Event Calendar & News: Faculty News

Charles Avsharian, professor of violin, performed as a soloist and as part of a piano trio throughout Michigan. He gave master classes at Mount Royal College Conservatory in Calgary (Alberta, Canada). He visited four leading conservatories in China - Shanghai, Guangxi, Nanjing and Guangzhou - and gave master classes and demonstrations on violin performance and teaching. He also gave master classes at China's Beijing Conservatories, and coordinated a master class at MSU with the world-famous Guarneri Quartet.

Suren Bagratuni, associate professor of violoncello, performed at the Lake Winnipesaukee Music Festival (N.H.), the Alpenglow Music Festival (Colo.), and the International Music festivals in Italy and Brazil. He performed a recital as part of the Nobilis Trio in Geneva (Switzerland). Compositions performed include a Dvorak concerto with the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, a Chopin recital in Sao Paulo (Brazil), and a Haydn concerto with Ensemble Orchestral do Brazil.

Dmitri Berlinsky, assistant professor of violin, performed Barber's Concerto with I Musici de Montreal (Canada); Glazunov's Concerto with Voronegh Symphony (Russia); and Schubert's Octet with New York Jupiter Chamber Players. He gave recitals in N.J., Del., Wash. D.C., Belgium, Costa Rica and Germany. He performed and gave master classes at the International Music Camp in Canada and gave numerous recitals with his wife Elena Baksht at the Costa Rica International Festival, where he also conducted and performed Mendelssohn's Concerto with the Uppsula Chamber Orchestra (Sweden). He was featured performing Bach's Concerto on the award-winning documentary Life on Jupiter on PBS-Television and received a Sony Fellowship Award for a performance at Steinway Hall (N.Y.), which was broadcast on WQXR-Radio.

Wesley J. Broadnax, assistant professor of music and assistant director of bands, presented the consortium premiere performance of Michael Weinstein's Serenade for 12 Instruments and David Maslanka's Testament with the MSU Wind Symphony and Symphony Band. He also served as guest conductor and lecturer for the Northern Plains Music Festival Honors Band at Dickinson (N.D.) State University, Indiana State University Wind Ensemble in Terre Haute, Bemidji (Minn.) State University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, and the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) District 8 Junior High Honors Band. In addition, Broadnax was conductor of the 2003 Indiana All-State Band in Bloomington, and served as clinician for the MSBOA Conducting Symposium, as well as an adjudicator for the MSBOA District and State Band Festivals.

Jack Budrow, professor of double bass and chair of the string area, performed as principal bass with the Indianapolis Symphony and the St. Paul (Minn.) Chamber Orchestra. He presented a master class at the American String Teachers Association's National Studio Teachers Forum at Ohio State University.

Bruce Campbell, associate professor of music theory, had his composition Heroic Fanfare performed by the Capitol City Brass Band in Grand Ledge (Mich.).

Anna Celenza, associate professor of musicology, wrote a children's book entitled Pictures at an Exhibition, published by Charlesbridge Publishing Inc. and served as narrator for her book at the Play Me A Story concert with the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra. Her article, entitled "The Poet, the Pianist and the Patron: Hans Christian Andersen and Franz Liszt in Carl Alexander's Weimar," was published in the journal Nineteenth-Century Music. She delivered three papers: "Appropriating Beethoven: The Vienna Secession's 1902 Klinger-Beethoven Exhibition" at the Twelfth International Conference on Nineteenth Century Music at the University of Leeds (England); "The Poet, the Pianist and the Patron: Hans Christian Andersen and Franz Liszt in Carl Alexander's Weimar" at Worchester College of Oxford University (England); and "Musical Improvisation as a Narrative Model in the Works of Hoffmann, Heine and Andersen" at the International Conference on Narrative Studies at MSU.

Jan Eberle, associate professor of oboe, performed as principal oboe with the Chautauqua (N.Y.) Symphony, including twenty-one different programs before national audiences in the Chautauqua Symphony Subscription Concert Series and for Chautauqua Opera's productions of Tosca and Macbeth. She performed as principal oboe with the Jackson Symphony, in the Flint Symphony Orchestra's performance of The Nutcracker, and with the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra. She was given a United States Registered Trademark for her oboe reed, Supremo.

Janine Gaboury-Sly, associate professor of horn, performed as principal horn with the Windsor (Ontario, Canada) Symphony. She performed as third horn in the Michigan Opera Theater's productions of Othello and Don Pasquale, and in Fox Theater's touring Broadway production of West Side Story in Detroit.

Derrick Gardner, assistant professor of jazz trumpet, performed with the Eric Reed Big Band; the NYC-Europe Master Class Teachers Jazz Sextet and the Vienna Arts Orchestra in Fruenfeld (Switzerland); the Barry Harris Big Band & Orchestra as lead and solo trumpet; and the Brass Band of Battle Creek (Mich.). He composed original arrangements of Horace Silver's Sweet Sweetie Dee, The Jody Grind, and Doodlin'; Vladamir Dukelsky's (Vernon Duke) Autumn in New York for MSU Octet II jazz ensemble concerts, and music from Art Blakey & the Jazz Messenger's repertoire. He also composed original jazz arrangements of " The Star Spangled Banner" and " Lift Every Voice and Sing" for MSU Jazz Band I, performed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration concert 'Jazz: Spirituals, Prayer & Protest Toward Peace' at the Wharton Center.

Patricia Green, assistant professor of voice (mezzo-soprano), "...in a terrific performance..."(Toronto Globe & Mail) performed with Pierre Boulez in his work Pli selon pli with the New Music Concerts Ensemble at the Gould Studio, Toronto in a concert which was attended by the Governor-General of Canada and broadcast live across Canada and Europe. She sang in three recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with the Theatre Chamber Players in works by Sierra, Schafer, Webern, Dallapiccola and Kurtag. She performed Bach's Cantata Arias #34, 169 and Duets #78, 172 with Philharmonia Virtuosi at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.). She sang Les Cycles: French Art Song Cycles with Midori Koga on piano at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Walla Walla College, Wash., where she also gave a master class. She sang Mozart arias in a recital for the Detroit Pro-Mozart Society. The recording Dreaming: Songs of Lori Laitman (Albany label), on which she is featured, was released in April 2003.

Leon Gregorian, professor of music, director of orchestras, and head of the graduate orchestral conducting program, conducted twelve concerts in eight weeks at the New England Music Camp. The Macomb Symphony Orchestra performed his arrangement of the Republic of Armenia's National Anthem for orchestra.

Melanie Helton, assistant professor of voice (soprano), sang the soprano solo in two performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra; as well as several performances at MSU, including two solo recitals, Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Michigan premiere of Argento's Miss Havisham's Wedding Night. She directed the world premiere of the recently unearthed opera Elisabeth by Donizetti, performed by the Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden star tenor Stuart Neill at the Caramoor International Festival of Music. She also taught and performed at La Fabbrica, an intensive four-week performance workshop held in Tuscany, Italy.

Jere Hutcheson, professor of composition, composed Gradus ad Parnassum for the MSU Symphony Band. Gradus romps through music history, paying homage to composers who contributed significantly to the keyboard étude repertory. The MSU Symphony Orchestra premiered Hutcheson's Three Visions, and Philip Sinder performed Pièce héroïque at the International Tuba-Euphonium Association Midwest Regional Conference. Hirofumi Nakao led his Tsunish High School wind ensemble in competition with Hutcheson's Caricatures in Mie, Japan. American Composers Edition published several Hutcheson compositions: Three Notions for Saxophone Quartet; Mrs. Dalloway's Party for mezzo-soprano and piano; Pièce héroïque for tuba and piano; Piano Sonata; String Quartet; Glosses, Annotations and an Exegesis for violin and piano; Portfolio for cello and chamber ensemble; Spartan Spirit for brass, percussion, and basses; Quirky Etudes for piano; and Dance of Time Symphony.

Richard Illman, associate professor of trumpet, gave presentations of "Yoga for Trumpet Players" at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, Germany; and at the Fifth International Course for Brass and Woodwind Instruments in Kalavrita, Greece, where the Millennium Brass performed his arrangement of Gershwin's Prelude #2. He performed with Syracuse (N.Y.) University Wind Ensemble, Thom Jayne and the Free Radicals, Millennium Brass, Kalavrita Honors Band, and as part of the backup band for a Kenny Wheeler concert at Grand Valley State University (Mich.).

Harlan Jennings, associate professor of voice (baritone), presented a solo recital and master class at Bishop's University in Quebec, Canada. He delivered the paper "Grand Opera in Kansas City in the 1880s" at the National Meeting of the College Music Society in Kansas City (Kan.).

Raphael Jimenez, assistant professor of conducting and associate conductor of orchestras, was guest conductor for the Merida Symphony Orchestra, the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra (Venezuela), and the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra (Fla.).

Isaac Kalumbu, assistant professor of ethnomusicology, presented a paper entitled "Pan-African Extensions in the Popular Music of Zimbabwe, 1930 to the Early 2000s" at the forty-seventh Society for Ethnomusicology Conference in Colorado. He was awarded a Hewlett Faculty Fellowship through the Center of Integrative Studies and the Minority and International Faculty Award. He developed a study abroad program to teach the music, history, and the culture of Africa, the Caribbean and America in Kingston, Jamaica, with Dr. Ramey Berry.

Natalia Khoma, assistant professor and director of chamber music, performed chamber music with the Auryn Quartet in Ga. and Calif., as well as solo recitals on the island of Curacao in the Southern Caribbean. She also performed at the Festival of the Arts in Mohonk (N.Y.), and at the Lake Winnipesaukee Music Festival in (N.H.).

Midori Koga, was promoted to the rank of associate professor of piano and piano pedagogy with tenure. She performed Les Cycles: French Art Song Cycles with mezzo-soprano Patricia Green at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a guest faculty artist. She also completed Quorum residencies at South Florida University's New Music Festival in Tampa and at the Cleveland Composers Forum New Music Festival at Interlochen Center for the Arts (Mich.). She delivered the paper "Music Making and Wellness Project: The Effect of Active Music Making on the Health and Well-Being of Americans Over the Age of 60" at the Capital Area Music Teachers Association Summer Piano Teachers Workshop in Lansing.

John Kratus, professor of music education and chair of the music education area, was an in-service consultant to music educators at Waverly (Mich.) High School on teaching composition and improvisation. He was a consultant for the Michigan Department of Education regarding the establishment of new statewide standards for the preparation of music teachers. He implemented the first annual Michigan Honors Composition Concert, for young composers (K-12).

Michael Kroth, assistant professor of bassoon, presented a solo recital and master class at the Conservatory at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea (Ohio) and performed at the Peninsula Music Festival. He served as faculty artist at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. He performed as substitute principal and second bassoon for the Milwaukee (Wis.) Symphony Orchestra, principal bassoon for the Chautauqua (N.Y.) Symphony Orchestra, second bassoon at the Peninsula Music Festival, and was recently appointed principal bassoon for the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

Michael Largey, professor of ethnomusicology and chair of the musicology area, delivered the paper "Recombinant Mythology and the Alchemy of Memory: Occide Jeanty, Ogou, and Jean-Jacques Dessalines" at the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology in Colorado.

Albert LeBlanc, professor of music education, presented the paper "Effect of Strength of Rhythmic Beat on Preferences of Young Listeners in Brazil, Greece, Japan, Portugal, and the United States" at the research seminar of the International Society for Music Education in Gothenburg (Sweden), and at the ISME World Conference in Bergen (Norway). He presented a paper at the Fifteenth International Symposium on Research in Music Behavior. He presided over two research sessions, presented a research poster, and presented a session on school music advocacy at the Michigan In-Service Music Education Conference in Ann Arbor, where he received an honorary membership in the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association. LeBlanc's article, "Paul Farnsworth: Pioneer Scholar of Music Listening Preference," was published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, No. 149. His article, "Building Your Skills as a Music Advocate" was published in Michigan Music Educator.

Kathryn Lowerre, assistant professor of musicology, received a grant from MSU's Intramural Research Grants Program, providing funding for research in London during Summer 2003 for a book project: "Music and Musicians on the London Stage at the Turn of the 18th Century." She was appointed to the American Musicological Society's Committee on Career-Related Issues and was awarded the W. Jackson Bate/Douglas W. Bryant American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Visiting Fellowship at Harvard University's Houghton Library. She presented two papers: "Gothic Elements in English Theater Music of the Early Eighteenth Century" at the American Musicological Society/Society for Music Theory Joint Annual Meeting in Columbus (Ohio), and "Making Opera English: John Dennis' Rinaldo and Armida (1698)" at the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music Annual Meeting in Winston-Salem (N.C.).

Joseph Lulloff, professor of saxophone, performed with the Warren (Mich.) Symphony Orchestra and gave guest solo performances at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) UNIFEST with the wind and jazz ensembles. He received five new works written for him: Dream Dancer by Michael Colgrass, Louder than Words by Donald Freund (two arrangements: for alto saxophone, bassoon, and piano, and for alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, and piano), Sizzlesax II by Charles Ruggiero, and Concerto No. 2 for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble by David Ott. He premiered Concert No. 2 at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He also performed it at the World Saxophone Congress XIII at the University of Minnesota with the Royal Band of the Belgian Air Force. He joined the Capitol Quartet as its soprano saxophonist and performed and gave master classes with the group in Mich., Utah and at Strathmore Hall in Wash., D.C. He also gave master classes and recitals at the Brevard Music Center (N.C.).

John Madden, associate professor of music, associate director of bands and director of the Spartan Marching Band, guest conducted the Festival of Winds High School Honors Band at the University of South Florida in Tampa. New arrangements composed for marching band include Falling in Love with Love, Le Virgin de la Macarena, Fanfare and Theme from Rocky, Eye of the Tiger, and We are the Champions.

John Martin, director of admissions and director of the Community Music

School, was part of the external review team for Temple University's Music

Preparatory Program. He was a consultant for the University of South Alabama Department of Music and Roosevelt University College of Performing Arts. He was also part of the faculty of the Arts Management in Community Institutions program held in St. Paul, Minn., and presented as part of a panel 'Starting a Community Music School' at the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts national conference in Atlanta.

Pauline Martin, assistant professor of piano, was pianist in the premiere performance of Michael Close's Wilderness for clarinet, string quartet and piano at the Scarab Club in Detroit. She performed Ravel's Concerto in G Major with the Warren (Mich.) Symphony and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Michigan Pops Orchestra, and gave a solo recital for Noteworthy Concerts in Plymouth (Mich.). She appeared with her piano trio - St. Clair Trio - at Alma College (Mich.) and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She also performed with Patricia Green and Suren Bagratuni for the Forty-Third Annual Mozart Society of Greater Detroit concert. Martin presented her "Performance Anxiety/Security" seminar to the American String Teachers Association, students of Alma College, and the Friends of Four Hands of Detroit. She was the featured artist teacher for the Detroit Musicians League annual master class and guest speaker/performer for the Adult Learning Institute and the Institute for Retired Professionals, also of Detroit.

Deborah Moriarty, professor of piano and chair of the keyboard area, presented a lecture/recital of Les Cycles: French Art Song Cycles with Patricia Green at the Jackson (Mich.) Music Club. She presented the paper "Teaching the Music of Debussy through Analysis of Three Preludes " at the Piano Teachers Forum in Ann Arbor (Mich.). She also performed as a collaborating artist at the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Ronald Newman, professor of music theory, performed on piano as part of the Sunny Wilkinson/Ron Newman Duo/Quartet at Illinois Wesleyan University, the International Association of Jazz Educators International Convention in Toronto, Canada, Southwestern Iowa University, Saugatauk Jazz Festival, Northport Performing Arts Center, and numerous other venues. He wrote and/or arranged numerous works for jazz ensembles and combos.

Curtis Olson, associate director of undergraduate studies, conducted a clinic and rehearsal of the Bemidji (Minn.) State University/Community Trombone Choir.

Ava Ordman, associate professor of trombone, performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Meadowbrook, as principal trombone with the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra in Santa Cruz (Calif.) and the Flint (Mich.) Symphony, and with the Detroit Chamber Winds at Cranbrook. She also performed as a soloist with the Meridian Band in Grand Ledge (Mich.).

Judith Palac, associate professor of music education, was named State String Teacher of the Year for the Michigan Unit of the American String Teachers Association in recognition of her outstanding service to string music education and performance. She was cited in Women and Music in America since 1900: An Encyclopedia, 2 vols.

David Rayl, professor of music and director of choral activities, conducted a performance of Mozart's Requiem for the September 11 Memorial Concert in Columbia (Mo.). He was guest conductor for the District VIII Honors Choir for the Illinois Music Educators Association in DeKalb. He delivered a paper entitled "The Choral Music of Jean Belmont" at the College Music Society National Meeting in Kansas City (Mo.). He was also active as a clinician and presenter, appearing at the second national convention of the Associacao Brasileira de Regentes de Coros (the Brazilian Choral Directors Association) in Goiania (Brazil); at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, at the Nebraska Choral Directors Association, and as guest conductor at Central Missouri State University Summer Music Camp.

Jonathan Reed, associate professor of music and associate director of choral activities, delivered the following papers at the Massachusetts American Choral Directors Association Summer Conference at Gordon College in Wenham: "Building Tone Through Repertoire," "Choral Warm-ups to Energize and Engage the Rehearsal Process," and "Working with Adolescent Male Voices." His article "The Importance of Unison Singing in Male Chorus Development" was published in Choral Journal, Vol. 43, #2.

Charles Ruggiero, professor of composition and music theory, had two pieces featured on the WKAR-FM radio program, Friday Night Jazz: his concert arrangement Stray horn, performed by Joseph Lulloff and Jun Okada, and his performances and arrangements as a member of the Vee Nash Jazz Quartet. Several of his original compositions were performed throughout the year, including Three Blues for Saxophone Quartet by the Orion Saxophone Quartet, and the South American premiere of Collage-1912.

Richard Sherman, professor of flute and chair of the woodwind area, recorded the CD American Landscape on Summit Records with Ralph Votapek. He served as principal flute of the Chautauqua (N.Y.) Symphony.

Gordon Sly, assistant professor of music theory and chair of the music theory area, delivered a paper with Brian Alegant entitled "Toward a Strategy for the Analysis of Post-Tonal Music" at the Annual Conference of the Society for Music Theory in Columbus (Ohio).

Roger Smeltekop, associate professor of music therapy, revised the chapter entitled "Music Therapy and Pharmacology" with Becki Houghton for the second edition of Music Therapy in the Treatment of Adults with Mental Disorders, edited by the late Robert F. Unkefer. He co-presented a paper entitled "Side by Side: The functions of music in the formation, maintenance and activation of the therapeutic relationship" at the American Music Therapy Association's Annual Music Therapy Conference in Atlanta. He was co-author of an article with Frederick Tims and M. McGuire entitled "Tribute to Robert F. Unkefer," which was published in Music Therapy Matters.

Mary Alice Stollak, director of choral activities at the MSU Community Music School, conducted a performance of Robert Jager's I Dream of Peace at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Singers from Tennessee, the North American Choral Company and Manhattan's Spence School and Beardsley School joined the New England Symphony under Stollak's direction. She also conducted the Glenbard (Ill.) choral festival and the Illinois Music Educators District IX Festival Chorus. She served as clinician for the Michigan Kodaly Educators, the Midland Children's Choir and the Opus I Children's Choir workshop in Grand Rapids. Since 1985, Stollak continues to serve as the choral director for the National High School Music Institute at Northwestern University.

Mark Sullivan, associate professor of composition and chair of the composition area, composed Suite, a multi-movement work for saxophone, marimba, piano, and bass based on Songs by Raphael Hernandez. He was the recipient of the MSU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies Outstanding Faculty Award for strengthening Latin American and Caribbean music offerings, outreach, faculty recruiting, and helping to bring musicians to campus. He also received his third federally funded Eisenhower Teacher Development Grant to continue a program called "The Creative Process: Using Artist Residencies and Technology to Model Ways of Integrating the Arts into the Curriculum." The grant amount increased from $40,000 to $99,200.

Bruce Taggart, instructor of music theory, and associate director of education and community services at the MSU Community School, wrote all the piano arrangements for Jump Right In: Third Grade Teacher's Edition, published by GIA Publications. He delivered the paper "Computers and MIDI in the Teaching Studio" at the Capitol Area Music Teacher Association.

Cynthia Taggart, associate professor of music education, published the article "Measurement in the Music Classroom: Identifying Our Students' Educational Needs" in the Michigan Music Educator. She delivered four papers: "Using Music Learning Theory in the Upper Grade Levels" at the Michigan Chapter of the Gordon Institute for Music Learning, "Adapting Instructions with Young Children According to Gordon's Model of Music Development" at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, "Laying the Foundation for Music Learning" at the Wisconsin Collegiate Music Educators Conference in Oshkosh, and "Developing Independent Musicians in Elementary General Music" at the New York State Music Educators Summer Conference in Albany as one of two keynote speakers. She was cited in Women and Music in America since 1900: An Encyclopedia, 2 vols.

Frederick Tims, professor of music therapy, chair of the music therapy area and associate director of graduate studies, chaired a six-hour pre-conference institute entitled "Addressing Cultural Complexities in Music Therapy Practice" at the American Music Therapy Association National Conference. He co-authored an article with Roger Smeltekop and M. McGuire entitled "Tribute to Robert F. Unkefer," which was published in Music Therapy Matters.

Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, professor of clarinet, and Walter Verdehr, professor of violin, were on sabbatical leave for the 2002-03 academic year. The Verdehr Trio performed at the International Clarinet Society Meeting in Sweden and in Slovenia during the summer. Elsa lectured on the legacy of Harold Wright, former clarinetist with the Boston Symphony and Marlboro Festivals, at the Clarinet Society Meeting. In September, the Verdehr Trio toured Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and later in the year, the United States, at the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection in Wash., D.C., and in Merkin Hall in New York. Concerts and master classes were given in Montana, Idaho, Vancouver, Canada, Arkansas, West Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Michigan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and the six major cities of Australia. The Trio released four CDs for Crystal Records in the Making of a Medium CD Series: Vol. l2 and l3; two albums of American Music; Vol. l4, Austrian Music; and Vol. l5, Double Concertos written for the Verdehrs. They also completed half-hour videos for the Trio's Making of a Medium Video Series featuring composers Joan Tower, Gian Carlo Menotti and Libby Larsen, discussing the trios they wrote for the Verdehr Trio and music in general.

Ralph Votapek, professor of piano, performed as a soloist in Havana (Cuba), and in Wash. D.C. at the National Gallery. He also performed Brahms' Concerto #1 with the Kenosha (Wis.) Symphony and the Rochester (Mich.) Symphony; Beethoven's Concerto #5 with the West Shore Symphony in Muskegon (Mich.).

Jon Weber, visiting instructor of percussion, performed with the Brass Band of Battle Creek (Mich.) He completed an arrangement of Michael Daugherty's Lex and UFO for the PASIC performance, as well as approximately thirty custom arrangements for the drumline.

Rodney Whitaker, associate professor and director of jazz studies, performed on double bass as part of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra Summer Tour. He performed at the Ford Detroit Jazz Festival and the Detroit Jazz Masters with Marcus Belgrave as part of a collaboration with Detroit Public Schools Dance Department. He performed the Freedom Now Suite at the Detroit Institute of the Arts and Jazz at Lincoln Center. He performed as a member of the Professors of Jazz at MSU in the Freedom Now Suite in Ann Arbor (Mich.) and during the Martin Luther King, Jr., celebration at MSU. He composed Portraits and Remembrances for a commission for the 2003 Lucas Foss String Festival and Four Movements: Summer the Sweet Goodbye, Fall Shadows, Winter Moon, and Spring Birth.

John Whitwell, professor of music, director of bands and chair of the conducting area, was the recipient of the MSU Distinguished Faculty Award. He recorded the first half of Simple Gifts with composer Frank Ticheli and was appointed to the Abilene Christian University Music Department Visiting Committee. He delivered two papers at Bands of America: "A Conductor's Analysis of Chester by William Schuman" and "Teaching Music from the Podium."

Sunny Wilkinson, instructor of jazz studies (voice), performed as part of the Sunny Wilkinson/Ron Newman Duo at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. She also published Billy and Ming Do the Bebop Thing with Ron Newman through Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Inc., as part of the Charlene Archibeque Choral Series. She was cited in Women and Music in America since 1900: An Encyclopedia , 2 vols.