THOMAS DUNN: 1925-2008

Conductor Thomas Dunn died on October 26 in Bloomington, IN.

After a first retirement from Boston University and becoming conductor laureate of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, Dunn began a fourth stage of a brilliant career in music when he joined the choral faculty of the IU Jacobs School of Music faculty in 1990. He officially retired from IU in 1999 but continued to serve as mentor to the graduate choral conducting students and faculty until his death.

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Read the media Announcements:
- Boston Globe
- Musical America
- Indianapolis Star
- Herald Times

Glenn Gass will host “Young@Heart—The Art of Aging” on Nov. 16 at 3:30pm in Whittenberger Auditorium at the IU Memorial Union. The event will feature the film Young @ Heart, Fox-Searchlight’s award-winning documentary about a chorus of 70-, 80-, and 90-year olds whose love of singing together, catalyzed by the creative energy of a remarkable choral director, brings to life the music of rock n’ roll, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues—and keeps the musicians themselves alive and young at heart. There will be a special curtain talk after the show with Bob Cilman, director of the Young@Heart chorus. Before the film, the Carousel Quartet, a barbershop-style quartet who has been singing together in our area for over 20 years, will perform. Tickets: Sunrise Box Office, Bloomingfoods, or 339-1551. More information: www.artofmentalhealth.org.

Brian Horne conducted six hours of master classes at the University of Western Ontario in London on Sept. 19-20, a master class at DePauw University in Greencastle on Oct. 9, and a master class at Indiana State University in Terre Haute on Oct. 26.

Aida Huseynova, adjunct faculty member of the Department of Music in General Studies, serves as research advisor and interpreter for a project of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble: a chamber arrangement of the opera Leyli and Majnun by Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov. The ensemble performed an excerpt from the work in the United Nations General Assembly Hall on Oct. 24—United Nations day and the tenth anniversary of the Silk Road Project. Huseynova gave pre-concert remarks before a performance of the piece on Oct. 30 at the Binghamton University Henderson Theater. The opera was first introduced to U.S. audiences at Harvard University in November 2007. As a part of the Silk Road Ensemble's one-week residency in Harvard, Huseynova gave a lecture on Azerbaijani music and two pre-concert talks at the New College Theatre.

STUDENT NEWS

Several students of Jacobs Professor Brian Horne placed in the National Association of Teachers of Singer (NATS) state competition on Nov. 1 at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. More than 275 vocalists from across Indiana competed in the event.

Valerie Saba-1st place, freshmen women
Ben Smith-1st place, freshmen men
Tyler Webb-2nd place, freshmen men
Evan Thompson-3rd place, freshmen men
Benjamin Gulick-1st place, junior men
Steve Rothkopf-3rd place (tie), junior men
Will Lockhart-3rd place (tie), junior men
Asitha Tennekoon-1st place (tie), advanced men and women

Conductor Ryan McAdams, BM '04, served as assistant conductor for the Aspen Music Festival this summer, at the invitation of David Zinman. McAdams will make debuts in December with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Princeton Symphony. Last season, he led concerts with the New Jersey Symphony and Glimmerglass Opera, made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony, served as cover conductor to David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony for the NYC premiere of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic Symphony," and was assistant conductor for the NYC premiere of Ned Rorem's "Our Town" at the Juilliard School. McAdams was a piano student of Karen Shaw.