2022

Jane Kelly is a second-year Masters Student at BGSU’s College of Musical Arts studying trumpet performance. She is from Albuquerque, New Mexico where she grew up and went to high school. She proceeded to move to Las Cruces, where she pursued her undergraduate degree at New Mexico State University, studying with Dr. Pancho Romero. Through an NMSU alumni connection with BGSU’s Professor of Trumpet Charles Saenz, Jane ended up auditioning for her Master’s degree here at BGSU, where she has begun to make a name for herself by winning and advancing in several national-level competitions.

BGSU Graduate Ensemble Newphonia participated in a two-part residency at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, MI. Composed of a group of five Doctoral students, Newphonia has been playing and performing together since the fall of 2020 and is comprised of five Doctoral students from the BGSU’s School of Music.

The MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music is pleased to announce its participation in Resonate, an exploration of the African Diaspora through the commissioning and performance of seven new American chamber works.

This May 5–8, MACCM and the College of Musical Arts host the Society for Minimalist Music’s Eighth International Conference on Music and Minimalism.

As musicians across the world continued to navigate the murky waters of pandemic-era performance in fall 2021, Bowling Green State University’s 42nd annual New Music Festival offered a beacon of normalcy.

This past November, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music's Music at the Forefront series hosted the remarkable New York-based vocal sextet Ekmeles. The ensemble’s website defines their name as an Ancient Greek term for “tones of indefinite pitch and intervals with complex ratios, tones ‘not appropriate for musical usage.’” In action, they show off their high level of musicianship through a selection of repertoire featuring microtonality, versatility, and the avant-garde. Their November performance presented a cappella works by an array of living composers, and featured precision and sensitivity that showcased the talent of the singers.

For the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park, CMA alumna Kirsten C. Kunkle is premiering an art song for soprano and piano that she was commissioned to write for the event. It is called "Reclaim the Land," and it focuses on the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Yellowstone. Michael Sakir of Intermountain Opera Bozeman will be premiering these pieces with Kristen on piano by the mountains of Yellowstone on August 24th and 25th.

On April 9, 2022, one hundred twenty-five men returned to campus to celebrate 50th anniversary season of the BGSU Men’s Chorus. This Alumni Men’s Chorus consisted of alums from as early as 1972 through as recent as 2021. If gathering to sing, reconnect, and meet new friends wasn’t enough, the guest conducting appearance of Men’s Chorus emeritus director Richard D. Mathey created an over-the-top buzz to maintain the energy through an entire day of rehearsing, socializing, and performing.

The pandemic has disrupted our lives, health, and well-being in so many ways. This is certainly true of live large-scale ensemble performances at the College of Musical Arts. After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, the BG Philharmonia and combined mixed choruses of the College of Musical Arts celebrated the return of such events to Kobacker Hall with a provocative and moving performance of Mendelssohn’s dramatic oratorio Elijah, April 24. Drs. Mark Munson and Richard Schnipke prepared the A Cappella Choir, University Choral Society, and Collegiate Chorale. Dr. Emily Freeman Brown led the BG Philharmonia and choruses from the podium.

Effie Papanikolaou (musicology) is the co-editor of an exciting new publication. Titled Sacred and Secular Intersections in Music of the Long Nineteenth Century: Church, Stage, and Concert Hall (Lexington Books, 2022), the book explores the impact of religious subjects on secular music in the long nineteenth century.