IN THE NEWS
FACULTY POSITION OPENING
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“Hollywood in New York”
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CSUN Symphony performed at Viewpoint SchoolOn September 30, 2009, the CSUN Symphony performed at Viewpoint School in Calabasas, performing two different concerts: one for the high school and one for the middle school. The concert was effective as an educational concert due to the repertoire we performed. Every section of the orchestra had a moment to be featured. The brass section was introduced in Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. The strings were showcased in Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings. The winds and percussion were featured in Messiaen’s Un Sourire. Within this, the students were exposed to a wide range of nationalities and eras of music. The most challenging piece listening-wise was the Messiaen. It does not have a melody, nor does it have standard practice Western tonality. The piece was prefaced before it was performed. Un Sourire has a very clear rondo form (ABABA) that was explained to the students. Messiaen was a very religious man and so the A section entails very ethereal almost sacred string music. The B section makes use of birdsong, which Messiaen included in many of his works. With the students understanding this, it made the piece more listenable to them. Students in a Q&A session asked Dr. Roscigno to see the printed score as they couldn’t comprehend how such a piece could be notated with all the complex rhythms and harmonies. It was nice to see that rather than think the piece was boring and uninteresting, they were intrigued by the complexity. They delighted in the uniqueness of it, and that they had never heard anything like it before. Max Mueller, the cellist in the Goldberg & Sons Honors String Quartet at CSUN approached Dr. Kristin Herkstroeter, chair of the music department at Viewpoint about the quartet coming to Viewpoint to do more music outreach. Hopefully that will manifest itself this semester.A 0 It’s important to keep a good relationship with future generations of aspiring musicians so the love and passion for the art is passed down and continues into the future. |
Exceptional Creative Accomplishments Award
Professors Kearn, Rizk and Sellers worked on a documentary, That All May Be One, (http://www.thatallmaybeone.com/) about the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet in St. Louis, Mo. Kearns spearheaded the project as its writer/director/producer, Sellers wrote and produced the music score and Rizk provided design and graphics. The score includes performances of Sellers music by a CSUN Music Department ensemble, the Women’s Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Katherine Baker. The film has been screened at a number of local, national and international festivals.
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CSUNotables
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