Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Wherever I May Roam: Mason alum directs marching band to victory in Metallica competition

Sarah Holland — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 14:39:49 +0000

Wherever I May Roam: Mason alum directs marching band to victory in Metallica competition Sarah Holland Tue, 02/06/2024 - 09:39

Smoke glides across the Oakton High School football field. A black curtain—20 yards long—hangs in the center of the field with giant silver letters: “Parade to Black.”

As the opening bars of “Enter Sandman” play on vibraphones, 50 high school marching band members emerge in ’80s hair metal wigs. They join the arrangement of the hit Metallica song, head-banging in between choreography and music cues.

Photo by Dave Custer.

“Enter Sandman” concludes the eight-and-a-half-minute medley of Metallica’s most popular songs, performed by Oakton High School’s marching band and color guard. Directed by Mason alum Jamie VanValkenburg, BM ’97, MM ’00, the Marching Cougars won the approval of Metallica itself, winning the small high school category in the inaugural “For Whom the Band Tolls!” marching band competition, beating out more than 450 other competitors. Other than praise and acclaim from the gods of metal themselves, the band will also receive a prize of $15,000 for instruments and equipment.

“It’s surreal. I grew up listening to Metallica,” VanValkenburg said. “Their albums were huge when I was in middle and high school, so when I saw the initial announcement on social media about the competition, I thought doing a Metallica show and entering their competition would be fun. I never expected that we would win.”

Jamie VanValkenburg, BM ’97, MM ’00, director of the Marching Cougars. Photo by Dave Custer.

VanValkenburg, an upstate New York native, chose Mason at the encouragement of his middle school band director, whose college band director was Anthony Maiello, University Professor of Music in the Dewberry School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Before he came to Mason, Maiello taught a number of future New York band directors at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, in northern New York state.

“Once he moved to Mason, those directors encouraged their students who showed interest in majoring in music to look into Mason,” VanValkenburg explained. “We joked that in the Mason music department, if you weren’t from Virginia, you were probably from New York.”

VanValkenburg met his future wife at Mason, also from Upstate New York and with a Maiello connection, Holly (Constantine) VanValkenburg, BA Music ‘00. Maiello was also the conductor for VanValkenburg’s New York All-State high school band.

While Maiello brought VanValkenburg to Mason, it was retired professor Roger Behrend who put VanValkenburg on the path to teaching. “Behrend insisted that those of us interested in music performance get our degrees in music education,” VanValkenburg said. “It would ensure we had a plan if we were unable to sustain a career in performance. It was some of the best advice I ever got.”

VanValkenburg still draws on the lessons from his time at Mason. In particular, he remembered Maiello’s influence. “Professor Maiello had very high standards, but he knew how to rehearse a band to meet those standards. He taught us how to reach those heights, and that’s something I try to emulate. He was incredibly inspiring on the podium, and I owe a lot to him.”

The Oakton High School marching band performs their award-winning show "Parade to Black" at the VBODA State Marching Band Assessment. Photo by Dave Custer.

VanValkenburg isn’t the only Mason alum in the Oakton High School community: Multiple members of the band staff are either alumni or current students of Mason, including the marching band music arranger Kent Baker, BA Music ’21 ; percussion arranger Nick Kraemer, BM Music Education ’15; percussion instructors Ricky Carrero, BA Sociology ’17, and Bronson Rodriguez, BA Music ‘23; and color guard instructor Malcolm Wood, BM Music Education ’23. Current Mason students on staff include Elaine Hopkins and Carly Wolfrey. Together, they created the winning Oakton High School performance.

Putting together a marching band show is a months-long endeavor, which VanValkenburg compared to a “1,000-piece puzzle.” Students are given the music arrangement near the end of the school year to learn over the summer. At marching band camp in August, they learn the drill and choreography, and develop the show as an ensemble. The show learned at band camp would be their show for the full season, including football games and competitions, which runs through October.

The road to this victory wasn’t easy. School music programs are still feeling the impacts of COVID-19, including reduced student numbers and loss of group performance skills.

“For a full year, none of them were able to play together. Once back in person, they didn’t know how to listen to each other, how to work as an ensemble anymore,” he explained. “And the process of virtual band was so painful we saw a lot of students not continue with their music programs.”
VanValkenburg suspects that recovery will take a few more years, but he hopes that this victory will encourage student interest.

“I’ve heard from directors around the county that after the winners were announced, their middle school students came into class all abuzz with the news. It’s awesome that everyone is as excited about this as we are,” he said.

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Mason Jazz Camp hosts special guest artist Warren Wolf for a masterclass and performance

Lauren Reuscher — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 20:06:26 +0000

Mason Jazz Camp hosts special guest artist Warren Wolf for a masterclass and performance Lauren Reuscher Wed, 06/21/2023 - 16:06

For the 2023 camp season, Mason Jazz Camp hosted special guest Warren Wolf, one of the leading vibraphonists in the world. Wolf taught a masterclass for all campers on Wednesday, June 21, followed by a performance with Mason jazz faculty in the Center for the Arts.

Photo by Carl Julin/Creative Services

Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore, Maryland. From age three, he has been trained on the vibraphone/marimba, drums, and piano. Under the guidance of his father, Warren Wolf, Sr., he gained a deep background in all genres of music, including classical, ragtime, and jazz.

Photo by Carl Julin/Creative Services

Topics

Picture This

Mason Jazz

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Mason Jazz Camp

Campus News

Podcast - EP42: His sound is renowned

Damian Cristodero — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 19:18:52 +0000

Podcast - EP42: His sound is renowned Damian Cristodero Tue, 09/06/2022 - 15:18

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Dr. Michael Nickens

Dr. Michael Nickens, an associate professor of music in ��AV’s Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music, tells Mason President Gregory Washington how he transforms from his mild-mannered persona into Doc Nix, the flamboyant leader of the Green Machine, the nation’s No. 1 pep band. The band doesn't play mechanically, Nix says. There are times its members are collectively “exploring the universe in that moment. And those are the moments that feel like we have really accomplished something.” Actor Bill Murray is a fan of the band, and Nix is pretty good on the tuba.

Topics

Access to Excellence podcast

Podcast Episode

podcast

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Rising Senior Kitty Fields Cooks Up New Music for Mason and Beyond

Emily Schneider — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 14:56:57 +0000

Rising Senior Kitty Fields Cooks Up New Music for Mason and Beyond Emily Schneider Mon, 08/01/2022 - 10:56

In This Story

Prof. Mark Camphouse

When Anne Catherine “Kitty” Fields (Music, 2023) isn't at her piano composing, she is engaged in a wide array of interests, from studying neuroscience to reading Carl Jung to enjoying bird songs on nature walks, in addition to cooking and baking.

Fields at her piano, exploring her next musical work.

On the surface, her many interests may seem unrelated, but Fields finds inspiration in her non-musical endeavors, which feeds her as an artist. Fields says that process of composing is akin to seasoning a red sauce. “You taste it and say ‘The prosciutto adds depth, but it needs some basil and parsley to brighten it, with a dash more of red wine and a pinch of salt, I think we’ll be closer to what we want.’ “said Fields. “In the same way, composers have agency to say what a piece needs: ‘The bass drum will reinforce this downbeat, but we need the reeds and flutes to brighten the texture, with bells doubling here and pianissimo crotales, I think we’ll be closer to what we want.’”

With several impressive compositions under her belt, including the premiere of her first work for a large ensemble in the spring of 2022, Fields stands on the cusp of her senior year, reflective of the road that led her to Mason and enthusiastic about what lies ahead.

The native Northern Virginian began composing small-scale works in high school. Her piano teacher, the classical pianist and church organist Olga Teulter, introduced Fields to the works of Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and more. The richness and depth of their music profoundly impacted how Fields listens to music. Discovering the meaningful ways that other composers used musical elements to express ideas from their faith, bringing the influence of nature into a piece and evoking movement and emotion from the listener laid the foundation for Kitty’s understanding of how compositions are devised. Repeatedly listening to pieces and growing her understanding of their structure enhanced her desire to learn, driving her to discover more about theory and harmony so that her own ideas could come to life on the page. Another crucial influence was the Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, best known for writing the soundtracks to films produced by acclaimed animation company Studio Ghibli. Fields says she “was always fascinated by the way a score could bring out the emotional undertones of a scene and suggest to the viewers where to direct their attention through auditory cues.”

Fields had countless ideas for new music but knew that continuing to study would bring her to a place where she could transform those ideas into fully-fledged works.

Putting what she hears in her mind's ear onto paper has taken training and patience. Repetition and exploration are central to her process. She plays through musical ideas multiple times at the piano as she brings the various elements into alignment, spending time with the music to discover whether it conveys what she intends in each piece, before she can begin to develop it fully. She then weaves these musical ideas together, creating colors through the orchestration, and conveying emotion through the pacing and structure of the piece.

Fields with her mentor, Professor Mark Camphouse. Camphouse is an acclaimed composer and retired from the Dewberry School of Music after 16 years in spring 2022.

Fields undertook her first composition explorations as a local high school student attending the Mason Community Arts Academy summer composition workshops with acclaimed composers Mark Camphouse and Vincent Oppido. Professor Camphouse retired in 2022 after 16 years with the Dewberry School of Music, while Oppido, a Mason alumnus himself, is an award-winning composer with credits that extend from video games and film scores to the Academy Awards ceremonies, in addition to his concert music catalog. She says, “I clicked with Professor Camphouse immediately and saw I had so much to learn from his vast experience in the field; his incredible talent and expertise in composing and conducting; and his warm and kind spirit.” Fields met Dr. Anna Balakerskaia, her current piano teacher, through Teulter and was “completely in awe of her musicality and intuition.” When it came time to select a university to continue her studies, Fields' choice of Mason made perfect sense.

Fields received her first song commission from Mason's own Professor Joseph Walsh in 2021, “The Hand and the Light,” in which she performed and recorded the vocals and piano accompaniment. The Fantasy for Piano and Wind Symphony is Field's first large ensemble work, and her eloquence is as apparent in her writing as it is in her musical compositions. She describes Fantasy as “partly inspired by reading the memoirs of the aviator, writer, and poet Antoine Saint-Exupery and by various stories told by pilots and adventurous souls [I’ve] encountered personally. In this work, Fields attempts to capture the exhilaration and profound beauty of soaring through the heavens and the loneliness that may haunt someone who is never in one place for long.”

The second movement of Fantasy, titled “Night Flight”, is a favorite in her portfolio.

“It evokes the unease of flying over a large body of water at night. The piece plays with fear, light, darkness, life, and death. The slow, deliberate beginning of the movement feels as though it is suspended in the air, only drifting, as an ascending motive makes gradual entrances. The ascending motive is then juxtaposed with the Lux Aeterna Gregorian chant from the Requiem Mass (played by the piano), almost like a prayer for light to scatter the strangely inviting darkness. The low brass comes in, roaring to depict the depth of the water, an abyss that could swallow one instantly. Throughout the piece, there are many images and moods that Fields leaves open to the listener to interpret. One thing is for sure, though: at the end, when the Lux Aeterna takes its final form as a resplendent fanfare, the light does not merely illuminate the darkness but shatters all fear.”

Fields' college career has been marked by the pandemic. She says, “Lockdowns happened the second semester of my freshman year, and when we came back to school after a year and a half of trying to make music over Zoom, I realized what I had missed through most of my time here: the forging of musical relationships through collaboration and ensemble playing.” She explains that the most rewarding part of being a composer is working in partnership with other musicians who breathe life into her creations. Fields got to experience this in full last April when the Mason Wind Symphony premiered Fantasy. She says, “The energy was incredible that night. I also performed the piano part, which meant I not only got to hear my peers play my music, I also got to play with them. The experience of that musical synergy is unforgettable!”

Fields at the premiere of her piece "Atmospheric Study No 1", which has been accepted for publication and distribution by C. Alan Publications.

Her summer has continued to build on the energy of collaboration and the enriching relationships that evolved during her time at Mason.

Two of her compositions have been accepted by C. Alan Publications for distribution, one of which is her Fantasy. The other is titled Atmospheric Study No. 1, for piano and vibraphone—a minimalist piece that experiments with the timbres the two instruments can create together, at times focusing on one instrument, at others blending the two into an indistinguishable sound. Fields attended the National Band Association Young Composer/Conductor Mentor Project as an observer just a few weeks ago. The program is the brainchild of Mark Camphouse, offering young composers and conductors a three-day intensive partnership with an experienced working mentor from the field. At the event, Fields connected with renowned composers Thomas Duffy, Viet Cuong, and Kevin Day, among others. Currently, Fields is working on a setting for soprano and orchestra of the beloved American classic “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” by Robert Frost.

For the rest of the summer, she hopes to write lots of chamber music that will be performed during her senior recital in the spring of 2023, after which she plans to continue her studies in graduate school. Fields' goal for her final year at Mason is to continue to foster as much of this collaboration as possible and continue cultivating these supportive and transformative friendships through the binding power of music.

Topics

composer

dewberry composition

composing

Dewberry School of Music

music student

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) School of Music

A Note from Rick Davis on the Passing of Sid Dewberry

Pam Muirheid — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 14:46:10 +0000

A Note from Rick Davis on the Passing of Sid Dewberry Pam Muirheid Wed, 07/20/2022 - 10:46

In This Story

Dr. Linda Apple Monson

Gregory Washington

Sid Dewberry

Dear CVPA Community,

I am so very sorry to be writing to you today with such sad news. Our wonderful friend, tireless advocate, and generous supporter of the arts at Mason (and so many other important things), Sid Dewberry, has left us. He passed away on Saturday, July 16, at the age of 94.

The obituary and information about the memorial service this Saturday are linked here and will appear in The Washington Post. A lovely story from the university is also linked here and will appear in tomorrow’s edition of The George.

Sid was such a great friend to so many, has been a such strong believer in the power of music and the arts to exert a positive impact on the world. Acting on that belief, has made a transformative impact on the arts at Mason, most visibly through the sustained philanthropic commitment that led to the naming of the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music.

I hope you will take the time to read and reflect on both the eventful and purposeful life described in the obituary, and the Mason story as well, which reflects Sid’s many forms of service and contribution to ��AV. We will miss him greatly, even as his legacy lives on here through his visionary generosity and his wonderful family.

At an appropriate moment this fall, we will celebrate Reva and Sid Dewberry in full. In the meantime, please join me in offering our deepest sympathy and condolences to the Dewberry family.

Sincerely,

Rick Davis, Dean

Topics

Sid Dewberry

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

A Piano Novice Strikes Just the Right Chord

Pam Muirheid — Tue, 03 May 2022 17:45:31 +0000

A Piano Novice Strikes Just the Right Chord Pam Muirheid Tue, 05/03/2022 - 13:45

In This Story

Dr. Linda Apple Monson

Copied from a Washington Post article by Karin Brulliard, Washington Post Staff Writer

The story began nearly six decades ago with a young man's dream to play piano. Its most dramatic chapter ends this month with 16 sleek, black Steinway grand pianos, each worth tens of thousands of dollars.

"If you really want to hear what makes a Steinway a Steinway," ��AV keyboard studies professor Linda Apple Monson said on a recent morning as her fingers danced across the keys of one of the new pianos, summoning the delicate notes of a Chopin piece. "Oh! That singing quality."

Linda Monson and Sid Dewberry

The young man is now 79, an "old person," as he puts it, and a novice pianist. Sidney O. Dewberry, who made his fortune helping design and engineer developments including Pentagon City and Montgomery Village, took up the instrument four years ago under Monson's tutelage. This spring, he raised the money to bring the Steinways to GMU.

When the final three Steinways are delivered this month and the 350-student music department's upright pianos are gone, GMU will join the ranks of "all-Steinway" schools, a list that includes the Juilliard School, Yale University and the University of Maryland. Monson and her students -- who describe the handmade Steinways as having a "richer, rounder tone," "variety of color" and "more action" -- say the title is a badge of honor. To GMU officials, it is a key recruiting tool for a school that has long strived to transform its identity from suburban commuter campus to first-class university.

"I'm tickled to death," said Dewberry, a white-haired man with a gentle smile and a drawl that betrays his southern Virginia roots. "This performing arts school, I think, is going to really help Mason come into its own as a cultural institution."

That is what Dewberry wants. A George Washington University graduate, he founded his Fairfax County-based engineering and architecture firm, now named Dewberry, in 1956. He joined the GMU foundation board in the 1980s, figuring that a thriving university would only aid Northern Virginia's economy and his business. Dewberry became a top fundraiser for the school, served as chairman of its board of trustees and is now the outgoing rector of its board of visitors.

But the story of the Steinways started long ago.

When Dewberry was in college, an English professor assigned him and his classmates to write down 25 things they wanted to accomplish in life. Dewberry's list included what he calls "the usual things you'd expect" from a young man in that era: "Marry a beautiful woman and have six kids, be a millionaire, and fly an airplane and float down the Mississippi River in a raft."

Also on the list: Learn to play piano.

Dewberry went on to do many of those things. He married his wife, Reva, 57 years ago, had four children and used to fly a plane from a small Falls Church airport that stood on the land where Loehmann's Plaza strip mall is now. But he never studied piano.

A few years ago, Dewberry mentioned the list to a friend, who mentioned it to William Reeder, dean of GMU's College of Visual and Performing Arts. Reeder introduced Dewberry to Monson, the associate chair of the music department.

The two began lessons in the GMU practice rooms and started with basic scales. Dewberry brought a list of songs he wanted to learn. If they were advanced, Monson penned simpler arrangements for him.

Some older students grow restless after one year, Monson said, but not Dewberry. Dewberry credits his focus to Monson, whose boisterous laugh and gushing praise for her students echo through the GMU practice rooms.

"I wanted to prove when I got into piano that an old person can do something as hard as this," Dewberry said. "I would have given up a long time ago if it wasn't for her."

Along the way, Monson suggested that Dewberry buy a Steinway. "You can afford it," Dewberry said she told him.

So he plunked down $45,000 and put the piano in a soundproofed "secret office" on the top floor of the Dewberry headquarters on Arlington Boulevard in Fairfax.

The two meet for a couple of hours every few weeks, when Dewberry feels "ready." He totes a notebook in which he indexes the pieces he has learned and Monson writes down what he should practice for the next lesson.

On a recent Thursday, Dewberry unlocked the door to his secret office, revealing a cozy space decorated with mahogany-hued leather furniture and a long wooden desk topped by a little golden piano ornament, given to Dewberry by his teacher. He sat at the piano and played two familiar pieces -- Beethoven's Bagatelle in A Minor and an arrangement of the finale of the Ninth Symphony, better known as Fur Elise and Ode to Joy -- by heart.

"I'm a real amateur," he said apologetically after he finished.

Some time back, over the course of their lessons, Monson mentioned to Dewberry her wish to make GMU an "all-Steinway" school. In December, Dewberry told her he wanted to make it happen.

To earn the official designation from the company, Monson learned, 90 percent of GMU's pianos would have to be Steinways. That meant 16 pianos. Factoring in discounts for being a school and buying in bulk, they would cost about $800,000.

To a man with friends in high places -- Dewberry chaired GMU's capital campaign from 1998 to 2005, raising $142 million -- that did not seem an unattainable goal.

"So I volunteered to see if I couldn't raise half of that money from just a few friends that I know," Dewberry said. "So I did that."

The university matched the donations, and soon Monson -- accompanied by colleagues and Dewberry -- was selecting Steinways at a College Park piano store.

The first nine were delivered last month, each marked with a small golden plaque designed by Dewberry -- down to the font -- and bearing Monson's name and the name of each donor. Monson did not tell Dewberry they had arrived. She let him find out when he showed up for a lesson.

"It actually brings tears to my eyes" to remember, Monson said. "It was just one of those beautiful, beautiful moments. He was just speechless. I said, 'Which one would you like to have the lesson on today?' "

GMU's piano majors -- there are 40 of them -- seem even more overjoyed.

On a recent morning, senior Jorge Luis Martinez Padron, 24, sat on the padded black bench at one of the new Steinways and wrapped up the final, dramatic notes of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. He grew up poor in Cuba, where, he jokes, he learned to play on pianos that lacked keys and strings.

"The piece has many colors that you can definitely bring out on this piano," he said. "This is like a Lamborghini -- it responds fast."

For his part, Dewberry said playing a Steinway is like driving a Rolls-Royce.

Dewberry still serves as chairman of his company and said he has no plans to retire. He is still working on his list, plotting the purchase of a houseboat so he and Reva can float down the Mississippi.

So it is no surprise that after 58 lessons -- logged diligently in his notebook -- Dewberry intends to stick with piano, which he said "stimulates the brain." These days, he is working on breaking himself of the habit of looking at his fingers while he plays and on mastering a simplified version of a Tchaikovsky concerto.

And he will do those things on Steinways.

"I'll get there," Dewberry said. "I got plenty of time."

Topics

Dewberry School of Music

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Sid Dewberry

CVPA's Young Alumni Commissioning Project Begins a Fourth Round

Emily Schneider — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:01:37 +0000

CVPA's Young Alumni Commissioning Project Begins a Fourth Round Emily Schneider Tue, 12/07/2021 - 10:01

��AV’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) released today a request for proposals for the Young Alumni Commissioning Project, which provides crucial support for the artistic development of recent alumni.

This is the fourth year of the program, which will award up to five grants to CVPA alumni for the creation of original work that will be presented by the College at a Mason venue during the 2022-23 season. The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, February 11, 2022. The recipients will be announced in May 2022.

“The Young Alumni Commissioning Project is bearing fruit so beautifully after our first three rounds, adding new work to the world's store of artistic creation and helping advance the careers of Mason’s outstanding arts alumni,” shares Rick Davis, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “As we enter cycle four, I am excited to see what our community of artists brings forward for consideration. Each cycle represents and reflects a moment in time for both the artists and the world we work in, and I know that our alumni are busy doing what artists do: seeing, feeling, and thinking deeply about their world, and transforming those perceptions into significant work.”

All potential applicants are invited to participate in an online grant writing workshop designed and executed by CVPA staff, taking place on Wednesday, January 26 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Individual applicants can also reserve time to speak with CVPA staff about their project and the application process during scheduled office hours, offered during the week of January 31 and February 7.

Jada Salter, 2021 recipient of the Young Alumni Commissioning Project Award

During the 2020/2021 award cycle, Jada Salter (’20) received the Young Alumni Commissioning Project Award and $5,000 in support for Just the Two of Us, a documentary about multi-Grammy award-winning musician and her grandfather William “Bill” Salter. Nicole Daniell (Dance ‘17), Nicholas Horner (Theater ’18, MFA Candidate ‘21), Cristian Perez (Music ‘12), and Katherine Thompson (Visual Art ‘15) were awarded Young Alumni Creative Development Awards and each received $2,500 in commissioning support.

The Young Alumni Commissioning Project is made possible by a generous bequest from the estate of Linda E. Gramlich for the support of young artists, and by donors to Mason’s Giving Day, including Shugoll Research. Young Alumni Commissioning Project recipients may receive up to $5,000 in commissioning funds; as well as venue, production, and marketing support for a public showing of the work.

To be eligible, applicants must be a graduate of the College of Visual and Performing Arts from the class of 2011 and after. Proposals should be for original new work in any art form suitable for performance, exhibition, or screening in a Mason venue. The size, length, duration, magnitude, and content are at the artist’s discretion. Potential venues include Mason’s traditional theater spaces, galleries, and cinemas, but proposals for non-traditional venues will also be considered.

Topics

Young Alumni Commissioning Project. alumni support

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

College of Visual and Performing Arts School of Dance

computer game design news

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

College of Visual and Performing Arts School of Theater

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) Arts Management Program

AFPO Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season Returns with Premieres by Mason Alum Vincent Oppido

Zoe Harr — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 19:06:23 +0000

AFPO Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season Returns with Premieres by Mason Alum Vincent Oppido Zoe Harr Tue, 11/30/2021 - 14:06

In This Story

Rick Davis

Prof. Anthony Maiello

Center for the Arts Tickets

Tis the season to be jolly! And it’s time to celebrate the holidays with the winter season’s favorite music once again! After a two-year hiatus in response to COVID-19, the American Festival Pops Orchestra (AFPO) returns to the Hylton Performing Arts Center and Center for the Arts at ��AV this December with Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season. Rick Davis, Dean of Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) and Executive Director of the Hylton Performing Arts Center, shares, “AFPO is always a festive attraction and I'm particularly excited this year. It's such a thrill to stand on stage in front of the majestic sounds, Maestro Maiello’s baton keeping everything in order while the twinkle in his eyes keeps it festive.”

Founded and conducted by Dewberry School of Music professor Anthony Maiello, AFPO includes professional musicians from ��AV’s music faculty, United States military bands, and regional orchestras from across the Northern Virginia and Metropolitan D.C. region. Its mission for the American pop music genre aims “to present the best of a treasured musical genre employing some of the country’s most distinguished performing artists.”

Maestro Maiello with Vincent Oppido on the Concert Hall stage in 2009.

Among the music featured in this exciting performance will be that of Vincent Oppido, a Mason Dewberry School of Music alumnus (BA in Music with a Minor in Jazz Studies (2008) and MM in Music with Concentration in Conducting (2010). Called “Vinny” by his friends at Mason, the young professional composer and musician has already garnered praiseworthy credits in the world of the performing arts, his music having been performed across the U.S. and abroad. Oppido’s AFPO connection rekindled this past summer when Maestro Maiello commissioned him to write a new arrangement for the AFPO’s traditional Hanukkah repertoire. Oppido happily agreed, additionally offering his new musical accompaniment for Yes, Virginia, a Christmastime narrative set to music that accompanies an 1897 newspaper editor’s response to an eight-year-old’s question: “Is there a Santa Claus?” Audiences will be in for a treat with Dean Davis’s live narration during the performances.

We had the incredible opportunity of conversing with Maestro Maiello and Oppido about the upcoming AFPO performances. Learn more about their collaboration in this exclusive Q&A:

Audiences are so excited to have the American Festival Pops Orchestra return this year! What are you most excited about?

MAIELLO: I'm thrilled to once again make music with AFPO and perform for such enthusiastic listeners, especially after this two-year break. I wish I could put into words the “magic” of music-making and how it deeply touches our hearts and souls as human beings. Sharing that magic with others musically is the best holiday gift ever.

OPPIDO: I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with so many old friends and colleagues. I’ve known Tony Maiello and Rick Davis for almost 20 years now, which is impossible, because I still feel like a current student! They’re both some of the most influential people in my life and has been great champions of music and the arts. It’s a wonderful gift for a composer to work with them. It really is something special to collaborate with both of these friends after so many years.

What makes this annual AFPO holiday concert so special each year?

MAIELLO: There is great joy in performing holiday music for everyone and getting everyone into the holiday spirit. Bryan Kidd, composer and arranger for AFPO, and I are like two kids in a candy store when it comes to planning the annual AFPO Holiday Concert program. There are so many musical selections to choose from but one of our favorite things to do is find a standard holiday piece and put a new “twist” on it. Music touches our hearts and transforms our minds and souls—especially holiday music—so being part of sharing it with others is incredibly gratifying.

OPPIDO: I absolutely adore Christmas music—I might go so far as to say some of my favorite music is from the Christmas holiday canon—so in the pandemic-driven height of a pretty crummy time, or just a generally stressful time of year, it feels good to share positive energy.

Can you share more about Vinny’s original pieces and how these came to be?

MAIELLO: I was looking for something different, a new arrangement for our traditional Hanukkah selections. I knew Vincent would create a masterpiece. He is a “bright shining star” composer in the Hollywood movie industry. In addition, Vincent also arranged the music for Yes, Virginia, which will also be performed in our December concert. It features narration by Rick Davis, as well as child narration that was pre-recorded by Sylvia London. She nailed the recording on her very first try! What a pro!

OPPIDO: Yes, Virginia is inspired by the famous 1897 Christmastime editorial “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.” In summary, a young girl wrote a letter to the New York Sun, asking the age-old question: Is Santa Claus real? The paper published a response in the form of an editorial—I’ve always loved this piece because of its warmth and loving optimism. As for the new Hanukkah medley, I reached out to a number of friends who celebrate Hanukkah, and collectively came up with six of the more popular songs, including the classic “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel.” I sought to create an arrangement that perhaps pushed the harmonic and orchestral color boundaries a bit while, hopefully, honoring the original integrity of these beautiful songs.

Performance Information for American Festival Pops Orchestra: Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season
Hylton Performing Arts Center: Friday, December 10 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts at ��AV: Saturday, December 11 at 8 p.m.

Evelyn Kiley, a longtime Friend of the Center for the Arts, contributed to this article.

Topics

CFA

Hylton

Center for the Arts

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Chamber Orchestra Builds Resonance & Relevancy

Kirstin Franko — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 17:36:26 +0000

Chamber Orchestra Builds Resonance & Relevancy Kirstin Franko Fri, 10/01/2021 - 13:36

Members of the chamber orchestra Sphinx Virtuosi bring their program Tracing Visions to the Center for the Arts October 17 at 3 p.m.

In what ways can a classical music ensemble build resonance and relevancy in modern society?

Sphinx Virtuosi, the Center for the Arts's second Artist-in-Residence of the 2021/2022 season and one of the nation’s most innovative and pioneering chamber music ensembles, tackles that issue with a two-pronged approach.

First, the self-conducting ensemble consists of 18 classically-trained Black and Latinx soloists, crafting an incredibly diverse group of musicians. Sphinx Virtuosi is proud to amplify the plethora of talented composers shaping the sound of American classical music today, including Jessie Montgomery, Carlos Simon, Xavier Foley, Andrea Cassarubios, and so many others. Further, Sphinx engages contemporary composers in annual commissioning projects and is dedicated to uncovering and programming works by composers of color from the past.

Second, Sphinx Virtuosi believes that education and community is vital to their mission. During activities in Northern Virginia as Artists-in-Residence, the musicians from Sphinx Virtuosi will be able to flex both muscles, providing both learning experiences for those they interact with as well sharing a communal love of music.

Their dynamic program Tracing Visions on October 17 at 3 p.m. at the Center for the Arts stretches beyond usual notions of the classical music canon with a vibrant program of music by women and composers of color. Sphinx Virtuosi hopes that audiences leave their performance with a sense of belonging, personal discovery, and a connection to their mission of transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts.

Members of Sphinx Virtuosi ensemble will be participate the following week in educational and artistic activities across Northern Virginia. Mason students will have an opportunity to participate in lectures, select classroom visits, and masterclasses in Strings and Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Sphinx Virtuosi plans to visit several local schools, including Halley Elementary, Garfield High School, Osborne High School, and Unity Reed High School. Finally, the residency will conclude with a Center for the Arts donor event reflecting on their residency and community impact.

The Center for the Arts connected with President and Artistic Director of Sphinx Virtuosi Afa S. Dworkin to learn more about their mission and upcoming program Tracing Visions.

Please tell our readers a bit about what they can expect at your performance at the Center for the Arts?

Dworkin: They may expect to delight in a collection of works that may not be readily recognized. We focus on sharing the vibrant and important voices of living composers, with an emphasis on those of Black and Latinx heritage. Tracing Visions challenges the listener to open their hearts and minds to new sounds, learn about important historical and present-day composers of color, find joy in new sounds and experience a connection to what is traditionally heard as classical music. Visually, it is a compelling array of virtuosity by the nation's most dynamic professional ensemble of artists of color. The audience can also expect to hear the artists speak to the curation of the program, what it means to them and why they chose to share this music today.

What do you want patrons to come away with after taking in the performance?

Dworkin: A sense of belonging, a sense of personal discovery, and a connection to our mission of transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. We hope that each patron may relate to the music they hear, connect to the artistry of the Sphinx Virtuosi, and support the concept of promoting artistic excellence through inclusion and diversity. We hope to change hearts and minds through a common language that unifies all of us.

The past 18 months have changed all of our lives. How has the pandemic changed the Sphinx organization and its mission? How will your residency and performance at the Center for the Arts reflect those changes?

Dworkin: Our artists were silenced by the twin pandemics of our time, literally and figuratively. This period called for reckoning, but also, unity, resilience, innovation, and collaboration. Sphinx pivoted its programming to the digital space, by using technology to have the voices of our artists be heard across the world despite the isolation. Our artists have been driven to express their sorrow and courage by showing resilience, commitment, and a sense of hope for a brighter tomorrow. This is a poignant moment that resonates with the pain of yesterday and the present day while also shining a light upon what a more just and equitable future may look and sound like. We are excited to share our vision with our audiences.

Is there a process for crafting an interpretation of the music Sphinx performs? How do [musical] interpretations change as political climates shift and new social movements emerge?

Dworkin: We focus on social impact and the philosophical role of this collection of citizen artists. Ours is a unique mission, which combines a sense of service, commitment to our communities as well as our artistic pedigree. We express these sentiments by architecting programs that are reflective of our times, with all of its challenges and all of its promise.

What part does education take in Sphinx’s mission? How can audiences continue to engage with Sphinx and its mission after the performance?

Dworkin: Education/creative youth development is one of the four central pillars of our programming. We serve and educate our youngest members of the family through a variety of programs. Patrons can find more information about staying involved by joining our email list, learning about advocacy opportunities, or by donating via our website.

Topics

College of Visual and Performing Arts

Center for the Arts

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

At Arts Emerging, the Arts Return In-Person to George Mason

Pam Muirheid — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 15:31:57 +0000

At Arts Emerging, the Arts Return In-Person to George Mason Pam Muirheid Thu, 09/30/2021 - 11:31

In This Story

Shaun Boyle D'Arcy

Gregory Washington

Dr. Michael Nickens

Arts Emerging raised more than $155,000 to support the arts at Mason.

A welcome return to live, in-person arts performances and exhibitions was celebrated September 25 at the ��AV Center for the Arts.

Arts Emerging: A Celebration of Renewal brought more than 300 people to the Fairfax Campus on a Saturday evening for a festive event that pulsed with artistic energy and the spirit of community.

Combining outdoor and indoor performances by students, faculty, and alumni, art exhibits, film screenings, hands-on activities, and more, Arts Emerging launched the 2021-22 Center for the Arts season, while also marking the 20^th anniversary of the university’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“The arts have become one of Mason’s signature tools for the university to engage with its community,” said Rick Davis, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “Arts Emerging is a powerful example of that in action.”

A highlight of the outdoor performances presented on Holton Plaza was a performance of Pause: Reset, delivered by School of Dance students and choreographed by faculty member Shaun Boyle D’Arcy. One performer, senior dance major Hadiya Matthews, reflected afterward on the challenges of the past year and how students have rallied. “During Covid and everything that was happening in the world, it was pretty heavy and kind of sad,” Matthews said. “I think that when we had discussions and ‘collabbed’ and really talked about how we felt, a big thing that kept us strong was community, and how—no matter what we’re going through—we’re all related to one another. That’s something that we can come back to, so building this piece of community was really special.”

Meanwhile, in the adjacent Buchanan Hall Atrium Gallery, viewers enjoyed a major exhibition, Women of the Same Blood, combining photography and family history by Zia Palmer, BFA Photography ’19, with the opportunity to meet and talk with the artist. Buchanan Hall also hosted screenings by Film and Video Studies alumni, and an interactive virtual reality experience by the Computer Game Design program.

Later, inside the Center for the Arts, Mason President Gregory Washington welcomed a mix of students, supporters, and Mason faculty and staff. “The arts are the front door to the university,” Washington said. “Many of you found that great big front door and you came through it to become involved with our College of Visual and Performing Arts. And then that introduced you to the larger university.”

Guest appearances on the Concert Hall stage included a duet by Green Machine alumni Chelsea Mohindroo, BS Mathematics ’16, MS Operations Research ’20, and Brandon Showell, BA Music and English ’14, both of whom have been contestants on NBC’s The Voice. They were followed by School of Theater alumni Garvey Dobbins, BFA Theater ’20, and Lauren Fraites, BA Theater ’20, and a finale performance by current Dewberry School of Music opera students. Members of the Green Machine, led by associate professor of music and director of the Green Machine Ensembles Michael W. Nickens (Doc Nix), also played throughout the event.

Finally, School of Dance alumna Sasha (Hollinger) Henninger, BFA Dance ’09, who made her Broadway debut in Hamilton as #thebullet, spoke about her career and her time at Mason. “I was blessed to spend 11 years in New York making a living doing what I love. I toured the country, I toured the world, and I spent my last few years there performing in two incredible shows on Broadway—easily one of my biggest dreams come true,” Henninger said. “My time, my teachers, my peers here at George Mason prepared me for that. My time at George Mason prepared me well.”

Henninger presented a special merit scholarship to current Film and Video Studies senior Taj Kokayi, whose film Woken From a Dream won the Best Student Film Award at the London Web Fest. Kokayi was a producer on the short film The Vine, which premiered during Saturday’s event. The Vine featured current Masters in Arts Management student Bobby Lacy, BA Music ’16, in a stirring spoken word performance inspired by the question of what it means to be an arts manager.

Sandy Spring Bank returned as the event’s presenting sponsor for the fourth consecutive year. “By sponsoring events like this we’re literally helping the students you saw tonight on stage realize their hopes and dreams, or give them an opportunity to,” said Jay O’Brien, executive vice president for commercial and retail banking at Sandy Spring. O’Brien has three daughters currently attending Mason—two graduate students and one undergraduate.

Arts Emerging raised more than $155,000, with proceeds supporting CVPA student scholarships, the Mason Community Arts Academy, Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason season at the Center for the Arts. The event was co-chaired by Arts at Mason Board members Steven Golsch, a vice president at NowSecure, and Annie Bolger, a bank officer at Sandy Spring Bank.