Dear Mason Music Family,

We hope you will join us at Mason this Saturday night, February 1st for Grammy award winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis with the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, led by Founder, Artistic Director, and Dewberry School of Music Professor Jim Carroll. This performance will also feature vocalist Dr. Darden Purcell, Director of Jazz Studies at Mason. 

The Dewberry Faculty Artist Series continues on Sundays at 3 pm with free performances in Harris Theater.  February 16 features the Spheres Project with Professor June Huang, violin; Professor Taylor Fleshman, harp; Professor Gerald Fowkes, cello; and Professor Thomas J. Wible, flute, performing works by Mozart, Fauré, Piazzolla, and Prokofiev.

The February 23 Faculty Artist Series features the Monson & Balakerskaia Piano Duo Silver Anniversary Concert with stunning duo-piano works by Bach, Brahms, Khachaturian, Gershwin, Piazzolla, and Glenn Smith.  

Please join us for a fabulous Mason Jazz Festival in Harris Theater on Saturday, February 15. Mark your calendars for the 7 pm closing concert featuring the Mason Jazz Ensemble and the U.S. Army Blues.

We are excited to present our Spring 2025 Dewberry School of Music Concert Series featuring our outstanding student ensembles.  We hope to see you on Tuesday, February 25 for the Mason Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony concert, directed by Dr. William Lake, Jr., and Derik Wright, graduate conductor.  

With warmest wishes for good health and beautiful music to inspire and uplift,

Dr. Linda A. Monson, Director

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra with Branford Marsalis

Saturday, February 1 at 8:00 p.m.

Center for the Arts Concert hall

GRAMMY Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis joins the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra in this special concert. An exceptionally versatile musician, Marsalis is a band leader, featured classical soloist, and composer, winning three GRAMMY Awards, Tony, and Drama Desk Award nominations for his work as a composer on Broadway, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master, and a Primetime Emmy nomination for best original score. Marsalis formed his own quartet in 1986, and after more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes the Branford Marsalis Quartet is revered for its kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics.

A frequently featured classical soloist, Marsalis has performed with acclaimed orchestras around the world and his legendary performances with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena. As a composer, Marsalis has scored films including Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, starring Oprah Winfrey, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, and the recent Netflix film Rustin starring Colman Domingo. The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra is made up of the D.C.-area’s finest musicians and is led by Founder, Artistic Director, and virtuoso alto saxophonist Jim Carroll. This performance will also feature vocalist Dr. Darden Purcell, George Mason University’s jazz program director. 

Dewberry Faculty Artist Series

The Spheres Project

Sunday, February 16 at 3:00 p.m.

Harris Theatre

The Spheres Project is a Mason string faculty and student collaborative space. Conceived in 2021 by Professor June Huang, the diverse ensemble recognizes its constant state of evolution. Participants in any one project enrich each other’s journeys through the sharing of stories and the discovery of shared vision. Together, they create a musical landscape.

Dr. Tom C. Owens will speak at this program featuring Professor June Huang, violin; Professor Taylor Fleshman, harp; Professor Gerald Fowkes, cello; and Professor Thomas J. Wible, flute with guest artists Alyssa Cabassa, viola, and Suyuan Carrasco, violin, performing works by Mozart, Fauré, Piazzolla, and Prokofiev.

Don't miss this free performance on Sunday, February 16 at 3:00 p.m. in Harris Theatre!

Dewberry Faculty Artist Series

Monson & Balakerskaia Piano Duo

Silver Anniversary Concert

Sunday, February 23 at 3 pm in Harris Theatre

Celebrate the Silver Anniversary of Duo-Pianists, Dr. Linda Apple Monson and Dr. Anna Balakerkaia, on Sunday, February 23 at 3:00 p.m. in Harris Theatre as they perform works by Bach, Brahms, Khachaturian, Gershwin, Piazzolla, and Glenn Smith.

Dewberry Faculty Artist Series

Spring 2025

Mason Jazz Festival

Saturday, February 15

Harris Theatre

Mason Jazz Festival

Saturday, February 15

10:00 am - 10:00 pm 

Harris Theatre: 4471 Aquia Creek Ln, Fairfax, VA 22030

The Mason Jazz Festival is a yearly invitational, non-competitive event open to middle school, high school, collegiate, and community jazz ensembles. All concerts and events are free and open to the public-- no tickets or registration are required. The closing concert is at 7:00 pm and will feature the Mason Jazz

Ensemble under the direction of Jim Carroll, and the US Army Blues! Join us for a full day of jazz music and community.

All concerts are FREE and open to the public - no tickets or registration required. Free parking in LOT K

Mason Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony

Suite Dreams

Tuesday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m.

Center for the Arts Concert Hall

Join the Mason Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony for "Suite Dreams," a concert inspired by the unique compositional genre of the suite, a musical form that brings together a collection of distinct movements or sections, often reflecting a variety of moods, themes, or styles. This concert explores the versatility and depth of the suite, featuring works that range from lively, rhythmic energy to contemplative, lyrical beauty. Through the performance of compositions that blend diverse cultural influences, historical significance, and creative innovation, the evening offers a vivid showcase of how the suite genre allows composers to express a broad spectrum of emotions and ideas. From powerful overtures to delicate folk melodies, the program invites you to experience the timeless appeal of the suite in a concert that promises to be as dynamic as it is captivating.

Dr. William L. Lake, Jr., Director

Mr. Derik Wright, graduate conductor

$15 General Public

$10 Seniors

$5 Students

Dewberry School of Music

Spring 2025 Concert Series

New Graduate Keyboard Skills Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Hakyong Kelly Park

Dr. Hakyong Kelly Park is a native of Seoul, South Korea. She earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from George Mason University, where she studied with Dr. Linda Apple Monson, International Steinway Artist. Her dissertation, titled The Study of Donghoon Shin's Compositional Oeuvre, was supervised by Dr. Tom C. Owens. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) under Dr. Young-Ho Kim and Dr. Hyunjung Kim, and a Master of Music degree from The Hartt School of Music (Connecticut) under Dr. Paul Rutman, where she was a collaborative pianist. She also earned an Advanced Performance Certificate from New York University Steinhardt, where she studied with Eduardus Halim, the last student of Vladimir Horowitz.

February Departmental Recitals and Events

Congratulations to Dewberry School of Music Concerto Competition Winners

Congratulations to everyone who competed in this year’s Dewberry School of Music Concerto Competition. We are so proud of everyone's artistry and hard work that went into this event. The competition was judged by a panel of three external adjudicators: Ken Collins, Peter Kadeli, and Krista Moebius Smith. The external judges have selected 5 winners. They are listed alphabetically below:

Annie French, voice

Nathaniel Plapinger, euphonium

Kai Shi, piano

Jennifer Szabo, flute

Bolun Zhang, piano

The winners will perform with the Mason Symphony Orchestra on Monday, March 3rd or Monday, May 5th, at the Center for the Arts.

Alumni Kudos

Choral Champion Award Honors Ocie S. Banks

The Coalition for the African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA) honored Ocie S. Banks, BM in Music Education (2016) with the Choral Champion Award for his extraordinary work in Prince George's County for the choral arts and for his outstanding accomplishments as a musician and rising conductor.

CAAPA also commended Banks for helping in "Bringing Color to the Classics!®" Oice was honored along with Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand, Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maryland and Artistic Director of the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers in November 2025.

Alumna Composer Mara Keen signed with

ABKCO Music & Records

Mara Keen, BM in Music Composition (2019) is a composer, arranger, and orchestrator for film and TV. Composer Mara Keen signed with ABKCO Music & Records, as recently announced by Billboard. Keen has contributed to film and TV projects including Netflix's Princess Power and Scrappack Production's Just One More Thing.

Her professional career started in May 2022 when she interned with Emmy-winning composer JP Rende, assisting him throughout the entire series of Netflix's Princess Power, which led to her scoring several shorts for the series. She has done several short films, including Marnie Inoue's Pink Yellow which premiered at the Asian International Film Festival in 2023, Tyler Gurdon's Would You Love Me? (2024), Scrappack Productions' Just One More Thing (2024), and did sound design for Annetta Marion and Gabrielle Fox's Welcome to Theatre, shown at the Glass Ceiling Breaker's Film Festival, Chain NYC Film Festival (2024), and more.

Mara Keen is also an active member of the Society of Composers & Lyricists, The Alliance for Women Film Composers, Post New York Alliance, New York Women in Film and Television, Women in Music, Maestra, Songwriters of North America, and more. In September 2024 she was chosen to be a Grammy U New York Chapter Ambassador.

Faculty Kudos

Dr. Kevin McDonald contributing author in

"Leading Figures in the History of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Vol. I"

Dr. Kevin McDonald, Dewberry School of Music Adjunct Professor of Jazz Percussion, is a contributor to "Leading Figures in the History of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Volume 1" edited by Judson L. Jeffries and published by University of Florida Press.

In volume 1, Jeffries presents a prologue and introduction that outline the story of the fraternity’s founding in the context of the racial, social, political, and educational history of the period. This volume spotlights scientists Ernest E. Just and Percy Lavon Julian; civil rights lawyers Fred Gray, Oliver Hill, Spottswood Robinson, and Oscar W. Adams Jr.; sports legends Robert Lee Elder and Clarence Gaines; and musicians Count Basie, Max Roach, and Roland Hayes.

Including both widely recognized and little-known individuals and featuring people who were on the front lines of the struggle for racial equality and those whose work took place behind the scenes, these volumes show the contributions of Black leaders in the areas of science, civil rights, athletics, the arts, the military, politics, education, and more.