the twentieth century.”

It was this very reason that compelled FIU Keyboard Coordinator Jose Lopez to push for the approval of the South Florida Chapter of the American Liszt Society (ALS) at FIU in 2010, joining 16 other chapters in different parts of the United States. Since then, the chapter has presented annual concerts and events at FIU’s Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Concert Hall, the Deering Estate Estate (as part of the Piano Series), and the Coral Gables Museum, among other venues in an effort to promote Liszt’s contributions as performer, composer, and humanitarian. Currently, officers of the FIU Chapter include President Jose Lopez, Treasurer Kamilla Szklarska, Secretary Laura Wilcox, Artistic Advisor Kemal Gekic, and Honorary Advisor Frank Cooper.

“As a pianist, Liszt’s influence eclipsed all performers before, during, and after his time,” notes Lopez. “As a composer, he was at the forefront of new developments in European music that influenced contemporaries such as Wagner and future stylistic manifestations such as Impressionism, Nationalism, and Atonalism.”

The first performance is set to take place on Saturday, October 18th at 7:30pm in the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Concert Hall. Performers will include FIU pianists Kemal Gekic, Jose Lopez, Kamilla Szklarska and Silvije Vidovic, along with graduate students from FIU, UM, and Lynn Conservatory. They will perform works by Liszt, Chopin, Ravel, Balakirev and Liszt transcriptions by Busoni and Horowitz.

The festival will conclude with a matinee performance on Sunday, October 19th at 4:00pm and will feature FIU and South Florida’s powerhouse pianist Kemal Gekic in a selection of solo repertoire by Chopin and Liszt. He will join conductor Darwin Aquino and the FIU Symphony in Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21 for the finale.

For more information on the Saturday, October 18th performance, click here.

For more information on the October 19th performance, click here.

The FIU School of Music has joined the ranks of over 400 performing arts schools who are now using a powerful, easy-to-use, digital application tool called GetAcceptd that not only provides students with a platform to upload their work, but also allows schools to manage admission materials.

Many parents and students are faced with the daunting task of creating and presenting their audition materials to the universities and colleges of their choice. GetAcceptd has made this pre-screening process easier. Starting this year, all applicants to the Bachelor of Music (BM), Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Music, and Master of Music (MM) or Masters of Music Education (MS) degrees are required to submit an application via GetAcceptd. GetAcceptd makes it easy for all prospective students to upload preliminary materials and pre-audition videos, which are then reviewed by FIU School of Music program coordinators. Successful applicants will then be invited to live auditions at FIU’s School of Music. The audition dates for  this year are:

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Saturday, March 28, 2015

In order to be admitted to the FIU School of Music, students must first be admitted to Florida International University. Admission to the university is very selective and students are urged to submit their applications as early as possible. For more information, visit the FIU Undergraduate Admissions Office or the FIU Graduate Admissions Office. 

To find out how to apply to any number of program at the School of Music, visit the admissions page by clicking here. Students can consult specific program listings for applicable requirements in your area of interest by clicking here. Students pay a fee of $25 per application submitted.

Good luck on your journey! We look forward to meeting you!

Congratulations to Music Education major Andrew Lujan (tenor, pictured far left) and his barbershop quartet “The Academy” for winning 1st place at the International Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Competition this past summer! The competition was hosted by the Barbershop Harmony Society at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada where the quartet competed alongside 27 other quartets. The other members of the quartet include Peter Cunningham (lead), Kevin Menendez (baritone), and Michael Skutt (bass). Since their successful first performance at the 2013 Labor Day Jamboree, they have been named the 2013 Florida Novice Barbershop Quartet Champions and the 2014 Sunshine District International Collegiate Representatives.

“Winning was very exciting for us and we are VERY excited to proceed into our future as champs this year. We went out, poured our hearts out on the competition stage, and were lucky enough to come away with 1st place among 27 other great quartets!” said Lujan.

Winning the International Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Competition is a great achievement, and they are guaranteed to receive well deserved exposure, including at Youth Workshops where their quartet will enjoy teaching large groups of students about the art of barbershopping. Learn more about “The Academy” and their upcoming events on their Facebook page by clicking here.  Andrew is also a member of the FIU Concert Choir, FIU’s elite choral ensemble. 

Congratulations again to Andrew Lujan! We are proud to call you a Panther! 

On October 8th, the FIU School of Music will present its Wind and Percussion Arts Series, featuring the FIU Wind Ensemble and newly appointed conductor Dr. Brenton Alston in a passionate journey that pays tribute to the late Maya Angelou. According to Dr. Alston,

“I have always been inspired by poetry and music. With the recent passing of Dr. Maya Angelou, I sought for a meaningful way to pay tribute to her legacy and bring together poetry and music in performances for our students and community. One day while walking, I remembered a lyric, “your life becomes a travelogue, of picture-postcard charms,” from Joni Mitchell’s Amelia, and the concert series began to take shape. I chose to focus on the music and poetry from many different regions: France, England, New England, China, Japan and the unknown area of outer space and the inner depths of our own soul. This concert series is filled with inspired music from amazing composers.”

The concert will take place at the Herbert and Nicole Performing Arts Center Concert Hall on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 7:30pm. Ticket prices range from $5-10 and can be purchased online at wpac.fiu.edu, at the door, or by calling 305-348-0496. For more information, click here.