Faculty News & Notes

Dr. Amy Fleming, lecturer in music theory, Dr. Ed Taylor, senior lecturer in music theory, and Dr. Horace Maxile, associate professor of music theory, recently shared their Musicianship project at the Seminars for Excellence in Teaching hosted by Baylor University's Academy of Teaching and Learning. Their project includes a free textbook and materials for all of our music students. These free materials cover all five sections of Musicianship as part of the Affordable Course Materials Fellows program. "This is truly a great accomplishment by our academic colleagues and will save our music majors tens of thousands of dollars in the years ahead," said Dean Mortenson. Over the summer, several Baylor faculty members participated in the Affordable Course Materials Fellows Program, exploring the possibilities for adopting, adapting, or creating no-cost and low-cost course materials that better meet course learning objectives.

Congratulations to Dr. Bradley Bolen, senior lecturer in piano, Dr. Lesley McAllister, professor of piano, and Patricia Shih, associate professor of violin, for being recognized by the Center for Global Engagement and graduating international students as faculty members at Baylor who have made a significant difference in their Baylor experience and their lives more broadly. Thank you for helping to make Baylor University the welcoming, inclusive, and supportive community we aspire to be.

The CBDNA Southwestern Division Conference was hosted by Dr. J. Eric Wilson, professor of ensembles and conducting and director of bands, and the School of Music in late March and early April of 2022. Because the conference was not originally planned to be hosted by Baylor, CBDNA division officers gave heartfelt thanks for hosting the conference to Dr. Wilson, Dr. Isaiah Odajima, associate director of bands; Dr. Stuart Ivey, assistant director of bands; Dr. Ben Johansen, lecturer in composition and computer music and School of Music webmaster; Dean Mortenson; Dr. Lynne Gackle, Mary Gibbs Jones Chair in Music, chair of the ensembles division and director of choral activities; and Mr. Rick Carpenter, recording studio manager and sound engineer.

The Baylor Center for Christian Music Studies (CCMS) is working on an application for another $1 million-plus Lilly Grant to study children's music and worship. The Center is also enlisting strategic international partners to collaborate in research, teaching, and service and recently the Church Music faculty travelled to Brazil and Nigeria to strengthen these partnerships. The Nigerian partnership has already born fruit in the publicly available research website Nigerian Christian Songs. This website has generated interest across the world, in both academic and church music circles. It has been the subject of six peer-reviewed national and international conference presentations (with more to come)--many of which involved co-presentation among Nigerian scholars and Baylor faculty--and two forthcoming research articles. Other great news from the CCMS includes doctoral students carrying out collaborative research on many fronts, including a self-study of internationalization within the Baylor School of Music, collaboration with Nigerian doctoral students on researching Nigerian Christian songs, and a forthcoming digital humanities project involving a hymnal timeline.

Dr. Shannan Baker is the first Postdoctoral Fellow in Church Music and Digital Humanities at Baylor University. She recently completed her Ph.D. in Church Music with a dissertation that focused on contemporary worship songs' content and use in the Church. She has presented her research at various conferences, including two international conferences, and has published articles in the Journal of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity and the Journal of Contemporary Ministry. Baker also was previously one of the Fundamentals of Data Research Graduate Student Fellows through the Baylor Library. "The fact that we now have a postdoc is strong evidence for the quality of our research at the School of Music, and that the School is an important participant in Baylor becoming an R1 institution," said Monique Ingalls, associate professor of music. "I don't know of many other Schools of Music, beyond elite universities like Yale, Harvard, or Chicago, that have postdoctoral research positions."

Congratulations to Dr. Kelly Jo Hollingsworth, assistant professor of music education, who is one of 12 Baylor University professors honored with Outstanding Faculty Awards for teaching, scholarship and contributions to the academic community for the 2021-2022 academic year. Hollingsworth is one of two tenure-track teaching award recipients. The Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize the best all-around professors--including non-tenure track, tenured and tenure-track faculty--based on teaching capabilities, research achievement, effective committee service, time spent with students, and civic and church involvement.

In fall 2022 and spring 2023, Dr. Monique Ingalls, associate professor of music, will complete the third and final phase of research for her monograph British Gospel Choirs: Representing Race and Resounding Religion in Twenty-first Century Britain. This book examines the history, meaning, and sociocultural roles that the musical institution of the gospel choir plays in the contemporary British context. It joins a growing body of research that considers gospel and Christian music in global perspective and is among the first academic monographs on gospel music outside the United States. British Gospel Choirs contributes to academic discussion in music studies and religious studies fields by illuminating how local context nuances the meanings and practices of Black gospel music; how Christian musical repertoires function in post-Christian societies; and how gospel choirs build community across ethnic/racial, national, and religious difference. The book engages in representational justice by amplifying the voices of Black gospel music pioneers as well as everyday practitioners. During the 2022-2023 academic year, Ingalls will spend 11 weeks in the United Kingdom engaging in ethnographic participant-observation of various gospel choirs. Currently, she is residing at the Queen's Foundation in Birmingham, UK, centering her research on choirs in Birmingham and Coventry (with excursions to London and Liverpool). For seven weeks in February and March 2023, she will reside at the University of Bristol in Bristol, UK, and center her research on choirs in Bristol and Birmingham, with excursions to London. Ingalls' research is supported through various funding sources including Franklin Research Grant, Individual Research Grant, Visiting Research Fellowship, and a Next Generation Visiting Research Fellowship. At the tail end of her time in Birmingham in October, she will travel to North London to give an endowed lecture, the Laing Lecture, at the London School of Theology.

Dr. Kathryn Steely, professor of viola, Dr. Charlotte Daniel, assistant professor of flute, and Dr. Kae Hosoda-Ayer, associate professor of piano, were selected to perform two works on a recital at the 2022 American Viola Society Festival and 47^th International Viola Congress that was held in June at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA.

Dr. Todd Meehan, professor of percussion, Dr. Sandor Ostlund, associate professor of double bass and Dr. Philip Borter, assistant professor of cello, performed with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in April. Meehan was one of the featured soloists, and Ostlund and Borter played principal positions with this innovative chamber orchestra.

Dr. Lesley McAllister, professor of piano and chair of keyboard studies, was honored as the 2023 Collegiate Teacher of the Year by the Texas Music Teachers Association this year. In June, she presented a session for the Texas Music Teachers Association state conference titled "Why is My Gifted Student Struggling?: Teaching Strategies for Gifted and Twice Exceptional Piano Students" and a workshop on "Mindful Movement in Early Childhood: Developing Focus and Musicianship" for the 2022 International Symposium on Music Education. She also presented a research poster on "Mindful Movement in Early Childhood: Preparing Students for a Lifetime of Sound Practice" at the Performing Arts Medicine Association international symposium in June.

Dr. David Music, professor emeritus of church music, recently published "May We Never Rest Content: The Hymns of Ruth Duck," The American Organist (April 2022), and "The Texts of William Walker's Southern Harmony (1835)," The Hymn (Summer 2022).

Congratulations to Dr. Samuel Parler, assistant professor of music history, for receiving a Big XII Faculty Fellowship awarded by Provost Brickhouse. The Big XII Faculty Fellowship Program offers faculty the opportunity to travel to member institutions to exchange ideas and research. Faculty may work on collaborative research, consult with faculty and students, offer a series of lectures or symposia, acquire new skills, or take advantage of a unique archive or laboratory facility.

Congratulations Dr. Jeffrey Peterson, associate professor of vocal coaching, and Rebecca Hays, associate professor of voice at Texas Tech University on the rave reviews they are receiving on their latest CD, La Captive: Songs of Charles Marie Widor. The CD was featured in the September/October edition of Fanfare Magazine and one reviewer said: "A Beautiful set of melodies, beautifully performed: Hays' has a strong soprano capable of a multitude of shades, while Jeffrey Peterson is as fine a piano partner as one could imagine; everything is caught in a good, if not absolutely top-flight, recording." -Colin Clark

Dr. Laurel Zeiss, associate professor of musicology, participated in an opera seminar sponsored by Harvard's Radcliffe Institute in July. Scholars who are studying operas for children, including Dr. Zeiss, gathered to discuss their research finding. The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—known as Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is one of the world's leading centers for interdisciplinary exploration. Dr. Zeiss was also named one of the highly competitive 2022 Baylor Libraries Special Collections Teaching Fellows and will be working with the libraries on her creative ideas for integrating rare materials into her curriculum.