Best wishes for a very Merry Holiday season from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.
Get together with friends and family, stay in or go out, but listen to some music, make some music, share some music this holiday season. We’re all better for it.
Look here for news and updates on events and performances at UGA in 2010.
The Hugh Hodsgon School of Music announces faculty searches for the following positions:
Assistant Professor of Percussion
It with a heavy heart that we report the following:
UGA music professor and renowned chamber musician Kenneth Fischer dies after illness
Athens, Ga. – Kenneth Fischer, a renowned saxophone soloist and professor in the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music, has died following a brief illness. After being awarded his Doctor of Music with Distinction in Performance from Indiana University, he joined the UGA faculty in 1979.
A frequent contributor to The Saxophone Journal, he authored numerous articles on repertoire and pedagogy. Fischer was an outstanding performer and appeared as a soloist at numerous meetings of the World Saxophone Congress, including the world premieres of several works dedicated to him. In 1987, Fischer was awarded a Soloist Recording Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the recording of original works for the saxophone. Fischer’s recordings are available from the Educational Music Service, Coronet Records and ACA Digital Recording labels.
“Dr. Fischer was a brilliant musician, an artist admired by all who knew him,” said Dale Monson, director of the music school. “He was also a dynamic and international leader in his profession, as well as here at UGA. For more than thirty years he led one of the finest saxophone studios in the world.”
Fischer’s accolades and achievements are accompanied by wide-ranging respect and affection from international colleagues, whom he regularly brought to UGA to perform and interact with his students. Most recently the Zagreb Saxophone Quartet completed a one-week residency at the music school in October, conducting master classes, coaching ensembles and performing. “It’s important for our students to be able to work with such musicians and to get them to know them not only as performers and teachers, but also as human beings,” Fischer said at the time.
Rest in peace, Dr. Fischer.
Exams at UGA begin later this week, and there is a full slate of HHSOM concerts and recitals scheduled for today. These include:
String Chamber recital, with Matthew Burns on guitar, 3:35 p.m., Edge Recital Hall.
Milton Masciadri Bass Ensemble, 5 p.m., Edge Recital Hall.
UGA String Project, 5 p.m., Hodgson hHall, UGA performing Arts Center.
Jessica Taylor Herndon percussion recital, 6 p.m., Ramsey Hall.
Jared Hunt trumpet recital, 6:30 p.m., Edge Recital Hall.
UGA Tuba Quartet, 8 p.m., Edge Recital Hall.
Come out and enjoy some music!
Another example of the extraordinary individuals on the faculty at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music: UGA Community Music School Director Kristin Jutras and assistant professor of piano pedagogy Peter Jutras are featured in a spotlight article by their alma mater, the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. The interview with the musical couple focuses on their artistic leadership and the necessity of musicians taking the initiative to bring their music to the world.
Kristin: Leadership skills are essential for a musician. Most of us leave college and expect to go into the world to perform, teach, or conduct research. As the competition becomes tougher, and jobs become scarcer, musicians need to have leadership skills and vision to create their own jobs and to promote themselves. Even beginning a successful private teaching studio utilizes leadership skills.
Read the whole thing. Congratulations Kristin and Peter on the well-deserved attention.
A reminder: The holiday edition of the 2nd Thursday Concert Series continues tonight at 8 p.m. at the UGA Performing Arts Center.
Because of exams and the end of the semester, our 2nd Thursday Holiday Concert falls on the first Thursday (tonight). This year, the event is extended to two nights of festive holiday music by the UGA Concert Choir, University Chorus, Men’s Glee Club, Women’s Glee Club, Classic City Jazz and the UGA Symphony Orchestra. So please join us tonight and/or tomorrow night in Hodgson Concert Hall at the UGA Performing Arts Center for a delightful evening of holiday favorites performed live.
The Brass Herald published a very nice article and interview with our late colleague and trumpet virtuoso, Fred Mills in their August, 2009 issue. A pdf of the article is here,
A slew of excellent music on tap today in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music:
Dennis Baraw, Double Bass – Edge Recital hall, 3:35 p.m.
UGA Tuba Euphonium Ensemble – Ramsey Concert Hall, 3:35 p.m.
Ayaka Sano, Violin – 5 p.m., Edge Recital Hall
Hodgson String Quartet – 6 p.m., Ramsey Concert Hall
Kristin Humbard, Pian0 – 6:30 p.m., Edge Recital Hall
Sara Elliott, Percussion – 8 p.m., Ramsey Concert Hall
String Chamber Ensemble – 8 p.m., Edge Recital Hall
It’s all free, so come out and enjoy.
Hodgson String Quartet to give inaugural concert
Athens, Ga. – The Hodgson String Quartet will play its inaugural concert at 6 p.m. on Nov. 30 in Ramsey Concert Hall at the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center. The quartet, consisting of graduate students from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, will play selections by Mozart, Shostakovich and Schubert. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
Formed in spring 2009, the quartet serves as a representative, ambassadorial ensemble for the music school, reflecting the quality of its student and faculty performers. The intent of the quartet is to provide a featured performing ensemble for music students at UGA, in service of honoring the legacy of Hugh Hodgson.
“The Hodgson String Quartet is a living tribute to Hugh Hodgson that embodies our mission of teaching, creative activity and service,” said Dale Monson, director of the music school. “Whether featured at special events or treating our campus community to recitals, the quartet shows university students and faculty at their highest level.”
The Hodgson String Quartet is currently comprised of Jikyung Moon and Rafael Ferronato, violins; Ulisses Silva, viola; David Peyton, cello and coached by David Starkweather, professor of music. The permanent quartet is generously supported by private contributions to the music school.
The Liszt-Garrison Festival and International Piano Competition is a prestigious four-day event that takes place biennially in Baltimore, Maryland. UGA professor Richard Zimdars, Despy Karlas Professor of Piano in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, has been a member of the Board of Advisors for the Liszt-Garrison Festival since 2006.
In 2007, the “Despy Karlas Prize of the University of Georgia” was added to the Liszt-Garrison Competition. The winner is rewarded with a paid solo recital engagement in Ramsey Hall at the UGA Performing Arts Center. The prize includes air fare, lodging and an honorarium.
The 2009 Competition was held in October and 27-year-old Liza Stepanova, pictured, 
was selected as the recipient of the 2009 Despy Karlas Prize. Born in Russia, Stepanova studied in Germany and is presently a doctoral candidate at the Julliard School of Music. She has performed in major concert halls in New York City, Austria and Switzerland. Her winning program consisted of the following:
Toccata in F-sharp Minor Bach
Sonata in G Major, Op.31, No.1 Beethoven
Mephisto Waltz Liszt
St. Francis Walking on the Waves Liszt
The Fountains at the Villa d’Este Liszt
Caténaires Elliott Carter
“A prize of a concert appearance in a beautiful hall is often more valuable to a young artist than cash,” said Zimdars, who personally oversaw the selection of Stepanova for this year’s prize. “It is a pleasure to help Liza’s career in the name of Despy Karlas and the University of Georgia.”
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