We have had another busy year here in the Music Department at Manchester! We want to stay connected with you and let you know about some of things that have been happening in our department. This newsletter includes highlights from this past year, profiles of alumni as well as a list of upcoming events.
We would love to hear from you, too. Take a minute to fill out our alumni update form, and feel free to contact me about music events. We hope that you will consider participating in our Homecoming Concert, too. Homecoming 2018 is Sept. 28-29, with our combined student/alumni concert the evening of Sept. 28. Both instrumental and vocal performers are welcome! Please let me know if you would like more information.

Let’s keep in touch!
Tim Reed
Chair, MU Department of Music
tmreed@manchester.edu

Highlights from 2017-2018 Year

• Pamela Haynes, assistant professor of music and piano area coordinator, and adjunct faculty members Elizabeth Smith (violin) and Robert Lynn (cello) formed the Manchester University Faculty Trio. The inaugural concert was held on Sunday, Sept. 17, in the Norman and Grace Wine Recital Hall at Manchester University. They performed Mozart’s Piano Trio in C major, K. 548 and Brahms’s Piano Trio in C major, Op. 87. The trio was also featured guest artists in the Evensong Concert Series at Trinity United Methodist Church (Huntington) and at a Huntington University Chamber Orchestra’s concert titled “Classic Brahms.”
  
• Debra Lynn's song cycle Your John Keats was premiered by Grammy-winning baritone, Daniel Belcher in a performance at Wine Recital Hall in October 2017. The nine-movement cycle is a setting of love letters from English Romantic Poet John Keats to Fanny Brawne. MU faculty member, Pamela Haynes served as collaborative pianist for the performance. Recordings of this work will soon be added to Debra's composer website: https://debralynnmusic.wordpress.com
  
• Manchester Symphony Orchestra: In October 2017, MSO and choirs from the University and community performed Dr. Debra Lynn's A Family Portrait. A record 791 people basked in the sights, sounds, and tastes of the Civil War inside and outside Cordier Auditorium that evening. Thanks to PBS, this concert was broadcast on Channel 39 (Fort Wayne). Click here here to watch online.

• Clayton Marcum (tenor vocal performance major) and Kenzie Hare (soprano vocal performance major) performed junior and senior recitals, respectively, in October 2017 and May 2018. Kenzie was also invited to perform excerpts from her recital at the Honeywell House in Wabash.
• Three music majors, Freddie Lapierre, Mason McBride and Katrina Murray, were selected for the 2018 College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Intercollegiate Band.
• Seven students, Freddie Lapierre, Laura Stepanovich, Allison Goelz, Mason McBride, Katrina Murray, Jonah Lechlitner and Hailey Schneider, were selected for the 2018 College Band Directors National Association Indiana Intercollegiate Band.

• In February, Manchester's Opera Workshop class performed several scenes from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. They also performed all of Lehar's The Merry Widow in the style of the Marx Brothers film, Duck Soup.Music Majors Kenzie Hare, Clayton Marcum, Emily Lynn, Jake Svay, Freddie Lapierre, Haley Neilson, and Hayley Cochran were cast in principal roles. MU music alumnus Angelina Funk ’14 held a principal role in addition to designing costumes for the show.
  

• The Manchester Jazz Combo, an informal ensemble comprised of students and faculty, continues to perform at events both on and off campus.
  
• The newest instrumental group, the MU Chamber Winds, had its inaugural semester and several on-campus performances in the spring.
  
• Senior music major, Kenzie Hare performed as soprano soloist with the Fort Wayne Area Community Band on Stephen Melillo’s “The Touchstone” from David on March 6 at IPFW.
  
• David Moan ’09 continues to perform regularly in the Detroit, Mich., area. He is a member of the Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus where he often performs solo roles in support of world class opera singers such as Deborah Voigt and Daniel Belcher. He has also worked with renowned composers Kevin Putz and William Bolcom through the Michigan Opera Theatre. David is also very active performing in professional musical theater productions. His most recent starring roles have included: John Wilkes Booth in Assassins, Sir Lancelot in Camelot, the title role in Sweeney Todd, and Will Bloom in Big Fish. 
  
• Debra Lynn, with assistance from Pam Haynes, several music education majors and the MU Chamber Singers, worked with Wabash County 4th graders to create and perform a composition called "Traveling Through Oceania" for the 2018 FAME Festival at the Honeywell Center in Wabash.  
  
• Professor Scott Humphries’ new work for band, The Hunt: A Native American Story, was published this spring by MSB Publishing. He is also now a featured composer for the company.
  
• In April, the Music Department brought guest artists, Paul Bro (saxophone) and Kurt Fowler (cello) for a brief residency in our second installment of the Nolen Series for Contemporary Music. The Nolen Series is an annual residency series, made possible by the Joyce and Wil Nolen Music Fund, in which guest artists work with MU students in workshops and masterclasses and perform a program of contemporary music.
  
• In April, MU Theater performed the rock musical Spring Awakening. Kira Hawkins was stage director and Debra Lynn served as music director.  Music Majors Clayton Marcum, Jake Svay, Kenzie Hare, Haley Neilson, Emily Lynn, Freddie Lapierre, Kayla Carver, and Hayley Cochran were cast in principal roles.
  
• Professor Scott Humphries completed his seventh season as the conductor of the Fort Wayne Area Community Band. The FWACB is a group of 80 musicians ranging in age from 25-85 and includes professional musicians, community members and active and retired music educators. It is one of the premier community ensembles in Indiana. The FWACB has been selected to perform at the 2019 Indiana Music Educators Conference this coming January.
  
• Dr. Tim Reed’s composition, Red Forest Suite, was performed in July at the World Saxophone Congress in Croatia.
  
• Dr. Tim Reed’s composition, Five Misappropriations for Solo Piano was selected for the PnOVA American Piano Music CD Series. Pianist Martin Jones will record the work for release on the PnOVA label and perform it in a supporting concert tour this fall.
  
• MU’s newly formed String Ensemble performed at the April Manchester Symphony Orchestra concert and will continue this fall.
  
  
• Music Education major Nick Kenny ’13 has recently performed with the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra and the Colorado Brass. Nick now serves as the executive director for the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra.
  
• MSO continues youth outreach as its musicians support the new strings program at Wabash Middle School. MSO also partnered with Metro North Elementary School in Wabash to display students' violin artwork at an MSO Chamber Strings concert. Looking ahead, there will be an orchestra tent at Homecoming this fall to celebrate MSO's 80th year!
  
• A Cappella Choir traveled to NYC in May. Performances en route were in Seymour, Ind., Dallastown, Pa., Franklin Lakes N.J., and a full day workshop and performance with the choirs at Tappan Zee High School in Orangeburg, N.J.
  
  
• Dr. Tim Reed’s composition, “… none is traveling …” was selected for inclusion on Volume 7 of the Ablaze Records Electronic Masters CD series (to be released in Fall 2018).
  
• Dr. Tim Reed’s composition, “… none is traveling …” was selected for performance at the Seoul International Computer Music Festival this fall.
  
• Vocal Performance major and 2018 graduate, Kenzie Hare, was awarded the prestigious Stotler Fellowship from the University of Illinois, where she will begin studies in the master’s program in vocal performance this fall.
  
• Debra Lynn was commissioned by Mikautadze Dance Theatre to compose a three movement violin and cello duet for their 10th anniversary concert in June 2018. The work entitled Triptych was premiered at the performance by Kristin Westover, violin, and Robert Lynn, cello.
  
• 2017 MU graduate, Grant Ebert is beginning his second year in the Masters of Vocal Performance and Literature program at the University of Illinois.
  
• Music Education major Katie Huddleston ‘15 is now the orchestra director for Eastern Howard School Corporation in Greentown, Ind. Katie also regularly performs with the MSO and the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra and is cello instructor for the Kokomo Youth Symphony.

Featured Alum: Jeremiah Sanders ’14

Originally from Marion, Ind., Jeremiah Sanders graduated from Manchester with a B.A in music, vocal performance. Since graduating from Manchester, Jeremiah has been active as a performer and currently attends Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music pursuing a Performer's Diploma under the tutelage of Jane Dutton. Below are some recent highlights.

Jeremiah’s spring 2018 season yielded a first place win with the Friends of the Symphony (Lima Symphony Orchestra) Young Artist Competition, a second place win with the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Collegiate Scholarship Competition, and a Caldwell Memorial Award with the National Society of Arts and Letters Vocal Competition. In addition, he conducted an intercollegiate gospel choir for Butler University’s Gospel Fest with notable Gospel Singers Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, and Ricky Dillard, co-directed Butler University’s second Celebration of African-American Music Concert with American soprano Angela Brown. He portrayed Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi) and Don Inigo Gomez (L’Heure Espagnole) in Carol Vaness’ Opera Workshop yielding a positive review: "... but the star of this opera must be and truly was the possessor of the title role ... a hulk of a young man with robust voice and a flair for comedy. He proved a natural, sensationally so." — Peter Jacobi, The Herald Times. He will cover Ford in Falstaff with Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance and sing Peter in Hansel and Gretel with Indiana University's Opera and Ballet Theater this fall in Bloomington and Indianapolis.

Featured Alum: Mykayla Neilson ’17

Originally from Goshen, Ind., Mykayla Neilson graduated from Manchester with a B.A. in music education. As a student, Mykayla was active in both instrumental and choral ensembles and was a leader in our department. Mykayla also excelled academically, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the Education Department’s Outstanding Future Educator Award.

Mykayla is now head band director of Fairfield Jr./Sr. High School in Goshen and continues to be active as a performer. As a singer and songwriter, Mykayla has now released two self-produced albums, Cherished and I. More on Mykayla’s journey as a songwriter can be found at mykaylacynthia.com

Upcoming events

Sept. 28 - Homecoming Concert, featuring Choral and Instrumental Ensembles, Cordier Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 19 – Chamber Singers and Cantabile Concert, Wine Recital Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29 – MSO Concert, The Universe at an Exhibition, Cordier Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 9, 10, 11 – Fall Play, Wampler Auditorium, 7:30/7:30/2:00 p.m.

Nov. 16, 17 - Music @ Manchester visit weekend for prospective students, register at visit.manchester.edu.

Nov. 30 – University Bands Concert, Cordier Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 7 – Lessons and Carols, Manchester Church of the Brethren, 7 p.m.

Dec. 9 – MSO Holiday Concert, Cordier Auditorium, 3 p.m.