Music

Fulbright takes undergraduate pianist to London

Senior Garrett Snedeker has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance to explore the topic “harnessing music’s ability for social change” in the coming year. “I’m always happy to perform and share music, but I want to introduce listeners to new ways to process and think […]

Musical duo appear again in opera production

For Mom’s Weekend, graduating seniors Clare Sullivan and Bogdan Theo Mynka shared the stage one last time as Anne and Fenton in Otto Nicolai’s opera, “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Both will receive bachelor’s of music degrees in vocal performance in May. During their time at WSU, they have played a variety of roles in […]

Six CAS faculty to be honored at Showcase celebration

The Office of the Provost has selected Maureen Schmitter‑Edgecombe, professor in the Department of Psychology, to deliver this year’s Distinguished Faculty Address. Five other College of Arts and Sciences faculty have also been selected to receive 2019 Showcase awards. “Outstanding achievements of our faculty serve as an inspiration to our community,” said Provost Dan Bernardo […]

Jazz CD receives bevy of national attention

“YAZZ Band,” the recently released compact disc from Greg Yasinitsky, Regents Professor of music, has received significant national attention, including a feature in Down Beat magazine — the “Jazz Bible” — and on the Public Radio International show “Jazz After Hours.” The disc also features WSU School of Music faculty members Sarah Miller, Brian Ward and […]

WSU scores big at 2019 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival

WSU music student soloists and ensembles won several first place awards at the 2019 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival this past weekend in Moscow, Idaho. Ensemble winners include WSU Jazz Big Band I, and WSU combos: Jazz Wires and God’s Harmony. Student solo winners include Raul Blanco, piano; Brandt Fisher, tenor saxophone; Joel Roeber, guitar and […]

WSU Fight Song, composed by students, turns 100

As the patriotic fervor from World War I began to subside, students at then-Washington State College found themselves uninspired by the songs associated with the school. Two senior music students, Zella Melcher of Spokane, Wash., and Phyllis Sayles of Lapwai, Idaho, took on the task of writing new music to energize the student body. “They debuted their creation to great […]

‘Composing for Improvisors’ concert

“Composing for Improvisors” marks the next concert in the WSU School of Music’s Faculty Artist Series, 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, in Kimbrough Concert Hall on the WSU Pullman campus. The concert will feature Regents Professor Greg Yasinitsky, an internationally noted composer and saxophonist and winner of the American Prize for Musical Composition. The program will include

Holiday concert featured five student groups

The WSU School of Music’s annual Holiday Concert, “Joy to the World: A Global Holiday,” held on Saturday, Dec. 1, featured five different student ensembles: * Madrigal Singers * Treble Choir * Tenor/Bass Choir * Concert Choir * Symphony Orchestra The concert included seasonal favorites and concluded with Leroy Anderson’s Christmas Festival, featuring all of […]

Restoring a musical relic

Thomas LeClair, a biology and music double major, is trying to fix a 91-year-old theatre organ languishing in the basement of the Webster Physical Sciences building on the Pullman campus. LeClair learned about the instrument while thumbing through old files in the WSU Libraries Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections. “I was looking up information about […]