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Newsletter of the Milligan College Music Area July 2007 Opus 23, No. 1
from Kellie Brown Wherever you find yourself this summer, I hope that you are enjoying as glorious a weather as we are here in East Tennessee. I don’t know when I remember such a mild and pleasant summer. It is a great time for our music faculty and staff to get some much needed rest and rejuvenation after such a busy school year. As usual this year marked a great number of excellent performances by our ensembles and faculty. We hope that you were able to attend many of these. The support of our alumni is especially important to us. An issue that is very significant to me, and indeed all of the music faculty - is the role that we play in providing not only excellent performance experiences for music students at Milligan, but our role in providing quality art experiences for the Milligan campus. In conjunction with the Milligan Arts Council, we are striving to keep the Milligan Community interested and involved in what we are doing on campus and the arts events throughout our region. A weekly email is now being distributed to all faculty, staff, and students to inform them of the week’s arts events. We are also maintaining an arts website to keep the information flowing. I hope that you will renew your commitment in the next year to supporting the arts programs in whatever community you are living. If you are local, please check out our website to stay informed, www.milligan.edu/arts. Finally, as you read through the following articles, I hope that you will see the continued growth and success of the music area and that you will continue to support us through your prayers, gifts, and attendance.
Two conductors, one symphony performance, one concert tour, half of a CD, and a great spirit—that’s what the year was like for the Milligan College Concert Choir in 2006-07. During the fall semester, I was on sabbatical, so adjunct professor Doug Grove-De Jarnette conducted the Concert Choir. Doug is Minister of Music at Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church in Johnson City. He brought strong spiritual and musical leadership to the Concert Choir’s fall season. Besides church performances, the choir finished off the semester with flair, performing the Vaughan Williams Hodie with the Johnson City Symphony. I was back on campus for the spring semester, and the choir plunged into repertoire for the spring tour. Besides the usual spate of hymn, gospel, spiritual, and contemporary arrangements, the choir performed Palestrina, Pitoni, Mozart, Schubert, Fauré, and Rutter. The tour was highly successful, with stops in Virginia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. Sunday morning highlights of the tour were performances at Mountain Christian Church, in suburban Baltimore, and at National City Christian Church, in Washington (see photo).
I think that two elements influenced the success of the year. “First, this is a group that desires to work hard,” I said. “They have some very good musicianship, and they create an excellent sound. Second, this is a group of people who work well together spiritually. They function as their own little church, caring for each other, and praying for each other.” The choir had 32 members this past year, with good balance in sections. Even with graduating seniors changing the make-up of the group, 26 of this year’s personnel have “re-upped” for the coming year. With additional auditions already held, the personnel for the year is fairly set - a good conclusion to a good year and a good omen for things to come.
THE by Rick Simerly
The
academic year of 2006-07 was exciting and productive for the Milligan
College Jazz Ensemble. In October, the ensemble was involved with four
performances of an original musical, The Gospel According To Jazz. A
total of eighteen musical selections had to be prepared for this production.
Three performances took place in Seeger Chapel, and one performance occurred
at the Veteran’s Administration Auditorium for the district competition of
the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. As a result of the
October 26
In April, which is “Jazz Appreciation Month” as designated by the Smithsonian Institute, the ensemble performed twice. The first was on April 19 for Milligan College’s annual Awards Convocation. The second performance was the annual spring concert that was held on Monday, April 23 before a very large crowd in Seeger Chapel. The ensemble performed selections from the libraries of Count Basie, Maynard Ferguson, Rob McConnell, Herbie Hancock, and others. The focus of the spring concert was to feature the ensemble and its members. Featured soloists were Mark Thie, Andrew Roberson, Eddie Dalton, Tim Wasem, David Clay, Daniel Lockhart, Patrick Roland, Danny Williams, Dick Davis, Robert Newlin, Luke Rogers, Jacob Pitts, Jason Bailey, and Shane Ladd. When the 2006-07 academic year was completed, the Milligan College Jazz Ensemble had performed a total of nine times. Next year promises to include yet another exciting jazz event. In collaboration with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble will be performing Duke Ellington’s arrangement of “The Nutcracker.” The event will take place in Seeger Chapel on Saturday, December 1. In addition to the orchestra and the jazz ensemble, several guest soloists will be featured.
STRINGS SOUNDS I am very pleased to share with you about the great year that the orchestra and string programs have had. I am so grateful to the Lord that he has blessed this program and caused it to come such a long way in a short time. The orchestra was quite busy with performances and reached a record number of members this year. We held our first major concert on November 10, 2007 to a large audience in Seeger Chapel. The concert, entitled “A Salute to America!,” featured works which celebrate our nation’s heritage, joys, and sorrows. Two of the pieces on the program were written in response and in memoriam for Sept. 11. This concert featured our own concertmaster Kaitlyn Ferry performing the violin solo in Mark O’Connor’s Liberty Bell. The program also featured many guest artists including the Milligan College Concert Choir singing The Star-Spangled Banner and Mansions of the Lord from the Vietnam film We Were Soldiers. Piano faculty member Anne Elliott also performed with the orchestra on two pieces: Remembrance by Sarah Gibson and The American Journey by Robert Kerr. The highlight of the evening was singer Loretta Bowers and her remarkable renditions of Deep River and America the Beautiful.
In addition to
the November concert, the orchestra participated in the annual Milligan
Christmas Another string event of note during the fall semester was the excellent senior recital presented by violinist Kaitlyn Ferry. Accompanied by Vicki Fey, Kaitlyn presented a varied and challenging program spanning the Baroque to the 20th Century that really wowed the audience. During the spring semester, the orchestra had two major performances - the Spring Concert on April 13 and Baccalaureate on the Sunday of commencement. Baccalaureate has always been a very special venue for the orchestra in that we provide music to enhance the celebration of Holy Communion. This has been a tradition for many years, and at the time, we did not know it, but it would be our last. Shortly after the spring semester ended, the administration announced that it was doing away with Baccalaureate. The Spring Concert featured a variety of repertoire and soloists. Most notable was the performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins by orchestra members Kaitlyn Ferry and Kaity Aigner and the wonderful student conducting of Kaitlyn Ferry on Arlington Sketches by Elliot Del Borgo. Other highlights of the concert included debut performances by Milligan music faculty members Karen Smith and Justin Butler.
In addition, Milligan College will host an area-wide string workshop on September 1 featuring clinician Sande MacMorran who will work with over 200 string students from Dobyns-Bennett High School, Science Hill High School, and Milligan College.
Support the Concert Choir by purchasing their Christmas CD. To order, contact the Music Office at (423) 461-8723 or rmyers@milligan.edu. Visit our website (www.milligan.edu/music) to listen to a sample track or for CD music recordings.
HOMECOMING 2007! We hope to see you during Homecoming 2007, October 26-27. Check the Milligan website www.milligan.edu for a schedule of great events. You’ll also be able to register for the weekend on line.
Do you have sheet music and scores sitting around unused? Instead of throwing them away, please send them to us. There is always a need at Milligan for music.
E-MAIL ADDRESSES
Milligan:
www.milligan.edu Adjunct professors this past year
have been: Tom Crawford woodwinds & flute Suzanne Redman music education Eddie Dalton percussion Anne Elliott piano Justin Butler guitar Deborah Gouge music education Mike Imboden Heritage Mike Morgan music technology Cheryl Fitzgerald cello & bass
David Runner attended a national conference of the College Music Society in San Antonio, TX, in September. Rick Simerly served as a faculty member for the Brubeck Institute Jazz Colony at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA last summer. In addition, he was a featured soloist at several jazz clubs including The Blue Wisp in Cincinnati, OH, and The Jazz Factory in Louisville, KY, where he performed with New York trumpet sensation, Scott Wendholt. Their performances have been broadcast nationally on several public radio stations. Last fall he participated in a jazz outreach program associated with Southwest Virginia Community College and presented a concert there in September. John Wakefield returned to the School of Theology at the University of the South last summer for additional doctoral work in worship studies. He completed a sabbatical in the fall, conducting research and writing a book titled Why Churches Worship the Way They Do: A History of Worship in the Stone-Campbell Movement. He worked at the Disciples of Christ Historical Society, the Special Collections Section of Lipscomb University library, and the Vanderbilt University Divinity School library. Through an Appalachian College Association Ledford Scholar grant, he also supervised the work of student Andrew Ford this summer as Ford carried on research for the book. Wakefield was also the speaker for the Kingdom Victory Celebration dinner at Central Holston Christian Church, Bristol, TN. In October he participated in a vocal master class at Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University, conducted by Margot Garrett of the Julliard School, New York City.
NEWS from MENC Milligan’s chapter of MENC (Music Educators National Conference) is alive and well. This year, under student president Kelly Sams and faculty advisor Dr. Kellie Brown, MENC participated in fundraising and providing service to the music area. Our primary fundraiser again this year was the first semester care package. We had a lot of fun assembling them, and the students had even more fun eating them. MENC also continued to provide receptions for the senior recitals. Committed to helping music students grow, MENC is pleased to sponsor members to attend workshops and conferences. This year the designated event was the MENC Southern Conference in Charleston. Several students, along with Kellie Brown, John Wakefield, and David & Lisa Runner attended and great fun and learning was had by all.
Buy some cool Milligan music merchandise at Cafe Press. You'll be supporting the music program. www.cafepress.com/milliganmusic
UPCOMING MUSIC EVENTS ON CAMPUS Events are at 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Friday,
September 7 Saturday,
September 8 Saturday,
September 22 Friday &
Saturday, September 28 & 29 Saturday,
October 13 Tuesday,
October 16 Friday &
Saturday, October 19 & 20 Saturday,
October 27 Saturday,
November 17 Saturday,
December 1 Sunday,
December 9 Saturday,
February 9
Friday, February 22 Friday, March
14 Saturday,
March 15 Friday, March
28 Friday, April
11 Monday, April
28
ALUMNI NEWS
Gary W. Ballou (’78) accepted a full-time faculty position in the teacher education program of the Department of Education at Central Washington University (Ellensburg, WA) in June 2006. His address is 17629 Ashworth Ave., N., Shoreline, WA 98133. His phone number is (206) 546-1640. Richard (’96) and Alana (Trueblood ’97) Cummings have two children – five year old Richie and two year old Will. Their address is 261 Shadowview Dr., Branson, MO 65616 and phone number is (417) 337-8941. Email address is rwc_artist_mfa@hotmail.com.
Please send us news of your new addresses, new additions, marriages, children, graduations, honors, jobs, etc. You will see yourself in print in the next edition of Music Notation, and we will share your news with the Milligan College Alumni Office for the Milligan Magazine Class Notes.
Name: ______________________________ Class of:_____ Address:______________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Phone: __________________________________ News: _________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Please send your information to the Music
Office,
P. O. Box 500, Milligan College, TN 37682 OR E-mail the "Alumni in
Touch" information (name, class of, address, phone, news). Send your information via internet (http://www.milligan.edu/music/) and use the Alumni in Touch form.
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CONCERT
CHOIR CONCLUDES VERY SUCCESSFUL YEAR
performance, the musical was one of seven productions invited to
perform at the 39th annual regional 
Concert which is always an inspiring and heartfelt celebration of
the birth of our Savior. We also continued our ministry by performing at
several churches for their Sunday morning worship including First
Presbyterian Church in Johnson City and Blountville Christian Church. The
Milligan College String Quartet, under the coaching of Cheryl Fitzgerald,
was also active during the fall semester, performing both on and off campus.
The plans for next
year have been underway for almost a year. The Milligan Orchestra will
be joining forces with the East Tennessee Regional Symphony to produce the
children’s musical Beethoven Lives Upstairs. Inspired by the book and
a highly successful film, this production features an acting troupe from
Chicago, along with two orchestras providing the music. A performance for a
full-house of school children will take place on October 19 and then a
performance open to the public on October 20 at 4 pm. Don’t miss it! 
SCORES WANTED
Help Support The Music Program
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What is the Music Notation? Music Notation is our annual newsletter that helps us stay in touch with music alumni and keep them informed about music at Milligan. |