Music and Dance Summer Workshops and Day Camps
The varied summer arts experiences for all ages offered by the Community Music and Dance Academy provide experiential learning and enrichment in a fun, supportive environment both on and off of the UMKC campus.
For ages 14 and up
Composition Workshop
July 6 - 10, 2009
1:00 - 4:30 p.m. daily
Tuition $200.00 per participant. This class will be held at the Community Music and Dance Academy on the UMKC campus. Register online by clicking "Sign Up" above. All participants must pay a $25.00 materials fee in addition to tuition.
Aspiring composers will broaden their horizons and hone their craft in a mix of group sessions and private lessons with professional composers from UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, the Community Music and Dance Academy, and Composers in the Schools. This intense weeklong experience can help young composers find their voices while improving their musical skills and entering the community of composers and new music lovers.
The focus of the Summer Composition Workshop will be a composition by each participant for the Workshop's ensemble in residence, made up of professional performers with a passion for new music. Throughout the week, Summer Composition Workshop composers will participate in seminar-style discussions of topics such as notation, music theory, orchestration, aesthetics of music, and text setting. Participants will listen to, analyze, and discuss masterworks by various composers, including music of our time as well as the great achievements of the past. Each composer will also gain hands-on experience with Finale notation software (experience with this or a similar program is preferred but not required) and will stretch his or her compositional abilities with brief compositions that build towards the larger project. The resident ensemble will present established repertoire and perform participants' exercises and works in progress daily. Private lessons will focus on the work for the resident ensemble but may also address other aspects of each composer's development. The Summer Composition Workshop will culminate with a public performance by the resident ensemble of the participants' finished compositions.
No composition experience is necessary, but participants should be experienced musicians who can read treble and bass clef, are comfortable with various time signatures and key signatures, and have some training in an instrument or voice. Participants will receive detailed information about the ensemble in residence approximately one month prior to the start of the Summer Composition Workshop and are encouraged to begin working on music for the ensemble in advance, although this advance preparation is not required.
For ages 8 - 12
Young Singers Workshop
June 29 - July 3, 2009
1:00 - 4:30 p.m. daily
Tuition $200.00 per child. This class will be held at the Community Music and Dance Academy on the UMKC campus. Register online by clicking "Sign Up" above. All participants must pay a $25.00 materials fee in addition to tuition.
Participants will learn the basics of good vocal technique in a fun, low-pressure environment. The Young Singers Workshop is meant to prepare the participant for auditions in local or school musical theatre productions. Music explored includes children's chorus numbers from Broadway shows, as well as brief solos for each singer. Emphasis is also placed on reading music and basic sightreading. Instructor Denise Knowlton is a professional singer with a national reputation and has years of experience working with musical theatre students of all ages.
Wind Instrument Exploration Workshop
July 6 - 10, 2009
1:00 - 4:30 p.m. daily
Tuition $200.00 per child. This class will be held at the Community Music and Dance Academy on the UMKC campus. Register online by clicking "Sign Up" above. All applicants must pay a $25.00 materials fee in addition to tuition.
Many students begin school band programs without having a sense of which instrument is right for them. With no opportunity to experience the various woodwind and brass instruments, too many students do not reach their full musical potential. The goal of the Wind Instrument Exploration Workshop is to provide participants with hands-on experiences of many different musical instruments in a low-pressure, fun environment. The Wind Instrument Exploration Workshop will include professional demonstrations of the capabilities of the various woodwind and brass instruments, as well as hands-on instrumental experience for each participant. Students will also participate in activities relating to the fascinating and sometimes surprising history behind the instruments of the band and the orchestra. Participants will receive one-on-one attention as they explore these musical instruments. Instructor Leia Barrett (woodwinds) holds degrees in music education and bassoon performance. She teaches bassoon at the Community Music and Dance Academy and is dedicated to community outreach projects to bring music education into underserved urban schools. Instructor Brian Scott (brass) is a music educator currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. He teaches brass instruments and is a member of the Fountain City Brass Band.
For ages 4 - 8
Piano/Keyboard Workshop
UPDATE: The workshop's dates have CHANGED and will be July 6 - 10 and 13 - 17.
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. daily
Tuition $180.00 per child. This class will be held at Notre Dame de Sion school, located at 3823 Locust Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Click here to register online at the Notre Dame de Sion website.
Playing the piano is more than just solitary practicing! Enroll in the Piano / Keyboard Workshop and learn innovative ways to have fun with the piano with introductory lessons and group activities. Participants will learn to play with other pianists in an ensemble. Through games, arts and crafts, and other activities, participants will also be introduced to the basics of reading music. Learn to play chords, create your own compositions through improvisation, or help to create a group arrangement of a song for several pianos. Instructors Blas González and Ya-Ting Liou have an international reputation for innovative and engaging performances as the Pangea Piano Project. Both Dr. González and Dr. Liou teach piano at the Community Music and Dance Academy.
Dance Workshop
June 8 - 12 and 15 - 19, 2009
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. daily
For ages 4 - 8. Tuition $180.00 per child. This class will be held at Notre Dame de Sion school, located at 3823 Locust Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Click here to register online at the Notre Dame de Sion website.
Participants in the Dance Workshop will begin to understand the basics of ballet and start to develop their own movement vocabularies. Participants will also learn simple rhythms, stretching and lengthening muscles, and performing sequences of movement that combine elements of space and time. Each day the students will discover a different Ballet, Broadway, or Modern performance through visual media, prop making, and choreography. Instructor Amanda McMaster has an extensive background in early childhood education and is an accomplished performer. She teaches Ballet, Modern Dance, and Creative Movement at the Community Music and Dance Academy.
Music and Dance Day Camps Faculty Biographies
LEIA BARRETT (wind instrument exploration workshop) recently completed a Master of Music degree in bassoon performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Iowa. She has attended numerous festivals not only in the United States but also in Canada and Prague. She is currently the bassoon instructor at the Community Music and Dance Academy, and is also the Coordinator for the Musical Bridges outreach program, now in its second year. In addition, she is involved with the Conservatory in the Schools program at Kansas City's University Academy, where she serves as woodwind specialist for the fifth and sixth grade band program.
DANIEL EICHENBAUM (summer composition workshop) earned his Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor of Music degree from the Pennsylvania State University. His past teachers have included Paul Barsom, Bruce Trinkley, James Aikman, and Evan Chambers. Mr. Eichenbaum’s music has been performed and published in both Europe and the United States. He was a finalist in Schirmer’s New Voices contest for band literature with his wind ensemble piece, 5th Avenue Rhapsody, which is published by Southern Music. Mr. Eichenbaum’s electronic music piece, Car Accident, is currently released on 60X60 from Capstone Records. Recent performances include the Montana State University Orchestra performance of his song cycle Three Women. His trumpet quartet, Goodnight, Alex, was premiered by the Mahidol University Trumpet Ensemble at the 2007 International Trumpet Guild conference. Appalachian Images was premiered by the Mahidol University Clarinet Ensemble and Rachel Dances by the Thailand Saxophone Ensemble. In March of 2007, Mr. Eichenbaum spent a week in Myanmar giving masterclasses at the Gitameit Music Center and oversaw the premier of his new choir piece, To the Evening Star. Mr. Eichenbaum was Instructor of Theory and Composition at Mahidol University, Thailand, from 2005-2007 where he taught composition and music theory. Previously, Mr. Eichenbaum taught for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composers Project where he helped students aged 9 through 17 create new works for orchestra and then see them read by the Tucson Symphony. Currently Mr. Eichenbaum is Coordinator of the Composers in the Schools program and is on the faculty of the Community Music and Dance Academy. He is also working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, where he has studied composition with Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, James Mobberley, and Chen Yi.
MARA GIBSON (summer composition workshop) is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, graduated from Bennington College and completed her Ph.D. at SUNY at Buffalo. Additionally, she attended London College of Music, L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, France and the International Music Institute at Darmstadt in Germany. She has received grants and honors from the Banff Center, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Meet the Composer, the International Bass Society, ASCAP, the John Henrick Memorial Foundation and had internationally renowned ensembles and soloists perform her music throughout the United States, Canada and across Europe and South America. Additionally, Dr. Gibson has taught composition, theory, and contemporary music at several universities in Buffalo, New Orleans, and Kansas City. Recent and upcoming performances include The Banff Center, Bowling Green State University, the Hamstead Author's Society in London, Houston Community College, Loyola University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, New Orleans Center for Creative Artists, the Spark Festival in Minneapolis, Tulane University, the University of Miami, Longy School of Music, Stangvik Festival in Trondheim, Norway, a performance by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, the Universidad Maimonides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and, locally in Kansas City at the the Belger Arts Center, the Kansas City Art Institute, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College and the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Upcoming projects include an a world premiere of D(u)o in three movements, a residency in Norway funded through the Trondheim Arts Council, a new work for duo Contour based in Freiburg, Germany, and a premiere of E:Tip with Madeleine Shapiro in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2008/09, Mara will complete these projects while teaching at the Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Kansas City Art Institute and directing the Conservatory's Community Music and Dance Academy.
BLAS GONZÁLEZ (piano/keyboard workshop) is a pianist and teacher based in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to performing standard piano repertoire and chamber music, he has regularly played and lectured on piano works by contemporary composers such as Stockhausen, Crumb, Ligeti, James Mobberley and Gerardo Gandini among others, in venues in Argentina, Taiwan and United States. Recent appearances include Music Forum (Taipei, Taiwan), Imagine Festival (University of Memphis), College Music Society (San Francisco State University), New Music Festival at Heidelberg College, Jukejoint New Music Festival (Delta University in Mississippi), Kansas City Art Institute and Missouri Music Teachers Association (Springfield, Missouri). An avid participant in unconventional projects, González is a collaborator of Argentmusica, a foundation dedicated to the performance and recording of Argentinian art music for piano and chamber groups. Together with pianist Ya-Ting Liou, he has started the Pangea Piano Project, with the idea of performing and premiering pieces from composers of all over the world, under the topic of cultural diversity. This project has been featured internationally and reviewed by the press. Over the years, González has premiered and commissioned several works for piano solo, chamber music and piano with electronic sounds, by composers Mark Snyder, Pablo Tarrats, Jason Bolte, Mario Rapallini, Mara Gibson and others. Because of his interest in contemporary music, he has played in masterclasses for specialists in the topic such as Dimitri Vassilakis, Haydee Schwarz, Gerardo Gandini, and Anthony de Mare. He recently completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, where he studied piano under Dr. Robert Weirich; he also holds degrees from Ohio University and the Conservatory of Music "Carlos Lopez Buchardo" in Argentina. Former teachers are Alejandro Cremaschi and Aldo Antognazzi. As a pianist, he has received awards from Argentinian Funds for the Arts, United Composers form Argentina, Jrimian Foundation, Beethoven Foundation, Ohio University Student Solo Competition, Mu Phi Epsilon and Kansas City Music Club.
DENISE KNOWLTON (Young Singers Workshop) is a doctoral student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. She holds a BA in music from the University of Michigan, a Masters of Music from Bowling Green State University, and a Professional Studies certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has taught at the university level for several years, instructing students in private lessons as well as in the classroom. Although primarily a classically trained opera singer, Denise is also very comfortable carefully instructing her musical theater oriented students without compromising their stylistic goals. She has been teaching for the Music Academy since 2005. Her students continue to sing the leads and supporting leads in their school musicals, make District and State honors choirs and receive superior ratings at District and State solo contest. She is active in the Musical Bridges program and continues to build her Young Singer’s class. Denise began her career as a Young Artist with Glimmerglass Opera in upstate New York. She toured for two seasons, reprised the roles of Adelaide in Torke’s Strawberry Fields and Mrs. Pompton in Sousa’s The Glass Blowers. She also portrayed the roles of Herodias, Santuzza and Mother Marie in cover performances. She made her Cleveland Orchestra debut as Gertrude in Hansel und Gretel in which the Plain Dealer found her “plush soprano and urgent attention to words…sympathetic.” The Kansas City Star regards her as “ the most convincing Katisha I have ever heard.” Her portrayal of Dame Quickly in Union Avenue’s Falstaff left a “dramtically impressive” mark on St. Louis. Last year she reprised her role as Katisha in The Mikado with the Kansas City Civic Opera and Paul Mesner Puppets. She then returned to Wichita Grand Opera to perform the role of Ulrica in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. She performed Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with Kansas City Civic Orchestra and debuted the voice of the Witch in Paul Mesner’s Hansel and Gretel with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. This season she sang Mama Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana with Kansas Concert Opera and embraces the role of the Wicked Wolf of the West in The Three Little Pigs with Lyric Opera Express.
YA-TING LIOU (piano/keyboard workshop) Taiwanese pianist, has presented concerts as soloist and chamber musician in the U.S. and abroad, with music critics citing her "secure and impressive technique" and her "ability for expressive and moving playing" (The Chronicle, New Zealand). Her performance highlights include collaboration with Bil Jackson and appearances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the State of the Art at the State Department in Washington D.C., and concert halls in Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Italy, and Taiwan. Mostly recently she was the first prize winner at the International Collaborative Piano Competition of the 2006 William Garrison Piano Festival and Competition. Ms. Liou has participated in piano master classes with Leon Fleisher, Leslie Howard, Peter Serkin, Stephen Hough, and Peter Frankl. She has been invited to present master classes at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música Carlos López Buchardo in Argentina and at the Tainan National University of Arts in Taiwan. Her past teaching activities include the mentor program at Music Academy of the West - Santa Barbara, both the Continuing Education Program and the Music department at University of Colorado - Boulder, and Arts in the Neighborhood in Maryland. Her teachers include Ellen Mack, Marian Hahn, and Robert Weirich.
AMANDA MCMASTER (dance workshop) is originally from New Lebanon, New York. She received her early training with Nancy Ropelewski Pierce, teacher of the Albany Berkshire Ballet (ABB). She has danced various roles with the ABB under direction of Madeline Cantarella Culpo. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, where she studied dance under professors Mary Pat Henry, Jen Medina, Paula Weber, Rodney Williams, Sabrina Madison Cannon, and Michael Simms. She has worked on and behind stage in many UMKC Conservatory dance concerts. She plans on earning her Master's degree in dance at the new program being founded at UMKC. Ms. McMaster also teaches at The Studio of Dance and Grace Early Childhood Center.
BRIAN SCOTT (wind instrument exploration workshop) is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in euphonium performance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance and is member of the Fountain City Brass Band. Additionally, he locally teaches 4th through 8th grade band and private brass lessons. Prior to moving to Kansas City with his wife, Heather, he taught inner-city high school band for three years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, served as the assistant director and principal euphonium of the Baton Rouge Concert Band, assisted in instructing the Louisiana Youth Orchestra brass section and taught private lessons throughout the area. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education with wind band emphasis and Master of Music in wind conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi.
