Faculty News & Notes
Dr. Lynne Gackle, director of choral activities and chair of the Ensemble Division, has been awarded the Macpherson Prize by the San Antonio Chamber Choir. Scott MacPherson, founding artistic director of the San Antonio Chamber Choir, built a legacy of choral conducting in South Texas during his nine-year tenure with the San Antonio Chamber Choir. To honor his legacy, the choir created The MacPherson Prize. The MacPherson Prize recognizes excellence in choral conducting by an educator or professional choral conductor in Texas who exemplifies Scott MacPherson's passion for choral music and dedication to the craft of choral conducting. Nominated candidates are considered based on artistic merit as demonstrated by his or her abilities, cumulative body of work, and contribution to the art form in Texas. In addition to a cash prize, Dr. Gackle will be the guest conductor for the SACC performances in May, featuring a new premier composition by composer Jake Runestad.
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Dr. Brad Holmes, visiting professor of choral music, and Ms. Beth Holmes, visiting part time lecturer of choral music, were conductors for the Oklahoma All State Choirs on January 21. Beth conducted the High School SSA Choir, and Brad conducted the High School Mixed Choir. Brad also conducted the Indiana All State Choir on January 14, and Beth conducted the Idaho SSA All State Choir February 4 in Pocatello.
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Congratulations to Professor Kathleen Kelly, assistant professor of vocal coaching, (pictured above) for her recording of "Weave Me A Name," which was selected as the winning composition of the 2023 NATS Art Song Composition Award. This seven-song work by Rene Orth, set to poetry by Jeanne Minahan, features soprano Emily Albrink and pianist Kathleen Kelly. Baylor is prominently mentioned in the announcement from NATS, since Kathy and Emily will give the world premiere performance of Weave Me a Name in Roxy Grove Hall on March 17, as part of our Lyceum Series. The Baylor School of Music has been extremely well-represented in this arena because of Mark Diamond and Jeffrey Peterson's performance of the winning art song composition at the NATS National Convention in 2018, featuring a work by Benjamin C. S. Boyle.
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Dr. Matthew Laube, assistant professor of church music, and Dr. Andrew Vagts, lecturer in music theory, were selected as Fellows of Baylor University's Summer Faculty Institute (SFI) 2023. During the SFI, participants converse about and explore elements of teaching, research, and collegiality extending from constructing syllabi to managing preparation-time wisely, from enlisting colleagues as critics of our writing to managing writing-time wisely, from serving on departmental committees to taking part in the conversation about what it means to be an R1 Christian university.
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Dr. Timothy R. McKinney, professor of music theory and associate dean for graduate studies, published a critical edition of Girolamo Parabosco's Madrigali a cinque voci of 1546 with A-R Editions. Parabosco (c. 1524-1557) was a disciple of renowned Venetian composer Adrian Willaert and held one of the more important musical posts in Italy as first organist at Venice's San Marco cathedral from 1551-1557. He was heralded as a poet, musician, and composer by his contemporaries, yet much of his music has lain dormant since the 16thcentury. The current publication represents the first complete critical edition of his sole extant music collection. Another recent publication was a book chapter entitled "Zarlino's Aesthetics in Le istitutioni harmoniche" in the volume Musico Perfetto, Gioseffo Zarlino: His Time, His Work, His Influence, published by Edizioni Fondazione Levi in Venice. Dr. McKinney was one of 20 international scholars invited to participate in a conference and subsequent book project celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Zarlino, the most influential music theorist of the 16th century.
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Assistant professor of voice, Dr. Kimberly Monzón, and interdisciplinary research partners presented "Vocal health for music educators: The pitfalls of pushing through and possibilities for prevention" at TMEA in February.