2014-2015: WHAT A YEAR!!!!!

Well, ever since I started at UNLV last fall, it has been a whirlwind.  I am enjoying my time at UNLV and meeting very many great people!  Here is a little summary of what I have been up to:

Classes & Ensembles

Fall 2015

Nevada Constitution
I came, I saw, I passed.

Geology 101(w/lab), Dr. Melissa Giovanni:
Yes....science....the class I was dreading the most. But it's over now!  I got a B+.  That is like a miracle for me, you have no idea!  Haha.
The instructor's passion for Geology, the Earth, environment, and outdoors made the class that much more interesting.

Marching Band Techniques, Dr. Rick McEnaney
I had to do 12 hours of marching band rehearsal observations, plus attendance of a Marching Band competition and football game.  The class met once a week to discuss techniques and tools needed to have to teach high school marching band (and much more).

The school marching bands I observed were:  Chaparral High School (director Paul Beuning), Foothill High School (director Travis Pardee), and Arbor View High School (director Justin Klarer).  Terrific schools, terrific band instructors, terrific kids.
Check this out!!!!: Foothill High School Marching Band at Macy's Day Parade 2014

I learned a LOT from this class under the instruction of Dr. Rick McEnaney, the Coordinator of Secondary Fine Arts for the Clark County School District here in Las Vegas.  In addition to giving us a wealth of resources to be prepared to teach high school marching band, he even gave us advice and knowledge about how to be smart financially, organizational skills, teaching philosophies and the importance of music education in schools.

Practicum - Middle School Band
I completed my middle school band practicum at Sig Rogich Middle School, with Aaron Robinson, the band director their, as my mentor.


Concert Attendance:
Attend 10 small ensemble/solo performances. Man was it hard to find the time to attend all those concerts....

Flute Lessons and Woodwind Repertory Class. Dr. Jennifer Grim

Dr. Grim is absolutely amazing, and I have been learning a lot!  This semester, some of the repertoire I studied and performed are:

Partita in A minor, J.S. Bach

Sicillienne et berlesque, Op. 23, Casella

I had several performance opportunities this semester, including:

-Studio flute recital, in which I performed the Casella
-Juries
-Mock Orchestral Auditions:  All of the woodwind players participated, and were ranked.  I was the winner of the flutist audition!
-Ensemble concerts (below)


Women's Chorus, Dr. Jocelyn K. Jensen
I enjoyed singing in Women's Chorus under the direction of Dr. Jensen.  She is a wonderful choir director, and being in this group made me realize how much I miss singing in a choir!

Community Band, Professor Anthony LaBounty
This is a fun group, it is a community band that I am playing with to fulfill my requirements for my scholarship.

Wind Orchestra, Professor Thomas G. Leslie

Wow, the musicality in this group is amazing!  I am having a blast playing piccolo in this group.

For more information about this band, check out the UNLV Bands website:
http://unlvbands.wix.com/unlvbands

Fall 2014 Concerts:

October 2nd, 2014

Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall

Performing Arts Center
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Music:

Festive Overture by Dmitri Shostokovich, transcribed by Donald Hunsberger

Postcard by Frank Ticheli

Requiem by David Maslanka

Bells for Stokowski by Michael Daugherty

November 20th, 2014

Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall

Performing Arts Center

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

American Heroes Concert

This was a very special concert dedicated to veterans of the United States Military.  Not only did we honor our veterans with this concert, but three veterans who fought in WWII attended and were presented with the French Legion of Honor (Chevalier) Aware at this concert.  Afterward, the three heroes stayed after and signed autographs.  What amazing men these were.

We also had a few guest conductors, listed below, a couple of them composed and arranged the pieces they conducted.  One was a former conductor of "The President's Own" Marine Band.

I was able to wear my uniform at this concert, and perform the piccolo solo for Stars and Stripes at the end.  I felt like I was playing with the Army Band...it was sort of a link between two worlds for me, which made it really exciting.

Music:
The Star Spangled Banner by John Stafford Smith (conductor, Professor Thomas Leslie)

American Hero by Bruce Broughton (guest conductor, Bruce Broughton)

American Suite (Movements I&V) by Antonin Dvorak, arr. by Johan de Maij (guest conductor, Johan da Maij)

Incidental Music from the Motion Picture:  LINCOLN by John Williams (conductor, Dr. Zane Douglass, guest narrator, Clarence Gilyard)

Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland, arr. by Walter Beeler (conductor, Professor Leslie, guest narrator, Jeffrey Koep, Ph.D.)

God of Our Fathers by George Warren, arr. by Thomas Knox (conductor, Professor Leslie)

Tribute to Stephen Foster Arr. by Sammy Nestico (guest conductor, Col. John R. Bourgeois, USMC (Ret.) Conductor Director Emeritus, U.S. Marine Band, "The President's Own")

Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa, edited by Col. John R. Bourgeois (guest conductor, Col. John R. Bourgeois)

Spring 2015

Educational Psychology, Professor Ivan Ivanov
I enjoyed this class very much.  I think if I wasn't a music major, I would be a psychology major.  It is a fascinating subject to me, and what I learned in this class will be an important resource for me later on when I begin teaching.

Concert Attendance
10 Convocations.  Fun.

Advanced Musicianship, Dr. Diego Vega
I am FINALLY done with Music Theory!  We learned about 20th century techniques in this class, as much as we were able to cover in the short time there was.  I enjoyed it, but I'm glad it's over!

Choral Practicum, Basic High School, Mr. Ryan Duff
Mr. Ryan Duff was my mentor teacher this semester.  He was an awesome choir director.  One of the highlights was that he has a tradition with his Chamber Choir (Madrigals), where he composes or arranges a pieces for their choir alone, and will be the only choir ever to perform it.  I was there when he passed out the piece to them, his arrangement of "You are Not Alone."

The Healthy Musician, Dr. Stephen Caplan
This was a very illuminating class, teaching us body mapping techniques and a lot of misconceptions musicians (and just anybody) have about their anatomy.

Women's Chorus. Dr. Jocelyn K. Jensen
Again, love this choir!

Community Concert Band, Professor Anthony LaBounty

Flute Lessons, Dr. Jennifer Grim
Here is the repertoire I studied this semester:

Grand Polonaise Op. 16 by Theobold Boehm

Sonatine for Flute and Piano by Henri Dutilleux

Piccolo Concerto in D Major, RV 443 by Antonio Vivaldi

Lachrymose (for piccolo alone), by Derek Charke

Wind Orchestra, Professor Thomas G. Leslie
Concerts:

February 26th, 2015

Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall

Performing Arts Center

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Rocky Point Holiday by Ron Nelson

Gone by Scott McAllister

"March Militaire Francaise" from Suite Algerienne by Camille Saint-Saens, trans. by Mark Hindsley

Asphalt Cocktail by John Mackey

Belkis, Regina di Saba by Ottorino Respighi, trans. by Yoshihiro Kimura

April 23rd, 2015

Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall

Performing Arts Center

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

I couldn't find the program for this concert, so I don't have all of the information (arrangers, etc.).   We performed movie music, so it was a fun one. This is what we performed:

Sea Hawk by Erich Wolfgang Korngold

At the Movies by Philip Sousa

Star Wars by John Williams

Cowboys by John Williams

Riften Wed by Julie Giroux

Ben-Hur by Miklos Rozsa

Did I say "little summary"?  Oops.  Hopefully next time I can split it up more!  I will try to post announcements of upcoming concerts and recitals in the future.