On Friday, May 22 the Music Department held it’s first ever virtual commencement ceremony. Chairperson Perry Goldstein led the ceremony, along with Deborah Heckert, Undergraduate Program Director, and Daniel Weymouth, Graduate Program Director. You can download a copy of the commencement program here.
Congratulations to all of our Winter 2019 and Spring 2020 graduates!
The British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) recently announced that Dr. Benjamin Tausig, Professor of Ethnomusicology at Stony Brook University, was awarded the 2020 Book Prize.
“We are thrilled to announce that the 2020 BFE Book Prize is awarded to Benjamin Tausig for his 2019 book Bangkok is Ringing: Sound, Protest, and Constraint (New York: OUP). The 2020 Book Prize Panel – Ioannis Tsioulakis (Chair), Britta Sweers and Jonathan Stock – noted that Benjamin’s book “is superbly written—it turns its own pages—and admirably represents the best new writing in ethnomusicology today”. The Commendation for the 2020 competition goes to Angela Impey for her 2018 book Song Walking: Women, Music, and Environmental Justice in an African Borderland (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press). The panel noted that Song Walking is “a beautifully composed book” and stated that it “addresses key issues in today’s world, including women’s rights, environmental access and the inequities of conservation practices and rhetorics.” Huge congratulations to Benjamin and Angela! And many thanks to everyone who submitted, and to our 2020 Book Prize Panel for their hard work in judging the many excellent submissions for our 2020 competition. To read more about both winners and their fantastic monographs, visit the BFE Book Prize page on our website.”
Stony Brook has launched its first-ever official podcast, “Beyond the Expected,” highlighting the expertise, discoveries and service of outstanding members of the Stony Brook University community. Brought to you by the University’s Office of Marketing and Communications, the podcast offers compelling interviews and insightful perspectives from members of the Stony Brook community and beyond.
The 30-minute show features rotating podcast hosts, beginning with inaugural host Interim President Michael A. Bernstein.
“Stony Brook University faculty, staff and students put their heart and soul into their work, which elevates our regional economy and contributes more broadly to areas such as environmental sustainability, healthcare, and social and cultural identity,” Interim President Michael A. Bernstein said. “This podcast will showcase their drive and diversity as we learn about what inspired them when young, and what they’re doing now that helps make Stony Brook the great community partner that it is today.”
Some of the featured guests and topics of discussion:
The inaugural episode features Jazz Artist-In-Residence Thomas Manuel, founding president of The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook Village, who will discuss his work with young jazz musicians and his contributions to the popular community hot spot.
The Stony Brook University Department of Music is proud to announce the appointment of two new faculty members: João Luiz Rezende Lopes, guitar and Jeremy Little , opera and voice.
Two time Latin Grammy nominee guitarist, educator, and composer João Luiz, began to play the popular music of his native Brazil professionally during his childhood and was later trained in classical guitar by his mentor Henrique Pinto. Winner of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild Competition as a member of the critically acclaimed Brasil Guitar Duo, João has performed extensively in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. His versatility led him to be chosen to collaborate with Yo-Yo Ma and Carlos Prieto on a project to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Cuban composer Leo Brouwer in a landmark concert in Cuba in 2014. João is also the director of chamber music at CUNY Hunter College and the head of the guitar at SUNY Purchase.
Tenor Jeremy Little has established himself as a versatile performing artist on the United States’ most prestigious opera, concert, and recital stages, as well as a dynamic voice teacher, coach, and mentor to new generations of vocal musicians. Dr. Little has been a principal artist with The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Florentine Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera, Anchorage Opera, Opera Southwest, and Pensacola Opera. Following his 2007-08 season as principal artist with The Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Little was offered a coveted position with The Met Opera Chorus. He decided to try it out. Now, eleven seasons later, he has performed in over 1,500 performances at the Met, where he spends every day working alongside the greatest operatic singers, coaches, and conductors in the world. Jeremy continues to learn every day and has earned degrees from Louisiana State University (MM), The Juilliard School (AD), and, while on sabbatical from the Met, Stony Brook University (DMA).
Scholar in Music History, Theory, or Ethnomusicology
POSITION TITLE: Assistant Professor of Music (tenure-track)
QUALIFICATIONS: Scholar with an established record of, or demonstrated potential for, scholarly productivity. We have a particular interest in applicants whose research specialties intersect with one or more these areas: new approaches to music before 1600; gender, sexuality, and queer theory; critical race studies; or popular music studies. Candidates should hold a Ph.D, or have advanced ABD status, in Music History, Theory, or Ethnomusicology, and should be well-versed in both historical and theoretical domains. We look for demonstrated achievement in or potential for scholarly productivity, and a record of successful teaching experience.
EMPLOYMENT: Appointment starts late August 2020.
RANK: Assistant Professor (tenure-track). PhD required for appointment as Assistant; ABDs may be considered for lectureship.
DUTIES: Responsibilities will include undergraduate and graduate instruction, supervision of student research and writing, dissertation direction, advising, and departmental and university service.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Review of files begins October 1, 2019, but applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Applicants should complete the Academic Jobs Online application at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/14419. Electronic submission of materials is required. The application requires these materials: cover letter, CV, statement of teaching interests and philosophy, and three letters of recommendation.
STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER. APPLICATIONS FROM WOMEN, PEOPLE OF COLOR, DISABLED PERSONS, AND/OR SPECIAL DISABLED OR VIETNAM ERA VETERANS ARE ESPECIALLY WELCOME.
Brookhaven Lab Center for Functional Nanomaterials scientist Kevin Yager, Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Melissa Clarke, and Stony Brook University professor of computer music Margaret Schedel generated novel representations of experimental nanoscience data through 3-D printing, sound, and virtual reality.
Multimedia artist Melissa Clarke (center) made more than a dozen 3-D printed glass-like sculptures based on nanoscience data collected by scientists at Brookhaven Lab’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) and National Synchrotron Light Source II, including CFN physicist Kevin Yager (right). For the virtual reality (VR) component of the project, viewers can walk through and interact with the sculptures by wearing a VR headset. During the immersive experience, different sonifications created by Margaret Schedel (left)—a professor of computer music at Stony Brook University—play as the user performs various actions.
Full article here: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=214479
An event celebrating the life and career of soprano Elaine Bonazzi will take place on Sunday, April 14 at 7:30 in the National Opera Center of Opera America (7th floor) at 330 Seventh Avenue (between 28th and 29th streets). A short film featuring Elaine will be shown and several speakers and singers will pay tribute to her. A reception will follow and admission is free.
“Sound and Secularity” is a day-long symposium at Stony Brook University on April 12, 2019 that will engage what it means to speak, sing, and listen when secularism falters as the dominant frame for modern religious and political life. Scholars from several disciplines—anthropology, music, history, and religion—will join Stony Brook faculty to discuss how secularity and religious faith shape conceptions of sound and the meanings we attach to them.
Stony Brook University Professors Lisa Muratori and Margaret Schedel collaborated on a project that was recently profiled in Wired — Our Ears Are Unlocking an Era of Aural Data.
Muratori, an associate professor of physical therapy from the School of Health Technology and Management, works with patients that suffer from neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, which may affect their strides. Her solution for helping them determine when their gate is off? She put sensors in their shoes to create a data stream, but the problem was how to translate that information to her patients.
That’s when she turned to Schedel, an associate professor in the Department of Music, and the they collaborated on a software that alerts patients to changes in their stride by distorting the sound of whatever they are listening to on their earbuds.
As stated in the article, “It’s an example of an intriguing new evolution in our big-data world: sonification, expressing data through sound.”
Renowned American mezzo-soprano Elaine Bonazzi passed away on Tuesday, January 29, at the age of 89.
“Fantastically gifted actor and singer.” The Washington Post
During her long career on the stage from the 1950s into the 1990s, Elaine Bonazzi performed in opera houses in the U.S. and abroad, such as the Santa Fe Opera, the Washington National Opera, the New York City Opera, the Opera Company of Boston, as well as at the Dutch National Opera, the National Theatre in Belgrade, the Palacio del Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. She was closely associated with the challenging contemporary opera, presenting more operatic premieres than any other American singer. She was often sought after by the composers of her day—Igor Stravinsky, Copland, Carter, Sondheim, Argento, Chavez, Menotti, Rorem and Thomson—to perform their works.
Elaine joined the Stony Brook faculty in 1987 and was a core member of the Department of Music, teaching voice, until her retirement in 2012. Parallel with her remarkable artistic success on the world’s stages was her transformational effect on her students. In a post on Facebook, Christine Goerke, who has gained attention as one of the greatest opera singers of our day, credits Elaine with changing her life. In addressing Elaine, she wrote on Facebook, you are “the woman who saw me through debuts in my early years, who helped me through college struggles, who gave me my foundation, and celebrated with me when I was invited into the Young Artist Program at the Metropolitan Opera. Who was on the other end of the phone nearly every night for the first six months after that invite when I called in tears telling her I didn’t belong there.” She continues, you are “the woman who had me for dinner at her apartment more times than I can count, and sat at the little circular table in her kitchen with a cup of tea consoling me when I felt like I just couldn’t do it,” concluding, “she has touched so many lives, and I would not be who I am today without her knowledge, grace, goodness, light, immense talent, and boundless love.”
“Life changing” is how many students view Elaine. Soprano Rachel Schutz, who, like Christine, came to Stony Brook as an undergraduate, acknowledges the profound influence she had on her direction. “I can honestly say that my life would look nothing like it does now without Elaine,” she writes. “I moved to the States specifically to study with her and almost all of the personal and professional things that have happened over the last 15 years stem directly from that choice and thus from her. Elaine was one of those people who radiate humanity and light. She was the first to congratulate, to laugh, to sympathize, she was immeasurably kind and supportive, and she truly shaped the musician and human that I am today. I am so grateful for the time spent with her and miss her dearly already.”
Faculty remember Elaine with equal fondness. Executive Director of Stony Brook Opera, David Lawton, credits Elaine with the “development of a really first-rate vocal program” at Stony Brook, where “she also played a leading role in the development of a rigorous and comprehensive vocal curriculum.” He continues, Elaine was “deeply dedicated to her students, and took a real interest in their development in the profession. Elaine cared passionately about performing and teaching,” he concludes, “and I feel blessed to have known her and worked so closely with her.”
Pianist Gilbert Kalish recalls his pleasure on her appointment at Stony Brook. “I was lucky enough to be on the search committee that chose Elaine to join our faculty. She both charmed that committee and demonstrated brilliantly what a superb musician, singer and teacher she was. I had the good fortune and privilege of performing some Britten songs with her at Stony Brook. Even as a seventy year old, she had an astonishingly rich and vibrant voice. Over the years, she was a ray of sunshine, and it was always a highlight of my day to meet and chat with her in our little office. It was also a sad day for me and the department when I went to see Elaine in her apartment and discussed with her and Jerry the inevitability of her retirement. It is hard to believe that this remarkable person is no longer with us.”
Perry Goldstein, chair of the department, remembers Elaine with great affection. “Elaine was here when I first arrived at Stony Brook in 1992, a little bit in awe of our famous performance faculty. What I remember best about her is how kind and encouraging she was to a young-ish junior colleague, how quick and a little wicked was her sense of humor, and how genuinely warm she was to everyone around her. She contributed greatly to the atmosphere of support in the department, one that continues to this day due to the quality of foundational faculty—as artists and mentors—like Elaine.”
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Elaine pursued her studies at the Juilliard School. In 1963, she married celebrated cellist Jerome Carrington, who survives her. Before coming to Stony Brook, she was on faculty at the Peabody Institute of Music.
A service to celebtate her life was held in Barre, Vermont. Memorial contributions in her honor can be made to the Elaine Bonazzi Scholarship Fund, Department of Music, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11784
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