MSU wordmarkMSU Community Music School Newsletter
March/April 2010 Issue

CMS banner
CMS offers five summer music camps
From musical theatre to rock to music therapy, the MSU Community Music School has summer camps that appeal to a range of interests. All five summer camps are now open for registration. Registration forms are available on the CMS website.

Eric 'RicStar' Winter Music Therapy Camp (June 17 - 19)

Jazz Camp (June 27 - July 2)

School of Rock Camp (July 12 - 16)

Middle School Band Camp (July 19 - 23)
 
Musical Theatre Camp (July 19 - 30)
New Horizons Band members travel to Georgia
NHB members at the 2009 camp at InterlochenCamp is not just for kids. Several CMS NHB members and Patti Kroth, director of NHB Too!, are traveling to Georgia to attend a camp sponsored by the New Horizons International Music Association April 18-23.

Kroth was invited to conduct at the camp and has conducted at several New Horizons camps in years past including camps held at Interlochen and Chautauqua.

The upcoming camp, held at Unicoi State Park near Helen, Georgia, is one of several music camps to be offered by the NHB parent organization in 2010.

New Horizons members from across the country will attend the camp and participate in orchestra, jazz and improvisation classes, German and Dixieland bands, and other ensembles.

In the photo, CMS NHB members pose at the 2009 camp at Interlochen.
Bring a Friend Month returns
Bring a Friend MonthNow you can share your favorite CMS experiences with a friend!  CMS has opened up the entire school: classes, events, and concerts, to the friends of students through the month of March in tandem with "Music in our Schools Month." Please be sure to check with your instructor to coordinate the best time for your friend to visit during March.

During Bring a Friend Month, the CMS Children's Choirs will have "In-Formances" where prospective singers can gather information about the Preparatory Choir, CMS Singers, and MSU Children's Choir. These will be the only days that children's choir members will be able to bring friends. The "In-Formance" dates are:
  • Preparatory Choir - Tuesday, March 23, 5-5:30 p.m.
  • MSU Children's Choir -Tuesday, March 23 7-8 p.m.
  • CMS Singers - Wednesday, March 24, 5-5:45, p.m.
CMS will give each visiting guest and their student host a special gift for participation in Bring a Friend Month.
Meet Ben Kiefer, a music therapy client at CMS
After hearing a new song just one time, 19-year-old Ben Kiefer, can play it.

Kiefer is a music therapy client of Ben KieferCindy Edgerton, director of music therapy clinical services. He has been working with Edgerton for more than 10 years. Musically, he is one of her most advanced and challenging students.

"Ben's overall musicianship skills are at an extremely high level. After hearing a song one time, Ben can immediately re-create it--melody, harmonies, voices, rhythms and instruments--by playing it on a piano or keyboard and/or singing it," said Edgerton.

Ben's father, Tom Kiefer, says music therapy has made a difference in Ben's life. "Before Ben started working with Cindy, his autistic traits were heightened, and after he started music therapy, everything was normal, everything was right," said Tom. It is rewarding to see Ben's happiness and growth while he studies music with Edgerton, said Tom.

According to Tom, Ben really likes performing. He performs pieces for his family around Christmastime, and he plays the piano as people are coming into the Celebrate Abilities recitals for atmosphere.

You can see Ben perform the "A Guy Like You" from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Celebrate Abilities on Friday, March 26 at 4:30 p.m. in the MSU Union Building.
Voice faculty member competes in Metropolitan Opera Competition
Josh BaumJoshua Baum, area chair and instructor of voice at CMS and doctoral student at MSU, recently participated in the Metropolitan Opera Competition in Pittsburgh, won the district level, and was a Great Lakes Regional Finalist. Baum performed five arias in the competition: "Ah, mes amis, quel jour de fete! (Pour mon ame)" from Gaetano Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment, "Spirto Gentil" from Donizetti's La Favorita, "Salut! Demeure chaste et pure" from Charles Gounod's Faust, "Ah! Leve-toi soliel" from Gounod's Romeo and Juliette and "La Donna e Mobile" from Verdi's Rigoletto.

"A singer should choose arias based on several things: What does their voice well? What is their Fach [a system that classifies singers by voice range, weight, tone and color of an opera singer]? What are the roles that they would actually sing?" said Baum.

Though cash prizes are awarded to winners at the Metropolitan Opera Competition, Baum finds that the reward he appreciates most from the competition is not monetary.

"You get your name out there to people who are currently in the business, and you typically get comments from the judges that can indicate areas that they liked, areas to grow and focus on, and if there are any major issues," said Baum. "These benefits are much more valuable than any prize package."

Baum typically competes in three to four competitions a year. He finds that his experiences in competing are applicable to the lessons he teaches at CMS.
News and noteworthy happenings
  • CMS received a $2,000 CVS Community Caremark grant in support of music therapy clinical services. Read more.

  • In support of all CMS programming, CMS received a $1,000 grant from the Jackson National Community Fund.

  • Through the work of Wayne and Marjorie Longcore, CMS received a $750 Volunteer Investment Program grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation. The grant was awarded in connection with the Longcores' volunteer hours donated to the MSU Children's Choir program.

  • The Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio), awarded Mary Alice Stollak, founding director of the MSU Children's Choir program, their highest award, the Stace N. Stegman Award, at the 2010 ACDA Conference held in Cincinnati on February 27.

  • Volunteers are needed for the Eric 'RicStar' Winter Music Therapy Camp, June 17-19. Both adults and teens are needed. Please contact Jaime Merritt if you are interested in adult volunteer opportunities. For information on the camp's teen BuddyUp volunteer program or to sponsor a camper, contact Cindy Edgerton.

  • This tax season, Michigan residents have their first opportunity to dedicate a portion of their tax return to the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA). CMS has received support from MCACA in the past and asks you to consider supporting MCACA if you have not already filed your taxes.

  • You may have noticed the new look of CMS's newsletter. It matches our new website. If you have not had the opportunity to check out the new website, please visit us at www.cms.msu.edu.
In This Issue
CMS offers five summer music camps
New Horizons Band members travel to Georgia
Bring a Friend Month returns
Meet Ben Kiefer, a music therapy client at CMS
Voice faculty member competes in Metropolitan Opera Competition
Piano Faculty Concert at the Turner-Dodge House 
Turner-Dodge House
After the success of the faculty concert last fall, three more CMS faculty members return to the Turner-Dodge House for a spring concert. Faculty artists Liudmila Bondar, Marjan Helms, and Debra Pajtas will perform solo and four-hand literature including works by Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, and Rachmaninoff on Sunday, March 21 at the Turner Dodge House in Old Town. The concert will begin at 1:30 p.m.
Early Childhood Music mini sessions 
Early Childhood Music Class
A 5-week early childhood music program begins the week of April 26. Both infant/toddler and preschool classes are offered. Online enrollment opens March 22. Early registrations are currently accepted by telephone. The cost is $77. Class activities include singing and chanting, moving to music, playing assorted percussion instruments, and pattern instruction.
Events Calendar
March 
13 School of Rock Workshop, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

14 All-School Recital at 3 p.m., LER

17 Sound and Silence Class Begins

19 Suzuki Workshop

20 Suzuki Workshop

21 CMS Piano Faculty Recital at 1:30 p.m., Turner-Dodge House

26 Celebrate Abilities at 4:30 p.m., MSU Union

27 NHB, Too! performance at 12 p.m., Lansing Community College

31 Community Drum Circle at 7:30 p.m., CMS

April
8 No Suzuki Group

11 Choral Union Concert at 7 p.m., St. Thomas Aquinas

12 - 17 Early Childhood Music Conferences

18 All-School Recital at 3 p.m., LER

18 Ascheri Studio Recitals at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., AUD

21 Together, Let's Jam at 7 p.m., CMS

25 NHB Combined Concert at TBA, Flushing, Mich.

26 Early Childhood Mini Session I Begins

31 Community Drum Circle at 7:30 p.m., CMS
Please consider a gift to CMS
Support from individuals in the community helps CMS offer quality music programs, classes, lessons, and music therapy taught by dedicated and gifted faculty. Your support allows CMS to offer financial aid to those in need of assistance. Gifts are tax deductible.

Make a donation to CMS
MSU Community Music School
841 Timberlane St. 
|  East Lansing, MI 48823
Telephone: (517) 355-7661  Fax: (517) 355-3292
www.cms.msu.edu
College of Music wordmark National Guild