In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti earlier this week, College of Music enthnomusicologist Michael Largey, a specialist in Caribbean music, especially Haitian classical and religious music, has been offering his perspective to state and local media. Largey, who is fluent in Haitian Creole, taught at a Haitian school for 31 years - one that was completely destroyed by the quake. "There's very little by way of infrastructure in the country for rebuilding things," he told the Oakland Press on Thursday. "From repairing roads to getting buildings back functioning and the government back functioning and providing what few services it did offer - it's just an overwhelming situation."

Learn more about Largey's research in Haiti in this excerpt from the Fall 2006 issue of Muses magazine and watch an MSU video on the Haiti earthquake featuring Largey.

Ricardo Lorenz, associate professor of composition, has been named a MacDowell Colony Fellow. He will spend five weeks in residency at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, from April 26 to June 1, working on a new concerto for viola and orchestra. The concerto is loosely inspired by a group of songs by the late singer-songwriter Victor Jara, one of the first casualties of Chile's 1973 military coup. Lorenz is composing this concerto for Roberto Díaz, former principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and current president of the Curtis Institute of Music. Founded by Edward MacDowell and his wife, Marian, in 1907, MacDowell Colony is the oldest and most prestigious artist residency in the United States. 

Etienne Charles, assistant professor of jazz trumpet, opened the 17th annual Barbados Jazz Festival on January 11. He was joined by alumnus Ben Williams (BA, 2007), winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, on bass.

Yuri Gandelsman, professor of viola, has just returned from a three-week trip to Israel, where he conducted master classes in viola and chamber music at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, culminating in a performance by the academy's chamber orchestra with Gandelsman as soloist and conductor. The program included Bach's Concerto in B Major for viola and strings; Chamber Symphony op. 110 by Shostakovich; and Symphony Number 39 in E flat Major by Mozart. Gandelsman's visit was featured in the Jerusalem Post on December 28.


"Butterfly Girl," the latest CD from cellist Marcie Brown (BM, 1984) has been nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary Folk album. Its "classical-gypsy-circus-world-cello" music reflects influences from Brazil, India, Africa, German, and Ireland. After MSU, Brown earned a master's degree in classical music at the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Tchaikovsky Competition Award winner Nathaniel Rosen.

You are invited to spend An Evening with John Corigliano

Jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding will present a master class in the College of Music on Thursday, January 21, from 1:50 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. in 103 Music Practice Building. This event is free and open to the public. At just 25 years-old, Spalding has already been hailed as a "charismatic musician handily demonstrating her talents as a virtuoso instrumentalist, gifted multilingual vocalist, and potent songwriter." Her albums include Junjo (2006) and Esperanza (2008). She performed most recently at last month's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

The College of Music will sponsor a reception at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids on Friday, January 22. Faculty, students, and alumni attending are invited to stop by the Governor's Room at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.