Andrew Putnam named to faculty at Virginia Tech University

Andrew J. Putnam conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble at Virginia Tech and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting. He received his doctoral degree from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where he studied with Steven D. Davis. He previously earned the master of music education, studying with Colleen Conway and conducting with Michael Haithcock. Prior to his graduate work, he taught for five years at Whitnall High School in Greenfield, WI where he served as director of bands. This tenure followed the completion of a bachelor of music education degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. An advocate for the wind ensemble as an artistic medium, Dr. Putnam has shared in performances at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic as well as the regional and national conferences for the College Band Director’s National Association. Additional collaborative work with artistic leaders including composers John Corigliano, Robert Beaser, James Mobberley, and Paul Rudy, renowned wind conductor H. Robert Reynolds, and the 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner in music, Zhou Long. His work with Robert Beaser towards the completion of the wind ensemble setting of the composer’s Manhattan Roll (originally commissioned for 150^th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic) led to its premiere at the 2011 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. His recent research has centered on the personas of folk singers influencing the work of Percy Grainger, and wind ensemble works of Paul Hindemith.

Jeff Moore to lead UCF School of the Performing Arts

Jeff Moore will be the first director of the School of the Performing Arts at the University of Central Florida.

It's a new position for the school, part of UCF's College of Arts and Humanities, but Moore is a familiar face on campus. He was previously chairman of the music department.  

As director, Moore will be responsible for overseeing the college's music and theater departments and advancing the development of a new performing-arts center on UCF's east Orlando campus. Moore was appointed after a yearlong search from a pool of external and internal candidates.

"Jeff Moore is a visionary leader who brings dedication and a strong sense of mission to the School of Performing Arts," said Jose B. Fernández, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. "His leadership style fosters a sense of stability while also encouraging people to think outside the box."

Moore will work on completing the merger of the theater and dance departments into one school, which includes creating a unified governance structure for the faculty and staff members, who number more than 50. His responsibilities also include identifying opportunities for integration and innovation in the school's programs and curriculum.

He will also collaborate with the UCF Foundation as it seeks funding for the new performing-arts center, which is currently designed to have four performance venues, costume and scenic shops, as well as rehearsal spaces.

"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the UCF School of Performing Arts. Throughout my career I have always enjoyed collaborating with faculty, students and our partners," Moore said. "This new position affords me the ability to expand on those activities while continuing to enhance our presence in the community and beyond. When you add the construction of Phase II of the UCF Performing Arts Center to this environment, it is a very exciting time for the performing arts at UCF."

A professor in the department of music, Moore received his master of music performance degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of North Texas. He joined the UCF music faculty in 1994 where he taught and served as percussion coordinator. Active in all facets of percussion, he is an international lecturer, clinician and soloist. He is a contributing author to the third edition of "Teaching Percussion" and has published more than 30 arrangements and compositions including a method book and CD package.

Involved in national and international societies, Moore served as an associate editor of "Percussive Notes," the Percussive Arts Society's scholarly journal and was recently elected to the board of directors of that organization. A recognized expert in marching percussion, Moore has served as the percussion director of the internationally acclaimed Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps, and as program consultant/percussion arranger with several European, Japanese, Thai and Indonesian drum corps and bands.

Active in the music industry, he serves as a consultant and artist endorser with several companies including Yamaha and has designed signature products with Pro-Mark.

August 26, 2013|Posted by Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel Arts Writer

Jason Hausback (BM '02) accepts position as Assistant Professor of Trombone at Missouri State University

Jason Hausback (’02, BM – Trombone Performance) recently accepted the Assistant Professor of Trombone tenure-track position at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. In addition to maintaining the trombone studio at MSU, he directs the Jazz Studies Ensemble II.

Jason is a regular member of the Lone Star Wind Orchestra (Richardson, TX) which recently performed at the Midwest Clinic under the baton of Eugene Corporon and Leonard Slatkin.  He is also a member of the Bell Street 4 trombone quartet and performs with them at high schools, universities and conventions throughout the southwest.

Jason is a graduate of the UW School of Music (’02, BM: Trombone Performance), the University of North Texas (’07, MM: Trombone Performance), and is currently finishing his DMA at the University of North Texas (’13, DMA: Trombone Performance).  His dissertation is on the sackbut music of Dario Castello, a Seventeenth century Venetian composer.

For more information on Jason and his new position, please visit:

http://www.missouristate.edu/music/jhausback.aspx

Thomas Buchhauser Retires from WYSO after 50+ Years!

People know me as: Tom Buchhauser, a music educator for more than 50 years and longtime associate music conductor for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, just starting my final season with WYSO. People call me Tom but some of my colleagues at Memorial High School called me Bucky. The kids always called me Mr. B. I used to tell them they could call me anything as long as there was a Mr. in front of it. That brought some twinkle to their eyes.

Coming up next: The first WYSO concerts of the year are on Nov. 18 in Mills Hall in the UW-Madison Humanities Building, 455 N. Park St. The Sinfonietta and Concert orchestras will perform at 1:30 p.m. The Philharmonia Orchestra, which I conduct, and the Percussion Ensemble will be at 4 p.m., and the Harp Ensemble and Youth Orchestra will play at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youth 18 and under, available at the door. For more information call WYSO at 608-263-3320.

Don’t miss it because: You will be amazed at the skill and musicianship these 9- to 18-year-olds bring to the music. This would not be possible without the outstanding training the students are receiving in music programs in the public and private schools throughout Wisconsin. The students give up 33 Saturdays each year because of their desire to make music with other dedicated musicians from many communities in southern Wisconsin.

Your training: I started piano lessons at age 5 with a neighborhood lady and then took lessons at the Chicago Musical College. When I entered Lane Tech High School, I majored in music so I didn’t have to take the shop classes. My future was to be a math teacher, and then I started the cello. By my junior year I changed my plans to becoming a music teacher. I received my bachelor’s of music from the UW School of Music in 1962 and my master’s of music in 1964. I taught at Wisconsin High School in 1962, Central High from 1963-66 and Memorial from 1966-99.

Most inspiring moment on stage: As a cellist, I think it was when I was a UW student when the symphony orchestra and massed choirs performed the Brahms Requiem and the Symphony of Psalms by Stravinsky at the UW Stock Pavilion. Robert Shaw was the guest conductor. After the concert I just wanted to be alone and think about that awesome experience.

As a conductor, it has to be when the Memorial Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir performed the Ernest Bloch Sacred Service in 1976. Professor Sam Jones was our cantor and Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky was the narrator. There wasn’t an empty seat in the auditorium. I still listen to that performance today because it was so thrilling.

Who inspires you? I have had many wonderful teachers who have shaped my life, but it is Marvin Rabin who has been my greatest inspiration as a music educator and conductor. For the past 47 years, Marvin has been my teacher, supporter and critic, and my resource for string development and repertoire. His coming to Madison in 1966 to start WYSO changed my whole life.

What’s next for you? As of now I have no special plans. I am looking forward to this last year with WYSO. After 51 years of teaching and conducting young people, I am sure I will continue to be involved in some way promoting music education and will continue working on music committees and boards.

This article originally appeared:
October 05, 2012 9:00 am  •  GAYLE WORLAND | Wisconsin State Journal | gworland@madison.com | 608-252-6188
Read more: http://host.madison.com/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/stage-presence-conductor-of-youth-orchestra-reaching-finale/article_fe6c1a0a-0e2e-11e2-aff1-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2GHcLumtQ

Justin Smith, director of Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, interviewed by local TV Station

UW alumnus, Justin Smith (2010), is currently program director for the Milwaukee Symphony Youth Orchestra and its mission and upcoming tour to Europe.  Check out the interview here:

Justin Smith Interview

Music Educator, Sue Halloway, retires after 33 years

Sue Halloway has taught for 33 years, and all of them were in Sauk Prairie. After attending Whitefish Bay High School, Halloway spent a year at Indiana University and then took a semester off to travel and bowl in the AMF World Cup in Singapore. She returned to complete her music education degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also earned her master’s degree.

“I think the most challenging situation occurred two years ago when budget cuts threatened teaching positions in our district and we cut our fifth-grade band program and musicals,” she said. “Fortunately, we have been able to maintain all of those programs through parent and community support.”

Halloway repeated her often stated philosophy to students: “ It’s the journey, not the destination. Take risks!”

She wouldn’t offer words of advice to colleagues, however.

“There are just too many unknowns,” she said.

“I have enjoyed everything and every minute (of teaching in Sauk Prairie). The kids have been great; I have had the opportunity to work with an amazing parent group; have been fortunate enough to work with a wonderful staff and administration and have appreciated the wonderful support of the music program by the community,” she said. “Every year I tell my students that they don’t know who they haven’t met yet that will make a difference in their lives. I have begun every year with those very thoughts and am thankful to all of the people I have met along the way that have made a difference in my life and the lives of my students. Thank you for 33 wonderful and memorable years.”

Halloway said she plans to do some private teaching and might work with the fifth-grade band. She also might want to perform and judge, but golf, bowling, travel and time with her parents also are on her list.

“I think I can finally identify with all of the seniors. I have had 33 years to decide what I want to do when I grow up and graduate from High School and I’m not quite sure where that path will lead,” she said.

See full story here.

Thomas Kasdorg, recent piano alum, featured in Wisconsin State Journal

Freelance pianist believes in music as a universal language.

People know me as: Thomas Kasdorf, freelance collaborative pianist, coach and musical theater director.

Coming up next: I’ll be performing Mozart’s Concerto in A Major with Middleton Community Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Middleton Performing Arts Center at Middleton High School. Tickets are $10; free for students. Tickets are available at Willy Street Co-op West or at the door.

Don’t miss it because: The Middleton Community Orchestra is a fantastic community ensemble, made up of so many highly talented amateur musicians. I’m very excited to be working with them again, having worked with them previously with the Perlman Trio for last year’s performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto. For a collaborative musician, working with an orchestra is really the highest form of collaboration, and the Mozart concerto is a superb vehicle for large-scale ensemble playing. The elegance, lyricism, brilliance and poise of the piece create a great canvas for both soloist and orchestra.

Your training? I graduated last summer with my bachelor’s of music in piano performance from UW-Madison, studying with professor Christopher Taylor.

Favorite place to perform: I’d have to declare a tie between the Middleton Performing Arts Center and the Bartell Theatre. Both are radically different, but I love the impressive grandeur and richness of the PAC and the attitude, warmth and sense of community that the companies working at the Bartell give to their venue. I’ve worked on many different kinds of performances at both venues and have so many fantastic memories of each place.

Most inspiring moment on stage: I played the final movement of Oliver Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” with violinist Eleanor Bartsch at a house concert. After we finished, there was an intense solid minute of silence, and we slowly looked up at our audience, each member of which was sobbing. It reaffirmed clear beliefs of mine that music not only expresses what cannot be fully comprehended in any other manner, but also that music is a universal language, understood and felt by absolutely everyone in some way.

Worst moment on stage: During a performance of “Cabaret,” with the band positioned in full view of the sold-out audience. I fell asleep during a really long scene and woke up playing in the middle of the musical number “Mein Herr.” I was so stunned and terrified, but I guess no one knew anything was wrong. It gave new meaning to being able to “play something in your sleep.”

Who or what inspires you?: I’m constantly inspired by my collaborative partners. I feel so blessed to be able to learn so much from every individual that I work with, and that insight carries into all of my future collaborations.

— Interview by Gayle Worland

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/lifestyles/article_a2234cf6-a6b3-11e1-958f-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz228coxmtx