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Is Elvis still the King? After 40 years, maybe not so much

Forty years ago, Elvis Presley died in his Memphis, Tenn., home. The man dubbed “the King of Rock ’n’ Roll” continues to sell records to collectors and lifelong fans, but the question of exactly how strongly he is influencing today’s artists generates mixed responses from musicians and others in the region.

Frederick David Snider
Dave Snider

“I really think that Elvis Presley is a name only — I don’t really think he influences anyone anymore,” said Dave Snider, a music instructor at Washington State University, where he teaches a rock ’n’ roll history course.

Snider said Presley’s name elicits a reaction from students whose grandparents might have seen him, but some of those students don’t know what he looked like or really even know who he was.

Students know enough to associate the name with someone who was very cool at one time, but many of them can’t name any specific songs, Snider said.

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Yakima Herald

Jazz performer, educator receives WSU alumni award

Horace Alexander Young
Young

Horace Alexander Young, chair of contemporary music at Santa Fe University of Art and Design, was honored recently with the WSU Alumni Association Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of his three decades of professional touring and recording jazz music with top performers worldwide while also teaching privately and at the university level.

Young earned a master of arts degree in music at WSU in 1983 and returned as an associate professor of music 1998-2008. He developed courses in music business and established internships for WSU students in major music industry companies in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and at the Seattle branch of the Recording Academy, which awards the annual Grammys. » More …

Student performers win recognition at Hampton Jazz Festival

Brian Ward
Brian Ward

The WSU jazz studies program was recognized for excellence at the recent 2016 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival held at the University of Idaho.

The WSU Jazz Big Band, under the direction of Brian Ward, received an “Outstanding Performance” award and was selected from among College Day ensembles to perform in the Young Artists Concert that evening. » More …

WSU faculty featured in ‘Mozart Recomposed’

Karen and Jeff Savage
Karen and Jeff Savage

WSU School of Music faculty members Karen and Jeff Savage, also known as 88 Squared, discussed their work with prominent contemporary composer Lowell Liebermann on the National Public Radio program New Music from Bowling Green.

The now-married piano duo met while they were students at the Juilliard School, which is where they also met Liebermann. In 2015, 88 Squared recorded all of the composer’s works for two pianos, including a sonata that they commissioned. » More …