Dr. Warren Gooch, professor of music, recently received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching on April 3 at a luncheon at the University of Missouri. Each year, the Governor’s Award is presented to one faculty member at each institution of higher education in Missouri. Gooch was also the recipient of the 2012 Educator of the Year award at Truman. He was one of 15 recipients across the state that was honored with the award.

The awards, which are not monetary, are based on effective teaching, innovating course design and delivery, effective advising, service to the university community, commitment to high standards of excellence and success in nurturing student achievement. This year’s featured speaker at the luncheon was Jack Magruder, Truman President Emeritus and Professor of Chemistry Emeritus.

Warren Gooch was congratulated by President Paino and Dr. David Russell, Commissioner of Higher Education, when he received his award at the Excellence in Teaching Awards Luncheon April 3 at the University of Missouri.

“Truman Steel,” will be presenting their first full length spring concert at 8 p.m. April 29, 2013 in the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall.  Dr. Michael Bump will be directing the ensemble.  The concert will feature a wide variety of traditional Trinidadian calypsos, as well as songos, socas, afro-cuban and jazz-fusion arrangements for the steel band.  Admission is free.

José A. Zayas Cabán, Assistant Professor of Saxophone, will be touring the Midwest.  Mr. Zayas Cabán is performing with the trio Tres April 21 through April 29.  The trio recently performed at Ithaca College in Ithaca New York, and a tour of Central America.  The trio members include Colin Young, saxophone, Leah Siltberg Froelich, piano and José Zayas, saxophone.

Tres will be performing at Minot State University in Minot, ND, Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, Drake University in Des Moines, IA, Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and University of Wisconsin in Whitewater, WI.  For more information, visit the Truman State University Saxophone Studio website.

Gregory Jones, Professor of Music, returns to China in early May for a tour that will include recitals, performances with Chinese colleagues, and master classes working with Chinese brass players and teachers. Concerts include an evening recital at the famed Beijing Central Conservatory, and performances in Tianjin and Lanzhou as well. This will be Dr. Jones’s fourth tour of China following earlier appearances in Beijing, Tianjin, Weihai, Weifang, Yantai, Jinan, and Nanjing. He has held the position of Visiting Professor of Music at the Tianjin Conservatory since 2001 and has hosted his counterpart, Professor Chen Rui from Tianjin at Truman State University. This photo was taken on the Great Wall near Badaling, China during an earlier tour.

Music student Joel Gordon, saxophone, has been selected to compete in the 73rd Naftzger Young Artists Auditions & Music Awards April 27 at Wiedemann Hall on the campus of Wichita State University. The competition, which is administered by the Wichita Symphony, will host 53 semifinalists, who will compete for $11,000 in prizes. Contestants will compete for a single $5,000 prize, plus $2,000 prizes in each of the three divisions: piano, instrumental and voice. A new category has been added this year, the Naftzger Fund for Fine Arts Musical Comedy Special Prize, the winner will receive $2,000. The competition is open to residents of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma who are enrolled in any college, university or conservatory; and non-resident students attending college in Kansas, Oklahoma or Missouri.

Truman will be hosting the Missouri Percussive Arts Society’s “Day of Percussion” April 13 in the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall. The event is considered to be Missouri’s largest festival devoted to percussion music of all types, drawing in hundred of students, teachers, professional performers and music lovers from all over the Midwest. The event will feature two internationally renowned percussion artists: Grammy-award winning Latin percussion artists, Lalo Davila and the contemporary percussion/composer, Casey Cangelosi. There will be five other guest performers and clinicians throughout the day in addition to a number of percussion instrument exhibits. The end of the event will feature a free “Showcase Concert,” at 5 p.m. featuring the Truman State Concert Percussion Ensemble I and “Truman Steel,” with guest artists Lalo Davila and Casey Cangelosi.

John Patterson, music educator, will be presenting a lecture on Monday, April 8 at 4:30pm in OP 2340. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A session. All are welcome to attend. Topics will include:

• The importance of being involved and how to get involved professionally at the district level
• How to build a program
• How to foster camaraderie and cooperation among the art, academic, and athletic departments
• The importance of people skills and personal musicianship as an educator

John Patterson received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  He was Director of Bands at Hickman High School from 1966 to 2000, and held the position of Director of Music for the Columbia Public Schools from 1975 to 2000.  During the 2001-2002 year, Mr. Patterson served as Visiting Associate Director of Bands at MU.  Presently he is the Music Director of the Columbia Community Band, having been appointed to that position in 2005.

Mr. Patterson is active as a clinician, adjudicator and conductor.  His professional memberships include: the National Association for Music Education, the Missouri Music Educators Association, the National Band Association, the Missouri Bandmasters Association and the International Clarinet Association.  He has served as president of both the Missouri Bandmasters Association and the Missouri Music Educators Association.

Throughout his career Mr. Patterson has performed in a wide variety of ensembles and venues, including appearances with such artists as Bob Hope, Tom Jones, Ray Charles, Clark Terry, Buddy Morrow, Buddy DeFranco, Glen Campbell, Bill Watrous, John Pizzarelli and the Temptations.  He currently enjoys performing with his favorite chamber ensembles, the Roadkill Clarinet Quintet, the Flat Branch Four Clarinet Quartet and the Booneslick Saxophone Quartet.

Recognitions include: the Citation of Merit from the MU Alumni Association; Missouri Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame; Missouri Music Educators Association Hall of Fame; Marching Mizzou Hall of Fame; University of Missouri Alumni Band Distinguished Service Award; Columbia Public Schools Outstanding Educator Award; National Federation Interscholastic Music Association Outstanding Music Educator Award; Phi Mu Alpha Orpheus Award; Missouri Arts Council 2001 Lifetime Contribution Award;  and the MU College of Arts and Science 2003 Honorary Alumni Award.  Mr. Patterson has been honored by the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives with resolutions recognizing his career achievements.

Dr. Marc Rice, professor of musicology, and Lynn Scharff of Tufts University, had their poster “Watching from Afar: Rap, Protest, and the New Media within a Tunisian Diaspora” accepted for the international conference of the European Society for Ethnomusicology. The conference will take place in Bern, Switzerland in September 2013.

Dr. Thomas Trimborn, professor of music, had his arrangement for wind ensemble of Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs performed by the University of Michigan Concert Band with Daniel Washington baritone soloist.

Dr. Jesse Krebs, associate professor of clarinet, will be giving a guest artist recital and master class at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana on  Friday, April 12.  He will be performing works by Paul Harvey, Nikola Resanovic, and Francis Poulenc.

As part of the Summer Research Community, Dr. Charles Gran (Music) and Prof. David Charles Goyette (Theater) have been awarded an Interdisciplinary Research Community Grant. This summer, they will be mentoring students Shelley Washington (composer, music major) and Joshua Reinhardt (bookwriter, theater/creative writing major) in the creation of a new musical. The students were selected in a competitive process, and have been awarded $2,500 each in support of their work.  The intensive 8-week program will result in a completed book (the play) and score ready for a performance at a later date.

The Truman Opera Theatre will be performing Gaetano Donizetti’s Il Campanello di Notte at 8 p.m. April 4-6 and 3 p.m April 7 in the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for general admission. This hour-and-a-half one-act comedic opera will be sung in its original Italian text, but English subtitles will be displayed for audience members throughout the production. Il Campanello tells the tale of Don Annibale Pistacchio who has just married the young Serafina. In an attempt to disrupt the couple’s wedding night, Enrico, Serafina’s former lover, constantly rings the night bell to pull Don Annibale away from his bride. Clad in a several disguises, Enrico sends Don Annibale on a series of outrageous tasks in an effort to foil the wedding night and keep the newlywed couple apart.

This production marks the first time in Truman Opera Theatre history that a production has been put on in its original language, an achievement made possible by graduate student Filippo Ciabatti, an exchange student from Florence, Italy. Ciabatti will also serve as the production’s musical director representing the first time a student has served as music director for a Truman Opera Theatre production. The production will feature a cast of 15 students and staff and a live chamber orchestra, the largest orchestra to yet be used in a Truman Opera Theatre performance. Tickets will be sold in the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall Lobby Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tickets will also be available at the door prior to all performances.