Dear Mason Music Family,

We hope you will join us for our Dewberry School of Music Honors Recital this Saturday, May 13 at 7 pm in Harris Theater.  An auditioned recital featuring extraordinary soloists and chamber ensembles, the Honors Recital includes marvelous works by Brahms, Barber, Bolling, Puccini, Verdi, Rachmaninoff, Granados, Gershwin, Piazzolla, and more! We are so very excited to showcase our stellar student artists in this finale Honors Recital celebration with free admission! 

We invite you to join us in a memorial tribute of our beloved colleague, John Aler, tenor, on Wednesday, May 17 at 3 pm in a Celebration of Life service in Harris Theatre on George Mason University's Fairfax Campus. A reception in the Harris Theater lobby will follow the memorial tribute. 

We want to thank, honor, and celebrate Prof. Debby Wenner, mezzo-soprano, who is retiring after this Spring 2023 term.  We are so indebted to Prof. Wenner for her incredible contributions to our Vocal Studies Area for 23 years!  Prof. Wenner has taught applied voice and vocal pedagogy with great distinction for more than two decades within our Dewberry School of Music and will be deeply missed by our students and faculty. 

Congratulations to the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble, directed by Dr. Darden Purcell, on their DOWNBEAT Student Music Award for “Outstanding Performance- Undergraduate Large Vocal Jazz Ensemble." We are so thrilled for this marvelous award! 

We are pleased to highlight our amazing students and faculty throughout this newsletter. What an incredible spring semester this has been with so many outstanding performances and academic accomplishments! We are looking forward to recognizing our wonderful music graduates on Thursday, May 18 at our University Commencement and our CVPA Degree Celebration. 

Thanks for your support of our Dewberry School of Music artists. We are exceedingly grateful. 

Warmest regards,

Dr. Linda A. Monson, Director

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Dewberry School of Music Honors Recital

Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Harris Theatre

Free Admission

An auditioned recital featuring extraordinary student performers as soloists and chamber musicians.

On Wednesday, May 17 we will be Celebrating the Life of our beloved Professor John Aler here at Mason. The memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m. in Harris Theatre on George Mason University's Fairfax Campus, followed by a reception in the Harris Theatre lobby. Join together with us to honor his memory, his gift for music, and his compassionate and joyous heart.

All student recitals are both live in-person performances

and live-streamed.

MUSI 300 Credit given for attendance

We want to thank, honor, and celebrate Prof. Debby Wenner, mezzo-soprano, who is retiring after this Spring 2023 term.  We are so indebted to Prof. Wenner for her incredible contributions to our Vocal Studies Area for 23 years! 

Prof. Wenner has taught applied voice and vocal pedagogy with great distinction for more than two decades within our Dewberry School of Music. Her legacy lives on through the lives of the many students that she has taught and mentored through the years. 

Congratulations to the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble (directed by Dr. Darden Purcell) on their DOWNBEAT Student Music Award for “Outstanding Performance- Undergraduate Large Vocal Jazz Ensemble." We are so proud of our Mason Jazz Students!

Kudos to Prof. James Nickel, Adjunct Faculty Horn Professor who was featured in the National Symphony Orchestra Concerts at the Kennedy Center on April 27-29. Prof. Nickel performed in Schumann's Konzertstück for Four Horns and this performance was highlighted in the Washington Post.

Congratulations to Dr. Glenn Smith on his retirement from George Mason University after 47 years of teaching, artistry, and service. Dr. Smith was honored by our University Provost Dr. Mark Ginsberg and CVPA Dean Rick Davis along with fellow colleagues and former students on May 4 in our Center for the Arts. Our Mason Wind Symphony performed "Release the Balloons," an original composition by Dr. Smith under the direction of Dr. William L. Lake, Jr., Director of Mason Bands. Our Mason Healing Arts Ensemble was featured under the direction of Prof. Rita Gigliotti.

We are so grateful for our outstanding music students who have served as Mason Music Ambassadors throughout the year. Our wonderful Mason Music Ambassadors were celebrated for their continued dedication to our Dewberry School of Music with a luncheon hosted by Emily Craine, Auditions and Recruitment Coordinator and Mason Music Ambassador Coordinator.

Zoey Lamb, a music performance and education major will be returning to George Mason University in the fall of 2023 as a recipient of the prestigious Monson Artist-Scholar Award. Eduardo Fajardo will graduate in the spring of 2023 with a music performance major. Eduardo will study with Marina Piccinini at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in the upcoming fall 2023 and was awarded the prestigious Artistic Excellence Award. Kaitlyn Burns will graduate in the spring 2023 with a degree in music education. She will pursue a masters degree in music performance at the University of Massachusetts with scholarship and GTA position.

Pictured above from left: Zoey Lamb, Eduardo Fajardo, and Kaitlyn Burns.

Congratulations to Percussion Performance Major Emma Stewart. Emma was awarded the prestigious Presser Scholar Award for outstanding academic achievement.