School of Music

The new BYU Arts 2016-17 Season Brochure is available at a number of locations on campus, including the HFAC, ASB and WSC info desks. See inside to select your arts schedule for fall and winter semesters. This link points to the online version of the brochure.

After being named one of the youngest winners in the history of the Metropolitan Opera National Council competition at the age of 21, BYU student Rebecca Pedersen began a prestigious operatic career. Although she has partial hearing loss and did not have any formal training until five years ago, Pedersen has now performed at The Met, Lincoln Center, and other acclaimed venues. Her mentor, BYU music professor Darrell Babidge, believed in her potential from the beginning and says the hard-working opera singer (a 2016 graduate of the BYU School of Music) is on her way to an international career.

Keep an eye out for Jordan Kamalu. Or rather an ear. Kamalu, a BYU commercial music studies major who is graduating this month, has been surrounded by music from a very young age. Throughout his university experience, composing music has given him unique opportunities and even earned him a Student Emmy nomination. Before going to college, Kamalu had already received two awards for composing music. Winning the National PTA Reflections contest his senior year in high school gave Kamalu a vision of how he could make a living by doing what he loved. That’s the dream isn’t it? “Music was something that I excelled at and enjoyed doing,” said Kamalu. “I really didn’t see any other way of making money that would be as enjoyable.” From that moment forward, composing became Kamalu’s focus. - See more at https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-grad-finds-early-success-music-composition

Brigham Young University’s School of Music will present “Jazz for Kids II,” with the Jazz Legacy Dixieland Band as part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Family Concert Series on Saturday, Mar. 5, at 11 a.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall of the Harris Fine Arts Center. Admission is free, thanks to a generous donation from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, but all attendees age two years and older need a ticket. Children of all ages are admitted to this performance (including babes in arms). Tickets can be reserved at familyconcerts.byu.edu. Directed by Steve Call, the BYU Jazz Legacy Dixieland Band will play the music of New Orleans, a city where elements of spiritual songs, blues, ragtime and military bands merged to give birth to Jazz, America’s unique and contribution to the world of music. The audience will learn about and hear the music of Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, who were the first great jazz musicians. The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Family Concert Series was created to introduce the joy of music to children and youth. All family members are encouraged to attend regardless of age.

Vocal Point, Brigham Young University’s popular nine-man pop a cappella group, will perform on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 7:30 p.m., in the de Jong Concert Hall.

As a continuation of its Set Apart project, the Brigham Young University Men’s Chorus will share its newest release, “Savior, Redeemer of My Soul,” as a free download starting December 4, 2015. The original Set Apart: Beloved Missionary Hymns album, originally released in April 2013, is still available as a free download. Both can be downloaded at. Hymns for the free Set Apart album were thoughtfully selected to especially honor prospective and current missionaries, and was originally created as a gift to all who share in the love of missionary work. Since the initial album release, songs from the album have been downloaded more than half a million times in 177 countries. Giving away a new song for free as a Christmas gift has become a BYU Men’s Chorus tradition. “We believe that music has the ability to teach indefinable truths, comfort in times of inconsolable pain and inspire even the hardest of hearts,” said Benjamin Jacob, president of the BYU Men’s Chorus. “Every time we sing, we bear our testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ. Men's Chorus is a place of refuge and strength for all as we seek to serve our brothers and sisters through song.” The BYU Men’s Chorus is the largest collegiate men’s choir in the nation. Conducted by Rosalind Hall, they serve as one of the pillars of the BYU College of Fine Arts and Communication’s performing groups, with 180 members and decades of rich, musical history. The choir hopes to spread joyful messages to everyone with the download of this original arrangement of crowd-favorite, “Savior, Redeemer of My Soul.” Rosalind Hall, the director of the BYU Men’s Chorus, considers this particular song an ideal gift to missionaries and to the world this Christmas. Hall feels this song took on new significance when many in Men’s Chorus choose to sing it as their audition piece. Hall soon asked retired faculty member Ronald Staheli to personally arrange and conduct this hymn for her choir members because she knew that no one else would write a more beautiful arrangement. “The first time that I started teaching it to the Men's Chorus, I knew that it would be a special piece. There was such a connection to it. They connected to it from the word go,” Hall said. “I know that missionaries out in the field will feel the same way–it will speak to their souls and it will be especially meaningful to them as they meet all the challenges that come to them as they devote two years of their lives to the Savior of the World.' While Hall and Jacob hope those preparing for missions will download the hymn, they hope that everyone will happily receive the chorus’ Christmas gift. Notable arrangers for the hymns, including Daniel McDavitt, Matthew D. Nielsen, David Zabriskie, Lane Johnson, Rob Gardner and Ron Staheli generously forfeited licensing rights so the BYU Men’s Chorus could offer the hymns on the album for free.

Brigham Young University’s Vocal Point released a new song this week. “Drag Me Down+As Long As You Love Me MASHUP” was released first on their YouTube channel at https://goo.gl/R0Z53i.

The prestigious Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute selects only a handful of gifted young opera singers out of hundreds of applicants to receive private coaching, attend workshops and take part in master classes. This year, they have selected Brigham Young University master student in vocal performance, Dru Daniels, who has been chosen to participate in 'The Song Continues.' She will share the stage with the famed voices of Marilyn Horne, Stephanie Blythe and Sir Thomas Allen. Much of Daniels’ successful path to Carnegie can be traced back to the vocal training she received from faculty at BYU. One teacher, assistant professor of voice, Darrell Babidge, had his own Carnegie debut in 2004 and understood what Daniels would have to do to be ready for this program. “Dru has come a long way,” said Babidge. When she first arrived she had a few holes in her technique, and I have seen her work very hard to hone and polish these skills.” Babidge continues to train and work with students and alumni frequently. He assisted student, Rebecca Pederson as the second youngest ever to win the Metropolitan Opera Competition in 2013. Babidge understands the excellence of the Carnegie Hall program the intensive physical preparations one needs to sing, but he is confident in Daniels’ ability to perform. “Dru has worked really hard to get to this point,” said Babidge. “The week residency at Carnegie Hall will test her vocal and acting prowess, which she has learned so well at BYU.” While at BYU, Daniels has participated in several BYU productions including her performances as Ruth in Pirates of Penzance, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel and as Manon in the double-cast opera Manon. Daniels’ will be at Carnegie Hall January 18-23 in 2016.

Brigham Young University’s nine-man a cappella group, BYU Vocal Point, will be releasing an album dedicated to Christmas songs on Friday, Oct. 9 during the BYU homecoming festivities. Members of Vocal Point will be at the BYU Store for CD signings from 2-3 p.m. that day.

On Monday, August 24th, Megan Jones and Wade Hollingshaus of the Theatre and Media Arts Department, and Ronald Staheli and Rosalind Hall from the School of Music, received awards at the opening ceremonies of the recent University Conference at the Marriott Center. Megan Jones received the Alcuin Fellowship Award, recognizing teachers and scholars that work above and beyond disciplines to contribute to general education and honors curriculums. Jones has a PhD in Theatre Historiography from the University of Minnesota. She is the Associate Professor of Theatre as the Theatre Arts Studies BA Program coordinator and Women’s Studies affiliate faculty member. She received her PhD in Theatre Historiography from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Megan is also a director/choreographer whose credits at BYU include Crazy For You, Holes, Romeo and Juliet, Arabian Nights, Henry 5, and the upcoming Twelfth Night. Wade Hollingshaus also received the Alcuin Fellowship Award. Hollingshaus has a PhD in Theatre/History/Theory/Criticism from the University of Minnesota. He is the department chair of the Theatre and Media Arts Department and the head of the Dramaturgy Studies. He is also an affiliate faculty with BYU’s Scandinavian Studies program and serves as the liaison between the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) and the Theatre Library Association (TLA). He is also a member of the Performance Philosophy research network. Currently, Hollingshaus is working on a new book project on Peter Gabriel and theatricality. Rosalind Hall, third from left, and Ronald Staheli, fourth from left, front standing row. UAC University Annual Conference in Marriott Center. August 24, 2015. Photography by: Mark A. Philbrick/BYU. Copyright BYU Photo 2015. All Rights Reserved. Rosalind Hall also received the Creative Works Award. Hall, a native of Wales, came to Utah in 1989 to pursue post-graduate studies in choral conducting at Brigham Young University. Her British training was at London’s Royal Academy of Music and Edinburgh and London Universities. Before returning to teach at BYU in 1999, she spent seven years at the Waterford School where she chaired the music department, directed the choral program and played a key role in developing the Waterford Fine Arts Academy. She is renowned for her innovative and vivacious approach to vocal and rehearsal technique. Hall is the Choral and Conducting Division Coordinator for the School of Music. Ronald Staheli received the Creative Works Award recognizing outstanding achievement in developing creative works that have wide acceptance, and national or international distribution. Staheli recently retired as a conductor in performances involving the combined choirs and orchestra of BYU. He has traveled widely as a clinician and guest conductor and also has become known for what a colleague calls a profound sense of phrasing and articulation, which informs all his work. Travels have taken him and the choir to the Middle East, Russia, Western and Eastern Europe, the South Pacific, West Africa, and most recently, China.

Claudine Bigelow, BYU professor of viola, the associate director of the school of music and the graduate coordinator, will deliver the devotional address this Tuesday, August 4, at the de Jong Concert Hall. In her address Bigelow will explore the topic of creativity and the spiritual connection it can help us have with our Heavenly Father. While it's an attribute we often associate with the arts, it's an important tool for finding our inner artist for every discipline at BYU. The scriptures teach us Heavenly Father is a deeply creative being, and He has made us to be that way too. Creativity helps us bring light to the world, our relationships, and find deep and satisfying joy. Bigelow has taken her gifts in music all over the world, performing in Europe and New Zealand, and furthering her study. She has also played with National and Utah Symphonies, national Chamber Orchestra and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. She began playing the viola at age 14 but has been around music her whole life. When she was a baby her father played guitar every night. She then picked up the piano in third grade and played for her church as a teenager on a regular basis. At the age of 14 she was given the opportunity to attend a music summer camp with some of the greatest musical instructors of the day including Dr. Shinchi Suzuki, if she learned the viola. Since then Bigelow has dedicated her life to music and improving her talents through research and practice. “Music isn’t for showing that you’re talented or the best at something, because someone will always be better,” Bigelow says. “Music is for communicating love. Music can be one of the highest forms of spiritual communication.” READ MORE ABOUT CLAUDINE: Devotional info link: https://home.byu.edu/home/calendar/28717 Claudine and Guest artist perform http://music.byu.edu/2013/09/05/claudine-bigelow-guest-artist-to-perform-bartok-during-sept-7-recital/ Wiki: http://history.cfac.byu.edu/index.php/Claudine_Bigelow

Photo credit: Robert Aroujo Dubbed as “a love story that isn’t spoiled by the trailer,” the new musical Single Wide has attracted national attention, awards and the opportunity to be performed Off-Broadway in the 2015 New York Music Theatre Festival (NYMF). What started as a joint project between Brigham Young University’s George D. Nelson, the head of the playwriting program in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts, and Jordan Kamalu, a commercial music major in the School of Music, is now exploding into a star-studded venture. Read the recent review! http://bit.ly/1LFZcbH

Kirt Saville, BYU professor of music education and the associate director of bands at Brigham Young University, was named as the new director of the BYU School of Music. Ed Adams, incoming dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, made the announcement today in a School of Music faculty meeting. Saville begins his three-year term immediately, replacing outgoing director Kory Katseanes. “I’ve known Kirt since he’s arrived at BYU,” said Adams. “We’ve interacted on a variety of levels. Kirt has my confidence as Director of the School of Music. I appreciate his willingness to accept the position as director and wish him and his colleagues every success moving forward.” From the start of his career at BYU in 2008, Saville has involved himself deeply in the School of Music operations. He helped lead in the review and revamp of the music minor and graduate music education curriculum, as well in the curriculum redesign of other courses. Before arriving at BYU, he served 15 years as a department chair at Washburn University. “I’m thrilled to be at BYU. It has been one of the greatest blessings of my life,” commented Saville after the announcement. “I know that as the director of the School of Music there is a certain balancing act that has to go on between all of the interests and all of the excitement and all of the energy that comes up from the faculty–and from the administration that comes down. Somewhere right there in the middle of that hourglass is the director.” Adams also praised Katseanes for his two terms as director of the School of Music and his dedicated efforts to further the work of the School during his tenure. “Kory has been a remarkable effective advocate for and representative of the School during a period of tremendous accomplishment and growth,” said Adams. “He has been a successful leader in so many ways including chartering an inspiring vision for the School of Music, raising money and raising the awareness of the School to the various publics. The impressive results will have a lasting impact on faculty and students for years to come.' Katseanes was invited by Adams to share a few words during the meeting. Katseanes praised his colleagues in the School of Music office and on the executive committee. “Without the associate directors and those people who are running the affairs of the School, the director couldn’t survive. It’s too big. It’s too big,' remarked Katseanes. “In many universities, this is a college, not a department. That’s the complexity of this, but it runs because there are so many good people who do such good work.” Stephen Jones, outgoing dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, presided at the meeting and praised the School of Music faculty for their part in the selection of a new director.

His first week teaching full time at BYU, opera baritone and associate music professor Darrell G. Babidge (MM ’99) worried he might feel claustrophobic. As a performer, his voice had taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and other renowned stages.

On Friday, April 24, the College of Fine Arts and Communications hosts three convocation ceremonies in the de Jong Concert Hall to honor this year’s graduates. The first convocation ceremony honors graduates of the Department of Art and Department of Design and begins at 8:00 a.m. The speaker for the ceremony is Mark Graham, Professor of Art and Area Head, Art Education. Student of the departments of Dance, Music Dance Theater, Theater and Media Arts and the School of Music will be honored during the second convocation, which begins at 11:00 a.m. Kory Katseanes, director of the School of Music, is the keynote speaker. The final ceremony commences at 2:00 p.m. and the keynote speaker is Dr. Ed Adams. This convocation also marks the first for the new School of Communications. The Department of Communications recently achieved school status and was renamed the School of Communications. Associate Dean Dr. Ed Carter is delighted to be part of this historic event and hopes that students will remember the people that have made the new school possible. “The School of Communications has a bright future,” said Carter. This first convocation under the label of School gives students, staff and faculty the opportunity to reflect on the service and sacrifice of many dedicated individuals over the last 80 years. The strength of the School is the people who teach, study and work here, and I look forward to decades of continued progress.” As supervisor and an advisor for the CFAC Advisement Center, Julee Braithwaite is extremely grateful to help students along their journey towards graduation. “I am most pleased that as an academic advisor, I may have perhaps played a small part in guiding students towards their graduation goals,” said Braithwaite. “I recognize that the accomplishment of graduation is a result of much personal determination, self-discipline and dedication on the students’ part and hope that as they move on to new opportunities, they will enjoy a sense of satisfaction in the things they learned, created and achieved while here at BYU.” Family and friends who can’t be present at the convocations can view all three ceremonies online by clicking here.

Dubbed as “a love story that isn’t spoiled by the trailer,” the new musical Single Wide has attracted national attention, awards and the opportunity to be performed Off-Broadway in the 2015 New York Music Theatre Festival (NYMF). What started as a joint project between Brigham Young University’s George D. Nelson, the head of the playwriting program in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts, and Jordan Kamalu, a commercial music major in the School of Music, is now exploding into a star-studded venture. Jeff Whiting, a BYU Music Dance Theatre alumni and acclaimed Broadway director has just signed on to direct Single Wide’s world premiere at the NYMF festival in New York in July. “I’m honored to have been asked to help develop Single Wide and take it to the stage in New York,” said Whiting. “I love the piece! I think the story is going to translate well on the stage in the context of the dialogue and the music that’s been created, it’s going to make a real big splash in New York.” In addition to this privilege, Single Wide received the Blanche and Irving Laurie Musical Theatre Award from The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). This award recognizes the best new musical to be written and performed on a university campus in 2014-2015. Excerpts from the musical will be showcased at the KCACTF national festival in Washington D.C., this April. Single Wide follows a community of single women living in a trailer park in the southern United States. Katy, a single mother, living with her own single mother, is trying to get her son out of their “single wide” situation. For her, this means hard work and avoiding men, especially the type that left her there in the first place. But when her son befriends the reclusive new move-in two trailers down, she sees something different in him that makes her take a second look. “At the core of this musical is the story of an unlikely family that begins to come together. No one could have done this better than George,” said Whiting. “George has this ability to really create dialogue that sounds like people, the way they actually exist in their world. Then it’s Jordan’s score that really makes it fun. His music gives wonderful life and vibrancy to this piece. Their collaboration is what makes this project so brilliant and clever. “ “It’s thrilling that Single Wide has won these recognitions,” said Nelson. “These honors belong to our entire department and the atmosphere here that is supportive and conducive to the development of new works. I hope these awards are momentum-building.”

Synthesis, the BYU School of Music’s big band jazz ensemble, presents Velvet Fog: The Life and Music of Mel Torme, with special guest Mark Stevens. Velvet Fog is a tribute to Mel Tormé, written and performed by Mark Stevens. Mel Tormé was a fabulous entertainer and Stevens weaves a delightful tale around him. Velvet Fog was originally a one-man show with Stevens accompanying himself on piano, but Stevens realized, “With every performance, I knew the music was missing something. Then it hit me! Where was Mel most at home? Where did he do his greatest work? With a big band, of course!” Mark Stevens now performs Velvet Fog accompanied by a 17 piece big band.

Join the Wind Symphony in a preview concert of selections that will be performed at the American Bandmasters Association convention in Reno, Nevada. Guest conductors include John Bowman (Director of Bands at Mountain View High School), John Miller (Director of Bands at American Fork High School), Kirt Saville (Associate Director of Bands at BYU), and Fred McInnis (Director of Athletic Bands at BYU)