Students

Jodie Rottle | Joyce Kwon | Sam Ballantyne | Brendan Speltz | Brian Krock | Eunbi Kim | Emily Westell | Amir Khosrowpour | Kyra Sims | Catherine Parsons | Kevin McDonald | Robert Vuichard | Max Jacob | Yezu Woo | Joachim Junghanss

This June CPP flutist Jodie Rottle (MM ’13) launches the Silicon Valley Music Festival, a week-long program of performances, master classes, and outreach. Building a festival from the ground up has included booking faculty artists; securing rehearsal space, housing, and promotion from the San Jose Fairmont Hotel; and enlisting the support of JetBlue for flights. Jodie is also partnering with a local restaurant and has received funds through the San Jose Arts Council.
Silicon Valley Music Festival

Jazz vocalist Joyce Kwon (MM ’13) launched her popular blog, Jazz Toilet, which offers write-ups and commentary on NYC club bathrooms, culture, and music. The blog has already attracted notable Twitter buzz, including mentions from Alex Ross and NPR’s A Blog Supreme, as well as music journalists at The New York Times and the Boston Globe. In addition, she formed a Brazilian voice/guitar duo, Nossa Nova, created a promotional flier and multimedia website, and met with Peter Duchin for advising and referrals. The duo has played several restaurant gigs and is working on securing ongoing engagements.
Jazz Toilet
Nossa Nova

Bassist Sam Ballantyne (BM ’12) and violinist Brendan Speltz (MM ’12) have collaborated to form the Moveable Feast Orchestra to reconceive the classical concert experience. Sam has partnered with two architectural firms on the design of a portable performance enclosure that will transform large commercial spaces into dynamic and inviting performance environments. Brendan has put together the conductor-less flexible chamber ensemble that will present music in this relaxed, social, and intimate setting. The ensemble launched in May with a special house party and a performance at the Times Center as part of the TEDxEAST Conference. Moveable Feast was recently interviewed for both Chamber Music and Strad magazines.
Moveable Feast Orchestra

Jazz saxophonist Brian Krock (MM ’13) created a website, and will perform three of concerts with his eponymous quintet this summer at venues in Illinois and Indiana.

Pianist Eunbi Kim (MM ’12) is leading the Murakami Music Project, a series of multi-disciplinary presentations based on the writings of novelist Haruki Murakami. She is collaborating with an actress, a moving image specialist, and an arranger to create shows combining readings and concerts of the music Murakami references in two of his novels. The project has been accepted for workshopping and performances this October at The Cell in Chelsea and Eunbi is sending out proposals for additional bookings.

Violinist Emily Westell (PS ’12) formed the piano/violin “Forward” FWDuo, to focus on 20th century works. They are producing a three-concert series of their own at a piano museum in Canada, with programs that range from great Hollywood film composers, to the second Viennese school, to the works of Western Canadian “Big Sky” composers.

Pianist/composer Amir Khosrowpour (DMA ’13) prepared promotional and booking materials for his voice/piano duo, Rogers & Khosrowpour. Their programming, anchored by Schumann’s Dichterliebe, features a new work by Amir inspired by the writing of Schumann’s contemporary, E.T.A. Hoffman.

Hornist Kyra Sims (MM ’12) launched The Harlem Sound Project with a concert to benefit the Children’s Storefront, a local independent, tuition-free school. The concert featured works by jazz bassist Noah Jackson and others.

Violist Catherine Parsons (MM ’13) created the Symposium Concert Series, which combines lively philosophical discussions with performances by a flexible group of solo and chamber artists, in a range of genres. So far, she has produced two programs (in March and May) as house concerts in large NYC loft apartments. The first performance focused on music and spirituality and the second on musicians’ motivations to make music. The next event will be at the International House.

Jazz drummer Kevin McDonald (MM ’12) worked on promoting his piano trio Ziemba, Baron, & McDonald by targeting regional symphony orchestras for 2012-13 bookings. This included creating promotional fliers, upgrading the group’s online presence, and strategizing after the group made their symphony debut this year with the Amherst Symphony. As part of their programming, the trio offers a range of outreach presentations for K-12 audiences.

Composer Robert Vuichard (MM ’13) focused on launching his Libertine Music Press Competition for young composers. The winners will receive a professionally engraved score and parts, a cash prize, and funding for a performance of the winning work. He has secured partial funding and has had a number of mentoring sessions to fine-tune his plan and promotion strategy.

Beyond the Advanced Practicum

Here are two other examples of notable student initiatives that the CME assisted with this year.

Shattered Glass is a conductor-less chamber orchestra founded by bassist Max Jacob (BM ’13) and violinist Elizabeth Woo (BM ’13). They debuted in May at the Broadway Presbyterian Church and have also performed in Boston’s Old South Church. They have also performed at the TEDxEAST Conference at the Times Center and performed with hip-hop artists Kinetics and One Love on a newly released video. In May 2013 Shattered Glass will perform at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.

Shattered Glass
Kinetics & One Love - Sign Language (Orchestral Version Feat. Vita Chambers & Shattered Glass)

Jazz composer/pianist Joachim Junghanss (DMA ’12) has been offered a position with the prestigious Boston Consulting Group in their Munich offices. The rigorous application and interview process involved complex case studies. Joachim’s work will make use of the considerable analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills he honed at MSM. An interesting extension and application of his creativity and problem-solving skills, the consulting work will also allow him to continue advancing his music projects. In addtion, this summer in rural Ghana Joachim is leading his Music Works! project for the third year, providing music education to students ages 10-18, focusing on traditional Ewe music as well international repertoire, in an innovative curriculum.

Boston Consulting Group
Music Works Ghana on facebook