Vocal Student Achievements Vocal student Kathryn McCreary received a Women’s Council Grant and will produce and perform in 3 one act operas at UMKC August 23,24, 2008. She received a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditio (more info.)   Vocal Student Kudos Ben Hilgret, who is the tenor in the Young Artists Program, sang roles at the Kansas City Lyric in Magic Flute and John Brown, he also appeared as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi in the opera at UMKC, he (more info.)   U. of Illinois to publish Faculty William Everett's new book "Rudolf Friml" Rudolf Friml WILLIAM EVERETT Rudolf Friml (1879-1972) is best known as the composer of romantic 1920s operettas. Beginning in 1912 he wrote music in different styles for Broadway, and in 1914, alo (more info.)   New York Times Review—Robert Weirich The New York Times review of Robert Weirich by Anthony Tommasini appeared in the 2/3/08 Sunday edition. "Robert Weirich, pianist. Albany Records TROY 989; CD. COPLAND: PIANO VARIATIONS, PIANO SONAT (more info.)   Vocal Students on the Move STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS since May 2007 – Singers from Morehouse Studio (voice faculty Dale Morehouse) will be scattered to the winds singing opera in New Jersey, Hawaii, Florida, and Arkansas; operett (more info.)   Piano student Chris McKiggan wins first prize Chris McKiggan won first prize in the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. As a result he will play at Weill Recital Hall in New York on May 18th! Three cheers for Chris. (more info.)   Jazz Faculty Michael Pagán's work gets international play Michael Pagán had two pieces published by Dutch Music Partners of The Netherlands. His Binary Tune for vibraphone and piano was published in March and Fanfare for double wind quintet appeared in April (more info.)   Flute student wins Competition DMA/Flute Performance student JONATHAN BORJA, won the 2008 St. Louis Artist Presentation Society Competition, which took place this past Saturday. Only three other flutists have won this competition (more info.)   Clarinetists in the News Junior Karen Anton received the first place Helen S. Lane Memorial Scholarship at the 2008 Sigma Alpha Iota Scholarship Competition in St. Louis. Junior Katie Kalinowski has been offered a full sc (more info.)   Wind Symphony to Perform at National Convention The Conservatory Wind Symphony has been accepted to perform at the National Convention of the College Band Directors National Association in Austin, TX Friday, March 27, 2009. UMKC has never traveled (more info.)   Piano student wins audition Brendan Kinsella, DMA piano student of Dr. Robert Weirich will perform Samuel Barber's Piano Concerto, op. 38 with the Jefferson City Symphony on April 29. The concert is first prize for winning the (more info.)   Conservatory Professor and Composer Paul Rudy wins Prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship KANSAS CITY, Mo—The Conservatory of Music and Dance is pleased to announce that Paul Rudy, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Composition, has won a 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship Award. Now, all fou (more info.)   UMKC Tenor wins Silver Medal Student Ben Gulley, 23, competed among 62 singers and was named Silver Medalist in the Collegiate Vocal Division of the Rotary Club of Tulsa’s Tenth Annual Crescendo Music Awards held April 10-12 in T (more info.)   Joe Parisi leads Fountain City Brass Band to national title, second year in a row! KANSAS CITY, Mo—The Conservatory of Music and Dance is pleased to announce that Conservatory faculty member Joe Parisi directed the Fountain City Brass Band to first place for the second year in a row (more info.)   EAST/WEST confluence project Conservatory composer and Visiting Professor of Composition Zhou Long will participate in this joint lecture and concert project with the Kansas City Symphony. Thursday April 3, 7 p.m. Nichols Audito (more info.)   Student Winners of National Society of Arts and Letters Competition Douglas Dodson, counter tenor, won $1000 and a free trip to Bloomington, IN to compete nationally. His professor is Raymond Feener. Benjamin Gulley, tenor, won $500, second prize. His professor i (more info.)   Student Wins National Trumpet Competition Sophomore trumpet/jazz student Hermon Mehari took first place in the National Trumpet Competition, Jazz Division, the weekend of March 15. Congrats. (more info.)   Voice Faculty Aidan Soder Releases Schoenberg Book Aidan Soder, assistant professor of voice, performs and lectures in the Conservatory's Schoenberg Retrospective March 19-21, 2008, coinciding with the publication of her book Sprechstimme In Arnold Sc (more info.)   Interim Dean James Mobberley Wins 2008 Music Award from American Academy of Arts and Letters FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS ANNOUNCES 2008 MUSIC AWARD WINNERS FIFTEEN COMPOSERS RECEIVE AWARDS TOTALING $165,000 New York, March 5, 2008 -- The American (more info.)   Trumpet Major gets accolade Senior trumpet major Doug Reneau was accepted into the extremely competitive National Repertory Orchestra program for Summer 2008. Congrats! (more info.)   Conservatory Participates in Southwestern Regional Conference of the American Choral Directors Association The Conservatory’s best talent was presented to the seven-state Southwestern regional convention of the American Choral Directors Association held in Kansas City at the Folly Theater and the Music Hal (more info.)   UMKC Tenor First Singer to Win the Hellam Young Artists’ Competition Ben Gulley, 23, of Blue Springs MO, a senior vocal performance major representing the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance, was the first singer to win the Hellam Young (more info.)   FEB. 21--OPERA CANCELLED FOR FEB. 21 Thursday's opera has been cancelled due to inclement weather. Tickets will be honored at the rest of the performances subject to White Hall availability. Contact the CTO, 816-235-6222 for more infor (more info.)   Grammy Win includes Conservatory Alumni The Kansas City Chorale's recording of sacred music won a Grammy Sunday night. "Grechaninov: Passion Week" was awarded the Grammy for "best engineered classical album." The 25 year old Kansas Cit (more info.)   Trombone Ensemble Wins Honorable Mention The Trombone Ensemble was awarded Honorable Mention for the International Trombone Association Remington Trombone Choir Competition. The winning choir is from Oklahoma State, and the runner-up fro (more info.)   Conservatory Students win 10 prizes at NATS Chapter 2008 Kansas City NATS Chapter 2008 Auditions results: Mid-America Nazarene University-February 9, 2008 115 singers representing University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Kansas, University of (more info.)   Student Wins N.E.O.N. Festival Doctoral Composition student Wah-hei Ng is the winner of the 2008 Max Di Julio Prize for Music Composition at the Nevada Encounters Of New Music (N.E.O.N.) festival, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2 (more info.)   Spotlight Series I: A Schoenberg Retrospective This three-day series will include films and lectures about the life of Arnold Schoenberg, with Robert Olson, artistic director and Reynold Simpson, director of symposia. CONCERTS: March 19: Open (more info.)   MET Opera Winners From the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, held January 5 in White Hall 3 of the 6 auditioners who won or received awards were Conservatory singers. Congratulations to Encouragement Awa (more info.)   Conservatory Students Excel Conservatory flute student BRIELLE FROST won Second Place with a terrific performance in the Divisional Round of the MTNA Young Artist Woodwind Competition, held Saturday at the MTNA West Central Divi (more info.)   Conservatory Student is internationally known Conservatory doctoral student Narong Prangcharoen continues to build an international reputation as one of Thailand's leading composers. He has received commissions to compose orchestral music throug (more info.)   Conservatory Dancers in Nutcracker Five Conservatory dance students, Seniors Mary Marshall and Chelsie Danner, Freshmen Miyesha McGriff and Kelanie Murphy, and Junior Molly Vaeth have been invited to perform in the annual Nutcracker wi (more info.)   Zhou Long wins Meet the Composer Commission This new work for saxophone quartet and traditional Chinese instruments (erhu, dizi, and percussion) will utilize a multifaceted and layered language forged from western and eastern musical traditions (more info.)   Flute performance majors win awards Brielle Frost (M.M. Flute Performance, May 07) won the Missouri state round of the MTNA Young Artist Woodwind Competition, held at the MMEA Convention, Springfield, MO. Virginia Backman (second yea (more info.)   trumpet major wins competition Junior trumpet performance major Jaime Tyser won the Lincoln (NE) Symphony Young Artists Competition and will have two performances with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, in addition to winning a cash p (more info.)   Conservatory’s faculty member directs Fountain City Brass Band to national title, again! KANSAS CITY, Mo—The Conservatory of Music and Dance is pleased to announce that for the second time within a year, Conservatory faculty member Joe Parisi directed Fountain City Brass Band, which inclu (more info.)   First Prize to Conservatory Composition Faculty Member Paul Rudy wins the Sounds Electric '07 Electroacoustic Music Competition. There was a tremendous response to the competition, entries were received from Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Ir (more info.)   Solo Piano CD Release Dr. Jane Solose, Associate Professor of Piano, has another solo piano CD that has just been released by Eroica Cla (more info.)   Conservatory student is a finalist for Annapolis Charter 300 Young Composer Competition. ANNAPOLIS, MD - The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra announces the advancement of four finalists to the commissioning round in its 2007-2008 international Annapolis Charter 300 Young Composers Competition (more info.)   THE ASCAP FOUNDATION NAMES RECIPIENTS New York, NY, April 12, 2007: ASCAP Foundation President Marilyn Bergman has announced the recipients of the 2007 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. The young composers will be recog (more info.)   Conservatory Welcomes Fulbright Scholar The Conservatory of Music and Dance welcomed its first Fulbright Scholar from China recently, initiating a new formal exchange program with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Xu Changjun (more info.)   Student Kevin Cerovich Wins Eastern Trombone Workshop Jazz Competition Conservatory jazz student Kevin Cerovich recently took First Place in the National Solo Jazz Competition of the Eastern Trombone Workshop, an annual trombone convention hosted by the United States Arm (more info.)   Gerald Kemner, former composition professor, passes away Gerald E. Kemner, age 74, passed away January 26, 2007 at Sweet Life at Rosehill, Shawnee, KS. He was born September 28, 1932 in Kansas City, MO to Louis Webster and Mabel (Huhn) Kemner. Dr. Kemner at (more info.)   Musica Nova to perform at the Society of Composers Regional Conference. UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance's Musica Nova ensemble has been invited to perform at the Society of Composers Regional Conference in Warrensburg, MO on February 9th. This is the first time in M (more info.)   Bella Voce to perform at MMEA Conference. Bella Voce, the Conservatory of Music and Dance's women's choir has been selected to perform at the 69th MMEA Conference on January 29th. Bella Voce is conducted by Mariana Farah. (more info.)   Airs For The Season Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann (Karen Kushner, piano, Palatine). The University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory pianist has assembled interconnected works by three compos (more info.)