I presented my music theoretical research and chaired Session IX: "The Language of Art" at the The College Music Society's Rocky Mountain Chapter 32nd Regional Conference, held March 24-25 at Eastern New Mexico University - ENMU in Portales, New Mexico. The conference hosts were Dr. Tracy Carr, President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter, Dustin Seifert, Chair, Department of Music, and Dr. John Olsen, Interim Dean, College of Fine Arts. The keynote address was given by Dr. Lynn M. Brinkmeyer, Professor of Music and Associate Director for the School of Music and Director of Choral Music Education at Texas State University. In addition to my own, there were many fine presentations, including "Queer Camp Expression in Poulenc..." by Kevin Eberle (Las Vegas Philharmonic), lecture/recitals like "Aural Vision..." by Kathryn Fouse and Larry Thompson (Samford University), and workshops like "On the Right Track..." by Jason Paulk (ENMU) and Rodney Eichenberger (Florida State University). Highlights of the Composer Concerts included David Peoples' (UNG - University of North Georgia) Amendment XII and Kyong Mee Choi's (Roosevelt University) "rare yet soft" for electronic tape. In addition to employing "tape-delay/feedback" techniques, Amendment XII seemed also to have been influenced by experimental rock, certain genres of electronic dance music, and neo-psychedelia. It is a tonal work, to be sure, with modal, "Gregorian" lines given to the baritone soloist (Benjamin Schoening; layer 1), while still featuring Peoples' trademark sonic masses provided by fixed-media electronics (layer 2). "rare yet soft" explores the subtlety of quoted thematic material (the "Adagietto" from Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5) in memory of Choi's late father. It was performed to a darkened concert hall which forced the audience to give the work it's full attention. The Chapter's 2015-2017 Executive Committee has a great deal to be proud of!
The College Music Society's Rocky Mountain Chapter 32nd Regional Conference
ZANE GILLESPIE
After six years as Minister of Music at Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church (UMC) in Holly Springs, MS, I was recently called to continue to work to address public engagement in music participation as Director of Music Ministries at First UMC in Water Valley, MS. I am a Composer, Theorist, and member of both The College Music Society as well as The Poe Studies Association (PSA). I am also an active pianist and vocalist, specializing primarily in church music. My paper entitled ““Mesmeric Revelation”: Art as Hypnosis” has been published by the international, peer-reviewed journal Humanities. In addition, another paper of mine entitled “A Model of Triadic Post-Tonality for a Neoconservative Postmodern String Quartet by Sky Macklay” has been submitted to the peer-reviewed Music Theory journal Perspectives of New Music. At the end of February 2015, I served as Chair for the session entitled “Aesthetics and Philosophy” at The Fourth International PSA Conference in New York City. On June 21, 2014, my Quartet for Alto Saxophone and Strings, a commission from concert saxophonist Walter Hoehn, was performed as part of Concert V of the Eighth Annual Belvedere Chamber Music Festival held at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Memphis, TN. Characteristically neo-romantic (in the original sense of the word), my music earned me the Nancy Van de Vate Award for Composition three times from the University of Mississippi Department of Music. A native of Pontotoc, MS, I hold degrees from the University of Mississippi (BM; MM), and the University of Memphis (DMA) where I was the 2011 recipient of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music's Smit Composition Award. I live in Memphis, TN.