performers on darkened stage from 2018 Production of Lucretia
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Cali School News Update

Posted in: Cali News

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The New York Times on composition professor Marcos Balter’s new Violin Concerto at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival in August: "it beamed the formal symmetry and textural clarity of Mozart into the 21st century." The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) released the album Æsopica: Music of Marcos Balter in October to critical acclaim. 

Gregory Dlugos (conductor, musical theatre) was one of 5 conductors for the World Premiere of David Lang’s new piece the public domain written for 1000 unaccompanied voices for the Mostly Mozart Festival under the direction of Simon Halsey. It took place in the plaza of Lincoln Center on August 13, 2016. 

Soyeon Kim (collaborative pianist, vocal coach) worked as a staff pianist for Bel Canto in Tuscany 2016 (July 31- Aug19), Greve in Chianti, Italy. She was appointed as a Head of Music Staff for Bel Canto in Tuscany 2017. She performed at the faculty recital in the 2016 Flute Fair of New Jersey Flute Society, held at the Cali School. 

Ken Lam (Director of Orchestra) performed Ravel Piano Concerto for Left Hand with legendary pianist Leon Fleisher in September (with Charleston Symphony Orchestra). He also performed numerous concerts at Brevard Music Center in the summer and guest conducted the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in December.

Drs. Lisa DeLorenzo and Marissa Silverman (Music Education) performed in a joint faculty recital on October 23, 2016. The program included works by Franck, Schumann, Bach, and Schubert. 

Soprano Karen Driscoll, a member of the voice faculty, recently performed as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the iconic Worcester Chorus this past December 2016. A holiday tradition for over 100 years, the annual Messiah presentation this year was recorded and broadcast regionally by Charter TV in Massachusetts during the holiday season. Karen was also interviewed by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and garnered a lovely review by the same paper:  "Driscoll’s unfurling of the apex solo, "I know that my redeemer liveth," in Part III, displayed a transcendent beauty. 

Raif Hyseni (Balkan Ensemble director) performed with alumna Merita Halili (BMus ’16), and the Montclair State University Balkan Ensemble at the 26th Albanian Festival (November 2016, Lehman College, Bronx, NY) in front of 3000 people. The performance was broadcast on TV and radio. In January they performed at the 32nd Golden Festival (Brooklyn, NY).

Thomas McCauley (Director of Bands) participated last summer in the 2016 International Conducting Festival Workshop in Sofia, Bulgaria. The MSU Wind Symphony, in conjunction with the Mount Olive School District (Flanders, New Jersey), began recording sessions in December for their first studio CD, which is planned for release in fall, 2017. Dr. McCauley was chosen as a semi-finalist for the American Prize in the category of Wind Band Conducting. 

In July, Marissa Silverman (Music Education) presented “Musical Interpretation as Humanistic Music Education” and “‘Meaningfulness,’ Care Ethics, and Music Education” at the International Society for Music Education, World Conference (Glasgow, Scotland). In October, she gave a presentation on "Musicing” at the 47th Annual National Conference of Japan Music Education Society (Yokohama, Japan). She is co-editor of Artistic Citizenship: Artistry, Social Responsibility, and Ethical Praxis (Oxford University Press). "From the margins: The underrepresentation of Black and Latino students/teachers in music education by Drs. Lisa De Lorenzo and Silverman appeared in Visions of Research in Music Education. Silverman’s book chapter co-authored with David Elliott, "Felt experiences of popular musics," was published in The Child as Musician (OUP).

Ceremonial Prelude, a work by Joseph Turrin (Music in Film), was performed by the New York Philharmonic at Geffen Hall in December 2016. His received the National Opera Association Award 2016 for his chamber opera The Scarecrow. His textbook, Music in Film, was published by Cognella Press.

In September, David Witten (Pianist and Keyboard Program Coordinator) played a solo piano recital in Reykjavik, Iceland, presented by Northern Lights Confucius Institute, to honor the 2,567th birthday of Confucius. In late November he presented lectures on Taubman Approach to Piano Playing at Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Italy, which is one of the Cali School’s partner institutions.

Student Organization News 

The President of our local Mid-Atlantic Region, American Music Therapy Association for Students (MARAMTS) , Erica Gibbons, is pleased to announce that our local Music Therapy Student Organization has been awarded the ‘2017 MARAMTS Music Therapy Club Award’ and will be receiving a cash award which will be presented at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference in Rochester, New York in March.