The University of Oklahoma MTNA Collegiate Chapter has been selected as the 2017 Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Chapter of the Year. This honor recognizes the University of Oklahoma MTNA Collegiate Chapter’s commitment to the music teaching profession and MTNA. The committee felt that the OU chapter’s activities were strongly oriented toward excellent music making and teaching, and that the chapter was doing excellent work in advancing the profession among the next generation of teachers. They will receive the award at the March 2017 National Conference in Baltimore.
December 2017
Dr. Jennifer Saltzstein, Associate Professor of Musicology in the OU School of Music published her article, "Rape and Repentance in Two Medieval Motets" in the fall 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Musicological Society, the top academic journal in the field of musicology.
December 2017
Dr. Kostas Karathanasis, Associate Professor of Composition in the OU School of Music been elected to the position of Vice President of Membership for the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States. SEAMUS is a non-profit national organization of composers, performers, and teachers of electro-acoustic music representing every part of the country and virtually every musical style.
November 2017
Nationally recognized musician and Professor of Music, Karl Sievers has been named the 2017 Irene and Julian J. Rothbaum Presidential Professor of Excellence in the Arts at the University of Oklahoma Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts.
At OU, in addition to teaching, Sievers has served as the area chair for the School of Music, as chair of the OU Compensation Committee, as a Faculty Senator to all brass and percussion performance majors, and he also has served on many master of music and doctor of musical arts committees.
Students of Sievers have been accepted in significant numbers into the best graduate programs in the United States. In the National Trumpet Competition, Sievers’ students won awards in every division, including masters solo, college solo, etude, jazz improvisation, brass quintet, and trumpet ensemble. The only schools in the nation with comparable achievements are Julliard and Northwestern.
Sievers has served as a member of the board of directors for one of the most important organizations of trumpeters in the world, the International Trumpet Guild. He also serves on the guild’s editorial committee as a jurist for the article selection process. Further, he was the general manager and on the advisory board for the International Trumpet Competition for 20 years.
In 2014, Sievers created and hosted the William Adam International Trumpet Festival from 2014 to 2016. He is an active guest artist/clinician, performing and teaching around the country with university, high school and middle school student groups. Closer to home, Sievers maintains a thorough performance schedule as a member of the OU Faculty Brass Quintet, as a soloist, and as Principal Trumpeter with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
November 2017
Anthony Conroy (BMA, student of Marvin Lamb) awarded the Young Artist Winner at the Music Teachers National Association Composition Competition for the South-Central Division.
November 2017
During the Texoma Regional NATS Conference, Robert Hartfield (BM Voice) won First Place in Senior Men, Bea Kim (BM Voice) placed 2nd in Junior Women, Maddie Breedlove (BM Voice) placed 3rd in Senior Women, Nick Skotzko (BM Voice) placed 3rd in Sophomore Men, and David Soto Zambrana (MM Voice) placed 4th in Graduate men.
November 2017
Elizabeth Strickland (MM Piano Performance and Pedagogy) won the Graduate Division, Category C at the OMTA Piano Competition.
November, 2017
Dorian McCall (MM Voice) was awarded 3rd place in the NATSAA Singer of the Year Competition.
November, 2017
Hsin-I Guo (DMA Piano Performance) awarded alternate in the OMTA Collegiate Competition, Graduate Division.
November 2017
Provost Certificate of Distinction in Teaching awarded to Chin Jung Hsieh (MM Piano Performance and Pedagogy) and Jared Rixstine (MM Piano Performance and Pedagogy) for distinction in teaching at OU for the Spring 2017 term.
September 2017
Ariel Thomasson (BMA 2017) accepted to the MM program in Music Therapy at Texas Women’s University.
September 2017
Corey Hubbard (BM Composition) and Charles Iskander (MM Composition) each received Honorable Mention in the MTNA Oklahoma Young Artist Composition Competition.
September 2017
Anthony Conroy (BMA, student of Marvin Lamb) declared the winner of the MTNA Oklahoma Young Artist Composition Competition.
August 2017
Alex Rodriguez (MM 2017) hired as elementary music teacher at Heronville Elementary; Nueva band director & flute/clarinet instructor for El System Oklahoma.
August 2017
Chin Jung Hsieh (MM Piano Performance and Pedagogy) received second prize at the Baltimore International Piano Festival Competition.
August 2017
Chelsea Bravo (BM Flute) was accepted to attend the Flute masterclass summer study at Eastman School of Music.
August 2017
The poster presentation of Clara Boyett (DMA Piano Performance and Pedagogy) entitled “Developing Confident Performers: The Pre-College Teacher and Performance Anxiety” was accepted for GP3 at Oberlin College
June 2017
Chin Jung Hsieh (MM Piano Performance and Pedagogy) was awarded the winner of the Oklahoma MTNA Young Artist Competition and received an Honorable mention at the OMTA Collegiate Competition, Graduate Division.
May 2017
Danur Kvilhaug (2016 MM in Musicology) accepted into the DMA program at Indiana University, one of the most prestigious programs in the U.S. He is pursuing a degree in Early Music Performance
May 2017
Lauren Hughes (DMA Flute 2017) hired as adjunct in Arts and Humanities at Murray State College in Tishimingo, OK; piccoloist for the OKC Community Orchestra.
March 2017
OU Bassoonists, Jared Shay (Soph BM/BME) and Daniel Kavelman (Freshman BM/Engineering), participated in the Ladies Music Club of OKC Young Artists Competition. Daniel Kavelman earned Third Alternate.
March 2017
The MTNA National Conference at the Disney Coronado Springs Resort in Florida accepted the poster presentation of Clara Boyett (DMA Piano Performance and Pedagogy) entitled "Managing Performance Anxiety: Contributors and Treatments”
The MTNA's Young Artist Performance Competition awarded Evan Harris 2nd place.
The Stentorian Quartet was invited to participate in the MTNA Chamber Music Competition, placing 3rd in the national round. Members of the quartet are Evan Harris, Spiro Nicolas, Jake Hewitt, and Tyler Bokman.
February 2017
Christopher Madden, DMA ABD, was appointed as Lecturer in Piano at Baylor University for the 2016-2017 academic term for a a one-year, full-time appointment. In fall 2017, he joins the faculty at Texas Women’s University as Assistant Professor in Piano Pedagogy in a tenure track position.
Lynn Worcester, DMA 2015, has been named Instructor of Piano Performance and Pedagogy for the 2016-17 academic year at the University of Northern Iowa.
Patrick Lahan, Cindy Graeler, Christina Kettering (Graduates, 2016) recently opened private piano studios in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Panama City, FL respectively.
February 2017
January 2017
The MTNA Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium at the University of Texas in Austin accepted the session presentation of Clara Boyett (DMA Piano Performance and Pedagogy) entitled “Scope for the Imagination: Inspiring Creativity through Character Pieces” and the poster presentation entitled “Developing Confident Performers: The Pre-College Teacher and Performance Anxiety”. Also accepted was the poster presentation of John Patrick Murphy (DMA Piano Performance and Pedagogy) entitled "The Neglected Consolations of Franz Liszt".
