Dear Mason Music Family,

The faculty and students of the Dewberry School of Music have beautiful music to share throughout this cold month of February. We are excited to present our Dewberry Faculty Artist Series (live and live-streamed viewing options) with free Sunday concerts in Harris Theater. We kick off our Dewberry Faculty Artist Series on SuperBowl Sunday, February 13th at 3 pm with Christopher Jewell, bassoon and Emily Foster, oboe featuring works by Poulenc, Vivaldi, Villa Lobos, and Mark Camphouse. 

Our concert double-header on February 20th features a 3 pm performance with clarinetist Kathleen Mulcahy and pianist Sophia Kim Cook and a 7 pm performance with our outstanding Brass Faculty. Our February 27th concert features Julianna Nickel, flute and Eunae Ko Han, piano.

We are thrilled to present the Mason Jazz Festival on Saturday, February 26th with a closing concert by the United States Army Blues Jazz Ensemble. We are also pleased to announce our Spring 2022 Concert Series featuring our outstanding instrumental and vocal ensembles within the Dewberry School of Music. 

We are pleased to welcome two new adjunct faculty members this spring semester: Dr. Kanako Chikami, percussion and Prof. Mary Ulrey, music education.  

How happy we are to announce the five Mason students selected as winners of our School of Music Concerto Competition: Eduardo Fajardo, flute; GaYoung Lee, piano; Madeline Manaker, mezzo-soprano; Ethan Walter, violin; and Rosie Wright, mezzo-soprano. These five student winners will have the opportunity to perform as soloists with the Mason Symphony Orchestra (MSO), Dr. Soo Han, Director, at the March 7th and May 8th MSO concerts. 

Please join us as we celebrate joyous music at Mason with our extraordinary students and faculty!

Warmest regards,

Our Dewberry Faculty Artist Series continues with a performance by Prof. Julianna Nickel (flute) and Dr. Eunae Ko Han (collaborative piano).

Please join us as Prof. Nickel takes a victory lap to show off the amazing results of her 2018 ground-breaking surgery for hand focal dystonia.

This concert will feature works by Uebayashi, Coleman, and Jolivet.

Watch a short teaser video here!

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Dr. Kanako Chikami, a native of Japan, is thrilled to be an adjunct percussion faculty member for the Dewberry School of Music of George Mason University.

Prof. Mary Ulrey earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Indiana University School of Music studying under Fred Ebbs, Ray Cramer, Henry Gulick, and Robert Klotman. While at IU, she advocated for women to be able to join the Marching Hundred and was in the first class of five women to march. Ms. Ulrey completed her seasons with honors. In 1990, Ms. Ulrey received the MA degree in Instrumental Conducting from George Mason University, where she studied under Professor Tony J. Maiello.

Congratulations to our Mason vocal and instrumental students on their Kennedy Center performance last weekend! They performed with the Asian American Music Society (AAMS), coordinated by Mason faculty member Dr. Mira Yang, at the Millennium Stage for their Prelude to Lunar New Year Young Musicians Concert. The evening showcased the 2021 AAMS competition winners. The performance included traditional classical repertoires of West to East.

We are thrilled to announce the five students who have been selected as winners of our School of Music Concerto Competition! Finalist auditions occurred on Monday, January 24th in our Center for the Arts Concert Hall and were evaluated by three external adjudicators: Jan Wagner, Director of Orchestral Studies at Shenandoah University; Christopher Cicconi, Director of Bands and Orchestras at Towson University; and Timothy Dixon, Director of Orchestral Studies at Messiah College. These five student winners will have the opportunity to perform as soloists with the Mason Symphony Orchestra (MSO), Dr. Soo Han, Director, at the March 7th and May 8th MSO concerts. The winners are: Eduardo Fajardo, GaYoung Lee, Madeline Manaker, Ethan Walter, and Rosie Wright.

From West Orange, NJ, Eduardo Fajardo, is a Senior at George Mason University. Eduardo, studying with Professor Julianna Nickel, is pursuing a BM in Flute Performance. Currently, Eduardo is a Co-Principal of the Wind Symphony, and holds Principal positions with the Symphony Orchestra. Under the direction of Maestro Anthony Maiello, Eduardo was honored to perform with the American Festival Pops Orchestra as a section flutist. He was selected to perform as a featured soloist during his freshman year in Mason’s 2019 Annual Honors Recital, and has performed in masterclasses with Dr. Christopher Chafee, Marianne Gedigian, and Adrienne Baker. He has performed and recorded with the Mason Flute Choir, with venues including the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, live on Channel 5 news, Fairfax Town Hall, Fairfax City’s Parking Day, and the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention.

Eduardo will be performing Griffes' Poem for Flute and Orchestra with the Mason Symphony Orchestra at their May 8th concert.

GaYoung Lee, a native of Seoul, South Korea, is a doctoral candidate in Piano Performance at George Mason University as a piano student of Dr. Linda Apple Monson.  GaYoung has performed as a collaborative pianist for Mason’s opera productions and has accompanied many instrumental and voice studios at George Mason University. GaYoung Lee recently won a gold medal in the prestigious 2021 Grand Maestro International Music Competition and a silver medal in the 2021 North American Virtuoso International Music Competition. GaYoung earned her master's degree in Piano Performance at Mason and her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance at the Catholic University of Korea. She won First prize from The Piano Society of Korea and was the Second place winner in both the Young Artist Piano Concours and Brahms Concours. In addition, GaYoung Lee has participated in numerous master classes and music festivals held in Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Russia, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, New England.

GaYoung will be playing movement III from Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Mason Symphony Orchestra at their March 7th concert.

Madeline Manaker, mezzo-soprano, is a first year Master's student at George Mason University studying under Dr. Elissa Alvarez. In the fall, Madeline performed as Armelinde in Mason Opera's production of Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon. Recently, Madeline performed the title role in Rossini's La Cenerentola with La Musica Lirica. Other credits include receiving honors and second place in VANATS, and in previous summers participating as a young artist in the Berkshires High Peaks Festival and the Russian Opera Workshop.

Madeline will be performing Bizet's "Seguidilla" (from Pres des remparts) with the Mason Symphony Orchestra at their May 8th concert.

Ethan Walter is a sophomore from Fairfax, Virginia pursuing a dual degree in Music and Mathematics. A student of Professor June Huang, Ethan is a Monson Scholar and recipient of a Grace Aitel scholarship at the Dewberry School of Music. He is the concertmaster of the Mason Symphony Orchestra and an active chamber musician. Ethan has performed in masterclasses with Nurit Bar-Josef, Sibbi Bernhardsson, and Kimberly Fisher. He attended the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. Ethan was the concertmaster of the Fairfax High School Chamber Orchestra, the co-concertmaster of the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and was selected for the Virginia All State Orchestra. 

Ethan will be performing movement I from Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Mason Symphony Orchestra at their May 8th concert.

Rosie Wright is currently a fourth-year Senior vocal performance major studying with Professor Patricia Miller. She is a mezzo-soprano from Harrisonburg, VA, and she has enjoyed performing with George Mason's Chamber Singers, University Chorale, and Mason Opera in their Fall and Spring productions. Some of her most notable roles have been Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Nerone in the Coronation of Poppea, and coming up this spring 2022 she will be singing the title role in Rossini’s Cenerentola. In February 2021, Rosie won first in the Friday Morning Music Club’s Sue Goetz Ross competition for voice, and in the same year she won first in the VA State, and Mid-Atlantic Regional NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), allowing her to advance to the semi-final round of NATS at the National level.

Rosie will be performing Rossini' "Una voce poco fa" (from The Barber of Seville) with the Mason Symphony Orchestra at their March 7th concert.

Kudos to Dr. Angela Ammerman (Adjunct Professor, Music Education) on the publishing of her new book, The Music Teacher's Guide to Engaging English Language Learners! This publication also includes chapters written by Dr. Charles Ciorba, Director of Music Education, and Dr. Linda Monson, Director of the Dewberry School of Music.

Find out more about Dr. Ammerman's book here!

Kudos to Dr. Charles Ciorba, Director of Music Education, on the publishing on his newest article in the International Journal of Music Education! His article, titled “The Creation and Validation of a Jazz Theory Measure: Implications for Improvisation Education ”, examines the Jazz Theory Measure (JTM) through various factors and analyses. Read the article here.

We are very pleased to offer a special musical treat of the September 2021 Grand Piano Celebration, recorded in our beautiful Center for the Arts! See below for a link to the entire concert performance featuring outstanding student artists performing Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Fernando Obradors, Florence Price, and Alexander Scriabin and faculty artists, Dr. Linda Monson, Dr. Dennis Edelbrock, Dr. Anna Balakerskaia, Dr. John Healey, and Dr. Eunae Ko Han, performing a stunning all-Gershwin tribute. Gershwin's beloved Rhapsody in Blue, I Got Rhythm, and Fantasy on Porgy and Bess are featured!