NNNEWSEWSEWS FROMFROMFROM TTTULLIBODYULLIBODYULLIBODY

ASU Student Piano/Violin Duo selected to study with the Harlem Quartet at Music Mountain Workshop!

ASU Vocalists Compete and Receive Accolades at the Gulf Coast Steinway Association Competition & ALANATS Workshop!

Flying to Connecticut to take part in one of the nation’s oldest and most well estab-lished and well respected chamber music festivals may sound like little more than a dream to a lot of our students at ASU. However, this Au-gust, two talented ASU music majors did just that, preparing music and participating in a week-long workshop presented by the Harlem Quartet spon-sored by the Vivo Internation-al Music Competition. Piano major Corelia Davis and vio-lin major Joycelyn Bradford received coaching and mentor-ing from members of the Har-lem Quartet, a world-renowned professional tour-ing string quartet made up of classically trained Juilliard

musicians of diverse back-grounds. With assistance of a generous grant from the ASU Department of Music and the ASU Foundation, the stu-dents were able to live out the dream, travelling to Connecti-cut to take part in the week-long festival. Upon their re-turn to ASU, Miss Davis and Miss Bradford will present a joint piano/violin Bachelor of Arts in Music Jr. degree recital on November 3rd. Miss Davis is a dual degree Bachelor of Arts (performance) in Music and Bachelor of Music Educa-tion major from the studio of Dr. Adonis Gonzalez-Matos, and Miss Bradford is a Bache-lor of Arts (performance) in Music major from the studio of Ms. Delyana Lazarova.

This fall has been quite busy for ASU voice majors Ezra Joshua Sanders (Bass), Amber Andrews (Soprano), and Na-rah Van Cleve (Soprano). The trio of student vocalists participated first in the Gulf Coast Steinway Association Vocal Competition held on September 12th at the Univer-

sity of Mobile, and then hit the road again to participate in the ALANATS (the Ala-bama chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing) Fall 2015 workshop held on September 26th at Montevallo College. At the Steinway Competition, Ezra Joshua Sanders took 3rd prize!

Alabama State Univers i ty Department of Music Newslet ter

Inside this issue:

Jobs & Grad School 2

New Faculty in Music 2

Alumni Recital Series 2

Alumni Spotlight 3

2015 Honor Students 3

Alexander Technique 3

Upcoming Events 4

Special points of in-terest:

Alumni Pride & Legacy!

Become a Music Mentor!

Supporting Student En-sembles & Activities!

Recruiting the Best for ASU!

We Need Your Support!

National Acclaim for the Mighty Marching Hornets!

Fall 2015

Volume 1, Issue 1

Joycelyn Bradford & Corelia Davis at Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival.

Members of the Harlem String Quartet in NYC

Vocalists Ezra Sanders, Amber Andrews & Narah Van Cleve represent ASU

The ASU Alumni Recital & Lecture Series Continues!

New Faculty Members in the Music Dept!

Roy Collins (BA, ‘14 & M.Ed, ‘16) was appointed as Director of Bands at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, AL.

Ricky Reynolds (BME, ‘12) was appointed as Director of Bands for Gra-Mar Middle Prep at Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, TN.

Marvin Griffin (BA, ‘13 & M.Ed, ‘15) was appointed as Director of Bands at Southside High School in Selma, AL.

Angelica Sewer (BA, ‘15) was awarded a graduate assis-tantship for the M.M. vocal performance degree program at the University Southern Mississippi.

Jeffrey Hughley (BME, ‘04) was appointed as Director of Bands at Baldwin Jr. High Arts Magnet in Montgomery.

Salvador Hernandez (BA/BME, ‘15) was awarded a grad-uate assistantship for the M.M. ethnomusicology degree

program at the University of Florida.

Jeremy Webster (BME, 14‘ ) was appointed as Director of Bands at Notasulga High School in Macon Co., AL.

Thomas Perry (BA, ‘13 & M.Ed, ‘15) was appointed as Director of Bands at Hillcrest High School in Memphis, TN.

Frederick Holmes (BA, ‘14 ) was appointed as Director of Bands at Green Co. High School in Eutaw, AL.

to pursue the M.M. in Vocal Performance at Southern Illi-nois University at Carbon-dale, and is currently complet-ing her D.M.A. degree in Vo-cal Performance at UNLV. Bravo to these two outstand-ing alumni and role models for coming back and giving back in such a meaningful way to their alma mater!

This fall, students from the Department of Music will have the opportunity to meet and hear from two former alumni of the music program at ASU; Mr. Shaun Mitchell and Ms. Cordelia Anderson. Each will present a casual afternoon masterclass and Q&A session with music stu-dents, in addition to a formal

evening recital held on cam-pus. Mr. Mitchell (BA, ’12) received the M.M. degree in Trumpet Performance from the Steinhart School of Music at New York University, and now serves as an adjunct in-structor at ASU. His master-class and recital will take place on October 6th at ASU. Ms. Anderson (BA, ’07) went on

Recent Job Placements & Graduate School Announcements (send us your news & updates!)

The Department of Music welcomes four new outstand-ing adjunct faculty members to ASU this fall. Joining an already dynamic core faculty are Dr. Martin Cochran (applied euphonium & tuba), Mr. Jeffrey Hughley (music appreciation), Mr. Shaun Mitchell (applied trumpet & music appreciation), and Mr. Joseph Ortiguera (music ap-preciation & strings).

Page 2 News from Tullibody

Curtis Wynn (BA, ‘12), first day on the job at

GW Carver Elementary in Tuskegee, AL (August, 2015)

Ms. Cordelia Anderson Tuesday, October 27th 11:00 A.M. Masterclass

7:30 P.M. Recital

Alumni Spotlight: Mr. LeBarron McWhorter; Man on a Mission!

Alexander Technique Workshop at ASU!

2015 Honor Award Recipients from the Department of Music!

ing participants and was ar-chived on YouTube. Earlier in the summer, Mr. McWhorter attended the Uni-versity of Oregon Conducting Institute., receiving podium time with Dr. Rodney Dorsey, Director of Bands, University of Oregon, and Dr. Mark Scatterday, Director of Bands, Eastman School of Music.

McWhorter serves as Director of Bands at Jonesboro High School in Jonesboro, Ga.

Alabama State University's own LeBarron McWhorter (BME, ‘07), was one of only six conductors selected na-tionwide to attend the U.S. Army Band's “Pershing’s Own” conducting symposium, which took place on July 20-24 in Bruckner Hall on Fort Myer in Arlington, Va. The prestigious workshop provides participants conduct-ing opportunities with the acclaimed U.S Army Concert

Band, "Pershing's Own." The intensive four-day program includes coaching with world-renowned conductors, Col. Timothy J. Holton, command-er of "Pershing’s Own," and Dr. Jack Stamp, retired Direc-tor of Bands from Indiana University in Pennsylvania. The U.S. Army Band work-shop concluded with a live-streamed concert with the ‘Pershing's Own’ Army Band that featured all six conduct-

Every spring, the Department of Music at ASU recognizes the outstanding academic and musical achievements of ASU music majors. This year, a record 52 music majors were recognized for maintaining an honors level GPA.

The John Duncan Award for Excellence in Music Theory was awarded to Eduardo Her-nandez. The Erskine Hawkins Jazz Award was awarded to

William Parks. The Dean’s Award for most inspirational music major was awarded to Omar Rasul. The Nat King Cole Society Scholarship was awarded to Demontrez Ma-hone. Finally, the 2015 Press-er Scholar Award, a $4,800 scholarship, was awarded to rising junior Eduardo Hernan-dez who plans to pursue grad-uate studies in music at the University of Alabama in 2016.

This fall, ASU music majors had the opportunity to per-form for and work with certi-fied Alexander Technique instructor, Ms. Laurelie Gheesling (ATI) who came over to Montgomery from neighboring Auburn Universi-ty in order to introduce Alex-ander Technique. Ms. Ghees-ling provided instructions and

adjustments for several stu-dent performers, which almost immediately led to perceivable improvements in sound quali-ty, tone, intonation and execu-tion. Ms. Gheesling gave an hour-long group presentation for the students and interested community members, includ-ing a demo portion featuring ASU student performers.

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

Mr. LeBarron McWhorter conducting the U.S. Army “Pershing’s Own” Concert

Band in Arlington, VA.

ASU Music Majors & Honor Award Recipients

Music majors LaTorya Hawthorne & Narah Van Cleve working with Ms. Laurelie Ghees-ling, ATI, during the Alexander Technique workshop at ASU on September 24, 2015.

Upcoming Fall Semester Events at ASU:Upcoming Fall Semester Events at ASU:Upcoming Fall Semester Events at ASU:

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC CONTACT INFO

Dr. Carly Johnson, Chair Tullibody Music Building

Phone: 334-229-4341 Fax: 334-229-4901

E-mail: cjjohnson@alasu.edu

It’s a Great Time to be a Musical Hornet!

W E’ RE ON THE WEB:

WWW. ALASU. EDU/ MUSIC

For Facebook users, please“Like” us at Alabama State University Department of

Music for additional updates on music students, faculty, ensembles and alumni.

Guest Artist Recital at ASUGuest Artist Recital at ASUGuest Artist Recital at ASU Michael Pendowski, Alto SaxMichael Pendowski, Alto SaxMichael Pendowski, Alto Sax Tuesday, October 13, 7:30 pmTuesday, October 13, 7:30 pmTuesday, October 13, 7:30 pm Tullibody Recital HallTullibody Recital HallTullibody Recital Hall

AND ON THE AIR:

ARTSat ionARTSat ionARTSat ion

WSFA - 90.7 FM Mondays at 6 P.M.

Guest Artist Recital at ASUGuest Artist Recital at ASUGuest Artist Recital at ASU Delyana Lazarova, ViolinDelyana Lazarova, ViolinDelyana Lazarova, Violin Tuesday, November. 10, 7:30 pmTuesday, November. 10, 7:30 pmTuesday, November. 10, 7:30 pm Tullibody Recital HallTullibody Recital HallTullibody Recital Hall

A Message from the Chair...

Welcome to the inaugural edition of News from Tullibody, a new quarterly publication by the Department of Mu-sic at Alabama State University!

Here you will find information about one of the most highly regarded HBCU music programs in the nation. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, we have remained a competitive force in higher education with an emphasis on developing future music teachers and professional per-formers. We are proud of the success and the achievement of our students, alumni, and faculty and we invite you to browse our pages, contribute your news, and to come visit us on campus.

On our beautiful historic campus, Tullibody Recital Hall and Leila Bar-low Auditorium are alive with music performances throughout the school year. From chamber music to large ensembles, from preparing for solo competitions to preparing for grad school auditions, the halls of Tullibody are alive with the sound of music!

Dr. Carly Johnson, Chair Department of Music Alabama State University

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the ASU Mighty Marching Hornets and Director James Oliver for being recently hon-ored and recognized as the nation’s best HBCU Marching Band at the AARP HBCU Awards sponsored by HBCU Digest! Way to go Hornets!