Faculty high notes

Renee Gilliland will be joining the College of Music faculty in the fall as an Instructor of Music Education.

Meet incoming Assistant Professor of Saxophone Nathan Mertens 

Meet incoming Associate Professor of Music Education Kelly Parkes 

Assistant Professor of Violin Alex Gonzalez joined the College of Music at the start of this academic year.
Related:
They Were Ahead of the Curve on Diversity in Classical Music (New York Times)
The Sphinx Organization, led by Afa Dworkin and including the College of Music’s own Assistant Professor of Violin Alex Gonzalez, is celebrating 25 years of pressing the field for more diversity in repertory and rosters. We were thrilled to welcome the Sphinx Organization to the college this fall! 

 

Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Awards 
The annual Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Awards this week recognized outstanding work and a concerted effort to make advances in the academy, including the area of Excellence in Research, Scholarly and Creative Work—congratulations to our Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology Benjamin Teitelbaum for his honor in this category. 

Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky for being named a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Humanities & the Arts. She also shared the release of her album—“My Brightest Diamond”—with the Akropolis Reed Quintet, Nico Muhly and Shara Nova on Bright Shiny Things Records; as well as a film of her piece “so much more” from the album featuring interviews from seven small business owners across the United States. 

Professor of Music Theory Daphne Leong served as the Schulich Dean’s Chair in Music at McGill University (winter term 2023). In this endowed residency for distinguished international scholars, Leong collaborated with McGill’s faculty and students, working with McGill’s interdisciplinary research centers, teaching a graduate seminar and leading the organization of an international conference, “Rhythm in Music since 1900.” 

Professor of Piano + Distinguished Professor David Korevaar’s edition of Luigi Perrachio’s Piano Quintet (1919) was published by DaVinci Press. “This project dates back to my fall 2019 sabbatical, when I had the opportunity to look at—and photograph—the manuscript of the score at the library of the Conservatory in Turin, Italy,” he says. “Producing the edition has been a long process, which also included the help of the late [Professor of Violin] Chas Wetherbee and the Carpe Diem String Quartet.” 

During Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, Professor of Vocal Coaching Mutsumi Moteki’s Japanese Art Song Anthology was featured in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Spotlight on Diversity. 

Hugh Ragin: Put Your Own Thing On It (International Trumpet Guild Journal)
We’re proud of alumnus and Jazz Studies Lecturer Hugh Ragin—trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and scholar—for being extensively featured in a recent issue of the ITG Journal. 

Paul Romaine appears on all-star jazz album (CU Boulder Today)
The latest recording by jazz duo Dave Askren, guitar, and Jeff Benedict, saxophone, gives a thrilling sax-guitar-vibes frontline. The album, titled Denver Sessions, features CU Boulder lecturer and drummer Paul Romaine along with vibraphonist Ted Piltzecker and bassist Patrick McDevitt. 

Opinions on the Marimba (Heartland Marimba Publications)
Congratulations to Professor of Percussion + Jazz Douglas Walter whose musical ideas are included in Greg Giannascoli’s book—Opinions on the marimba: interviews with some of the leading marimba artist-teachers from the 20th century. 

Musicians’ Wellness Program
James Brody, director of our Musicians’ Wellness Program, and Matt Tomatz, the college’s embedded therapist from CU Boulder’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) traveled to Oslo, Norway, last fall representing CU Boulder and the College of Music at the Musicians’ and Performing Artists’ Health and Performance conference at the Norwegian Academy of Music. They presented talk titled ‘The Anatomy of Expression: An Integrative Approach to Improving Performer Wellness and Success.’’ 

Passing the baton: Celebrating faculty retirements
Professor of Music Education James Austin, Professor of Double Bass Paul Erhard, Associate Professor of Trombone William Stanley, and Professor of Piano and former Dean Daniel Sher have dedicated their careers to inspiring up-and-coming musicians and educators. We reflect on their contributions, achievements and legacy with gratitude.
Note: We’re saddened to share that our dear friend and colleague, James (Jim) Austin, is fighting chronic kidney disease and is awaiting a kidney transplant. To explore what’s involved in becoming a living kidney donor—specifically in the name of James Austin, DOB 6-17-59—contact UCHealth: 720-848-0855 or Mayo Clinic: 480-342-1010. 

 

Music for life (Daily Camera)
We love to see our College of Music family uplift and engage our community in diverse ways, across generations! Bob Spillman—College of Music professor emeritus, and retired chair of our piano faculty and music director of our opera program—is an active composer and songwriter, offering regular recitals, spontaneous afternoon concerts and piano nights with Broadway show tunes to Carillon residents. Among many accolades, Spillman received the CU Boulder Alumni Association's Robert L. Stearns Award in 2004 in recognition of his service and career. 

 

New choral CD includes movements by the late Richard Toensing
Heaven and Earth: A Song of Creation features the world premiere of a unique collaborative setting of the Creation Psalm (103 LXX) by six acclaimed Orthodox choral composers: Tikey Zes, Richard Toensing, Kurt Sander, Alexander Khalil, Matthew Arndt and John Michael Boyer. The Saint John of Damascus Society commissioned “Heaven and Earth” for Cappella Romana in 2013 in honor of the 2012 Higgs boson discovery. Toensing’s movements—“May the Glory of the Lord Endure to the Ages” and “Alleluia … Glory to You”—were written in 2014, prior to his death that year. Toensing joined the College of Music faculty in 1973 and taught composition, music analysis and theory until his retirement in 2005.