Welcome from the Director
With the fall semester in full swing, there is much to celebrate at the WSU School of Music! We recently completed our third season of “Friday’s at the Clock,” our outdoor summer concert series. The last performance was on September 8, the evening before WSU’s first home football game against Wisconsin, and we loved seeing so many alumni, and current and future Cougs there! The Cougar Marching Band is sounding fantastic on the field and across our campus. They performed, along with our mariachi ensemble Leones del Monte, in the Lentil Festival Parade that kicks off fall semester in Pullman. On September 16, more than 100 alumni band members came back home and performed at halftime with the CMB. (Watch the full show.)
We also welcomed four new faculty members and have a full slate of events planned that you can attend in person at the Bryan Hall Theatre or the Kimbrough Concert Hall, or watch live on our YouTube channel.
This past spring and summer were full of good things, too. Our School of Music students shine brightly and we’re proud to share a few of their achievements. In May, we celebrated Top Ten Seniors Jake Berreth and Thomas Ballinger; two recipients of WSU President’s Awards for Leadership: Daniela N. Alpire Cabrera and Ashley Claire Swanson; and our Outstanding Senior Jake Berreth. Additionally, Kevin Melendez received the College of Arts and Sciences Master’s Student Achievement Award in Arts.
Our faculty were also widely honored this spring. At the college level, the Excellence in Institutional Service Award was bestowed on Julie Wieck. At the University level, we tallied four more awards. Danh Pham was presented the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award; Sophia Tegart was awarded the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award; Chris Dickey was the recipient of the LGBTQIA2S+ Faculty/Staff Distinguished Achievement Award; and I was presented with the Eminent Faculty Award. Additionally, we celebrated Dean Luethi’s promotion to full professor.
At the conclusion of our spring semester, we thanked our Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, Yii Kah Hoe, for a dynamic year of music, movement, soundscapes, and environmental stewardship. In June, we welcomed high school students to the second annual Cougar Summer Music Camp.
Over the summer, the WSU trombone studio performed at the International Trombone Festival in Salt Lake City. Members of our choirs and three faculty members travelled to Austria, to perform the music of Franz Joseph Haydn in the Esterhazy Palace, among other venues.
We are very appreciative of our alumni, friends, and supporters, and how their work exemplifies the Cougar spirit of excellence, integrity, and generosity. Our alumni and donors continue to show support for our marching band and our student and faculty ensembles, many of whom who performed at the NAfME NW Conference in Bellevue, WA, earlier this year. We also recently launched a new Music Education Instrument Campaign to support our music education majors.
I am so proud of our students, faculty, and alumni, and look forward to sharing their accomplishments with you in future months. If you are interested in hearing about School of Music events and achievements more regularly, please sign up for our monthly e-mail School of Music “Shout-Out”. Thank you for your support of our students, faculty, and program!
Sincerely,
Dr. Keri McCarthy,
Director of the School of Music
