February 17 Jazz Combo Concert

On Friday, February 17, the Jazz Combo held their concert in the Recital Hall of the Gittinger Music Building. The Jazz Combo is a small ensemble group that emphasizes jazz improvisation on classic and contemporary jazz tunes. Generally, combo group begin by playing tunes completely, then proceed by playing variations of the tunes through individual solos. During the concert, the audience were treated to improvisational solos on piano, trumpet, saxophone, guitar, bass, and drums. The program consisted of multiple jazz styles such as swing, Bebop, jazz ballads, jazz-rock, samba, and funk.

 

 

The Jazz Combo Concert also featured Mr. Reder and Mr. McMasters as guest artists, both teachers at College of the Ozarks. “The C of O Jazz Combo was excited to have these very talented guest artists join us for this performance,” said Dr. Kevin Powers, assistant professor of music and director of bands. Mr. Reder is an adjunct woodwind professor at the college and was also a distinguished saxophonist in Las Vegas for more than 20 years. He performed for many famous artists including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mickey Rooney, Liberace, Chuck Berry, James Brown, and Jerry Lewis. Mr. McMasters is a guitar professor at the college while actively performing and teaching in the Springfield and Branson area.

Dr. Anne Schantz Guest Artist Recital

Dr. Anne Schantz, a voice professor at Reinhardt University, visited College of the Ozarks last Friday, February 3, for a master class and guest artist recital. C of O’s piano professor, Dr. Clara Christian, played the piano for her recital.

“Dr. Schantz was a joy to work with and we're delighted she was able to come here to perform.” Dr. Christian said, “Her recital featured works in all major languages, styles, and periods, and are songs all aspiring singers need to hear. She sang some standard repertoire that many of our students have sung or will sing, and gave us performances that showed us ‘how it should be done.’  And for all the piano students in the audience—the piano part is extremely important, too!  Each piano accompaniment functions like a duet with the singer and it was a treat to play this music with Dr. Schantz.”

Dr. Schantz’s program was varied and spanned several musical periods and composers from different countries. Besides Handel, she also sang songs by English composer Henry Purcell ("Music for a While," "Bess of Bedlam"), Mozart ("Als Luise die Briefe," "Un moto di gioa"), Hahn, Fauré, and Poldowski. After the intermission, Dr. Schantz launched into more recent compositions, beginning with English composer Roger Quilter. She then sang five selections from Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs and “Fair Robin I love” from Kirke Mechem,’s Tartuffe. She ended the evening with three songs by Georgia Stitt. Throughout her performance, Dr. Schantz combined an expressive delivery with technical skill.

Dr. John Cornish, C of O voice professor, said that “We were pleased to have Dr. Schantz on campus with us. Her expertise was invaluable to our voice students participating in the master class, and her evening recital was exquisite. These types of experiences serve to broaden our students’ musical perspectives, and to open their eyes to the caliber of performance that can be achieved through disciplined study and hard work."

MMEA 2017

On January 25 2017, six students from College of the Ozarks traveled to Tan-Tar-A resort at the Lake of the Ozarks to attend the 79th Annual MMEA in-service workshop/conference. The students participating included Asa Boldman, Dalton Elery, Dalton Jewsbury, Lydia Burnett, Rebecca Stephenson, and Sarah McCullough. The music students were accompanied by Dr. Powers.

At this four day long conference, students were provided an opportunity to experience clinics from many music educators from around the state. The educators that attended this event teach at many different education levels ranging from elementary up to collegiate. The students also had the opportunity to listen to a variety ensembles including the Missouri All-Collegiate Orchestra, various college level ensembles, and the various Missouri All-State Ensembles.

When asked what he enjoyed most about MMEA, Music Education Major Dalton Jewsbury said that “going to MMEA reminds me how much I love teaching.” He also said that he really enjoyed a clinic held by the conductor of the All-State Jazz Band, Matt Wilson. Dr. Powers said his favorite event at MMEA was a clinic held on Saturday, January 28, by the director of the All-Collegiate Orchestra, Larry Livingston. During this clinic, the speaker discussed the importance of music education in schools and the variety of academic benefits music programs provide. Dr. Powers said that “it was inspiring to hear him talk about music education in schools. He was very passionate about this subject.” Dr. Powers also enjoyed listening to the All-Collegiate Orchestra.

After spending four days at the conference, the students returned to College of the Ozarks on Saturday, January 28