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FACULTY NEWS

Kevin Class , visiting lecturer of opera studies, is wrapping up an active season of performances and teaching. In January, he performed and taught master classes for singers and conductors for the opera program at Ithaca College in New York. In February, Class conducted the Opera Illinois ( Peoria) production of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. A resounding success with the audience, press, and musicians, he has been reengaged by Opera Illinois to conduct during the 2006-2007 season. In response to his work with the company, Opera Illinois issued a statement commenting that “From the opening bars of the first rehearsal, he caressed a sound more lovely than any of us had ever thought possible. In his hands, he created a moment of indescribable beauty. The performance was a revelation for those that knew the piece, as well as those who had never heard it before.” In March, his performance as soloist in Scriabini’s Piano Concerto, with the White Mountain Symphony Orchestra, was broadcast on Arizona Public Television. Read more at http://www.kevinclass.com .

Costanza Cuccaro has been invited to present master classes and a lecture/demonstration on vocal technique and vocal exercises at the Classical Singer National Convention this May in Philadelphia. Edwin Penhorwood will also participate in the convention.

Jane Fulcher delivered a keynote address at the international conference on "The Composer as Intellectual: the Centenary of Fernando Lopes-Graca" held in Coimbra, Portugal, April 26-29, 2006. Her subject was "Poulenc as Intellectual, Composer, and Resistant during Vichy."

Paul Kiesgen , professor of voice and vocal pedagogy, presented a lecture to the IU student chapter of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) on April 10. His topic was “Resonance Strategies for Male Singers.” The presentation offered information on the differences between resonance strategies for male and female singers, using film clips of major singers in performance and electronically generated visual displays of resonance distribution. The lecture was previously presented to the Chicago Singing Teachers Guild in March and will also be on the program for the national conference of NATS in Minneapolis this July. The fourth in his series of articles explaining the basic terms of vocal pedagogy, “Resonance” appeared in the March/ April issue of Journal of Singing and the final article in the series, “Registration,” will be published in May.

STUDENT NEWS

Brian Buch 's work Shadows, for orchestra, was selected from over 120 works submitted to the Miami ISCM Section by more than 75 composers. The work is being sent to Hong Kong as part of a group of up to six works being sent from the Miami ISCM Section to represent the U.S. at the World Music Days (WMD) in November 2007. The final selection of works to be presented at the WMD will be decided by the festival directors and artistic committee in Hong Kong. Bulch's work was one of three selected from all of the submissions received.

Robert Brandt , a student of Costanza Cuccaro, won the district round in the NATSAA Art Song Competition on March 18 and advanced to the regional competition in April.

Bryan Christian was awarded the full amount of the Research Grant by the Hutton Honors College to support his project "Musical Intensity as n-Spheres" (spheres with more than three dimensions). This research project is to be carried out during the summer of 2006 under the supervision of Professor Eric Isaacson, culminating with the completion of a research paper. Additionally, Christian plans to utilize his findings in the composition of a new work for large orchestra.

Senior Andrew Darling was awarded the third prize Anton Guadagno Award in the junior division of the 37th Annual Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition. He was awarded $4,500 and performed in a concert with the other winners on April 30. In conjunction with winning the award, he will return to Palm Beach in the fall and perform a concert for the Il Circolo Italian Society of Palm Beach. Darling studies with Andreas Poulimenos and Virginia Zeani.

Kathryn Leemhuis was the first-place graduate winner in the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition on March 4. She won $1,500 and presented a recital in Indianapolis on April 21. Leemhuis is a student of Costanza Cuccaro.

Tenor Brian Manternach and mezzo-soprano Sarah Daughtrey, both doctoral students, were soloists with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra as part of the Chamber Concert Series performance of Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass on April 9 at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The concert was entitled "A Very Haydn Easter" and featured the South Bend Chamber Singers and the Notre Dame Chorale under the baton of Maestro TsungYeh, music director and conductor of the symphony. Manternach is a student of Robert Harrison and Daughtrey is a student of Patricia Wise.

Doctoral composition student Yoomi Paick and master's composition student Clint Needham received Honorable Mentions from the 2006 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards. Also, Paick's piece "CREDO" was selected for the fifth annual Essentially Choral reading session of Vocal Essence. The reading sessions will take place May 12-13 in Minneapolis, MN.

Vera Savage and Marc Schapman were winners in the National Society of Arts and Letters Competition on February 18. Savage won second place and Schapman won seventh. Also, Savage won second place and $1,600 in the Bel Canto Competition held in Chicago on April 1. Schapman won third place in the Quad Cities Voice Competition on March 18. Both are students of Costanza Cuccaro.

Robin Scott , a violinist from the Kuttner Quartet, won second place in the Senior Section of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists on April 8. The Competition is divided into two sections: a Junior Section, with 22 candidates under 16 years of age, and a Senior Section, with 20 candidates under 22 years of age. Over 120 candidates from around the world submitted their applications. He is a student of Miriam Fried.

Brian Stucki , a student of Costanza Cuccaro, will sing the role of Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with the Michigan Opera Theatre this May.

Trio di Colore will perform at the Dame Myra Hess chamber concert series in Chicago this May, which will be broadcast live on radio. The trio was established at the Jacobs School of Music three years ago by clarinetist Guy Yehuda, doctoral student of James Campbell; violist Yuval Gotlibovich, assistant professor and former student of Atar Arad; and pianist Jimmy Briere, former student of Menahem Pressler. The trio will release its first CD on the XXI production label in early 2007.

ALUMNI NEWS

Christiaan (Chris) Crans, DM Instrumental Conducting, finished the April 17 Boston Marathon in 3:01:38, placing him among the top 6-7% 2006 finishers.

Hoo Ryung Hwang will be singing the role of Serviglia in La Clemenza di Tito with the Washington National Opera this May. Hoo Ryung continues to study with Costanza Cuccaro.

Tenor Matthias Klink presented his 148th performance of Belmonte with the Cincinnati Symphony on April 26. Klink has performed this role with the National Theater in Munich, the Salzburg Festival, the opera house in Parma, Italy, in Stuttgart, and Festival of Aix-en-Provence, among others. Additional appearances include Fidelio at Teatro alla Scala (Milan) with Maestro Muti, Alfred in Die Fledermaus at the Salzburg Festival, Lenski in Eugene Onegin and Hans in The Bartered Bride at the Kommische Opera in Berlin, Fenton in Falstaff at Hamburg Opera, and Cologne Opera, among others. Further engagements include guest contracts with the Volksoper ( Vienna), Stuttgart Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin ( Germany), and Salzburg Festival ( Austria). Klink was a student of Carlos Montane.

Laura Nolen will be covering the role of Siegrune in Die Walkure in the Metropolitan Opera's tour of Japan this May. While at IU, she was a student of Costanza Cuccaro.

Twyla Robinson will be singing the soprano solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with The Los Angeles Philharmonic May 13, 14, and 15. She will then travel to Berlin to sing Mahler's Eighth Symphony with The Berlin StaatsKapelle on May 23 and 24. From May 26 to July 1, Robinson will be singing the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro with The San Francisco Opera. She continues to study with Costanza Cuccaro.

Mezzo-soprano Nadine Weissmann debuted with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon in April, under the baton of Lawrence Foster. Originally hired to sing the Page in Richard Strauss’ Salome, Weissmann replaced a sick colleague and learned the part of Herodias in less than 24 hours. She proceeded to perform both roles in the two concerts, to standing ovations. She is currently rehearsing the role of Florence Pike for a production of Albert Herring in Lübeck.

PLEASE NOTE
The next issue of Fanfare will be published May 5, 2006. Please e-mail submissions to musicpub@indiana.edu by Wednesday, May 3, at 10:00 a.m. Don't forget to include web-quality photos! To ensure that the most accurate information is published, please proof materials before submitting.