2007 NEWS ARCHIVE
NKU Faculty Brass to Appear on Holiday Television Broadcast
Posted 11.06.07
The NKU Faculty Brass Ensemble will be appearing this holiday season on "Christmas at the Carnegie with Nancy James." Faculty members, Jonathan Gresham, David Dunevant, and Richard Goist will perform with other regional talents including the Brotherhood Singers, actors David Hosea and Bill Harnett, and the Cathedral Basilica Children's Choir. The show will be broadcast throughout the season at various times on local access channel ICN6.
NKU Music Alumna Recognized as Teacher of the Week
Posted 11.06.07
NKU Music alumna Kendra Abner was recognized by the Alexandria Recorder as the Teacher of the Week. Amanda Joering, columnist with the Community Press writes:
"Southgate Superintendent Jim Palm credits the quality of Southgate Independent School's music program and school band to a dedicated music teacher. For nine years, Kendra Abner, of Wilder, has been teaching music to kindergartners through eighth graders and also serving as the school's band director.
Abner, who graduated from NKU with degrees in music performance and music education, knew since high school that she wanted to teach music.
"I teach music because of my band director at Campbell County High School, " Abner said. "He was a phenomenal teacher who inspired me to follow this path."
Palm said Abner meets and exceeds his expectations every day with her hard work.
"She does an excellent job teaching all of our students in general music," Palm said
Palm credits Abner's hard work for Southgate students scoring 115, exceeding the goal of 100 for the year 2014, in fine arts on the recent CATS tests. Abner credits some of her success to the school.
"Since we have such a small school, it's easier to get them to learn."
NKU Voice Students Take Top Honors in State NATS Competition
Posted 11.01.07
Northern Kentucky University represented itself very well at the 2007 National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition in October by winning a total of ten awards, the most of any college participating in the event. Among the awards include the Scaggs Epofano Award for Best Overall Performance awarded to Sophomore Melissa Nelson, student of Gayle Grout. Other awards include first place in the Sophomore Men category to NKU's Micah Herrick, student of Richard Cowan, first place in the Senior Women category to NKU's Ann Clabaugh, student of Gayle Grout, and first place in the Musical Theatre Upperclassmen category to NKU's Elizabeth Carroll, student of Lisa Erickson.
Other awards to NKU students included: Leslie Bays, student of Gayle Grout (2nd place Freshmen Women), Dacy McAlister, student of Esther Nam (3rd Place, Freshmen Women), Tim Buddell, student of Eric DeForest (3rd place, Freshmen Men), Rachel Wermeling, student of Joy Burdette (2nd Place, Adult Beginner), Michael Weigand, student of Richard Cowan (2nd place Junior Men), and Julie Maile, student of Richard Cowan (3rd placee, Senior Women).
A total of 200 students from eight colleges participated in the event. Congratulations to all the students and teachers who performed and represented our program so well.
NKU Music to Host State Competition for Singers
Posted 10.22.07
On October 26-27, 2007, Northern Kentucky University will be hosting the National Association of Teachers of Singing State Student Competition. NATS is National and International Association which encourages the highest standards of the vocal art qnd of ethical principles in the teaching of singing; and to promote vocal education and research at all levels, both for the enrichment of the general public and the professional advancement of the talented.
Gayle Grout and Eric DeForest will co-host the competition. We have registered 175 students from the State Universities, Colleges and High Schools in Kentucky and Indiana. The addition of the Musical Theater category will include NKU's Lisa Ericksen and Jamey Strawn from the Theater Dept. as well as the voice faculty from the Music Dept., with Richard Cowan, Esther Nam, and Joy Burdette. This will be a great recruiting tool for NKU, since there will be 20 high school participants from all over the state. Northern has 43 students competing against Western, Morehead State, Murray State, Centre, U. of Evansville, Ind. Georgetown, Berea, University of the Cumberlands, and Pikeville.
NKU Piano Student Takes First Prize at MTNA State Competition
Posted 10.22.07
NKU Music has received word that one of our piano majors, Uliana Kozhevnikova, student of Sergei Polusmiak, has won first prize in the state division of the Music Teachers National Association’s annual piano performance competition held in Danville, KY. Performance competitions are sponsored by MTNA and KMTA to encourage exceptionally talented young students in pursuit of musical excellence and to Recognize outstanding achievement in the profession of music teaching. These Competitions provide an opportunity for students to receive professional adjudication in a competition setting with rules and repertoire requirements. Uliana, an international student from Moscow, is currently a sophomore in music at NKU.
NKU Guitar and Lute Instructor Featured in National Radio Broadcast
Posted 10.09.07
Music by NKU Guitar and Lute instructor, Christopher Wilke, will be featured Oct. 14th on Sunday Baroque, a radio program dedicated to early music broadcast nationally, in the show's third hour. Selections will be aired from Mr. Wilke's CD, "Charles Hurel: Theorbo Works." This album is dedicated to the world-debut recording of the 17th century French composer's beautiful pieces for theorbo, a type of 14-string bass lute popular throughout Europe during the baroque period. One of only a tiny handful of recordings in the world to feature solo music for the instrument, it has recently been released with Centaur Records (www.centaurrecords.com).
Symphonic Winds Selected to Perform at CBDNA Convention in Columbus, GA
Posted 09.30.07
NKU has recently been notified that our Symphonic Winds ensemble under the direction of Dr. Brant Karrick has been invited to perform for the College Band Directors National Association Southern Regional Division Convention in Columbus, Georgia in February of 2008 on the campus of Columbus State University.
The pool of university bands that applied to perform was exceptionally strong and included audition CDs from 21 of some of the finest colleges and university programs throughout a ten-state region. Only seven bands were selected based on a blind evaluation by a four-member committee. Our own Symphonic Winds was chosen by this panel to be one of the featured ensembles at the convention to perform before a distinguished audience of colleagues and performers! This is a great honor for our program and NKU and a noteworthy testament to the quality of our ensembles here at NKU.
Congratulations goes out to Dr. Karrick and our Symphonic Winds members for this prestigious invitation. We wish them all the best as they begin the hard work in preparation for this concert.
Research Paper by Music Student Accepted for Publication
Posted on 09.30.07
We are pleased to announce that music senior Richard Floeckher's research paper titled "Purifying the Audience: Nine Inch Nails and Antonin Artaud's Theater of Cruelty" was published in Volume 16 of the Mid-Atlantic Almanack: The Journal of the Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Cultural Association.
Congratulations to Richard for this noteworthy achievement!