Department of Music receives $800,000 estate gift

from former Music Faculty member Richard Strasburg

Ohio Wesleyan University today announced the receipt of an estate gift from former Music Department faculty member Richard Strasburg.

Professor Strasburg's bequest of more than $800,000 will be used to create the Richard W. Strasburg Endowed Music Merit Scholarship Fund in his memory. Strasburg scholarships will be awarded beginning in fall 2010 to first-year students majoring in music. Recipients will be eligible to renew the Strasburg awards for three additional years as per the Music Department's scholarship guidelines.

An accomplished concert pianist, Strasburg taught at Ohio Wesleyan from 1956 until his retirement in 1983. In addition to holding degrees from Oberlin College, the University of Southern California, and Florida State University, Strasburg studied at Les Ecoles D’Art Americaines at Fontainebleau, France, and at Ecole Normale in Paris. A longtime resident of Delaware, Ohio, Strasburg died in April 2008.

“Richard Strasburg was an influential teacher for so many Ohio Wesleyan piano students and an incredibly gifted pianist,” said Cameron Bennett, D.M.A., chair of the OWU Department of Music. “His generous gift to fund a significant music merit scholarship highlights his devotion to Ohio Wesleyan. Future generations of talented music majors will benefit from this generous gift and ensure that Professor Strasburg’s legacy will live on at Sanborn Hall.”

New Music Education Professor

Dr. Richard Edwards

Dr. Richard Edwards will join the full-time Department of Music faculty at Ohio Wesleyan University as Assistant Professor of Music (Music Education) in 2009-2010

Originally from Willoughby, Ohio, Richard Edwards currently serves as assistant professor at Ithaca College teaching instrumental music education courses and conducting the All Campus Band.  He completed the Ph.D. in Music Education at UNC Greensboro (2008), the Master of Music in Music Education at UNC Greensboro (2002) and received the Bachelor of Music degree from Ohio University (1996).  His research interests include neuroscience, psychology, philosophy and the pedagogy of music education.  Dr. Edwards has taught for six years in the public schools of Ohio and North Carolina as both a high school band director and an elementary music teacher, and as an undergraduate, he served as the field commander for “The Ohio University Marching 110".  He is a member of MENC, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, The College Band Director’s National Association, and the Society for Music Perception and Cognition.

The Musical Brain Imaging Research Database (MusicBIRD) was originally created as a component of his UNC Greensboro Ph.D. dissertation titled, “The Neurosciences and Music Education: An Online Database of Musical Brain Imaging Research” (2008).  The MusicBIRD is intended to serve as a resource for anyone interested in the field of neuromusical research (i.e., the study of brain processes associated with musical experiences) and its primary objective is to organize neuromusical research by presenting summative information from all peer-reviewed musical brain imaging studies.

The Department of Music announces

the opening of the newly renovated

McMullen Electro Acoustic Music Studio (MEAMS)

With the opening of  the newly renovated McMullen Electro Acoustic Music Studio (MEAMS),  students now have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of electo acoustic music composition.  The studio, located in Sanborn Hall, is overseen by Assistant Professor of Composition, Music Theory and Electronic Music, Dr. Jason Bahr. The MEAMS has the latest in digital audio editing technology.  In the studio, students can create new electro-acoustic music compositions, master compact discs (CDs) or add music to film.  The MEAMS is a Mac-based environment that boasts an incredible 2.5 terabytes of hard drive space.  "We have tried to build a studio that is both flexible and powerful," says Dr. Jason Bahr, the MEAMS director.  "It is an exciting time for our department and students across the
campus."  Students learn the basics of acoustics, musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) technology, and digital audio through MUS229 Introduction to Electronic Music Composition.  They also work hands on with the equipment in their own three-hour block of studio time each week.  This course culminates in final projects that are original compositions.  Students may continue work in the studio through an independent study.

Dr. Thomas Carto founded the MEAMS in 1989 through a generous bequest of Marie McMullen.  The times have changed, but the mission remains the same: to broaden the resources of music technology at OWU so that students and faculty members may explore, learn and create.

OWU Alum Abigail Nims featured soloist

with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra

The ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus presented "A Traditional Holiday" in December, 2008 in the Southern Theatre. The concert featured the Lancaster Chorale, Jake Gardner (bass-baritone), Sari Gruber (soprano), Abigail Nims (mezzo-soprano) and Vale Rideout (tenor).

Lynn Green , of the Columbus Dispatch, in reviewing Saturday's performance wrote, "Mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims conveyed a wonderful, tender sadness in the opening section of He Was Despised."

Abigail Nims received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2001.

2008-2009 Performing Arts Series

The remaining performances for the 2008-2009 Performing Arts Series:

Nalanda Dance - January 24, 2009

Peter Schickele and PDQ Bach: The Jekyll & Hyde Tour - February 22, 2009

Jens Lindemann, trumpet - March 21, 2009

Click here for more information.

For tickets call 740-368-3629 or visit www.ticketweb.com

Naxos CD release: Carpe Diem String Quartet

Naxos has released the complete String Quartets (Vol. 1) of Sergey Taneyev by the Carpe Diem String Quartet, OWU's Ensemble-in-Residence.

Music at OWU featured on Connect2OWU!

Read all about the music events at Ohio Wesleyan on Connect2OWU:

http://connect2.owu.edu/issues/20080730/newsAndViews/opera.html

http://connect2.owu.edu/issues/20080206/newsAndViews/musicOfOurTime.html

http://connect2.owu.edu/issues/20080206/ourTown/artZine.html

http://connect2.owu.edu/issues/20071128/newsAndViews/performanceFaculty.html

http://connect2.owu.edu/issues/20071010/ourTown/choralArtSociety.html