Dancers Spencer Crawford and Jessie Dayton share their highlights of performing and volunteering during the tour to Chile and Argentina

Kyran Brown shares his highlights from the Living Legends Spring 2017 tour The BYU Living Legends presented their show “Seasons” during a three week tour in May throughout the Midwestern United States. They performed 11 shows across Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska. Living Legends member, Kyran Brown, participated on the tour and was struck by the variety of audiences the ensemble performed for, “from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota and a Latino ward in Chicago to a well-represented Polynesian audience in Independence, Missouri.” “We were truly able to meet and befriend American brothers and sisters throughout nine states. After every show, it was a humbling moment to leave the stage and mingle with the audience as we were embraced with hugs and kisses on the cheek from entertained spectators. Some, with tears in their eyes, sincerely thanked us for coming to their town and sharing our talents with them.” Another meaningful experience for Brown was visiting the Liberty Jail Historic Site in Liberty, Missouri. While there, the Living Legends performed a song that they often sing during devotionals. He said, “While we were singing, the Spirit filled the room, which was accompanied by the testifying words of the song which talked about a humble prayer that the Prophet Joseph Smith expressed in order to overcome trials he frequently faced. “I remember the main vocalist who starts the song was overwhelmed with the Spirit for she had to stop and compose herself a couple of times before she was able to utter a line. By the end of the song, many members of the group had tears in their eyes, including myself, because the biggest emotion we want to share with anyone we come in contact with, is happiness.” For Brown, the tour was more than just performing. “Performing was actually one of the shorter events we did on tour. We conducted outreach events for different communities, performed service for Midwestern locals and laughed with host families who invited us in their homes. Being able to participate in stage set-up and take-down is another part of the tour that one would not usually consider as a time to turn to the Lord and serve those who technologically control the show for us. We are always supporting others, whether it is on stage or in public when we are exploring town sites. We love losing ourselves in service and we strive to do all we can to turn hearts.' To view more pictures and moments from their Midwest tour, visit the BYU Living Legends Facebook page.

Kirt Saville, Director of the BYU School of Music, delivered the Devotional address on Aug. 1, 2017. Saville spoke about service saying “what goes around comes around.” Growing up, Saville watched his father frequently serve others. Through his father’s example, Saville recounted several things he learned. Saville used the Savior’s example of service and explained that Christ served the best because he allowed himself to be interrupted by those who needed help. Saville told students their acts of service didn’t need to be “gigantic” to make a difference. Saville concluded with three ways to share God’s love and bring others to Christ. A summary of his remarks can be found at news.byu.edu. Saville is a professor of Music Education and the Associate Director of Bands at BYU. He teaches instrumental music education and conducts the Symphonic Band. Coming from a long history in music education, Saville focuses on the development of practical applications for teaching instrumental ensembles. He has several articles published in different music journals and has taught at the University of Tianjin in the People’s Republic of China.

Choir returns after performing at the inaugural conference in 2006. BYU Singers have been invited to attend the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s 7th biennial national conference in November. They are one of only ten collegiate choral ensembles to be selected for this year’s 2017 conference. In order to be selected, ensembles must undergo a rigorous application process, according to BYU Singers conductor Andrew Crane. Groups must submit proposed concert repertoire, a letter from the supervisor of the sponsoring institution, and recordings from the current and previous year. The recordings are blindly evaluated by choral professionals from around the country and invitations to perform at the conference are extended based on quality of performance demonstrated by the recordings and the quality of the proposed concert repertoire. Recordings from both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons were used to qualify for this year’s conference. “NCCO is the foremost professional organization for conductors who work specifically with choirs at the college/university level,” Crane said. “In addition to speakers, workshops and classes, one of the central elements of the conference is the opportunity to hear concerts of the finest university choral ensembles in the country.” The NCCO is the only choral organization specifically designed to serve choral organizations at the college and university level. This conference allows a unique opportunity for collegiate choruses to perform at a national level and offers lectures and other aids in professional development, according to its website. Biennial conferences have been held since the NCCO’s inaugural conference in 2006. BYU Singers are returning to perform at the conference for the second time after their performance at the inaugural conference under the direction of Ronald Staheli. “We are truly honored and humbled by the opportunity to return in 2017, especially among such an elite group of peer choral groups,” Crane said. The conference will take place November 2-4, 2017. The conference is hosted by Louisiana State University and will be held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Fischer's career includes 17 years as an instructor at three different universities. BYU alumnus, Kenneth A. Fischer, was awarded the prestigious Edward L. Bliss Award for Distinguished Broadcast Journalism Education, the second BYU alumnus to receive the award. Fischer attended BYU in 1982 while obtaining a masters degree in Communications. While at BYU, Fischer worked directly with Thomas A. Griffiths, an emeritus member of the Communications faculty, who also received the Ed Bliss award in 2004. “This is a humbling honor to be included on a list with Walter Cronkite’s writer/producer Ed Bliss and my own BYU mentor Professor Griffiths,” Fischer said. Dale Cressman, associate professor in the BYU School of Communications, said it is quite the achievement to win the award, let alone to follow in the footsteps of a professor who has also won the award. Cressman solicited letters of support and wrote the nomination cover letters for both Fischer and Griffiths. Cressman said the “Ed Bliss” award is the most prestigious award for a broadcast journalism professor to receive. According to Cressman’s experience, winners usually have to be re-nominated over a period of several years until they are chosen. “It is very unusual—and possibly unprecedented—for a teacher and his student to both win this award. And it is noteworthy for two award winners to come out of BYU,” Cressman said. The award comes from the Electronic News Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, also known as AEJMC. The award is given to broadcast journalism educators who have made “significant and lasting contributions to the field,” according to the Electronic News Division’s website. Fischer’s nominating team made a case for him to receive the AEJMC educator award based on his teaching and service work. “I wish to suggest that Ken Fischer is the consummate unsung hero in the academy. He is selfless, generous, and dedicated, yet he does not draw attention to himself, nor is he quick to claim credit,” Cressman stated in his nomination letter for Fischer. “This is a professor completely without pretense, yet driven to serve his students, his colleagues, and his academic committee.” Fischer was first introduced to BYU by Lee Scanlon, a professor Fischer worked with as an undergraduate student at California State University, Fullerton. Scanlon, who received his PhD from BYU, drove Fischer to Utah in 1978 to visit with Griffiths who was the News Director for KBYU at the time. During the trip, Fischer decided to apply for the BYU communications graduate program. “That visit to BYU and my decision to attend changed the course of my life to this day,” Fischer said. “I have utilized what I learned at BYU in both my professional and academic newsrooms and studio work.” Teaching broadcast journalism helps keep Fischer “alive and fresh” in an industry that provides something new everyday. Fischer is currently a member of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication faculty at the University of Oklahoma. He is also working towards obtaining a PhD in Communication. “Dr. Griffiths and my BYU friends have been encouraging throughout the process. They remind me that learning never ends,” Fischer said. “But as far as the award is concerned, I may not be a member of the flock, but like the sign at the ‘Y’ says, ‘the world is our campus, go forth and serve.’” Fischer will be presented with a recognition plaque at a special ceremony on August 10 as part of the AEJMC’s Chicago Conference at NBC’s WMAQ television station. Fischer’s name will also be added to the permanent plaque housed at American University in Washington, D.C.

BYU researchers asked people why they Facebook, then identified four categories of users.

Season posters for the 2016-17 BYU Theatre and Media Arts productions have received several top awards at three prestigious competitions. BYU ARTS Creative is no stranger to winning awards. This year their work has garnered several top awards in regional and national competitions. BYU ARTS Creative won the Copper Ingot Award for the third year in a row at the AIGA Salt Lake City 100 Show and received a Grand Gold Award at the national CASE Circle of Excellence Awards. The Salt Lake City chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, hosts the AIGA SLC 100 Show each year. The show is known as Salt Lake City’s “most prestigious juried competition,” with 100 entries selected and judged by nationally recognized judges on “craft, concept, and aesthetic achievement.” BYU ARTS Creative won its third Copper Ingot Award for the BYU Theatre and Media Arts Season Posters. The Copper Ingot Award is presented to the top 10 pieces of the show. BYU also received Merit Awards for the BYU School of Music’s American Piano Quartet Poster, the University Chorale Poster and the BYU Arts 2016-17 Season Brochure. The show put the design team against difficult competition “It’s important to take into consideration that we are going up against design and marketing studios in the region with full-time designers, and we do it with part-time student graphic designers,” said BYU ARTS Creative Art Director, Nick Mendoza. On the national level, the BYU Theatre and Media Arts Season Posters received a Grand Gold Award at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Circle of Excellence Awards (CASE). After receiving Gold and Grand Gold Awards at the district level, the posters went on to receive 1 of 16 Grand Gold Awards given at the national level. CASE Judges for the BYU season posters noted that the posters had “excellent minimalistic interpretations of season shows” as well as “strong typographical treatment.” Additionally, judges said the poster’s “consistent color palette added immense impact to the overall look and feel.” Sue Cunningham, president and CEO of CASE, said in a news release that the 2017 CASE competition was the most competitive year ever with over 3,364 entries and only 366 awards given. But the awards don’t stop there. The season posters will also be included in the September/October issue of Communications Arts magazine. Mendoza entered BYU ARTS Creative pieces into the Communications Arts 2017 design competition, the “most prestigious competition for creativity in graphic design.” Winners receive “important exposure” in print and digital editions of their magazine and on commarts.com. “It is a great honor to be recognized in these competitions. It validates all the hard work and thought that goes into all the things we produce here at BYU ARTS Creative,” Mendoza said. “It is great that the students get recognition for their work and I hope that our clients can see them as designers and not merely as student workers.” Student collaborators who helped to produce the designs: Andrew Galloway (BFA Graphic Design 2016) BYU Theatre and Media Arts Season Posters Keegan Black (BFA Graphic Design 2017) American Piano Quartet Poster Stephanie McAllister (BFA Graphic Design 2017) University Chorale Poster

Nokbak is the third BYU-created video game in five years to be nominated as a finalist in E3’s College Game Competition.

A team of BYU students took the top prize in the country’s most competitive student advertising competition — for a project they did not for a class or client, but for fun. It was summer and they had a little extra time, so the crew set out to create “something big and cool and different,” said senior Taylor Dahl. Their finished product — a whimsically illustrated and filmed Vespa commercial — took national best of show at Saturday’s Student American Advertising Awards Competition (commonly referred to as the ADDYs). Awards committee chair George Riddell called the competition a “showcase of bright new talent” that provides “a glimpse at the advertising industry of tomorrow.” The best of show award, one of eight national ADDYs BYU received, is a high point in a season of high points for BYU’s ad program. Click here to read more...

A team of BYU students took the top prize in the country’s most competitive student advertising competition — for a project they did not for a class or client, but for fun.

Diane Reich, Associate Professor of Vocal Performance and Division Coordinator for Classical Voice in the BYU School of Music, will deliver the Devotional address on June 6, 2017. With doctoral and master’s degrees from Indiana University, Reich has had an impressive career, winning numerous accolades and performing both across the nation and overseas. Reich was hired at BYU in 2007, where—in addition to her position as Division Coordinator—she teaches Vocal and Opera Literature. Read more…

Associate Dance Department Chair Curt Holman has been selected as the new BYU Department of Dance Chair, effective June 1, 2017. In his almost 25 years as a dance faculty member at BYU, Holman has served on numerous department, college and university committees, including Ballroom Area administrator, associate Dance Department chair and Ballroom Dance Company artistic director. Holman and his wife Sharon are former professional ballroom dance competitors, U.S. National Cabaret finalists and invited competitors at the British Championships in Blackpool, England and the World Championships in the Netherlands. “Holman has developed a deep understanding of the touring and performance aspects, as well as the curricular and education issues of the department,” CFAC Dean Ed Adams said. “He has been an integral part of the prestigious awards garnered by the Ballroom Dance Company, both nationally and internationally.” Holman replaces Marilyn Berrett who has served in this position since Dec. 2010. Berrett’s choreography has been featured in main stage productions and award winning films across the US and in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. She serves on the BYU ARTS Partnership coordinating council, the dance and the Child international board of directors and is a past-president of the Utah Dance Education Organization. “Berrett’s commitment as chair has been extraordinary and she has endeavored to ensure that students, faculty, and staff in the department achieve the fullest measure of their abilities,” Adams said. The Department of Dance provides a broad base for professional training in both the classroom and the studio. The versatile undergraduate program includes four degrees: Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Dance, Bachelor of Arts (BA) in K-12 Dance Education, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Music Dance Theatre. The Department of Dance is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance. “My greatest joy has been witnessing the personal and collective successes of faculty and students,” Berrett said. “I stand in awe as BYU Dance faculty and students collaborate and create together and so pleased when they win academic, teaching and performance acclaim at conferences, festivals, and competitions. I am grateful for the support of the university, college, our donors, alumni, and colleagues.” Writer: Bailey Fruit