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CSU Marching Band Visual Ensemble/Color Guard Auditions on Saturday, May 3rd
04.07.08, Fort Collins, CO - CSU Marching Band Visual Ensemble/ Color Guard auditions will be held the first weekend in May. The Marching Band is looking for talented individuals with color guard, dance or cheer experience and a passion for music and CSU spirit; as an ensemble member expect to have fun, show school spirit, get physical exercise and stress relief, give exciting performances, free travel to selected away games and events while developing life-long friendships.
Auditions are open to any current or incoming CSU students and candidates do not need to be a music major to try out and participate in the Visual Ensemble/Color Guard. The Visual Ensemble/Color Guard are marching band members and will perform at all home football games and additional events.
Marching Band Visual Ensemble/Color Guard auditions will be held on Saturday, May 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Runyan Room at the University Center for the Arts at 1400 Remington St. Fort Collins.
Audition Requirements
Requirements for Visual Ensemble/Color Guard tryouts include performance of flag twirling, dance and movement skills and comprehension of tryout choreography. Taped auditions are accepted – please show a full routine that demonstrates flag twirling, dance and movement skills. Candidates must be enrolled or enrolling at Colorado State University. If selected, candidates are required to attend summer band camp and any other events designated by the ensemble coordinator. Enrollment in the Marching Band class section is also required.
For more information, please contact Karen Oxley, Coordinator of Bands, at 970.491.5973 or e-mail karen.oxley@colostate.edu.
Please mail audition tapes to:
Colorado State University
Department of Music
Elvin Holderfield, CSU Sophomore Piano Performance Major, performs for international pianist and superstar Lang Lang at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) 2008 National Convention
04.07.08, Fort Collins, CO - On Tuesday, April 1st, Elvin Holderfield, CSU Sophomore Piano Performance Major, was one of three students featured in the Masterclass given by international pianist and superstar Lang Lang at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) 2008 National Convention held in Denver, CO.
Considered by the New York Times as the "hottest artist on the classical music planet", 25-year-old Lang Lang has played sold out recital and concerts in every major city in the world and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and all the top American orchestras. He has worked with the world's best orchestras under the most renowned conductors, including Maestros Ashkenazy, Barenboim, Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Dutoit, Eschenbach, Gergiev, Jansons, Levine, Mehta, Maazel, Welser-Möst, Muti, Nagano, Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Salonen, Slatkin, Temirkanov and Tilson-Thomas. For more information on Lang Lang, visit the pianist's website at www.langlang.com.
Hundreds of private teachers from around the country were present for Lang Lang’s Masterclass where Holderfield gave a brilliant performance of Franz Liszt’s Funerailles from the Harmonies poetiques et religieuses, establishing an instant rapport with Lang Lang. After the session, Lang Lang was heard commenting on the quality of Holderfield’s performance.
The gifted sophomore was selected by CSU Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, Janet Landreth via the invitation of MTNA National President Gail Berenson.
Meet Elvin Holderfield
Elvin Holderfield grew up in Loveland and by comparison to many of his peers, has been playing piano for a relatively short amount of time, just 7 years, making his accomplishments even more remarkable. He has won several piano performance competitions and composition awards and when not toiling away at the keyboard, Holderfield enjoys lifting weights and making movies.
Holderfield is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Colorado State University, and is considering a degree in composition as well. After graduating he hopes to get masters and doctoral degrees at a respected, well-known music school. He seeks a career as a concert pianist or movie score composer, but becoming a music professor is always in the back of his mind.
Holderfield had this to say about participating in the Lang Lang Masterclass at the MTNA Convention: “Playing for Lang Lang was definitely one of the highlights of my early musical career, not to mention the fact that I was playing for music professors and teachers from around the nation! Lang Lang gave me such great advice, and was very easy to work with. He said I did an excellent job, and coming from such an outstanding pianist like Lang Lang, it really meant a lot. The event really inspired me to practice harder and dream bigger.”
Holderfield is currently adding what he considers “dreaming big” pieces to his repertoire including Chopin and Godowsky etudes, Bach’s Partita no. 2, and Liszt’s Concerto no. 2, however, “I really got a big boost of self-confidence from this masterclass and I know I can do it!”
CSU Vocal Students Have Excellent Showing at Colorado/Wyoming National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Competition
04.07.08 - On Saturday, April 5, Colorado State University vocal students participated in the annual Colorado & Wyoming National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition in Boulder, CO. The National Association of Teachers of Singing, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the highest standards of singing through excellence in teaching and the promotion of vocal education and research both for professional advancement of the talented and the enrichment of the general public. With over 5,600 members in the United States, Canada, and over 24 foreign countries, NATS is the largest association of teachers of singing in the world.Singing in the Annual NATS Competition is a valuable experience for students, performing for judges and receiving valuable feedback on their performance. Universities, colleges, community colleges and private teachers from across both states enter their students to compete with over 500 high school, college, and adult students entered this year. CSU students did extremely well at 2008 NATS, placing in every undergraduate category entered.
The following are awards won by CSU students:
The vocal division would also like to recognize and thank the following piano accompanists for their collaborative efforts throughout the competition: Bryce Boynton, Amy Chase, Katherine Costanza, Madeline Greeb, Elvin Holderfield, Donna Lewis, Elizabeth Ogg, Gay Slade, and Karen Stoody.
The 2009 NATS will take place at the new School of the Arts facility at Colorado State University.
Music Faculty Eric Hollenbeck Receives 2008 Best Teacher Award
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Percussion Dr. Eric Hollenbeck who received a 2008 Best Teacher Award. Recepients were selected from more than 300 student, alumni, faculty and staff nominations for the program, which honors CSU educators who have made lasting impressions on the lives of their students and represent excellence in teaching. Dr. Hollenbeck will be honored at an Awards Dinner on April 4.
Other School of the Arts nominees included: David Ellerby, Scott Christensen, Paul Flippen, Lola Logsdon, and Phil Risbeck from the Department of Art and Forest Greenough, Cory Seymour, and Michelle Stanley from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance.
For more information on the award click here
Singer of the Year and Recent Vocal Student Accomplishments
03.11.08 - Fort Collins, CO - In February, twenty eight students participated in the Annual Singer of the Year Competition where undergraduate vocal music majors compete for awards, scholarships and special distinctions. For the second consecutive year, the CSU Singer of the Year was awarded to senior vocal performance major, John Lindsey. The following is a complete list of awards:Summer Program Assignments
For vocal students, a critical component of their education comes from professional summer engagements. After recent national and international audition competitions, the following CSU students have been hired to participate in summer programs:
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students
CSU Music Department mourns the loss of Robert Cavarra, Professor Emeritus of Music
02.11.08 - From Dr. Michael Thaut, Co-Executive Director, School of the Arts & Department Chair:It is with great sadness I have to announce that one of the beloved members of our departmental family, professor emeritus Robert Cavarra passed away last Friday, February 8, 2008. He was at peace and surrounded by family. Bob was a wonderful artist, a man of great vision, and until the very last an enthusiastic and passionate supporter of our path to excellence. He was instrumental in bringing the Casavant organ, built by Larry Phelps, to campus 40 years ago – the instrument is possibly the largest cultural treasure CSU possesses.
My wife, Corene, and I had the pleasure of a wonderful dinner 4 weeks ago with Bob, his wife Barbara, and Olav Oussoren who is one of the finest organ builders and voicers in the world. Bob was clearly pleased to see the organ move to the University Center for the Arts recital hall and restoration in good hands – his legacy to us which we will honor and continue to build on.
Let us give our support to Barbara and the Cavarra family in these times of loss and mourning.
About Robert Cavarra
Robert N. Cavarra, professor of music and noted concert organist, who was a leading participant in the revival of the classical organ tradition in North America and brought international acclaim to Colorado State University as a center for organ scholarship and performance, died Friday, Feb. 8 in Denver, Colo. The cause was complications resulting from kidney failure.
Robert Cavarra was Professor Emeritus of Music at CSU, where he taught organ and harpsichord. During his distinguished tenure, he studied and worked beside the greatest of organists, including Marie-Claire Alain, E. Power Biggs, Anton Heiller, Lionel Rogg, and Gillian Weir, and performed extensively in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Mr. Cavarra has been consultant for a number of distinguished organs, and has frequently lectured on the Classic Organ Movement, including at the First Congress of Latin American Organists, the 35th Congress of World Affairs, the VII and XXVII International Festival of Organists in Morelia, Mexico, and has lectured and performed for numerous conventions of the American Guild of Organists.
Cavarra helped transform the music program in the 1960s by bringing the Casavant to campus following several years of research, planning and study he did on organs in the United States and Europe. He decided on an organ that reflected the Orgelbewegüng, or the classic building practices of Northern Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The late Lawrence Phelps, tonal director and president of Casavant Freres of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, was commissioned to construct what would become the first major mechanical-action organ at an American university. And true to the art of musical architecture, the organ was designed and built specifically for Room 203 in the Music Building, which formerly was the reading room of the Library Building. "The Casavant has a very intimate and articulate sound," said Cavarra.
But Cavarra, a musicologist, consultant, composer and performer from the time he was 12 years old, isn't known just for the Casavant. He also was responsible for the donation of a 1927 Wurlitzer theater organ for the Lory Student Center Theatre in 1983, "a wonderful old gem and remnant of the Silent Movie era." In addition, he has been consultant for several distinguished classical organs in the Fort Collins area, notably the Phelps organ at St. Luke's Episcopal Church and the Danish Marcussen and Son organ at First United Methodist Church. "Organ always has been my passion," he said.
Cavarra performed throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and Mexico and released many recordings on the Musical Heritage label. He also wrote and lectured on the Classic Organ Movement at the First Congress of Latin American Organists, the 35th Conference of World Affairs and the Festival of International Organists. Together with his wife, Barbara, he founded an international, non-profit foundation, Pro Organo Pleno XXI, dedicated to preservation of the art of the organ into the 21st century.
The dedication Cavarra brought to his artistry continued after his retirement from the university in 2000, including many guest appearances at organ recitals, always performed to a packed house. And in 2004, Cavarra assisted Music Department Chair, Dr. Michael Thaut in securing the 1.5 million endowment from Stewart and Sheron Golden in Longmont to fund a new professorship for organ and liturgical studies; the Stuart and Sheron Golden Chair of Organ and Liturgical Studies was the first endowed professorship in Music and the College of Liberal Arts at Colorado State University.
Additionally, Cavarra has been a great supporter of the University Center for the Arts (UCA) project, helping select Olav Oussoren, world-reknowned organ builder and voicer, to supervise the moving and restoration of the Casavant organ to its new recital hall in the UCA. Cavarra was overjoyed at the prospect of a new School of the Arts at CSU. "When you pursue the arts in an environment where you’re surrounded by beauty, you begin to relate to it. Great things in humanity have happened because artists were surrounded by beautiful things.”
Cavarra is survived by his wife, Barbara; a daughter Karla of New Haven, Conn.; three sons, Christopher of Chicago, Ill., Stephan of Atlanta, Ga., and Matthew of Denver, Colo.; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Friday, Feb. 15 at 11 a.m. at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 2000 Stover Street, Fort Collins. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Organ Program Support Fund c/o The CSU Foundation.
Quotes about Cavarra playing his beloved Casavant organ:
"Hauntingly lovely performance...Cavarra plays the Romantic organ with a keen sense of how various pipe colors blend into a pleasing whole, and how to give the music contrast and flexibility. -The Denver Post
"Cavarra made the music alive with splendidly upheld and characteristic tempos, an excellent rhythmic vitality and an impressive visibility which gave the compositions a combination of profile and beautifully modeled vigor..." -Berlingsketidende
High School Visit Day and Scholarship Audition Day Coming Soon!
01.08.08 - Click here for more details and for registration forms.
Generous Donation from Local Benefactors Expand Music Programs
12.18.07 - Fort Collins, CO - The Department of Music in School of the Arts at Colorado State University is proud to announce that it has received a generous donation from local arts supporters and university benefactors Jim and Wendy Franzen to establish a Graduate String Quartet Program and to recruit gifted piano students.
Department of Music Chair, Dr. Michael Thaut, Receives International Honors
12.13.07 - Fort Collins, CO - The Department of Music in School of the Arts is honored to announce that its Chair, Michael Thaut, director of the Center for Biomedical Research in Music and co-executive director of the School of the Arts, has recently received two academic honors that will enhance the national and international reputation of the University.
CSU Chamber Choir Returns From Successful South Korean Tour
11.14.07 - Fort Collins, CO - The Colorado State University Chamber Choir from the Department of Music in the School of the Arts recently returned from a nine-day tour of South Korea where they were invited to perform as a special guest choir in the Third Changwon Grand Prix Choral Festival.OboeRAMa at CSU with guest Eric Barr
10.15.07 - Colorado State University, will present OboeRAMa on November 29th and 30th, 2007 at the University Center for the Arts. Guest Eric Barr, retired principal oboist with the Dallas Symphony, will perform the Francaix Flower Clock with the CSU University Symphony on the Thursday evening the 29th. Activities on Friday the 30th will include a reed making session and master classes. A closing recital will finish the day with a performance by a participants' double reed band. For more information contact Gary Moody at Gary.Moody@Colostate.edu.
OboeRAMa flyer (PDF)
Registration Form (PDF)
CSU Chamber Choir Embarking on Korean Tour
10.15.07 - Fort Collins, CO - The CSU Chamber Choir, directed by James Kim, embarks on a tour to Korea from October 24 - November 4, 2007. As part of the tour, the Chamber Choir is the guest choir at the International Choral Festival in the city of Changwon, Korea on November 3rd and 4th.UCA Neighbors Hang Out with the Marching Band
10.15.07 - Fort Collins, CO - On a glorious fall day at the end of September, the residents in the vicinity of the University Center for the Arts at 1400 Remington Street in Fort Collins, hosted a block party for the Colorado State University Marching Band students, staff and faculty. Click here for more information.Department of Music, Theatre and Dance Fall Newsletter
10.01.07 Click here to read the newsletter.
Dr. Michael Thaut Elected to Prestigious Posts
08.24.07 - Fort Collins, CO - Dr. Michael Thaut, Director of CSU’s Center for Biomedical Research in Music; Chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, and Co-Executive Director of the School of the Arts, was recently elected a member of the prestigious Academy for Multidisciplinary Neurotraumatology (AMN) and the Euro Academy of Multidisciplinary Neurotraumatology (EMN).
Dr. Todd Queen Directs Opera in Rome
08.23.07 - Fort Collins, CO - Dr. Todd Queen, Associate Professor of Voice and Director of Opera at Colorado State University, recently returned from Rome. He developed a new curriculum and directed more than 30 students in the opera scenes program at Operafestival di Roma, where he has been on the faculty for four years. His student James Baumgardner was selected to sing the role of Masetto in Don Giovanni in the main stage production of the event.
Jazz faculty Peter Sommer Praised for Solos on Recent Release
08.07.07 - Fort Collins, CO - CSU faculty member Peter Sommer's contributions to a recent jazz album have received a fantastic review from JazzReview.com, a major website for reviews of independent jazz albums.
Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestras Wes Kenney wins First Annual Varna International Conductors Competition
07.23.07 - Fort Collins, CO - Colorado State University Department of Music is proud