Dear Mason Music Family,

Happy March! Welcome Spring! Our Dewberry School of Music students and faculty are excited to share marvelous music at Mason throughout the month of March.  

Mason's contemporary music ensemble, New Sound Collective, performs this Friday evening March 3 with a concert featuring John Cage's Radio Music, as well as works by Fulton, Rzewski, Kenlon, and additional 20^th and 21^st century composers. 

Our University Chamber Singers, under the direction of Dr. Lisa Billingham, will present a beautiful concert Women in Song this Sunday, March 5 at 4 pm in Harris Theater.  Works by Betty Jackson King, Vivian Fung, Fanny Hensel, Alice Parker, Emma Lou Diemer, and additional female composers will be highlighted. 

Come hear our Mason Symphony Orchestra, directed by Dr. Soo Han, on Monday March 6 featuring Dvorak's beloved Symphony No. 9 From the New World, Jacques Ibert's Concertino da Camera with concerto competition winner Stephen Sim, saxophonist, and the beautiful Arirang Fantasy arranged by SungHwan Choi. 

Join us for Good Vibrations featuring the Mason Healing Arts Ensemble on Wednesday, March 22 at 5 PM in a special program presented by our Friends of Music at Mason. And mark your calendars now for our Big Band Showdown on Monday, March 27 with our Mason Jazz Ensemble and Mason Jazz Workshop celebrating the swinging beats of the Big Band Era! 

Congratulations to Mason Vocal Studies Student Winners who competed in the 2023 Virginia State National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) last weekend. Our Mason vocalists triumphed with thirteen student winners! We are so proud of our outstanding singers and our Mason Vocal Studies Area faculty, led by Prof. Patricia Miller. 

What a thrilling and compelling concert we experienced on February 28 with our Mason Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band Concert, under the direction of Dr. William L. Lake, Jr. We heard Prof. John Kocur's soulful saxophone solo on Duke Ellington's Come Sunday. The Dewberry School of Music collaborated with the Mason School of Dance in Omar Thomas' work, Come Sunday, with choreography by Mason Dance Professor Lawrence Jackson. This stunning concert collaboration was video recorded for Mason Arts at Home and will be available for viewing by the end of March.  

Thank you for your support of our Mason artists.  We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming concerts in March!

Warm regards,

Dr. Linda A. Monson, Director

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

NEW SOUND COLLECTIVE CONCERT

Friday, March 3 at 8 PM

deLaski 3001

The New Sound Collective will be performing works by living DMV area and important 20th century composers. Featuring works by John Cage, Ruby Fulton, Frederic Rzewski, William Kenlon, and improvisatory styles each piece explores an aspect of process--some audible, others used during composition.

CONCERT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

UNIVERSITY CHAMBER SINGERS CONCERT: Women in Song

Sunday, March 5

Harris Theatre, Fairfax Campus

3:30 PM – Pre-Concert Curtain Talk

4:00 PM – Concert

Tickets: $12 General Public, $8 Seniors, $5 Students

The University Chamber Singers will present Women in Song on March 5, 2023, at 4 pm in the Harris Theater on the Fairfax campus. Please join us for a series of works composed by female composers. The choir has been working on a work by Vivan Fung based on a Balinese dance called the Kecuk. The students are studying the movement of the Kecuk with a professional dancer and two guest dancers will be featured as a part of the concert, with thanks to the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC for their support.

MASON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CONCERTO SOLOIST CONCERT

Monday, March 6

Concert Hall, Center for the Arts

8:00 PM – Concert

Tickets: $15 General Public, $10 Seniors, $5 Students

The Mason Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Soo Han will perform the Arirang Fantasy, Ibert's Concertino da Camera for Alto Saxophone with soloist Stephen Sim, and Symphony No. 9 in E minor from Dvorak's New World Symphony.

Join us for Good Vibrations, Music to Make you Feel Better featuring the Mason Healing Arts Ensemble. The presentation is on Wednesday, March 22 at 5 PM on the Linda Apple Monson Grand Tier in the Center for the Arts. Open as both a virtual and in-person event, please RSVP to Rachel Ingle at ringle@gmu.edu.

BIG BAND SHOWDOWN

March 27 at 8 pm

Center for the Arts Concert Hall

Tickets: $12 General Public, $8 Seniors, $5 Students

Join the Mason Jazz Ensemble (directed by Prof. Jim Carroll) and the Jazz Workshop (directed by Prof. John Kocur) for an evening that celebrates the hot sounds and swinging beats of the Big Band era!

Come see Spanish pianist Carlos Marín Rayo perform at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University on Tuesday, April 4th. His program will feature the repertoire of Antonio Soler, Miguel Bustamante Guerrero, Enric Granados, Isaac Albéniz, and Robert Schumann. This performance is free and open to the public.

Carlos Marín Rayo will also give a Lecture-Recital on on Monday, April 3 at 12:30-1:30 pm in deLaski 3001 titled Isaac Albéniz: in pursuit of transcendence' A performance study focusing on the use of regional folklore and his Romantic aspirations in his piano music.

Carlos Marín Rayo will also present a piano Masterclass on Wednesday, April 5 at 11:30 am-1:30 pm in the Choral Room A323 deLaski Performing Arts building.

Saturday, March 4 at 2 PM

Elaine Hopkins, Clarinet &

Alexandra Kowalski, Horn

Non-Degree Recital*

Saturday, March 4 at 7 PM

Katie Repka, Clarinet

Doctoral Lecture Recital*

Sunday, March 5 at 12 noon

Samantha Clarke, Conducting

Doctoral Lecture Recital*

Sunday, March 5 at 7 PM

Jaelin Mitchell, Voice

Senior Recital*

Wednesday, March 22 at 8 PM

Andrew Bell, Bassoon

Non-Degree Recital*

Saturday, March 25 at 5 PM

Gregory Freeman, Trombone

Doctoral Lecture Recital*

Sunday, March 26 at 8 PM

Trip Nguyen, Clarinet

Non-Degree Recital*

Tuesday, March 28 at 8 PM

Charlie Murdock, Jazz Voice

Senior Recital*

All student recitals are both live in-person performances and live-streamed.

* indicates MUSI 300 Credit given for attendance

12:30 PM Departmental Student Recitals: March 2023

Monday, March 6 at 12:30 PM Trombone Departmental in Harris Theater

Wednesday, March 8 at 12:30 PM Trumpet Departmental in deLaski 3001

Friday, March 10 at 12:30 PM George Mason University Tuba Euphonium Ensemble Departmental in deLaski 3001

Friday, March 24 at 12:30 PM Vocal Departmental

Mason Jazz Mondays: March 2023

Monday, March 6 at 12:30 PM Jazz Combos in Jazz Room

Monday, March 27 at 12:30 PM Latin American Ensemble in Jazz Room

All departmental recitals are free and open to the public. Departmental recitals will occur in-person. 

Congratulations to Mason Vocal Studies Student Winners who competed in the 2023 Virginia State National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) at Old Dominion University this past weekend.

Mason Flute Professor Julianna Nickel performed with Julie McDonald, Doctoral Flute student, and Bora Lee, pianist in a "low flutes" program. Prof. Nickel also presented two workshops: a technique and warm-up routine and a workshop on extended techniques. 

Professor Nickel's Flute Studio was represented beautifully by Eduardo Fajardo who performed in the guest artist masterclass as one of the three winners selected from a recorded round audition. Also, Lisette Joo was a convention intern, selected via interview. Zoey Lamb helped the company Flute World set up its merchandise. Olivia Sudweeks and Martha Molinaro both volunteered to beatbox with the group Project Trio. 

The Mason Steel Pan Ensemble performed in Trinidad and Tobago with Hadco Phase II Pan Groove in February in the annual Panorama semifinals competition, the largest steel pan event in the world. Mason's Steel Pan Ensemble is under the direction of Prof. Victor Provost, one of the world's leading steel pannists.

Opera singers Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle.

Evelyn Simpson Currenton (MM Composition '23) was featured on the PBS Special "The Magic of Spirituals" as part of Black History Month on February 24. Glimpse behind the curtain at opera legends Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman’s famed concert at Carnegie Hall on March 18, 1990, featuring performance clips and interviews with opera stars and Evelyn Simpson Currenton, composer and arranger.

Jasmine Copeland, Project Coordinator CVPA (BA Music 2019 Mason) has worked to find her voice as an independent artist. She has released a couple of singles but was encouraged to showcase more of her talent by releasing a larger work. Finally, in the Summer of 2022, she received the inspiration she needed to begin working on an EP. On the EP Blossom, Jas (her stage name) begins to open up to her listeners by letting them in on how she's been traversing through life through her life lessons and experiences.

We are excited to announce new signage has been installed in the deLaski Performing Arts Building entryway to the Dewberry School of Music.