Faculty News & Notes

Shannan Baker, Postdoctoral Fellow in Church Music and Digital Humanities, was selected by Baylor University’s Graduate School as one of this year’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award winners. Congratulations, Dr. Baker!

Baylor Brass performed a concert on the Philip H. Lowe Performing Arts Series at Hill College in Hillsboro, TX. Members of Baylor Brass include Kent Eshelman, D.M.A., Professor of Euphonium and Tuba; Kristy Morrell, D.M.A., Associate Professor of Horn; Brent Phillips, M.M., Professor of Trombone; Wiff Rudd, M.M., Professor of Trumpet; and Mark Schubert, M.M., Lecturer of Trumpet.

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, M.M., Mary Franks Thompson Professorship in Orchestral Studies and Director of Orchestral Activities, made his San Francisco Symphony debut at Davies Symphony Hall in a concert celebrating El Día de los Muertos. Harth-Bedoya, conducted a festive program that included the Popol Vuj Processions, works by Silvestre Revueltas, Arturo Márquez, Alfonso Leng, Clarice Assad and Arturo Rodríguez. Alongside Harth-Bedoya and the San Francisco Symphony, the concert featured vocalist Edna Vázquez, the Casa Círculo Cultural and Canción de Obsidiana. He also recently performed with the New World Symphony in Miami, FL, and the Taiwan National Symphony in Taipei, Taiwan.

The music education faculty, Dr. Michele Henry, Ph.D., Chair of the Music Education Division and Professor of Music Education; Michael Alexander, D.M.A., Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Music Education; Kelly Hollingsworth, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Music Education; and David Montgomery, D.M.A., Associate Professor of Music Education, presented a research study at the society for music teacher, education conference in Salt Lake City in October. Hollingsworth and senior music education major Kaylee McGuire also presented a research study, as well as alumna Whitney Mayo, who is currently an assistant professor of music education at the University of North Dakota.

Alfredo Colman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology and Kimberly Monzón, D.M.A., Assistant Professor of Voice, offered a lecture-recital where they premiered a set of five art songs by Paraguayan composer Florentín Giménez (1925–2021). The art songs were transcribed from Giménez’s manuscripts and edited by both professors Colman and Monzón. The lecture recital took place on October 14 at the 2023 Hispanic Heritage Festival organized by Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida. Colman and Monzón plan to offer a recital on campus of all Giménez’s art songs in the spring.

The Early Music Ensemble, directed by Jann Cosart, D.M., Associate Professor of Musicology, was one of the featured groups that performed during the Shakespeare 400 Celebration hosted by the University Libraries. The libraries and many other departments pulled together three days of special events to celebrate the printing of Shakespeare’s first folio, 400 years ago.

Kent Eshelman, D.M.A., Professor of Euphonium and Tuba, performed with his quartet, Brass Mammoth, at Arkansas State University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, and the University of Memphis.  The programs included several of his own compositions and arrangements.

Baylor's inaugural Clarinet Day, held in November, was a huge success with 55 high school students participating. Ran Kampel, M.M., Assistant Professor of Clarinet, said Baylor Clarinet Day is aimed to help top high school students prepare their TMEA All-State etudes for regional auditions. Students attended masterclasses, mock auditions, interactive seminars and played alongside the Baylor Clarinet Choir in concert.

Kathleen Kelly, M.M., Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching, collaborated as a pianist with star baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. as part of the Lone Star Songs series in November. Smith, fresh from performances in the title role of Verdi's FALSTAFF at the Houston Grand Opera, presented a program of music by living Black composers. The program included songs of love, dreams, and faith, with music both new and traditional, and composers included Rosephanye Powell, Dave Ragland, Uzee Brown Jr., and Will Liverman, among others. A short "opening act" was performed by five Baylor students including Erica Yanek, Sylvia Jones, McKenzie Block, Katy Sanderford, and Cezary Karwowski. The opening act included music by Hall Johnson, Undine Smith Moore, HT Burleigh, and William Grant Still. 

On Saturday, November 4, the School of Music hosted the First National High School Organ Competition with 10 finalists from across the U.S. competing for cash prizes. Senior Daniel Colaner won First Prize (in memory of Dr. Joyce Jones), the Second Prize (sponsored by Létourneau Pipe Organs) was awarded ex aequo to junior Abigail Crafton and to senior Michael Guarneiri. Eugene Lavery, organist and director of music at St. Alban’s Espiscopal Church in Waco, TX, and Jens Korndörfer, D.Mus., Associate Professor of Organ, served as jury. Jan Joyce Brown—the daughter of late Joyce Jones, D.M.A., retired Joyce Oliver Bowden Professor of Organ—was present.

Jens Korndörfer, D. Mus., Associate Professor of Organ, performed several concerts during the months of September through November including trips over seas. He played on the largest organ in Texas during a performance at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth in September, and traveled to CA, WI, Germany and Finland for October concerts. Korndörfer played on the third largest organ in the world in Cadet Chapel at West Point, NY, and made his way back to Germany in November. He also did a masterclass for the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and did a masterclass and lecture in Germany in October and November, respectively.

Eric Lai, Ph.D., Professor of Music Theory, recently published in Chinese “Playing with numbers: Variable Modes in the Late Music of Chou Wen-chung,” which appears in Compositional Sketches of Chou Wen-chung’s Twilight Colors (Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press). A celebration of the book’s release was held during a conference that commemorated the centennial of the composer’s birth at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou on November 4.

Horace Maxile, Jr., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Music Theory, recently co-authored and published a book titled Race and Gender in the Western Music History Survey: A Teacher’s Guide that received the 2023 AMS Teaching Award of the American Musicology Society in October. The book offers an inspiring guide for teachers seeking to expand the repertory, contexts, and approaches used in their courses.

Lesley McAllister, D.M.A., Professor of Piano and Director of Piano Pedagogy, had an article published in the Autumn 2023 issue of Piano Magazine titled “The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement.”

Timothy R. McKinney, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Professor of Music Theory, presented a research paper titled “Haydn’s Hinge Joints: Schemata and the Contrasting Middle in Symphonic Small Ternary and Minuet Forms” for the international conference Defining the Galant: Music, Style, Terminology, held online Sept. 29–Oct. 1.

Stephen Newby, D.M.A., Lev H. Prichard III Chair in the Study of Black Worship, was featured on Baylor Connections to discuss the power of Black worship, Baylor’s efforts to both preserve and share the music for future generations, and the path that led him to Baylor for what he calls his “dream job.”

Baylor's Summer Faculty Institute (SFI) invited two School of Music faculty members to become fellows for five weeks starting May 2024. Ran Kampel, M.M., Assistant Professor of Clarinet, and Kathleen Kelly, M.M., Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching, will engage in a variety of readings, discussions and activities designed to promote faculty flourishing and to encourage research and writing. SFI, established in 1978, is the University’s longest running professional development program for faculty.

Starting January 1, 2024, Bethany Stewart, Ph.D., Program Associate for the Oral History Association, will be Baylor’s new Music Librarian. Stewart holds a master’s and Ph.D. in historical musicology from The University of Texas at Austin, where she researched 19^th-century women in popular music performance. She’s held positions in academic administration, in musicology research and teaching, and as a copy editor for artists and scholars. She comes to the Baylor Libraries from the Oral History Association, where she served as Program Associate.