Faculty Updates
Juan Álamo
In the summer of 2023, Dr. Álamo performed at the Tamborimba International Percussion Festival in Cali, Colombia. In October, Álamo presented series of a marimba clinic and recital in (Pasto) Colombia, (Valencia) Spain, France, and Germany. In November, Juan performed a showcase concert at the Percussive Art Society International Convention in Indiana. He also published his second marimba book, Marimbissimo: A Musical Guide to Chordal Voicing and Improvisation for Intermediate to Advanced Marimba Players.
In the summer of 2024, Álamo served as a guest faculty and performer at Encuentro Internacional de Percusión del Atlántico in Barranquilla, Colombia. In the fall of 2024, Álamo will be performing a showcase concert at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis as well as presenting marimba master class and concerts in Spain, France, and Italy. Dr. Álamo’s new recording Marimbissimo: A Latin American Suite for Marimba and Big Band was published by Summit Records in July 2024.
Naomi André
In the fall of 2023, Naomi André delivered the Le Huray Lecture at the Royal Musical Association annual conference (University of Nottingham, UK) and was active at the American Musicological Society annual meeting by presenting a paper, moderating a panel, and serving on the Board of Directors (Denver). In the spring she gave the keynote address at the Decentering Opera conference (UC Davis) and invited lectures at University of Maryland Baltimore County (Music Department and the Drescher Center for the Humanities Institute) and University of Pittsburgh (Music Department). She co-organized and gave a paper at the session “Honoring Josephine Wright: Teacher, Scholar, Mentor” at the Society for American Music annual meeting (Detroit). She wrote essays for the Lyric Opera of Chicago (on Champion by Terence Blanchard) and Southern Futures, a new website for Carolina Performing Arts (on Omar by Giddens and Abels). She was cited by The New York Times for an obituary about legendary African American opera singer Margaret Tynes and consulted by The Wall Street Journal for an article about “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” This academic year marked the completion of her five-year residency as the inaugural Scholar in Residence at Seattle Opera.
In April she received a Faculty Research Award for Conducting Research on Africa from the UNC African Studies Center to aid the Black Opera Research Network [BORN] in co-sponsoring the annual meeting of the South African Society for Research in Music [SASRIM] at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and to attend a BORN symposium at Stellenbosch University in July. She is a founding member of BORN and at SASRIM delivered a keynote address.
Stephen Anderson
Stephen Anderson performed in two concerts at the Teatro Nacional at the Festival Internacional Jazz Plaza in Havana, Cuba—1. as pianist and composer of the Dominican Jazz Project, and 2. as a featured guest pianist at the Bola de Nieve tribute concert performing with the Cuban ensemble, Jazz Band de Areíto. This concert featured several renowned Cuban and international soloists including “Roberton” Hernandez, lead singer of the Cuban timba band, Los Van Van. The Dominican Jazz Project was briefly featured on the Cubavisión national news program that showcased highlights of the festival (January 2024). Anderson likewise performed in two concerts and was a clinician at the Max Roach Centennial Celebration Jazz Festival at Elizabeth City State University (April 2024).
Dr. Clara Yang (pianist), Dr. Brooks de Wetter-Smith (videographer), and Dr. Stephen Anderson (composer) collaborated to produce and publish a video recording of Anderson’s solo piano piece, Drones, which was released on VEVO, Apple Music, and all major platforms (February 2024). Dr. Yang performed the piece in five concerts during the 2023-24 concert season in New York City, California, and North Carolina.
The UNC Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Tonu Kalam, conductor, Dr. Juan Álamo, percussion soloist, performed Stephen Anderson’s, Concerto for Puerto Rico, as part of the UNC “Celebration of Puerto Rican Music Mini-Festival” that was organized by Álamo and Anderson, which featured Caribbean bassist, Ramon Vázquez at the “Tribute to Tito Puente” concert with Álamo and Anderson.
With the assistance of Professor of Percussion, Jhon Ciro (Escuela de Artes de la Universidad Industrial de Santander) and Dario Oliveros (Musical Director, Tamborimba Ensamble), Anderson continues researching folkloric rhythms of the six regions of Colombia while composing a large symphonic work that was commissioned by Tamborimba Ensamble and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Cali. The concerto for four percussionists and symphony orchestra is nearing completion and will be performed in a subsequent season.
Andrea Bohlman
Andrea Bohlman finished up a four-year term as the executive editor of Musicology Now, the online publication of the American Musicological Society, in December. She presented research on bootleg records under communism at New York University that was published this spring in Slavic Review. At Emory University, she hosted a public conversation about field recording, music composition, and environmental attention with composers Annea Lockwood, Lauren McCall, and Katherine Young, along with pianist Laura Barger of Yarn/Wire. On (and near) campus, she spoke about the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Carolina Public Humanities, was a panelist for the academic panel at the Festival on the Hill, and was enormously energized to be a part of the team (with Mark Katz) of faculty teaching “Critical Approaches to Music” in the new undergraduate curriculum for the first time.
Nicholas DiEugenio
Nicholas DiEugenio (Associate Professor and Head of Strings), violinist, had a marquee year as a soloist, chamber musician, and ensemble leader, creating powerful shared experiences in music ranging from early baroque to contemporary commissions.
Nicholas toured his “Inspired by Bach” program across the U.S., performing and giving masterclasses at the University of Michigan, Florida State University, Penn State University, UNC-Greensboro, UMBC (Baltimore), and in New York City at the church of St. Ignatius of Antioch. The project is a three-hour marathon performance by heart of the entire Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by J.S. Bach, combined with the presentation of Nicholas’ own original works of visual art, 31 in all, each corresponding to a specific movement of the Bach. Nicholas also exhibited his visual art at the Green Hill Center for NC Art, where he gave a talk and also performed. In November 2023, Nicholas was the featured guest soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle in several concerts in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, NC. He performed female composer Loren Loaiacono’s Concerto for Violin and Strings, which was commissioned and written expressly for him, as well as the rarely heard Violin Concerto of G.B. Pergolesi.
The ’23-’24 season also included many appearances as guest soloist or leader, including at The Washington National Cathedral, Ars Antiqua, The Sebastians, Staunton Music Festival, The Belvedere Series, CMSCVA, and The Princeton Festival. As director of the Luby Symposium at UNC in May 2024, Nicholas brought together principal musicians from the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Ensemble, the University of Michigan and UNC Chapel Hill to play for, coach, and interact with students from UNC, Eastman, Michigan, Oberlin, NYU, Vanderbilt, and UNC School of the Arts. Nicholas also collaborated with Eastman faculty member Geoffrey Burgess, scholar, author, and oboist, in a recording project dedicated to 19th-century chamber music composed for a specific type of oboe owned by Professor Burgess.
In the community, Nicholas is active as the co-Artistic Director of MYCO, a chamber music organization for high school students. The Passera Quartet, a MYCO group, was chosen as one of ten semi-finalists at the prestigious national Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, IN.
www.nicholasdieugenio.com
IG and TikTok: @dieu_violin
Evan Feldman
2023-2024 marked Professor Feldman’s sixth year as Principal Guest Conductor of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. He led pops concerts with Air Supply, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Jefferson Starship, a Broadway and classical program with aeralists and acrobats known as Cirque de Symphonie, and a celebration of the music of John Williams. He also conducted three holiday pops concerts and eight educational concerts at the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts. These concerts included a new composition for hip hop MC and orchestra performed by UNC alumnus Joshua Rowsey.
His outreach activities included clinics at West Johnston High School, Panther Creek High School, Pollard Middle School (Chapel Hill), West Stokes High School, and Woodlawn High School (Virginia).
Jeanne Fischer
A highlight of Jeanne Fischer’s academic year was traveling to Britain in March 2024 for a residency and performance at Kings College, London. She also enjoyed a visit to her alma mater, Royal Academy of Music. With the support of a Kings College Collaboration Grant from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, she and Brent Wissick worked with Kings College voice students and performed a concert along with UNC Voice alumnae, Shafali Jalota (B.Mus. 2017) and Anne Sutton (B.Mus. 2018).
David Garcia
In 2024, David Garcia was on research and study leave during the fall semester and continued his archival research on the nineteenth century history of Latin music and dance in the United States at the Library of Congress, The Library Company of Philadelphia, and the University of Texas among other places. Cornell University’s Department of Music invited Garcia to present his research in March 2024. He was elected to serve on the Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC and as a Member at Large of the Society for American Music’s Board of Trustees.
Anna B. Gatdula
Anna Gatdula has finished her first year as assistant professor in the Department of Music. She taught new courses including “Music in the Atomic Age” and the graduate seminar, “Toward a Critical Theory of the Spectacle.” With funding from the Carolina Asia Center, she started the academic year performing with Filipinx painter, Venazir Martinez. The collaboration, called “Sigaw, _______, echo,” integrated improvisatory music performance with visual arts. She was a panelist for the scholarly roundtable at the “Ex Machina” festival on technology and music. Additionally, she was an invited classroom lecturer at Harvard University. Her article, “Desert Specters: Commemoration and Myth in Oppenheimer and Doctor Atomic,” is forthcoming with the Journal of the Society of American Music.
Tonu Kalam
Having served as Music Director and Conductor of the UNC Symphony Orchestra since 1988, Professor Tonu Kalam celebrated his retirement by conducting his 160th and final performance with the orchestra to a large and enthusiastic audience in Memorial Hall on April 24th. The program consisted of two masterworks that examine the topic of fate related to humanity—the Schicksalslied by Brahms and the Symphony No. 5 by Tchaikovsky. The orchestra was joined in the Brahms by the Carolina Choir and the UNC Chamber Singers, beautifully prepared by Professor Susan Klebanow. The concert video is available on the department’s YouTube channel (and below).
The orchestra’s 2023-24 season opened with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Symphony, commemorating the 150th anniversary of that composer’s birth, and the December program featured faculty colleague Juan Álamo as percussion soloist in Professor Stephen Anderson’s Concerto for Puerto Rico. The three winners of our annual student concerto competition—violinist Frances Norton, mezzo-soprano Isabelle Kosempa, and double bassist Cindy Xu—were showcased in February performing music by Beethoven, Offenbach, Bizet, and Andres Martín.
Professor Kalam is retiring from the music faculty with a deep sense of gratitude to all his colleagues and students over many years who have made his 36-year career at Carolina exceptionally rewarding, both musically and personally.
Mark Katz
Mark Katz came out with two major publications during the past academic year. Rap and Redemption on Death Row: Seeking Justice and Finding Purpose Behind Bars (UNC Press), is a collaboration with incarcerated rapper and activist Alim Braxton that documents his work to bring attention to injustices within the U.S. criminal system. On a very different topic, the article, “The Great War, the Little String, and the Transformation of Modern Violin Playing” (Journal of the American Musicological Society) was the culmination of more than 30 years of research on violin performance practice.
During the year Katz also gave a keynote lecture on hip hop in higher education at a conference in London and presented invited talks at the Museu de la Música de Barcelona, the Ohio State University, and the Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi, Venice. In January 2024, Katz organized a weeklong festival at Carolina celebrating a decade of hip hop diplomacy fostered by Next Level, a State Department-sponsored program he founded. He wrapped up the academic year in Tokyo, where he conducted research on the resurgence of analog recording technologies, especially vinyl records and cassette tapes.
Michael Kris
In November 2023, Michael Kris served as artist in residence at Universität Mozarteum where he led chamber music rehearsals and presented classes in performance practice and low brass repertoire. While in Salzburg, he performed a concert of 16th-century music from Austria in the Salzburger Dom with Ensemble Musica Iuvavensis. During June, he traveled to Maryland for his ninth season as a faculty mentor at the National Music Festival. In July, he joined Ensemble Musica Iuvavensis again to present a concert of Gabrieli’s music with the choir and maestro di capella from Basilica di San Marco in Venice. The historic presentation took place at the famous Basilika St. Michael in Mondsee, Austria.
Timothy Sparks
As part of a faculty exchange between the Music Department and the Conservatory “Giuseppe Tartini” in Trieste, Italy, UNC hosted internationally acclaimed conductor Romolo Gessi in October for a Guest Artist Residency. Maestro Gessi led an Italian Opera Aria Masterclass and coached UNC Voice students for an Operetta Showcase performance. In April, Sparks completed a marathon 7-hour remote masterclass session with the Tartini Conservatory made possible by a networked music performance software known as LoLa (low latency audio visual streaming system) that enables real-time rehearsing and performing with musicians at remote locations, overcoming latency point to point. This intensive coaching session featured student performance groups in Trieste presenting a wide range of arias, songs, and chamber music pieces. Other local performances include a Christmas Gala with the Three Triangle Tenors™ at Croasdaile Village in Durham, Mass in G by Franz Schubert at North Raleigh United Methodist Church, and Carmina Burana by Carl Orff with the Choral Society of Durham and Durham Symphony Orchestra in Baldwin Auditorium on the Duke University campus. The Sparks Voice Studio continues to be strong with many NC District and Mid-Atlantic Regional NATS winners, along with successful degree recital presentations.
Lee Weisert
Lee Weisert’s composition Clinamina, for piano and electronics, was performed on three concerts this year by Clara Yang. It was premiered at Lawrence Conservatory in October and was performed subsequently on the Ex Machina festival at UNC and at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition. In February, the Triangle Wind Ensemble performed his work Gol Gumbaz or: The Echo King on the Town of Cary’s Marvelous Music Series. The piece uses prominent electronic digital delay effects mixed in with the live ensemble. Weisert performed guitar and electronics on two concerts in a quartet with Allen Anderson, Matthew McClure, and Brooks de Wetter-Smith. Both performances were long-form free improvisations accompanying projections of visual images by Brooks de Wetter-Smith. In June, Weisert’s sound installation Murmuration was presented at the Blandy Experimental Arboretum in Virginia. A collaboration with sound artist Jonathon Kirk, the work utilizes 100 wireless robotic woodblock instruments attached to trees in a forest.
Brent Wissick
Brent Wissick has completed 42 academic years on the faculty at Carolina and still divides his time between various types of cello playing (modern and baroque) with other early strings. In July, he taught and performed at the Amherst Early Music Festival in Allentown, PA, at which he has worked in various locations since 1983. Later in July, he journeyed down the Rhine River from Basel to Amsterdam with UNC Alumni Travel, lecturing on musical topics connected to the cities and regions along that route. His concerts in the Fall term included the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with faculty colleagues Don Oehler and Nick DiEugenio, a Bach concert with guests from Boston, a lecture recital on the Baryton for Carolina Public Humanities, and a tour with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra chamber ensemble that extended from Atlanta to Athens and Savannah, GA. There was also a Baroque Cello concert organized by faculty colleague Stephanie Vial. The highlight of March was a Spring Break trip to Kings College, London led by faculty soprano, Jeanne Fischer who presented a lecture recital accompanied by Wissick on gamba, and joined by UNC vocal Alums Anne Sutton and Shafali Jalota. Wissick also presented a talk to the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain on music of Coprario.
The cello studio was large and excellent with 4 students presenting senior recitals. Baroque Ensemble and Viol Consort performed their usual December and April concerts as well as one in the Ackland Art Museum. This year also marked the retirement of orchestra conductor Tonu Kalam, with whom Wissick had played many concertos, recitals, and chamber concerts. But he chaired the search committee that recommended the hiring of a wonderful new colleague, Evan Harger; who promises to be a superb addition to our vibrant department.