Dear Mason Music Family,

Happy New Year! We are pleased to announce our Spring 2023 Dewberry Faculty Artist Series (free Sunday concerts in Harris Theater) and our Spring 2023 Dewberry School of Music Concert Series (ticketed events) featuring our outstanding student ensembles.  Please join us for these marvelous faculty recitals and student ensemble concerts.  

Welcome to four new adjunct faculty members for our spring 2023 semester: Dr. Gene Galvin, applied voice and opera stage director; Prof. Nana Vaughn, applied viola; Prof. Tyson Sterne, supervision of student teachers (music education); and Prof. Thomas Tyra, music technology (advanced mixing techniques).  

Kudos to our Mason Jazz Ensembles for their tremendous performances at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference in Orlando, Florida last week. Congratulations to Mason faculty for presentations at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in December. Prof. Emeritus Mark Camphouse was honored by the National Band Association as the recipient of their 2022 Distinguished Service Award. Kudos to Megan Slay (DMA candidate in piano performance) for winning first prize in the Charleston International Music Competition, announced January 10.  

Our Mason Music community continues to grieve the loss of our beloved colleague and friend, Prof. John Aler, who suddenly passed away on December 10th.  A brilliant artist and devoted teacher, Prof. Aler leaves a long and lasting legacy through his celebrated recordings and through the many students he taught and mentored at Mason since joining our faculty in 2010. One of America's great lyric tenors, John Aler was an inspiration to the entire music world and to our Dewberry School of Music. Our music students led a poignant memory sharing session on December 15 at Mason and we will announce a formal celebration of life service at a future date.

With sincere wishes for a new year filled with good health and with beautiful music to inspire and uplift,

Dr. Linda A. Monson, Director

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Dr. Gene Galvin, bass-baritone, will be joining the Dewberry School of Music applied adjunct voice faculty in Spring 2023 and will continue to serve as Mason Opera Stage Director in Spring 2023.

Dr. Galvin earned the BA in Music Education from Frostburg State University, the MM in Voice Performance from The Catholic University of America, and the DMA in Opera Performance from the University of Maryland, where he studied with Dominic Cossa. 

As an opera director, Dr. Galvin has staged his own translations of Donizetti’s Rita and Viardot’s Cendrillon. He has staged opera productions for the University of Maryland Opera Workshop, the UNC Opera, the Opera Theater of Northern Virginia, Belcantanti Opera, and The Catholic University of America opera. Additionally, he served as opera scenes director for the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival in Maiori, Italy.

Dr. Gene Galvin, Bass-Baritone, praised in Opera News for his “rich voice and superb musicianship,” has sung with the Washington, Wolf Trap, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Sarasota and National Operas, Opera New England, Opera Theater of Northern Virginia, and Summer Opera Theater companies. He appeared at Constitution Hall as Sarastro in Magic Flute under the baton of Victor Borge, and as the title character in Marriage of Figaro with the New York Grand Opera. His roles also include Basilio, Don Giovanni, Colline, Dulcamara, Gremin, DeBecque and Pandolfe. He played Marshall opposite Patti Lupone in the Kennedy Center production of Regina, and created two roles in Wolf Trap Opera’s critically acclaimed world premiere of John Musto’s Volpone. 

Prof. Nana Gaskins Vaughn, Adjunct Applied Faculty in Viola at the Dewberry School of Music at George Mason University, is in high demand as a freelance musician and teacher in the Mid-Atlantic region. A passionate educator, Vaughn founded Violin2Viola, a series of international online workshops sponsored by Shar Music that are designed to help violinists learn to play and teach the viola. At the college level, she has also taught at The Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College, Elizabethtown College, Georgetown University Orchestra, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Purdue University. 

As a violist, she plays regularly with the Baltimore Symphony, Washington National Opera, and National Symphony, performing with some of the world's most renowned conductors and musicians. She has served as principal viola with Postclassical Ensemble and Opera Italiana; she is currently assistant principal viola of the Reading Symphony and is also a section viola player in the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. She performed in the orchestra for the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors attended by President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and other dignitaries. Prof. Vaughn's chamber music partners have included members of the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Vaughn has performed frequently on the Washington Musica Viva chamber recital series and most recently, performed on-screen in a small ensemble in the documentary, Avenegar, featuring the composition of Dr. Reza Vali. The film was the subject of a screening and panel discussion at UCLA in 2022.

Prof. Tyson Sterne is an experienced music educator working with 4th through 12th grade instrumental music ensembles and K-12 general music since 2001. Mr. Sterne has taught in Seattle Public Schools in Washington state, Chicago Public Schools in Illinois, Vancouver, WA Public Schools, and Miami-Dade Public Schools in Florida. Mr. Sterne currently teaches itinerant elementary strings for Fairfax County Public Schools and is the Commander of the 44th Army Band for the New Mexico National Guard. 

Prof. Sterne holds a Master's Degree in Music Education with a focus on conducting from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.  

Prof. Thomas E. Tyra holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Technology and an Engineering emphasis with a minor in Audio Production from George Mason University. He also holds a Master of Arts in Audio Sciences with a concentration in Recording and Production from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.

As an audio engineer, Mr. Tyra works with a variety of artists, musical acts, and voice talent at Bias Studios in Springfield, VA. He also provides location recording and live sound reinforcement in the greater Washington, D.C. area. His experience in recording and mixing spans a broad range of musical styles, including influences from classical, jazz, R&B, funk, hip-hop, pop, rock, and world music. Additionally, Prof. Tyra has worked extensively in recording and post-production for audiobooks, podcasts, spoken word, and commercial voice-over.

Congratulations to our Mason Jazz Ensemble and Mason Vocal Jazz Ensemble who performed at the Jazz Education Network National Conference (JEN) in Orlando, Florida in early January. Mason Jazz Faculty Dr. Shawn Purcell and Dr. Kevin McDonald presented and performed at JEN.

Pictured above from top: Mason Vocal Jazz Ensemble (directed by Dr. Darden Purcell), Mason Jazz Ensemble (directed by Prof. Jim Carroll), and the "The Shawn Purcell Group" (Dr. Shawn Purcell, Pat Bianchi, Dr. Darden Purcell, and Joe McCarthy).

Mason Faculty Dr. Soo Han, Director of Orchestral Studies and Dr. June Huang, Director of Strings presented at the annual Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.

Prof. Mark Camphouse, Composition Faculty Emeritus, was honored by the National Band Association as the recipient of their 2022 Distinguished Service Award "in recognition of exemplary service to the National Band Association and tireless efforts on behalf of bands and band music."

The award was presented to Prof. Camphouse by Colonel Jason Fettig, director of "The President's Own" United States Marine Band at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in December.

Mason Faculty Dr. William L. Lake, Jr.,

Director of Bands with Mason Music Students.

Huge congratulations to Megan Slay for winning 1^st prize in the 2022 Charleston International Music (Piano) Competition with a stunning performance of Alberto Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas. A piano student of Dr. Linda Apple Monson, Megan Slay is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Mason. This prestigious first prize for the Charleston International Music (piano) Competition was announced January 10, 2023, 

Mason Brass Faculty Dr. Mark Jenkins, Euphonium and Dr. Alan Carr, Trombone performed with Barclay Brass in November.

Mason Flute Professor Julianna Nickel was featured in the Mason Provost Newsletter in December. "Julianna Nickel Overcame a Rare Neurological Condition to Continue Playing the Flute." Written by Maha Aamir, this article shares the inspiring story of how Prof. Nickel received the diagnosis of focal dystonia, yet continued to perform, teach, and thrive.