CCM’s Music Theory and Musicology Society hosts student conference Sept. 11-12, 2020

The conference is designed to engage UC and non-UC students in the broad field of music scholarship

The Music Theory and Musicology Society (MTMS) at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) hosts its eighth biennial student conference on Sept. 11 and 12, 2020 (rescheduled from April 3-4). Entitled “Conversations in Music,” the conference is designed to engage both UC students and students from other institutions in the broad field of music scholarship.

The conference features keynote speakers Daniel Goldmark (Case Western Reserve University) and Jennifer Beavers (University of Texas at San Antonio). It will be held in conjunction with the long-running Joseph and Frances Jones Poetker Thinking About Music Lecture Series at CCM.

The conference will include pre-recorded video presentations and live interactive sessions held virtually via Zoom. Please fill out the registration form below to receive emails with further information and links to access the presentation videos and Zoom platform.

Please note that the times listed in the schedule are in Eastern time zone.

Schedule

Friday, Sept. 11

2 p.m.

PIXAR’S MEMORIES: CONTEMPORARY CARTOON MUSIC SPEAKS TO THE PAST
Daniel Goldmark, Case Western Reserve University
The ever-increasing popularity of Hollywood animation, driven in part by the dominance of Pixar, has come about not just through technological advances or the breaking down of decades-old biases about cartoons being just for kids, but also through the emotionally nuanced storytelling deployed recently by studios. While practically all of Pixar’s features are overrun with issues of nostalgia, their more recent films—Inside Out, Finding Dory, Cars 3, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4—do more than simply revel in the remembrance of times past (real or imagined): they also explore the creation of memory and the reasons why memories fade or endure. Sound and music have played key roles in the recollections and impressions of all these films. In this presentation, I look at trends in scoring and sound design in animation to show how the melodies of childhood—and adulthood—are being used to drive the stories of recent Hollywood animated features—and how these stories revolve around how our notions of the past speak to the present and guide our future.

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4:30 p.m.

MEET-AND-GREET “RECEPTION”

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5:30 p.m.

PRESENTER Q&A SESSION

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Saturday, Sept. 12

8-9:30 a.m.

CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
This year’s conference will include a workshop led by ethnomusicologist and CCM faculty member Scott Linford, PhD, inviting conference participants to engage in an interactive discussion focused on the application of sound studies in the areas of musicology, music theory and ethnomusicology.

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10 a.m.-2 p.m.

PRESENTER Q&A SESSIONS

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2 p.m.

The Music Theory and Musicology Society Conference Keynote
RAVEL’S SONIC ILLUSIONS
Jennifer Beavers, University of Texas at San Antonio
Ravel’s interwar compositions and transcriptions reveal a sophisticated engagement with timbre and orchestration. Of interest, is the way he uses timbre to connect and conceal passages in his music. In this talk, I look at the way he manipulates instrumental timbre to create sonic illusions that transform expectations, mark the form, and create meaning. I examine how he uses instrumental groupings to create distinct or blended auditory events. Using a sound-based analytical approach, I develop these descriptions of timbre and auditory scenes to interpret ways in which different timbre-spaces function. Through techniques such as timbral transformations, magical effects, and timbre and contour fusion, I examine the ways in which Ravel conjures sound objects in his music that are imaginary, transformative or illusory.

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Conference Registration

Register for the conference by filling out an online form.

CCM’s Music Theory and Musicology Society engages all interested members of the UC community to discuss issues relating to music theory and musicology. The MTMS regularly maintains forums for the purpose of discussing theoretical, historical and cultural topics in music. Past MTMS Conference programs are available online.

Please e­mail all inquiries to MTMS Executive Board Members Rebecca Schreiber, Jacy Pedersen, Hannah Blanchette and Kabelo Chirwa at ccm.mtms@gmail.com.

Theatre lighting and projection designer Steven Piechocki joins CCM’s faculty

 

UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of Steven Piechocki, MFA, to the college’s roster of distinguished performing and media arts faculty members. An accomplished lighting/projection designer and a skilled educator, Piechocki’s appointment as Assistant Professor of Lighting Design and Technology began on Aug. 15, 2020.

CCM Assistant Professor of Lighting Design and Technology Steven Piechocki

As a theatrical lighting and projection designer, Piechocki’s focus is on new technologies and their application for live entertainment. As an educator he is especially interested in projection and digital media production, and the integration of digital video, animation and motion graphics into event design and live performances.

Prior to joining the University of Cincinnati, Piechocki taught projection design and lightboard programming at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was also on staff as the Projection and Media Specialist for the Meadows School of the Arts. There he designed projections for theatre and dance including Machinal, As You Like It, Bolero and Rhapsody in Blue (choreographed by Alex Sanchez).

Piechocki has spent six seasons as the master electrician and a lighting/projection designer with the Lyric Repertory Company, a professional summer stock theatre in Logan, Utah. At Lyric Rep he has designed lights and/or projections for Murder for Two, Macbeth, A Raisin in the Sun (directed by Eric Ruffin) and Sense & Sensibility (directed by J.R. Sullivan, adapted by Sullivan and Joseph Hanreddy).  

Piechocki received his MFA in Theatre Design and Technology from Utah State University, specializing in lighting and projection design. At Utah State he designed lights and projections for multiple shows including Bonnie and Clyde, Emma, Disney’s Tarzan and Ah, Wilderness! (directed by Paul Barnes). While in graduate school, Piechocki was a Regional and National Lighting Design Finalist at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) in Washington, DC, for his design of the musical A Catered Affair. At KCACTF he workshopped under Tony-nominated designer Beverly Emmons and was awarded a Lighting Design Fellowship with the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, CT.

Originally an actor, Piechocki interned with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre after receiving his BFA in Theatre Performance from Stephen F. Austin State University. He then became an early company member for the Texas Repertory Theatre, under the artistic direction of Craig A. Miller in northwest Houston, before shifting his focus to design and technology.

“Steven’s interest and expertise in emerging theatre design technologies will give our students a competitive advantage as they begin their professional careers. As both a designer and an educator, Steven is an ideal successor to our dear colleague Mark Williams, who retired earlier this year,” said Romanstein. “I would like to acknowledge the excellent work of our search committee, which was co-chaired by Greg Falcione and Denton Yockey, and included Rebecca Bromels, Susan Felder, Sharon Huizinga and Matthew Tibbs.”

About CCM Lighting Design and Technology

CCM’s Department of Theatre Design and Production (TD&P) offers both a bachelor of fine arts (BFA) and master of fine arts (MFA) with specialization in Lighting Design and Technology, along with many other TD&P degree programs.

The production and the actors are unexpressive unless audiences can see them on stage. Good lighting design goes beyond the need for basic visibility into the realm of shadows, angles and colors as well as the subtleties of timing and rhythm. Lighting designers work closely with stage directors to bring out the intent of the production through mood atmosphere, composition and focus. Technicians must work with the sensitivity of an artist so that onstage dramatic effect and timing are achieved and maintained.

Students in the four-year undergraduate program take studio and production courses in all areas, beginning with introductory and basic courses and progressing to advanced sequences in a major area. Additionally, students study theatre history, script analysis, dramatic literature, English, world history and arts history, as well as other liberal arts and electives. Graduate students follow a similar, more special­ized structure in a two-year (or three-year) program. The balance among theater-related, academic and free-elective courses is established by NAST (National Association of Schools of Theater), which has accred­ited CCM’s programs.

Learn more by visiting ccm.uc.edu

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Featured image at top: New CCM faculty member Steven Piechocki’s projection designs for a past production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

Internationally acclaimed stage director Greg Eldridge joins CCM’s opera faculty

 

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of acclaimed stage director Greg Eldridge to the college’s roster of distinguished performing and media arts faculty members. Eldridge joins CCM as Associate Professor of Opera Directing.

Greg Eldridge. Photo/Andrej Uspenski

Originally from Australia, Eldridge has worked on over 60 productions across eight countries at some of the world’s most famous opera houses. His work has been praised by critics for its “thoughtful and effective” staging, with “detailed characterizations and considered through-lines” a hallmark of his directing style.

A former recipient of a Bayreuth Scholarship from the Wagner Society of Victoria, Eldridge is one of only two people to have graduated from both of the world’s most prestigious opera directing programs – the Merola Program in San Francisco and the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme in the UK. He has received 5-star reviews for his work for the national opera companies of Australia, Iceland and the United Kingdom, and has been the recipient of awards including Most Outstanding Director (OperaChaser Awards, 2018) and Best Director (Broadway World Awards in Sydney, 2019).

After receiving the 2004 Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Study of Philosophy, Eldridge studied Opera Directing at The Opera Studio Melbourne in Australia and the Accademia Europea di Firenze in Italy before relocating to the United Kingdom. After serving as Trainee Resident Director at The King’s Head Theatre in London, Eldridge worked on productions including I gioielli della Madonna for Opera Holland Park, all four operas of Der Ring des Nibelungen for Longborough Festival Opera, Così fan tutte for the Landestheater Rudolstadt and he became the youngest director ever engaged by the state opera company in his hometown when he directed Ludus Danielis for Victorian Opera.

In 2013, Eldridge became the youngest – and first Australian – director to join the young artist program of The Royal Opera, Covent Garden in London. There, he worked under luminary directors including Sir David McVicar, Sir Richard Eyre, John Copley and Kasper Holten, along with conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano, Mark Wigglesworth, Alexander Joel, Nicola Luisotti, Marc Minkowski, Ivor Bolton and Gianandrea Noseda. Eldridge has also worked alongside international opera stars including Jonas Kaufmann, Sondra Radvanovsky, Rolando Villazón, Sonya Yoncheva, Sir Bryn Terfel, Anne Sofie von Otter, Sir Willard White, Dame Sarah Conolly, Nina Stemme, Roberto Alagna, Denyce Graves, Angela Gheorghiu and many others.

In 2016, The Royal Opera created a new position especially for Eldridge – the Jette Parker Associate Director – and Eldridge joined the board of Stage Directors UK (SDUK), the industry body representing and advocating for directors of live theatre throughout the United Kingdom. During his time on the board, SDUK published papers exposing inequalities in the freelance artist sector, provided evidence-based studies to government bodies and authored a major report alongside the National Theatre, RADA and The Old Vic that provided recommendations for structural changes in the way arts training organizations and theatres engage with directors from underrepresented demographics.

Eldridge has contributed articles to publications including Limelight Magazine, The Guardian UK and OperaNow Magazine, and has given guest lectures at the Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and St John’s College Cambridge, among others. He holds an Exceptional Talent visa from the United Kingdom, and has been recognized as an Artist of Extraordinary Ability by the United States government.

“CCM’s Departments of Opera and Voice provide unparalleled training programs for singers, stage directors and opera coaches. Our students will benefit from Greg’s vast experience on the world stage,” said Romanstein. “I want to thank our search committee – which was co-chaired by Robin Guarino and Denton Yockey, and included Bill McGraw, Mary Stucky, Jim Gage and Mark Gibson – for their help identifying CCM’s next great opera faculty member.”

About CCM Opera

The Department of Opera at CCM boasts one of the most comprehensive training programs for opera singers, coaches and directors in the United States. Students at CCM work with some of the most renowned teachers and artists active in the field today.

CCM students frequently advance to the final rounds of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, which is widely considered to be the nation’s most prestigious vocal competition. In 2019, soprano Elena Villalón (BM Voice, ’19) was named a Grand Finals Winner at the competition while she was still finishing her undergraduate degree at CCM. CCM’s other recent Grand Finals Winners include Jessica Faselt (MM Voice, ’16) in 2018, Amanda Woodbury (MM Voice, ’12) and Yi Li (AD Opera, ’13) in 2014 and Thomas Richards (MM Voice, ’13) in 2013. At least two CCM singers advanced to the Upper Midwest Regional Auditions in this year’s Met National Council Auditions: artist diploma students Amber Monroe and Teresa Perrotta.

CCM singers also recently won awards in other prestigious national competitions. Jessica Faselt won a $10,000 award and Alisa Jordheim (DMA Voice, ’15; MM Voice,’ 10) won a $1,000 Encouragement award at the 2020 George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers. Jasmine Habersham (AD Opera, 2015; MM Voice, 2013) won the silver medal in the 2020 American Traditions Vocal Competition. Edward Nelson (BM Voice, 2011; MM Voice, 2013) won first prize at the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup. Perrotta also advanced to the finals of the 2020 Lotte Lenya Competition.

In addition, CCM Opera productions have received some of the National Opera Association Production Competition’s highest honors throughout the years.

CCM Opera graduates have performed on the stages of the world’s greatest opera companies, including Cincinnati Opera, Metropolitan Opera (New York), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera (London), La Scala (Italy) and more.

Learn more at ccm.uc.edu.

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Featured image at top: A production photo of La scala di seta directed by Greg Eldridge at Royal Opera House Covent Garden London. Photo/Holly Pigot

Grammy-Nominated Pianist, Composer and Educator Sergio Pamies Joins CCM’s Jazz Faculty

UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of Sergio Pamies, DMA, to the college’s roster of distinguished performing and media arts faculty members. An accomplished pianist, composer and educator, Pamies’ appointment as Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano begins on Aug. 15, 2020.

Born in 1983 in Granada, Spain, Pamies has published four albums under his name: EntreAmigos (PSM, 2008), Borrachito (Bebyne Records, 2011), What Brought You Here? (Bebyne Records, 2017) and Summer Night at La Corrala: Solo Piano(expected October 2020). Critics have acknowledged his talent for composition, the lyrical qualities of his playing, and his natural and spontaneous ability to fuse the traditional jazz language and flamenco music of his childhood.

Pamies has performed at festivals in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Colombia, Perú, China, Spain and the United States. He has collaborated with outstanding artists such as Dave Liebman, Christian Scott, Rubem Dantas, Antonio Serrano, Diego Amador, Pepe Luis Carmona “Habichuela,” Quamon Fowler, Brad Leali, Quincy Davis, Stockton Helbing, Ashleigh Smith, Samuel Torres, Tatiana Mayfield, Michael Miskiewicz and Joan Albert Amargós. Besides leading his own projects, he has produced other artists such as Verso Suelto (Verso Suelto, Youkali Music 2016), Korean singer Roja (My Shining Hour, Mirrorball Music, 2013) and The Zebras (Flamenco Jazz Project, North Texas Jazz, 2011).

Previously, Pamies taught jazz piano, jazz arranging and composition, in addition to leading the small group program, at University of Texas in Arlington. Pamies has given master classes and presented his research at Universidad de Granada (Spain), University of North Texas, University of Central Oklahoma, University of Texas at Arlington (USA), East Shanghai Normal University, Contemporary Music Institute of Zhuhai (China), Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, Universidad Industrial de Santander and Universidad EAFIT de Medellín (Colombia), among other institutions. Pamies is a frequent collaborator of the European Piano Teachers Association’s Piano Professional journal, and a reviewer for the scholarly journal Jazz Education in Research and Practice.

Pamies received his bachelor’s degree in Jazz Piano (Liceo Conservatory in Barcelona, 2007), and then moved to the United States to study with Stefan Karlsson and complete a master’s degree in Jazz Piano at the University of North Texas (UNT), where he was awarded “Outstanding Student” in 2011. Pamies finished his doctoral studies (DMA in Jazz Piano) in 2016. He was the pianist of the seven-time Grammy nominated One O’Clock Lab Band at UNT, where he had the opportunity to perform with guest artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Arturo Sandoval, Marvin Stamm, Wycliffe Gordon, Doc Severinsen and Chuck Findley. As a member of the One O’Clock rhythm section, he has accompanied artists such as Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Lewis Nash, Tim Hagans and Greg Osby, among others. He is the featured soloist on Rich DeRosa’s composition “Neil,” which received a Grammy nomination in 2016 for “Best Instrumental Composition.”

In 2015, Pamies was selected for the “Latin Jazz Traditions” concert organized by Carnegie Hall, performing there with Paquito D’Rivera, having his composition “Dudú” selected for the program. In 2014, Pamies was awarded with the “Best Representation of Granada in a Foreign Country” youth cultural award by the Youth Institute of Andalucía, Spain. He has received seven DownBeat student awards: Best Instrumental Soloist (2013), Best Large Ensemble (2014) and Best Latin Group (2012) among them.

“CCM is home to one of the country’s top-rated jazz programs, and Sergio’s expertise as a pianist, composer and educator makes him an ideal addition to our world-class faculty. He is a wonderful successor to our dear colleague Stephen Allee, who retired earlier this year.” said Romanstein. “I want to recognize the excellent work of our search committee chaired by Scott Belck, which included Craig Bailey, Rusty Burge, Aaron Jacobs and BettyAnne Gottlieb.”

About CCM Jazz Studies

Offering both bachelor and master of music degrees, the Jazz Studies program at CCM teaches the fundamentals of classical music, stylistic elements of each historical jazz period, strategies for enhancing originality, techniques of electronic media and today’s cutting-edge trends that defy categorization. In 2019, CCM’s Department of Jazz Studies was named the inaugural college affiliate of the acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center, a distinction reserved for the country’s top-ranked jazz programs.

By receiving a wide musical perspective and the command of a broad jazz language, students in CCM’s jazz programs are equipped to pursue a future in jazz music. At the same time, this thorough course of study serves as the best preparation for related careers in commercial music.

Learn more by visiting ccm.uc.edu and sign up for our new email newsletter at ccm.uc.edu/subscribe

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Featured image at top: New CCM Jazz Studies faculty member Sergio Pamies.

Stream the Ariel Quartet’s Final CCM Concert of 2019

Although the theaters and concert halls at the University of Cincinnati’s nationally ranked and internationally renowned College-Conservatory of Music are temporarily silent, audiences can still experience world-class performances through CCM’s new CCMONSTAGE Online video series. This week’s release showcases the Ariel Quartet’s concert of fugues from Oct. 22, 2019.

The performance features W.A. Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546; Bartok’s String Quartet No. 1, Op.7; and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 and 133.

The concert from Oct. 22, 2019, features Beethoven’s Große Fuge (or “Great Fugue”), which the Ariel Quartet performed in its debut Beethoven cycle at CCM in the 2013-14 performance season. Arts reporter Janelle Gelfand praised the ensemble’s performance: “From start to finish, the musicians wonderfully captured Beethoven’s emotional grit and fire, coupled with some of the most sublime music ever written.”

Described by the American Record Guide as “a consummate ensemble gifted with utter musicality and remarkable interpretive power,” the Ariel Quartet has earned a glowing international reputation. The ensemble is comprised of Alexandra “Sasha” Kazovsky, violin; Amit Even-Tov, cello; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; and Jan Grüning, viola. The group was formed in Israel in 1998 and has served as CCM’s string quartet-in-residence since 2012.

The Ariel Quartet’s 2019-20 CCM concert series was made possible by the generous contributions of an anonymous donor, The Estate of Mr. William A. Friedlander, Mrs. William A. Friedlander, Dr. Randolph L. Wadsworth, Mr. & Mrs. J. David Rosenberg, Mr. & Mrs. Harry H. Santen, Elizabeth C. B. & Paul G. Sittenfeld, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Stegman, Dr. & Mrs. Theodore W. Striker and Mrs. Harry M. Hoffheimer.

Receive updates on future CCMONSTAGE Online performances by subscribing to our mailing list.

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Featured image at top: Ariel Quartet members Jan Grüning, Amit Even-Tov, Gershon Gerchikov and Alexandra “Sasha” Kazovsky. Photo/Marco Borggreve

Take a Guided Virtual Tour of CCM Village

Follow along as musical theatre graduate Madison Hagler provides a virtual look at CCM’s facilities

Visit UC’s nationally ranked and internationally renowned College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) from the comfort of your own home! Follow along as musical theatre graduate Madison Hagler (BFA, 2020) provides a virtual tour of the state-of-the-art facilities within the CCM Village complex. Visit several of the college’s major production, rehearsal and performance spaces in this walk-along video provided by CCM Admissions Counselor Emilee Suchomski, M.Ed.

The four buildings that comprise the CCM Village are unrivaled in the nation, providing students with comprehensive performance and educational spaces. CCM is integrated within UC’s main campus, which has been hailed as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world by Forbes magazine.

After you view CCM’s guided tour video, explore the rest of UC’s campus with a virtual visit.

Welcome to your next stage. Take your next step at ccm.uc.edu

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Featured image at top: The entrance to the CCM Atrium on UC’s campus. Photo/UC Creative + Brand.

CCM Announces Kristy Swift as New Assistant Professor of Musicology

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of musicologist and organist Kristy Swift, PhD and DMA, to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. Swift’s appointment as Assistant Professor of Musicology – Educator begins on Aug. 15, 2020. A two-time alumna of CCM, Swift (DMA Organ, ’98; PhD Musicology, ’13) is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology – Educator.

Swift’s research interests include digital humanities, film music, historiography, identity and music, music history pedagogy, music of Cincinnati and opera. Her monograph Thinking About Music History: Textbooks and the Canon is forthcoming from Clemson University Press. She is a member of the CCM Cincinnati Sounds: Exploring a Musical City Through Digital Exhibits project team, which received the UC Strategic Collaborative Award.

Swift has presented her research at annual meetings of the American Musicological Society, Society for American Music, Music and the Moving Image and Music History Pedagogy Conferences. Her work has been published in the Journal of Music History Pedagogy, The Diapason and Music Research Forum. Swift has taught hybrid and traditional face-to-face courses in American opera, madness in opera, opera and disability, politics and opera, protest(ed) music, Copland, Handel, Verdi, Wagner, research and writing, and graduate and undergraduate music history surveys at CCM and at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

As soloist and accompanist, she has performed throughout the United States in venues ranging from local Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky sites to Carnegie Hall. She has also served as director of music and organist at churches in Ohio and Florida.

Swift earned a PhD in musicology and DMA in organ studying with Roberta Gary at CCM. She also received an MM in organ studying with William Bodine and BM in education from the University of Florida. She served on the organ committee at Newtown United Methodist Church in Cincinnati for the installation of the M. P. Rathke Opus 8 pipe organ.

“I am grateful to Musicology Search Committee Chair Jonathan Kregor and committee members Amy Beegle, Jenny Doctor, Scott Linford and Stephen Meyer for their collaborative effort on this successful search,” said Romanstein. “We look forward to welcoming Kristy Swift to her new position at CCM this fall.”

About CCM

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time.

CCM offers nine degree types (BA, BM, BFA, MFA, MM, MA, AD, DMA, PhD) in nearly 120 possible majors. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

CCM’s world-class facilities provide a highly creative and multidisciplinary artistic environment. In 2017, the college completed a $15-million renovation of its major performance spaces, ensuring that CCM’s facilities remain state-of-the-art.

The school’s roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu

CCM Announces Megan Steigerwald Ille as New Assistant Professor of Musicology

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of musicologist Megan Steigerwald Ille, PhD, to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. Steigerwald Ille’s appointment as Assistant Professor of Musicology – Educator begins on Aug. 15, 2020.

Steigerwald Ille is a musicologist whose research and teaching considers the intersections of operatic, popular and digital cultures in the 21st century in the United States and Canada. Her book-in-progress, Opera for Everyone: Experimenting with American Opera in the Digital Age, explores changing modes of spectatorship and performer labor in contemporary opera in the US through an in-depth ethnographic study of the LA-based experimental opera company called The Industry.

She has articles forthcoming in the Journal of the Society of American Music and The Opera Quarterly. Since 2018 she has served as a Postdoctoral Fellow of Digital Cultures in the American Culture Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis.

Steigerwald Ille completed her PhD in Historical Musicology and a certificate in Ethnomusicology at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester.

“I am grateful to Musicology Search Committee Chair Jonathan Kregor and committee members Amy Beegle, Jenny Doctor, Scott Linford and Stephen Meyer for their work finding CCM’s next great musicology professor,” said Romanstein. “We look forward to welcoming Megan Steigerwald Ille to the CCM family.”

About CCM

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time.

CCM offers nine degree types (BA, BM, BFA, MFA, MM, MA, AD, DMA, PhD) in nearly 120 possible majors. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

CCM’s world-class facilities provide a highly creative and multidisciplinary artistic environment. In 2017, the college completed a $15-million renovation of its major performance spaces, ensuring that CCM’s facilities remain state-of-the-art.

The school’s roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu

CCM Announces Shelina Brown as New Assistant Professor of American Music

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of musicologist Shelina Brown to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. Brown’s appointment as Assistant Professor of American Music begins on Aug. 15, 2020.

Brown holds an MA and PhD from UCLA’s Department of Musicology. Her primary research project centers on experimental vocal practices and cultural resistance within underground music scenes. Brown’s dissertation project, “Yoko Ono’s Experimental Vocality as Matrixial Borderspace: Theorizing Yoko Ono’s Extended Vocal Technique and her Contributions to the Development of Underground and Popular Vocal Repertoires, 1968-Present,” focused on Yoko Ono’s extended vocal techniques of the late 1960s and early 1970s that came to influence a range of counter-hegemonic vocalists throughout the late 20th century.

Brown’s methodological approach draws upon contemporary feminist psychoanalytical theories, adapting these for the purpose of musical analysis of vocality and gendered subjectivization. In this vein, her theoretical approach to music studies aims to bring feminist psychoanalysis into dialogue with posthuman thought, queer studies and critical race theory.

A Canadian national raised in Kyoto, Japan, Brown also holds a Master’s in Comparative Literature specializing in modern Japanese literature. Prior to commencing studies in musicology, Shelina was employed as a sessional lecturer of modern Japanese literature at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Brown’s article “Scream from the Heart: Yoko Ono’s Rock ’n’ Roll Revolution” has been published in Sheila Whiteley’s compilation, Countercultures and Popular Music (Ashgate, 2014). She is currently preparing an article, “Of Insects and Interstices: Yoko Ono’s Experimental Short Film, Fly (1970) and the Synaesthetic Un-Mapping of the Abstract Female Nude,” which will be forthcoming in 2021. Brown has presented papers at annual meetings including SEM (Society for Ethnomusicology), IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music), AAS (American Association for Asian Studies) and EMP (Experience Music Project).

A long-term participant in underground and independent music scenes, Brown has been active as a vocalist and instrumentalist in several new wave and garage rock bands over the past 10 years. She still maintains close ties to the Los Angeles underground, and looks forward to exploring music scenes across Ohio.

“I send my gratitude to our search committee comprised of Jonathan Kregor (chair), Stefan Fiol, Jeongwon Joe, Matthew Peattie and Shauna Steele for their work in finding CCM’s next great professor of American music,” said Romanstein. “We look forward to welcoming Shelina Brown this fall.”

About CCM

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time.

CCM offers nine degree types (BA, BM, BFA, MFA, MM, MA, AD, DMA, PhD) in nearly 120 possible majors. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

CCM’s world-class facilities provide a highly creative and multidisciplinary artistic environment. In 2017, the college completed a $15-million renovation of its major performance spaces, ensuring that CCM’s facilities remain state-of-the-art.

The school’s roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu

CCM Announces Joe Miller as New Director of Choral Studies

UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of choral conductor Joe Miller, DMA, to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. A leading authority in the field of choral conducting, Miller is also a two-time graduate of CCM (MM, ‘92; DMA, ‘97). His appointment as professor and director of CCM’s lauded Choral Studies program begins on Aug. 15, 2020, pending approval of the University’s Board of Trustees.

Since 2006, Miller has served as conductor of two of the most renowned choral ensembles in the US: the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. He has also served as director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. In addition to his responsibilities at Westminster, Miller has been artistic director of choral activities for the renowned Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, since 2007. He has also served as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir since 2016.

“CCM has a distinguished history of choral performance and conductor training, and our alumni occupy leadership positions throughout the world,” said Romanstein. “Joe Miller has worked with the world’s leading ensembles, conductors and artists and I am proud to welcome him back to CCM as a colleague. Joe has a firm grasp of the immense opportunities available to 21st century artists and he will serve as a worthy successor to our illustrious colleague Professor Earl Rivers, who retires this spring after a nearly 50-year tenure at CCM.”

“As an alumnus, I owe much to this great institution,” said Miller. “My education at CCM has provided deep roots that have enabled me to grow a diverse and wide-reaching career, and I am honored to help lead the next chapter of this fine institution. I am excited to partner with my new CCM colleagues to find new ways to connect the dots between our ever-changing technology-minded world and our need for shared human experiences.”

Miller’s appointment concludes a national search that began when Earl Rivers, CCM’s long-time director of choral studies, announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2019-20 academic year. “I am grateful to our search committee chair Mark Gibson and committee members L. Brett Scott, Gwendolyn Coleman, Robyn Lana, Marie-France Lefebvreand Daniel Weeks for their work finding CCM’s next great ensembles and conducting professor,” said Romanstein.

About Joe Miller

Miller’s recent seasons leading the Westminster Choir have included concert tours in Beijing, China and in Spain, as well as participation in the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona and groundbreaking performances of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winning Anthracite Fields at the historic Roebling WireWorks as part of Westminster’s Transforming Space project.

After viewing a staged performance of Joby Talbot’s demanding Path of Miracles at the 2019 Spoleto Festival USA, D.C. Theatre Scene wrote, “Joe Miller is a fearless artist. His bold leadership and trust in these young singers enabled his choristers to forego the ‘stand and deliver,’ score-bound habits of their genre and ‘walk with him’ on this special journey. Not only did the singers need to memorize their parts, no mean feat, but follow his baton’s bid from any part of the auditorium and sing in any body position. Miller constantly challenged them in the process and inspired them to work confidently, well outside their comfort zone.”

The New York Times described the Westminster Choir’s 2014 Festival performance of John Adams’ El Niño as “superb” and wrote, “Meticulously prepared … the chorus was remarkable for its precision, unanimity and power.” The Wall Street Journal praised the same performance, crediting “the fine Westminster Choir and the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, under the direction of Joe Miller.” The Post and Courier wrote about their performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, “This was an evening of near-flawless execution and many moments of ravishing beauty and power. It will go down as a highlight (maybe even THE highlight) of this year’s festival, and, I think, as the work with which Joe Miller established his credentials to lead an extended choral/orchestral masterwork, not just recreating Bach’s music but also putting his own interpretive stamp on the whole.”

Miller has made four recordings with the Westminster Choir. American Record Guide wrote about the choir’s newest CD, Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir, “This is gorgeous singing … with perfect blend, intonation, diction, ensemble and musicality.” The Heart’s Reflection: Music of Daniel Elder was hailed by Minnesota Public Radio’s Classical Notes as “simply astounding.”  Miller’s debut recording with the ensemble, Flower of Beauty, received four stars from Choir & Organ magazine and earned critical praise from American Record Guide, which described the Westminster Choir as “the gold standard for academic choirs in America.”

As conductor of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Miller has collaborated with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, earning him critical praise. The New York Timeswrote about Symphonic Choir’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Cleveland Orchestra, “Joe Miller’s Westminster Symphonic Choir was subtle when asked and powerful when turned loose.” Recent seasons have included performances with the Philharmoniker Berliner and Sir Simon Rattle; The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel.

Prior to his time at Westminster Choir College, Miller served on the faculty of Western Michigan University, California State University and Whitman College. He is the 2016 recipient of the Maynard Klein Award for Distinguished Service to Choral Music, which is presented by ACDA-Michigan in recognition of artistic excellence and a lifetime of leadership in the field of choral music.

Miller received his DMA in Choral Conducting with a cognate in Voice from CCM in 1997. He received his MM in Choral Conducting from CCM in 1992. In 1987, he graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Music Education and Voice.

About CCM Choral Studies

Recognized by US News and World Report as one of this country’s leading conducting programs, CCM’s Department of Choral Studies is widely known for its excellence in training conductors for successful, lifelong careers in the choral arts.

CCM’s Master of Music and Doctor of Music Arts programs provide professional-level experiences in rehearsals and performances, developing musicianship and technique, and acquiring knowledge of styles, performance practices and repertoire.

MM and DMA graduates of CCM’s Choral Studies programs are conducting and administrating highly successful professional, collegiate, symphonic, secondary, children’s and church choir programs throughout the world.

For more information about CCM, please visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.