In the spring of 1998 I agreed to write a history of our Southern Chapter, which hopefully will be informational and musically correct. From the archival material I extracted for incorporation what seemed pertinent, excluding tedious financial reports, which revealed that the bank balance fluctuated from year to year in manic-depressive unpredictability. Suffice it to say, however, that we are still in business, thanks to the diligence (and sometimes distress) of the Secretary-Treasurer. Despite a few sinking spells, our chapter was never in arrears, thanks to support from the National Office and the hospitality of the host schools.
My sincere thanks go to typist-editor Vicki King, proof-reader Thomas King, out-going president Ann Taddie, advisor Charles Carroll, Stella Sung, who boxed and mailed me the archival papers, and to others who answered my queries.
Voluminous correspondence to and from Gerald Farmer, David Kushner, Ray Barr, Charles Carroll, Robert Schmalz, Frank Hoogerwerf, James Braswell, Michelle Gregoire, and a few other members reflects the sincere interest of our splendid group. Unfortunately, some of the letters are undated. In the course of CMS business, the seriousness is well countered by a sense of humor, e.g., David Kushner’s “Tally ho” at the end of nearly all of his letters, and some priceless remarks by Charles Carroll.
Concerning the Southern Chapter’s beginnings, Carroll recalled: “I believe that the Southern Chapter was the second of its kind, the only other one at the time being the Virginia Chapter. But their situation was somewhat different from ours, being all in one state they would convene about 11:00 on a Saturday and adjourn about 4:00 and everyone would be home for dinner the same day. Most people who attended their meeting traveled less than 150 miles to get there or a round trip of 300 miles. We had to cope with the fact that Lafayette is 1,000 miles from Miami, even meeting in Tallahassee means a long trip for almost everyone, and that fact influenced the nature of our meetings, and their planning and duration.
“I think that we imitated the organization and activities of the AMS chapters, which had been functioning for some time by then. AMS was founded in 1934. I don’t know when their chapters came into being, but I would guess probably right after World War II. I went to a meeting of the Midwest Chapter in 1949 and I think the other AMS chapters were all in existence and operating well by then.
“I must have some correspondence with Ray Barr about those formative days. I know that we did a certain amount of planning over a table in our house.”
The Southern Chapter should feel proud indeed that every year since 1979 four or five of its members have been selected as panelists, performers, or presenters at the national CMS meetings. In addition, David Kushner, Ray Barr, and Douglass Seaton have entries in the New Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (6th Edition). Also in this edition are entries from our Chapter or Southern area by John Baron, Amanda Burt, Regina Chauvin, Elias Dann, Harry Eskew, Donald Fouse, Leland Fox, William Gallo, Theodore Grame, Gayle Henrotte, Henry Kmen, Philip Kniseley, Virginia Kock, Yvonne LeVasseur-de-Rebolla, Norma McLeon, Bill Malone, William May, Michael Rore, Donald Thompson, and Muriel Williamson. The following members’ articles have appeared in Symposium: Charles Carroll (Spring, 1979), Robert Schmalz (Fall, 1979), Leslie Ellen Brown (Fall, 1980), Elizabeth French (Fall, 1980), Robert Glidden (Fall, 1980), David Kushner (Fall, 1980), Joe Youngblood (Spring, 1981), Douglass Seaton (Fall, 1981), Bill Ramal (Fall, 1981), Jack A. Taylor (Spring, 1982), Roger Vogel (Fall, 1982), Peter Tiboris (Fall, 1983), Lee Orr (Fall, 1983), David Kushner (Spring and Fall issues, 1983), Robert Schmalz (Fall, 1983), Anne Simpson (Spring, 1984), Ernest Harriss (Fall, 1986), James Farleigh (Fall, 1986), Robert Schmalz (Spring, 1987), Andrea Loewy (Fall, 1990), Howard Irving (Fall, 1990), Michael Harrington (Spring, 1991), David Smyth (Fall, 1992), Jeffrey Perry, Stephen Crist, Matthew Brown and Michael Bakan (Vol. 33-34, 1993-94), and Robert Riggs (Fall, 1996). Robert Schmalz has had more than 50 published articles and 100 of his scholarly papers have been read at national and regional meetings of historians and musicians. Since 1990, ten of Mary Reichling’s articles have been published in music and philosophical journals. During the summers of 1993-98 she was visiting Scholar in Residence at Indiana University, via research grants. In the last eight years, she has delivered seven papers at national meetings of MENC, CMS, and the International Society for Music Education.
A copy of the Chapter Constitution will be included with the 1980 section of this history which is organized chronologically.
—Anne Simpson
1979, Orlando, FL. The Southern Chapter of the College Music Society was organized at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, March 14-16, at a joint meeting with the American Musicological Society (AMS). Host Bruce Whisler managed to secure rooms at the Best Western/University Inn, singles for $17.50 and doubles for $22.00. Housing has not since been so economical, nor have chapter dues, which were then only $2.00. Fifty-one CMS and AMS registrants attended, an excellent response to Ray Barr’s form letter announcing the prospective new chapter. Dated December 4, 1978, and headed “Dear Colleague,” it read, in part: “The establishment of a local chapter of the CMS will be of enormous advantage to college music teachers in the South, since it will bring together faculty from all areas of college music to share new teaching methods, new textbooks and new research, as well as encouraging the assembly of music faculty from Louisiana to Florida.” Arthur Tollefson, Vice-president Elect for National CMS, responded to Barr’s letter, December 8, 1978: “May I take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your expressed interest in CMS activity at the local level and reassure you that the national officers, Executive Board, Council, and National Office are eager to assist you in every way possible.”
But no professional correspondence runs entirely smoothly, despite Charles Carroll’s unbridled energy and enthusiasm. When he received one colleague’s letter the following May, discouraging the new chapter lest it duplicate AMS, he encouragingly replied (May 24, 1979): “We might include more than just theory, music history and appreciation, analysis and such. Maybe we could even entice a few music education people, divorce them from the music merchants to whom they are in thrall and get them into a conversation about something besides tests and measurements, maybe even music.”
Introductory speakers, hosts and committees on arrangements included Ray Barr, Bruce Whisler, Trevor Colbourn, Gary Wolf and Rebecca Kushner. Presiding at the inaugural meeting was Chappell White, National CMS President. Carroll was elected chapter President, to be assisted by Ray Barr as Secretary-Treasurer, both by acclamation. Carroll will represent our Southern Chapter at the National CMS meeting in San Antonio, October of 1979.
Charles Carroll was Assistant Editor of Symposium from 1975 to 1979 and Editor from 1979 to 1983. Carroll’s entry will appear in the Seventh edition of the aforementioned Grove. Carroll, Barr, Baron, Fox, and Thompson also have contributed to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Carroll has articles on fifteen musicians in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG), and will retain authorship of the revised articles in the new forthcoming edition; four articles and a joint article (with Jean-François Dupont Danican and Marcelle Benoit) in the Musique en France aux XVII et XVIII Siècles; and an article (on Henry Carey) in vol. 84 of the Dictionary of Literary Biography, a publication better known to English literature people than to musicians.
Robert Schmalz was named a USL Foundation Distinguished Professor.
The chapter Newsletter was begun in 1979. Charter members of the Southern Chapter as listed on a disk in the archives were:
| Robert Acton Brad Albers Marysue Barnes Ray Barr Mark Bergaas Keith Brumfield James R. Burke Amanda Burt Charles Carroll W. Ronald Clemmons Dinos Constantinides Robert Delcamp |
Dorothy Drennan Gerald Farmer Fenton Fly Donald Fouse Elizabeth French James H. Fry Thomas Gibbs Robert Glidden Milton Hallman Gayle Henrotte Janice Holly Frank Hoogerwerf |
Wiley Housewright William Jones Desmond Kincaid Colleen Kirk Lee Kjelson Kenneth B. Klaus Kenneth S. Klaus S. Philip Kniseley David Kushner Ted Lashley Karen Louwenaar Donald Lowe |
Charlene McDonald Lee Orr Arnold Penland, Jr. Eckhart Richter Robert Schmalz Douglass Seaton Madelyn Trible Glenn Walden Jerry Warren Bruce Whisler and Barbara Wieman |
Concerts featured the Philadelphia Orchestra, harpsichordist Novie Greene, violinist Dinos Constantinides, and Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat by the University of Central Florida Chamber Ensemble.
Florida State University got the bid to host the 1980 meeting, Feb. 7-9. Carroll and Barr began plans for it immediately. Carroll suggested featuring a “star” performer for a drawing card, and also the possibility of a joint meeting with either the American Society of University Composers (ASUC) or the Southeastern Composers’ League. Dean Robert Glidden, of the FSU School of Music, was invited as featured speaker, and as Carroll wrote Barr (May 25, 1979) “. . . administrators are like U.S. Senators—I’ve never seen one who could turn down a chance to make a speech.” Hopes that Paul Hedwall, Southeastern President of ASUC, could participate in some way did not materialize, due to his death in August, 1979. Dennis Kam would continue Hedwall’s duties as program chair. Carroll, Barr, and Elias Dann were to be the planning committee for the 1980 meeting.
1980, Tallahassee, FL. In 1980 the Southern Chapter of CMS met in Tallahassee at Florida State University, February 6-9. A new music building had just been completed. Hosts and coordinators were: Dean Robert Glidden, Elias Dann, Douglass Seaton, Harold Schiffman, and Thomas Hinton. Program chairs for the joint meeting with ASUC were Charles Carroll (CMS) and Dennis Kam (ASUC). President Carroll and Secretary-Treasurer Barr conducted the business meeting when the following were elected to office for the 1980-82 term: Ray Barr, President; Douglass Seaton, President-Elect; Robert Schmalz, Secretary-Treasurer; Frank Hoogerwerf and Charlene McDonald, Executive Board members. A new Constitution and Bylaws for the Southern Chapter were read, discussed and approved. (Copy follows.) Raising the annual chapter dues to $3.00 was approved.
Dean Glidden gave the welcoming address, entitled “Our Challenge for the Eighties.”
Charter member Kenneth B. Klaus died August 4, 1980. He was composer, conductor, violist, music historian and coordinator of graduate studies at Louisiana State University.
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge will host the 1981 Southern Chapter in conjunction with the Southern Chapter of AMS.
1981, Baton Rouge, LA. Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge hosted the Southern Chapters of CMS and AMS at a joint meeting on March 25-27. Dean Lyle Merriman gave the introductions and welcoming speech. Wallace McKenzie and Dinos Constantinides were in charge of local arrangements. Since President Ray Barr was at Oxford University on a research sabbatical, Secretary-Treasurer Robert Schmalz was in charge of the business meeting. Barbara Noel, based at Texas Women’s University, was guest speaker and expressed concern over the place of music in American colleges and universities, advocating a change in philosophy and direction.
Robert Schmalz chaired a panel on “Unionism in Higher Education,” with participants James Burke, Charles Carroll, Bruce Whisler, and Ronald Riddle. Special concerts were given by “New Times,” presenting works by CMS and AMS members Don Freund, James Guthrie, Harold Schiffman, John Sharpley, Mickie Willis, and Dinos Constantinides; Constance Navratil (Soprano) and Nancy Saxon (Pianist); Les Clairs-Acadiens (a USL choral group directed by Peter Tiboris); the LSU Collegium Musicum (directed by Wallace McKenzie); and the LSU Opera Theater, which presented Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites (directed by Richard Aslanian).
This year was productive for a number of Southern Chapter members. Participating in NEH summer seminars were: Bruce Whisler and Frank Hoogerwerf (at Harvard), Gerald Farmer (at Oberlin), and Robert Schmalz (at Amherst/Mt. Holyoke). Carol Quin received an Andrew Mellon research grant to plan a music program at Lane College. Charles Carroll continued as Editor of Symposium. In July of 1981 Charles Carroll and Ray Barr attended a Wingspread Conference near Racine, Wisconsin, where Frank Lloyd Wright had designed Wingspread, a private home, in 1939. Since 1960 Wingspread has become the setting for many conferences and meetings dealing with subjects of regional, national, and international interests. The focus for this 1991 conference was “Music in General Studies.” Carroll’s speech at the final luncheon urged all participants to return to their respective campuses and “spread the good news of music in general studies.”
Presenters and attendees from the Southern Chapter at the national meeting in Cincinnati were: Charles Carroll; David Kushner, “Ernest Bloch as a Music Educator;” Jack Taylor, “Computer Assisted Instruction;” Dinos Constantinides, “Recital of Works by CMS Composers;” and Peter Tiboris, moderator of a panel on Performance Training.
Several of Dinos Constantinides’ works were premiered this year, including performances in Atlanta and New York City. Besides a Grove dictionary entry on Ernest Bloch, David Kushner contributed one to the Swiss Refardt Lexikon, and completed a commission from the BBC to review/update program annotations for their holdings of Bloch’s recorded works.
The 1982 Southern Chapter meeting was scheduled at Georgia State University in Atlanta, with Lee Orr as host and in conjunction with the South Central Chapter of AMS.
1982, Atlanta, GA. Georgia State University in Atlanta hosted the joint Southern Chapter meeting with AMS (South Central Chapter) on March 18-20, 1982. The introduction and welcome were given by Dr. Steven Winick, Chairman of the Department of Music (GSU), and Dr. Clyde Faulkner, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (GSU). President Ray Barr and Secretary-Treasurer Robert Schmalz presided at the business session. Schmalz’s report revealed that of 450 colleagues who received Southern Chapter mail, only seventy-four supported with dues. Since Newsletter mailing is costly, it was suggested that National send out Chapter letters via bulk rate; that per capita allotment be initiated for regional chapters; and that the National Office rebate a portion of National dues to regional chapters. A discussion on the advisability of joint meetings with compatible organizations followed. Charles Carroll stated his intention to publish abstracts of CMS papers, with the cooperation of members in respect to deadlines.
New officers are: Douglass Seaton, President; Robert Schmalz, President-Elect; and Frank Hoogerwerf, Secretary-Treasurer. Elected to the Executive Board were Charlene McDonald and William Jones.
David Kushner was made a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alph Iota music fraternity this year. Soon-to-be Southern Chapter member David Russell Williams, Chairman of the Department of Music at Memphis State, was re-elected National Secretary at the 1981 Cincinnati convention. Music historian Robert J. Nicolosi (University of Alabama) died of a cardiac ailment on October 12, 1982. Douglass Seaton constructed and compiled results of a detailed quiz whose general thrust was the betterment and improved efficiency of CMS.
Concert highlights were an all-Brahms program by the Atlanta Symphony, and Ives’ Concord Sonata performed by pianist Ruth MacDonald.
The Southern Chapter 1983 meeting was scheduled at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.
1983, Mobile, AL. William T. Jones was the host/coordinator in charge of local arrangements when the Southern Chapter met March 3-5, 1983, at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. This marked the first year that our group had not met without a companion organization. Member involvement increased considerably. At this time Douglass Seaton was President, Robert Schmalz was President-Elect and Frank Hoogerwerf the Secretary-Treasurer. As Seaton’s attempt to get a one dollar per person dues refund from the National Office failed, dues remained at $3.00. Charles Carroll expressed concern over duplication of papers submitted to CMS and AMS Southern Chapter meetings. A motion was made and carried, avoiding overlapping of officers in these organizations. Carroll reaffirmed his intention, as editor of Symposium, to publish Southern Chapter abstracts.
Special concerts were by the University of South Alabama faculty, “Songs of Liszt and Krenek”; Carl Fels, oboist with Myers Mason, pianist; Ronald M. Manning, tenor with Kenneth Keaton, guitarist; Dinos Constantinides, violinist, with Michal Rickman, pianist.
Less intellectual entertainment included a wine-and-cheese yacht trip on Mobile Bay, hosted by the local chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota.
This year David Russell Williams was elected an active member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and to the Board of Sponsors for the Metropolitan Mid-South Regional Auditions. He is listed in the Forty-third edition of Who’s Who in America and has recently produced an album, John Stover, Guitar, for Highwater Records in Memphis. In May David Kushner was the representative musicologist on a Forum for the Petit Jean, Arkansas International Art Song Festival.
The 1984 Southern Chapter meeting will be at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The slate of officers for 1983-84 is: President, Robert Schmalz; President-Elect, Gerald Farmer; Frank Hoogerwerf, Secretary-Treasurer. Board members are William Jones and Charlene McDonald.
1984, Gainesville, FL. At the 1984 Southern Chapter meeting in Gainesville at the University of Florida, March 1-3, there were over seventy attendees, forty-two of whom were registrants. President Robert Schmalz and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Hoogerwerf conducted the business session on March 2.
At another business session David Kushner was elected President-Elect; Jeffrey Kite-Powell and Bruce Whisler were elected to the Executive Board. Irma Collins submitted a detailed proposal for a panel, “New Collegiate Music Curriculum,” to be organized for the 1985 meeting. Tentative panelists would be David Kushner, Patricia Coates, Barbara Noel, and Collins, some representing chapters other than the Southern. Frank Hoogerwerf requested a $100 honorarium for the panelists. This year the National Office awarded a $250 budget to be used at the chapter’s discretion. Rating sheets were put into effect to select papers and proposals for future meetings. The National Office would issue new CMS stationery to regional chapters this year.
There was voluminous, often hilarious, correspondence this year amongst Gerald Farmer, Frank Hoogerwerf, and David Kushner concerning details for the 1985 meeting. Dean Robert Glidden of Florida State University, the coming meeting site, was invited to give the welcoming speech, which he promptly sent to Hoogerwerf for approval.
This year Ray Barr was elected to the CMS National Council. Jane Perry-Camp was soloist in the premiere of Harold Schiffman’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra at FSU in February. Southern Chapter Board members were Jeffrey T. Kite-Powell and Bruce Whisler. Incoming officers would be Gerald Farmer, President, David Kushner, President-Elect, and Frank Hoogerwerf would continue as Secretary-Treasurer.
Concerts were presented by Nuita Isserlin, pianist; the University of Florida Renaissance Ensemble, John S. Kitts, director; University of Florida Baroque Ensemble: Sarah Baird Fouse (flute), Mark S. Ostoich (oboe), John D. White (cello); Willis R. Bodine (harpsichord); Cumberland Quintet; The Threepenny Opera, University of Florida Opera Theater (Elizabeth Graham, Williard Brask, Joe Conger, directors); John De Chiaro (guitarist); music for violin and oboe, Clarke-Riordan Duo.
The 1985 Southern Chapter Meeting was scheduled at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
1985, Tallahassee, FL. A joint meeting with the CMS Southern Chapter and the Sonneck Society was held in Tallahassee at Florida State University, with Douglass Seaton as host and arrangements chairperson. CMS Southern Chapter Secretary-Treasurer, Frank Hoogerwerf, was the Sonneck Chairperson. Dean Robert Glidden, the welcoming speaker, was introduced by President Gerald Farmer.
At the business meeting Greg Sorcsek urged more composers to arrange for performers of their works to aid the Performance Committee in arrangements and resources. Bill Ramal indicated certain membership preferences for special study sessions on ethnomusicology, the role of search committees, the music industry, and the performer’s role in the University in comparison to the Conservatory and the music industry. Ray Barr stated his preference for more chapter meetings outside Florida.
Quincy Hilliard, Jeffrey Kite-Powell, David Kushner, Anne Simpson, and Bill Ramal were appointed to a Committee for Special Sessions. New officers elected for a two-year term were David Kushner, President; Gerald Farmer, Secretary-Treasurer; and James Braswell, President-Elect.
Barbara Noel, from the Southeastern Massachusetts University School of Visual and Performing Arts, and Phillip Rhodes, CMS National President-Elect, attended the Tallahassee meeting. Rhodes gave an address relating National concerns, and Noel was on the Collegiate Curriculum panel with Irma Collins, Patricia Coates and David Kushner.
In addition to the papers and lecture/recitals, several concerts were given by performers with the Festival of New Music. A violin and piano recital of “20th Century American Music” was presented by Dinos Constantinides and Nancy Saxon. Phillip Rhodes was the featured composer whose works Adventure Fantasies for Young Players for wind orchestra; a choral piece, In Praise of Wisdom, with oboes, bassoons, and English horn; and Visions of Remembrance for soprano and mezzo-soprano were performed.
Later in the year, Farmer wrote to John G. Suess, CMS National Vice-President, suggesting Ramal’s topics (mentioned above) as panels for special sessions, plus “Early Music in the College Curriculum” and “Contemporary Composition—Who Do You Write For?” Farmer’s other suggestions to Suess were a modest cash award for the outstanding Southern Chapter composer, and a $250 honorarium to the Keynote Speaker. In October, 1985, National Executive Director Robby Gunstream announced plans to publish abstracts of presentations at the 1986 Southern Chapter meeting.
Southern Chapter members who participated at the national meeting in Miami were Ray Barr, Dave Olsen, Bob Smith, Charles Campbell, Dennis Kam, David Kushner, Lee Riggins, Susan Lackman, Robert Schmalz, Charles Mason, Stephen Robinson, and Gerald Farmer.
The 1986 meeting was scheduled at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, March 6-8.
1986, Lafayette, LA. Thirty-six Southern Chapter members registered for the 1986 meeting at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, March 6-8. Robert Schmalz was host and Greg Sorcsek organized the Composers’ Concert. President David Kushner and Secretary-Treasurer Gerald Farmer conducted the business meeting at which James Braswell became President-Elect (1985-87), Greg Sorcsek and Susan Lackman were elected board members (1986-88).
Members were urged to promote further participation by graduate students, though the number of graduate papers submitted was considerable. Dues of $3.00 now became payable between January 1 and March 1. This year guidelines for submission of abstracts were issued, stating in essence: each participant must submit a typed abstract summarizing his presentation, no more than 250 words, double-spaced on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, with title at the top, author and institutional affiliation at the bottom. Formal, third person style is preferred, and topic must be accurately reflected.
The guest speaker was Arthur Tollefson, Past-President of National CMS, who stressed the mission of the society; the expansion of regional chapters nationwide; quality of leadership on national and regional levels; expansion of national office staff to three full-time employees; increase in CMS membership to an all-time high; development of “critical issues agenda;” search for a new editor of CMS Symposium Proceedings; need for greater voter participation in National elections; need for continued support for the Boulder Institute; and need for increased attendance at national meetings.
Panelists discussing “Ethnomusicology in the American College and University” were David Kushner, Dave Olsen, David Warren Steele, and Ronald Riddle. Charles Carroll, Quincy Hilliard, Richard Sanchez and Bruce Whisler shared a panel on “The Search Committee: Its Role and Function.”
Southern Chapter composers featured were Richard Winchel, Charles Reynolds, Daniel Adams, Quincy Hilliard, Marvin Lamb, and Greg Sorcsek. Eugene Flemm presented a piano recital.
Concerning the program, David Kushner wrote in a Newsletter: “The quality and quantity of both the proposals and compositions pursuant to our Chapter meeting, March 6-8 in Lafayette, LA, have been a source of pride to me and to the review committee.”
In a less serious vein, and removed from all sessions, soon-to-retire Charles Carroll was given a jolly surprise roast. Carroll seemed to have “done it all” during his career as co-founder of our chapter, editor of Symposium, teacher, lecturer, orchestra manager, composer, author, critic, and correspondent par excellence.
Letters in 1986 from Kushner to Farmer indicated signs of a lesser roast, by correspondence, of Robert Schmalz. Kushner wrote: “The Gators crushed the Ragin’ Cajuns of Southwestern LA today. I heard Bob Schmalz was dropping the team’s membership in AMS.” And another to Farmer said: “Here is the draft [of the composers’ concert] just sent to me by Bob Schmalz. Apart from a few typos and the omission of chairs and a few sessions and the list of specific composers and works, the program appears to be in order.”
The 1987 meeting was scheduled at the University of Georgia in Athens. James Braswell suggested that a special focus be given to “Commercial Music and Collegiate Music Training.” Specific areas to be addressed were performance, publishing, retailing and recording.
1987, Athens, GA. James Braswell hosted the Southern Chapter meeting at the University of Georgia in Athens, March 5-7, which drew seventy registrants. President David Kushner and Secretary-Treasurer Gerald Farmer, both outgoing from their offices, were replaced by James Braswell (1987-89) and Lee Riggins (1987-89).
New board members elected for 1988-90 were Anne Simpson, Musicology; Nancy Barry, Music Education; Karen Harrison (later Karen Garrison); and Michael Harrington, Composition/Theory. Outgoing members were Greg Sorcsek and Susan Lackman.
A discussion of Composers’ Concerts at the business meeting resulted in a new procedure for Call for Scores. From now on a respresentative from the host institution will be asked to indicate performers (individuals and ensembles) to limit acceptance of scores to the available department resources. Additional performers within the Society may be contacted if needed.
National CMS President David Willoughby attended the Athens meeting, and was a panelist with National Board member Sally Monsour for the session “Music in General Studies: Tasks for CMS and MENC.” Gerald Farmer was moderator. Richard Sanchez chaired another panel, “Student Motivation and Morale” with Gerald Farmer and Susan Lackman as speakers. Concerts were given by pianist Boaz Sharon, and the Sax Chamber Music Society directed by Lawrence Gwozdz. Composers’ works, featured in two concerts, were by Charles Mason, C. Michael Colman, Roger Vogel, John Corina, Michael Harrington, Karl Boelter, Patrick Houlihan, and Marvin Lamb.
An invitation was extended by Michael Harrington for the Southern Chapter to meet at Belmont College in Nashville in 1988.
1988, Nashville, TN. The 1988 Southern Chapter meeting was held at Belmont College in Nashville, March 10-12. Officers this year were James Braswell, President, Gerald Farmer, President-Elect, Michele Gregoire, replacing Lee Riggins, Secretary-Treasurer. Board members newly elected were Anne Simpson, Musicology; Nancy Barry, Music Education, Michael Harrington, Theory/Composition; and Karen Harrison, Performance.
Elliot Schwartz, National President-Elect, attended this meeting. He suggested raising chapter dues to $5.00, as did Douglass Seaton, who also encouraged members to vote for national officers. President Braswell expressed a hope that more national CMS members in the Southern region would become active in the Southern Chapter. Concerning composers submitting compositions, some new ways were examined for providing ensemble performers and judging of compositions.
Several Southern Chapter members reported news of their recent activities. Dinos Constantinides had premieres of four new works: Genteel Dialogue; Reflections IV; String Quartet No. 1; Mutability Quartet; and a one-act opera, Intimations, was performed in New York City. Anne Simpson’s biography of Harry T. Burleigh, Hard Trials, was accepted for publication by Scarecrow Press. Michele Gregoire’s research on music therapy for gifted children resulted in presentations to regional and national music therapy and music education organizations. Vance Jennings was appointed Chair of the University Graduate Council at the University of South Florida. He wrote to Gregoire, April 22, 1988: “To the best of my knowing, no one from the Fine Arts College has ever chaired this august body here at USF.” Michael Harrington reported his plans for a bicycle trip from the west coast to Nashville in May: “It will be about 2800-3000 miles and hopefully we’ll finish it in 30 days. This conference (Belmont meeting) changed my training routine drastically over the past month or so.” Douglas Lee, newly located at Vanderbilt, had several substantial publications, including those on J.S. and C.P.E. Bach, the symphonies of Dvorák and Tchaikovsky, and another on Il Trovatore.
One of the most interesting presentations at the meeting was by Thomas Hawley, doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, who spoke on the Gullah culture. Hawley also served on an ethnomusicology panel.
Starting the program was a welcome by Dean Jerry Warren of Belmont, followed by a fireworks display, conjured by Michael Harrington, who later gave a tour of Belmont’s professional recording studio. Mark Brown gave a tour of the Belmont Mansion where a reception was held.
Members participating in panel discussions were Michele Gregoire, Tom Hawley, and Susan Lackman, “Prespectives on Functional Music;” and Quincy Hilliard, Charles Mason, Susan Lackman, Michael Harrington, and Elliot Schwartz, “The Composers Speak Out.” Two Composers’ Concerts featured works by Jerry Sieg, David Caudill, Roger Vogel, Greg Sorcsek, Michael Harrington, Daniel Adams, Larry Borden, Richard Green, Charles Mason, Quincy HIlliard, Paul Zonn, and Stella Sung. Dinos Constantinides, violinist, and Stephen Brown, pianist, gave a concert of twentieth century music for violin and piano. Michael Harrington gave a special demonstration of the Synclavier.
The 1989 Southern Chapter meeting was scheduled at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, to mark the chapter’s tenth anniversary.
1989, Orlando, FL. Bruce Whisler was the host for the Southern Chapter meeting at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, March 16-18. James Braswell, President, presided at the business meeting. Whisler was elected President-Elect, and Bonny Miller Secretary-Treasurer, to succeed Gerald Farmer as President-Elect and Michele Gregoire as Secretary-Treasurer. Board members at this time were Michael Harrington, Theory/Composition; Anne Simpson, Musicology; Nancy Barry, Music Education; and Karen Garrison, Performance. The Board was urged to consider the establishment of a nominating committee to provide a slate of officers for each of the chapter elections. This would necessitate altering the By-laws. Recommendations for alternation would be distributed prior to the 1990 business meeting to vote on any formal changes at that time.
Twenty-seven of the fifty-two registrants presented papers and lecture/recitals. One session was devoted to a reading of Dinos Constantinides’ Midnight Fantasy by the Florida Symphony Orchestra. There was a panel on “The Community and the Music School.” Evening concerts were given by the Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Works by Steven Everett, Leonard Ball, David Miller, Stella Sung, and Roger Vogel were heard on the Composers’ Concerts.
Charles Carroll’s speech at a gala dinner, marking our chapter’s tenth year, was entitled: “A Historical Perspective of the Southern Chapter.”
David Kushner was commissioned this year by Salem Press to write entries on Delibes, Borodin, and Mussorgsky for its series Great Lives from History: Renaissance to 1900. His article on Jaromir Weinberger was published in American Music, and Garland published his book Ernest Bloch: A Guide to Research.
The 1990 meeting was scheduled for San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1990, San Juan, Puerto Rico. President Gerald Farmer skillfully arranged this year’s meeting on April 26-29 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, through tedious correspondence with Secretary-Treasurer Bonny Miller, the host committee, the airline, the hotel, and various persons providing equipment and a reception. Dr. Samuel Perez of the Conservatory of Music was host, assisted by Fritz Kersting. Keynote speaker was Ricardo Trimillos from the University of Hawaii. His title was “Raga, Reich, Rumba and Rap—Expanding the Curriculum or Stretching it Thin?”
At the business meeting a motion was defeated which would require complete papers and scores submitted as proposals or for performance. A one-to-two page abstract was agreed upon. Four members of the Executive Board were elected to two-year terms: Carol Quin, Musicology; Martha Braswell, Music Education; Dinos Constantinides, Theory/Composition; and Thomas King, Performance. Serving as officers for one more year are Farmer and Miller, with Bruce Whisler as President-Elect. Gerald Farmer hoped to establish a nominating committee to provide a slate of officers prior to chapter elections, to be discussed further at the 1991 meeting.
Overall topics covered in the program presentations were Caribbean Music and Folk Influences, Multi-Cultural Music and Undergraduate Curriculum, Collegiate Concerts, and European Tradition.
Participants for a panel discussion, “The Integration of Multi-Cultural Music into the Undergraduate Curriculum of Music Majors,” were Sally Monsour, Robert Gower, David Myers, Ricardo Trimillos, and Robert Smith.
Entertainment at the banquet was furnished by the San Juan Ensemble. Several of the members spent time in the Casino. A mini-tour of the island with a singing bus driver, a glassbottomed boat tour, shopping shuttles, and a walking tour were proffered. Bonny Miller took several group photos which are preserved in an album.
Auburn University was agreed upon to host the 1991 meeting.
1991, Auburn, AL. The Southern Chapter met at Auburn University, February 28-March 2, with President Gerald Farmer and Secretary-Treasurer Bonny Miller presiding at the business meeting. As of this year, two candidates will be nominated for each office by the committee and their names circulated a month before the chapter meeting. Those elected would serve a two-year term. Anne Simpson was elected Secretary-Treasurer. Other officers for 1991-93 are Bruce Whisler, President, and Karen Garrison, President-Elect. Board members are Carol Quin, Musicology; Martha Braswell, Music Education; Dinos Constantinides, Theory/Composition; and Thomas King, Performance.
Other discussion concerned the 1992 meeting at which composers could submit solo instrument, chamber instrumental, solo vocal, chamber vocal, wind ensemble, orchestral, or electronic works. Choreographed compositions were encouraged. Preferably, composers should provide their own performers. Douglass Seaton apprised the members that as an educational/charitable organization CMS could no longer offer its vacancy list to members. Seaton recognized the Southern Chapter as “one of the most active chapters of the Society, both in quantity and quality of its presentations and meetings.”
President Farmer elicited considerable interest in his plans for a special meeting in Brunnthal, Germany in June of 1992, in conjunction with CMS Europe Inc. Members were encouraged to submit proposals for papers, panels, and performances. Local hosts in Brunnthal were Christof and Inger Amtmann. (The plan did materialize enjoyably and successfully.) Composers represented at the 1991 meeting were Matt Whitfield, Kenneth R. Benoit, Robert Donahue, Ken Langer, Thomas C. McKinley, Eurydice V. Osterman, Carol Vollrath, George Albert Benner, Mikel Le Dee, James Paul Sain, Kenneth Jacobs, James Christenson, Dinos Constantinides, and Eckhart Richter. A panel discussion on “Career Options for Musicians” included Melvyn Raiman, Deborah Mutch-Olander, James Braswell, Nancy Barry, and Ray Barr.
A special concert was given by the Aurora Ensemble of Auburn Univeristy.
Composer Kenneth Jacobs earned a gold medal for escorting five or six ladies to dinner one evening at Auburn. Congratulations should also go to Michael Harrington, who was a presenter at the National CMS meeting in Chicago; flutists Andrea Loewy and Karen Garrison who gave exchange recitals at Auburn and the Univeristy of Southwestern Louisiana; Karen on the birth of her son, James Eric; James Braswell who was appointed Chairman of the Arts Division at Valdosta State College; Bonny Miller as accompanist for the University of Miami’s summer program in Salzburg; Carol Quin, who guest-taught at the University of Kentucky during the summer; Robert Schmalz who received the Eloi Girard Professorship; Greg Danner as acting chairman at the University of Southwestern Louisiana; and Anne Simpson, whose biography of Ernest Gaines was published by the Center for Louisiana Studies.
The 1992 meeting was scheduled for the University of Miami, February 27-29.
1992, Miami, FL. Ray Barr was a most efficient and organized host in Miami at the Southern Chapter meeting, February 27-29. Officers this year are Bruce Whisler, President; Anne Simpson, Secretary-Treasurer; and Karen Garrison, President-Elect. New board members are James Sain, Composition; John Brick, Music Education; David Kushner, Musicology; and Stella Sung, Performance. At the business meeting a report from national CMS stated that the Vacancy List is now being published separately. Gerald Farmer, coordinator of the Southern Chapter’s trip to Munich in June of 1992, announced that 50 participants will attend the meeting, whose thrust is the European-American connection and related sub-topics. Presenters will represent fifteen states and six countries. Non-presenters are welcome as hosts. Final details, including a side trip to Salzburg, are in progress.
The welcoming speech was given by William Hipp, Dean of the University of Miami School of Music.
Works by Kenneth Jacobs, Roger Vogel, Thomas McKinley, Allen Molineux, Jon Nelson, Dennis Kam, Steve Hicken, Glenn Lemieux, James Sain, Stella Sung, Richard Montalto, and John White were featured on the evening Composers’ Concert.
Southern Chapter members presenting at the National meeting in San Diego this year were Michael Harrington, Mary Reichling, Dinos Constantinides, William Gallo, Edmond LeRoy, Carol Quin, and Stephen Miles.
Bonny Miller moved to Norfolk, VA this year where she joined that area’s CMS chapter, returning to the Southern Chapter a few years later. Margaret Daniel’s handbook for singers, Pocket Pedagogy was published. Again Kenneth Jacobs escorted and charmed the ladies at dinner during the Miami meeting.
Dinos Constantinides volunteered Louisiana State University for the 1993 meeting.
Composers represented at the Composers’ Concert from the Southern chapter included: Tayloe Harding, Stella Sung, Gerald Farmer, Dinos Constantinides, Richard Montalto, and Kenneth Benoit. The highlight of the conference was the piano concert of host Christof Amtmann, assisted by violinist Winfried Wenzl.
Also attending was CMS Southern Chapter President Bruce Whisler who gave the official welcome. A side trip to Salzburg included Mozart’s birthplace and family home, the Mozart Museum, Mirabell Palace Gardens, St. Peter’s Abbey, the Hohensalzburg Fortress, and Sound of Music sites. The participants also toured the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, guided by Christof Amtmann, Professor of Piano, and Cornelius Eberhart, Director of the Hochschule.
1993, Baton Rouge, LA. This year’s Southern Chapter meeting in Baton Rouge at Louisiana State University, February 4-6, was held in conjunction with the Forty-eighth Festival of Contemporary Music, hosted by Dinos Constantinides. Though the two groups had separate brochures, the CMS Composers’ Concerts were listed on both. President Bruce Whisler conducted the business meeting at which a two-to-three page abstract for presenters was approved as opposed to a whole paper. Whisler and incoming President Karen Garrison had begun revision of the Bylaws, a project to be discussed at the 1993 meeting. Nancy Barry became President-Elect, and Thomas King was elected to replace Anne Simpson as Secretary-Treasurer. The Executive Board of last year (Sain, Brick, Kushner and Sung) would continue its duties.
Dean Daniel Sher of the LSU School of Music gave the welcoming address. Forty-four persons registered. The guest speaker was National CMS President Barbara Reeder Lundquist. Specifics of her address dealt with gender in music, copyrights, licensing, the ethics of absentee reading, and needs for publication and availability of the Vacancy List.
Participants on panels were Tayloe Harding, Walter Hartley, James Oliverio, and Bernd Franke, “Opportunities for Composers;” Robert Nelson, Karen Garrison, Dennis Kam, and Robert Schmalz, “Finding that First Job;” Michael Harrington, Barbara R. Lindquist, Nancy Barry and Joseph Stephenson, “Crisis Management Strategies.”
One CMS Composers’ Concert involving fifteen performers programmed works by Stella Sung, Ron Parks, Richard Montalto, Roger Vogel, David Durant, James Guthrie, Thomas McKinley and Dennis Kam. Another shorter one, courtesy of Stephen David Beck, director of the LSU Electro-Acoustic Music Studios, featured Night Covers All (1992) for French horn by Kenneth Jacobs. The New Music Ensemble, based at LSU, and players in the Festival of Contemporary Music gave two additional concerts.
For the closing business meeting Ray Barr wrote and delivered an elaborate but heartfelt speech, thanking Constantinides for being host.
Member news: Stella Sung’s Mobiles, a work for electronic tape and dancers, was premiered April 2 at the Center for Performing Arts in Gainesville. Sung performed her own compositions at a piano camp near Seoul, Korea, during the summer. Anne Simpson’s biography of Nathaniel Dett, Follow Me, was issued this year by Scarecrow Press.
The 1994 meeting was scheduled for Georgia State University in Atlanta with Tayloe Harding and Gerald Farmer as hosts.
1994, Atlanta, GA. Fifty-three Southern Chapter members registered for the 1994 meeting at Georgia State University in Atlanta, February 24-26, hosted by Tayloe Harding. President Karen Garrison and Thomas King, Secretary-Treasurer, conducted the business meeting, at which Gerald Farmer distributed a questionnaire concerning a presenter-respondent format for any sessions which might call for it. He also related plans for another “Special Meeting” in Berlin, Germany, in June of 1995. The National Office sent suggestions for developing new and central themes for future meetings and the need for more student involvement. Local chapters are now responsible for mailing their own newsletters but will receive $200 from National for expenses, plus address labels. Another $200 would be provided by our chapter for a representative attending the National meeting. President Garrison suggested that our chapter compile its own booklet of abstracts and send one to the National Office.
Newly elected members to the Executive Board were Tayloe Harding, Theory/Composition; Ellistine Holly, Music Education; Anne Simpson, Musicology; and Amy Edmundson, Performance.
This year the Southern Chapter Archives were established in Orlando at the University of Central Florida, befitting our chapter’s founding site.
There were twenty-four presentations and two Composers’ Concerts. Special events included a performance by the Atlanta Symphony and a luncheon, featuring a keynote address by Richard Koehler, director of the School of Music at Georgia State University.
Gerald Farmer moderated a panel on “Surviving a Budget Crisis,” for presenters James Fairleigh and Daniel Taddie.
Featured works on the Composers’ Concerts were by Kenneth Jacobs, Bernd Franke, Ron Parks, Mark Francis, Gary Smoke, Mike Coleman, Jerry Seig, Richard Montalto, Daniel Taddie, Lawrence Sherr, Thomas Grassano, Fred De Sena, Tayloe Harding, and Roger Vogel.
Southern Chapter members on the program at the National meeting were Frank Clark, “Full Contact Multimedia: Passport Producer Pro in Performance;” Karen Garrison, “Sidney Lanier, Poet and Musician;” Michelle Tabor, “Music in Argentina During the Early Independence Period;” Vivian Montgomery, “The Life and Work of Elizabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre;” Lawrence Newcomb, “Joaquin Rodrigo and Spanish Nationalism;” Robert Schmalz, “Native vs. Foreign: Crises in the Careers of Three American Conductors;” Susanna Garcia,” Skryabin’s Symbolist Plot Archetype;” and Michael Harrington, “The 1994 Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Billy Ray Cyrus.”
Thomas King will host the Southern Chapter at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, in 1995.
1995, Clarksville, TN. The Southern Chapter met at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, this year, February 23-25, with Thomas King as host. Karen Garrison, President, presided at the business meeting with thirty-six members present. A motion was passed to award $125 for the best student paper submitted and the same amount for best student composition. Fifty members registered for this meeting, twenty of whom presented papers and lecture/recitals. There was also a panel discussion for graduate students. Nineteen composers submitted forty-two pieces, from which sixteen were selected for performance by fifteen composers. Stella Sung and Bruce Whisler agreed to oversee the archival material, now housed at the University of Central Florida.
New officers elected were Ann Taddie, President-Elect; Richard Montalto, Secretary-Treasurer; and Nancy Barry, President. The board members of 1994 remained in office.
Three Composers’ Concerts featured works by Stella Sung, Mark Prince Lee, Jo Alexandre, Allen Molineux, Frank Clark, Mark Francis, Kenneth Jacobs, Dinos Constantinides, Richard Montalto, Al Benner, Robert Donahue, Kari Jussela, Robert Placek, James Sain, and Roger Vogel. The guest speaker at the luncheon was visiting Professor Tim Gerber, who quoted a country singer as saying: “Even the worst day in the music business is better than the best day in the air-conditioning business.”
Gerald Farmer’s plans for the International CMS Conference in Berlin, scheduled for June 15-18, were finalized. The conference took place at the Maritim Pro Arte Hotel, with over 100 presenters and performers. The meeting’s focus was “Multi-cultural Perspectives,” with such related topics as compositional influences, cultural and sociological contexts, and contemporary pedagogical developments.
International CMS Conference in Berlin, Southern Chapter papers
Southern Chapter composers represented on the two Composers’ Concerts were Roger Vogel, Luigi Zaninelli, Dinos Constantinides, and Richard Montalto. Performers on the concerts included Southern Chapter members Keith Koons, Holly Hughes, Thomas King, Vicki King, Julia Heinen, David Starkweather, Marlane Fairleigh, James Fairleigh, Robert Riggs, Stacy Rodgers, Tian-sheng Li, Julia Heinen, Jean Martin, and Bruce Gbur. Additional Southern Chapter members attending included Ray Barr, Nancy Barry, Ellistine Holly, and Kenneth Benoit.
In August of 1995 Anne Simpson presented a lecture/recital, “Camille Nickerson, The Louisiana Lady,” in Boulder for the Susan Porter Memorial Symposium on American Women. Stella Sung received composition commissions this year from cellist Yo Yo Ma, the New Renaissance Ensemble (NY, NY), and from the German Ministry of Culture.
Southern Chapter presenters at this year’s National Meeting in Portland were Michael Harrington, “The Music of Pearl Jam;” Mary Reichling, “Susanne Langer’s Concept of Secondary Illusion in Music and Art;” and Jo Anne Stephenson, “Works for Soprano by William Grant Still.” William Gallo shared a panel with David Kushner, Edmund LeRoy, Bruce Whisler, and John Sinclair on “Philosophical and Practical Objections to Adopting a Multi-Cultural Approach in College Music Appreciation Courses.”
The 1996 Southern Chapter meeting will be in Columbus, MS, at Mississippi University for Women, with Richard Montalto as host.
1996, Columbus, MS. Richard Montalto hosted the Southern Chapter meeting February 22-24 in Columbus, Mississippi, at Mississippi University for Women, with President Nancy Barry and Secretary-Treasurer Richard Montalto conducting the business meeting. This year the September Newsletter published our chapter’s e-mail addresses and web pages. Executive Board members are James Fairleigh, Musicology; Mary Reichling, Music Education; Joseph Stephenson, Performance; and Stella Sung, Composition. The meeting had sixty-one attendees, including Dr. and Mrs. Ranier Herberger. Dr. Herberger was the director of the Music Institute in Leipzig, a city which was visited by some of the members who were in Berlin last summer.
The following composers were represented at two Composers’ Concerts during the meeting: Al Benner, David Candill, Dinos Constantinides, David Durant, Kenneth Jacobs, Stephen Lias, Chris Culver, Mark Francis, Carl Johnson, Kari Jussela, Mark Prince Lee, Richard Montalto, Robert Placek, Rebecca Danner Remley, and Roger Vogel. Performers for the compositions were the Kennesaw State College Choir, the MUW Chorale, and individuals from Louisiana State University, West Georgia University, and Delta State University.
At the National meeting in Atlanta, hosted by Tayloe Harding, Southern Chapter presenters were: Enid Katahn, “Chaminade Rediscovered;” Marva Griffin Carter, “The ‘New Negro’ Legacy of Will Marion Cook;” Susanna Garcia, “A Symbolist Reading of Alexander Skryabin’s Sixth Sonata;” Allen Henderson, “The Yamaha Disklavier: Applications for Studio Use;” Tim Kloth, “Oracle Media Objects, an Upscale, Cross-Platform Scripting Language;” and from the Center for Music Research at FSU Jack Taylor, Eitaro Kawaguchi, Douglas Stoun, Robert Woody, and Peter Kakanen, “Technology Pedagogy: Strategies in Teaching Computer Skills to Musicians.” Gerald Farmer, Michael Harrington and Frank Clark were panelists.
Southern Chapter members accepted as presenters and panelists for the 1996 Sonneck Society meeting in Washington, D.C. were Anne Simpson, Ellistine Holly, Ann Silverberg, and Charles Wolfe. Robert Schmalz was historical consultant for the Pittsburgh Symphony during 1995-96, resulting in news items published in Pittsburgh and area newspapers. Ray Barr proffered the University of Miami for the Chapter’s meeting on February 13-15, 1997.
1997, Miami, FL. Southern Chapter member Douglass Seaton is National CMS President. Outgoing Southern Chapter officers this year were Nancy Barry, President, and Richard Montalto, Secretary-Treasurer, when the Southern Chapter met at the University of Miami, February 13-15, with Ray Barr as host. President Ann Taddie and Secretary-Treasurer Michelle Tabor presided at the business meeting. Montalto compiled a useful list, later mailed to members, of the fifty-nine registrants, including their addresses, phone and fax numbers. Nancy Barry was chair for student papers and Stella Sung the composition chair for student compositions. Montalto would be editor for the abstracts. Awards for student papers and compositions were raised to $250, and the representative to the National meeting would now receive $400 for expenses.
New officers are Ann Taddie, President; Michelle Tabor, Secretary-Treasurer; and Thomas King, President-Elect. Executive Board members are James Fairleigh, Musicology; Mary Reichling, Music Education; Joseph Stephenson, Performance; and Stella Sung, Composition. Suggestions made for commemorating the twentieth Southern Chapter meeting in 1999 included CD’s of Composers’ Concerts and a monograph of papers presented at past meetings—projects that would be overseen by the Executive Board. Everyone was pleased that Bonny Miller moved from Norfolk, VA, to Slidell, LA, and could rejoin our chapter.
Amanda Martin from Maryville College received the outstanding student paper award for “A Warrior’s Plight: the Fanfare in Verdi’s Otello,” and Peeter Tammearu the award for his outstanding composition, Retablo, for viola, piano and woodwind quartet.
The following short pieces by Southern Chapter Composers were interspersed with papers: Icta Pala, for solo guitar by Kari Jussela; Elegy, for viola, by Thomas McKinley; Songs for Women by Darlene Mitchell; and Retablo, for viola, piano and woodwind quartet, by Peeter Tammearu. Longer Composers’ Concerts featured the works of Kenneth Jacobs, Mark Lee, Richard Montalto, Ferdinando De Sena, Jesse Ayers, Orlando Garcia, John White, Stella Sung, and Roger Vogel. An added attraction was the Florida Grand Opera Company’’s performance of Montiverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea.
Gerald Farmer related plans for an International Conference of CMS in Vienna, July 1-5, with a tour of Prague afterwards. The Conference took place at the Bildungshaus Neuwaldegg.
International Conference of CMS in Vienna, Southern Chapter papers
Serving on the panel, “American Nationalism and Cultural Diversity” were Southern Chapter members Dinos Constantinides and Thomas Sleeper. Composers represented on the Composers’ Concert were Dinos Constantinides and Tayloe Harding. Additional members attending were: Douglass Seaton, CMS National President, who, along with Gerald Farmer, gave welcoming introductions, and hosts Ray Barr, Thomas King, and Richard Davis. At the National CMS meeting in Cleveland Douglass Seaton introduced Robert Glidden, formerly of Florida State University, who gave the Robert M. Trotter lecture. Other participants from the Southern Chapter and Southern area were Douglas Stoun, Keith Kothman, Anne Simpson, Robert Schmalz, David Kushner, Mary Reichling, Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum, Bonny Miller, Robert Woody, Arnold Penland Jr., Leslie Gay, Jr., Michael Caldwell, Dale Olsen, Virginia Giglio, John Bleuel, Linda Li-Bleuel, Janice Haworth, Cheryl Boyd-Waddell, and Peggy Benkeser. Nancy Barry chaired a panel on mentoring. Also attending was Thomas King.
Concerning news of members, Vicki King’s book, Playing the Piano Naturally, was published by Conners Publications this year. Austin Peay State University’s Dimensions New Music Series produced a CD featuring Stella Sung’s Three Dances for flute and piano . Thomas and Vicki King are featured in two other compositions.
Gerald Farmer invited the Southern Chapter to West Georgia University in Carrollton for the 1998 meeting, February 26-28.
1998, Carrollton, GA. West Geogia University in Carrollton provided excellent facilities for the Southern Chapter meeting, February 26-28. Due to the increase in proposal submissions, thirty-seven were accepted which was more than usual, necessitating concurrent sessions. There were some regrets about this scheduling, however. President Ann Taddie and Secretary-Treasurer Michelle Tabor counted seventy-eight registrants. Gerald Farmer was host and Roger Vogel coordinator of the Composers’ Concerts. National CMS President Douglass Seaton gave an inspiring and splendid address at the luncheon, at which he was quoted as saying: “...after all, Music is our middle name!” A gavel was presented to President Ann Taddie in honor of Charles Carroll, first president of the Southern Chapter, and will be used officially for the first time in Orlando at our twentieth anniversary meeting.
Thomas King is President-Elect. Executive Board members are Michael Harrington, Music Education, Dennis Kam, Composition; David Kushner, Musicology; and Penny Thomas, Performance.
Plans are underway to celebrate the Southern Chapter’s twentieth anniversary at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, February 18-20, 1999. Committee members are Thomas King, Stella Sung, Keith Koons, Ray Barr, Robert Schmalz, Gerald Farmer, and Anne Simpson. Hosts for the gala event will be Sung and Koons.
President Taddie introduced M. Scott McBride (Music Chair at West Georgia University) and Richard Miller (Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at West Georgia University), who gave welcoming addresses.
Panel discussion participants for “Graduate Student Issues and Concerns” were Richard Miller, Tayloe Harding, Lorraine Sposato-Allen, and Stephanie Poxon, chaired by Thomas King, and for “Facilitating Student Research,” panelists were Robert Schmalz, David Kushner, and Susan Lackman, moderated by Mary Reichling.
A concert was presented by the Ensembles of the University of West Georgia. Two Composers’ Concerts featured works by Sheila Forrester, Allen Molineux, Joe L. Alexander, Kenneth Benoit, Wieslaw Rentowski, Mark Chambers, Gregory Danner, William Schirmer, Kenneth Jacobs, Robert L. Donahue, Mark Francis, Roger Vogel, Dinos Constantinides, Salil Sachdev, Dennis Kam, Michael Angell, John Carl Johnson, Al Benner, Doug McConnell, and Darleen Mitchell. Mark Chambers’ composition was selected as the outstanding one from student submissions. There was a special guest performance by the Chamber Choir of the Institute for Music Pedagogy, Universität Leipzig.
Student paper presenters were Stephanie Poxon, “Goethe’s Der Erlkönig: A History of Vocal Settings;” Lorraine Sposato-Allen, “Towards an Understanding of the Musical Idea in Schoenberg’s Erwartung;” and Patrick Tuck, “The National Endowment for the Arts and Beyond: Arts Funding in the Next Millennium.” Poxon received the outstanding student paper award and Mark Chambers the outstanding student composition award for his Three Songs of Robert Frost.
Robert Schmalz was three-times recipient of the Ruth Stodghill Girard Endowed Professorship during 1996-98, selected from both town and gown candidates. In addition, Greenwood Press accepted Schmalz’s entries on Victor Herbert and Arthur Nikisch for a volume on influential conductors of American orchestras. The University Press of America has contracted him for a book, which examines the implications of U.S. involvement in World War I upon our ethnic German musicians. Gerald Farmer is visiting professor in Germany for the academic year 1998-99. Mary Reichling was named the Chauvin Steen Villemez Professor of Music, fall of 1997. Since 1994 she has been National Chair of the Philosophy Special Research Interest Group of the Music Educators National Conference and Newsletter editor. She is presently Book Review Editor for Philosophy of Music Education Review. Reichling obtained a $67,000 grant for Music Education resources and materials, 1993-94, from the Louisiana Educational Quality Support Fund, as its principal investigator and writer. Reichling has been named Conference Director for the Philosophy of Music Education International Symposium IV in Birmingham, England, June 2000. Thomas and Vicki King performed in August, 1998, for the official opening of the International Meeting of the University Women’s Conference in Graz, Austria. Thomas spent his nineteenth summer and Vicki her fifteenth summer in Graz, where they are on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies.
Well, yawl, as David Kushner might say if he had written this document, “Tally Ho!” See ya in Orlando, February 18-20, 1999.
In a work of this scope, there are probably mistakes or omissions. Plans are underway to publish a revised and enlarged version of this history in five years. Corrections, contributions, and additions should be sent to:
Anne Simpson, Author, 701 Wilson, Lafayette, LA 70503-2348 or to Vicki King, Editor-Typist, 1057 Eastland Dr., Clarksville, TN 37040 [email protected] or to Thomas King, [email protected] (931)221-7648(o); (931)553-0795(h)