Spring 2023 Newsletter

Anonymous — Tue, 09 May 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Spring 2023 Newsletter Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/09/2023 - 00:00

A new CU Gigs coordinator, a music student in the NVC, and more here!

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ECM artist assistance grants help fund student projects

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 21:47:52 +0000

ECM artist assistance grants help fund student projects Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/25/2023 - 15:47

Kathryn Bistodeau

The ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Entrepreneurship Center for Music (ECM) has a straightforward mission: To equip today’s music students with the skills and tools they need to create sustainable careers in the arts. In fall 2022, the ECM awarded $10,486 in artist assistance grants which helped support 14 students with projects, research, career building and professional development. We sat down with three of these students to ask how the grants affected them and their emerging careers in the arts.

The classical guitar album

As part of his degree, DMA student Andrew Wilder (classical guitar performance) is recording and editing an album of Mozart and Haydn transcriptions for the classical guitar. The ECM grant helped Wilder purchase a new laptop to run the editing software and streamline the tech needed to complete the album.

“It helped a ton because my computer was 10 years old and issues were accumulating so I had to stop recording pretty often,” Wilder explains. “In editing, it's like painting or sculpting, in a way, and if there’s something that’s constantly causing slow-downs, it really inhibits creative possibilities. Not having to worry about crashes during all of that was a huge help.”

This project has been a challenging, yet rewarding, experience, according to Wilder. “I think recording is one of the most educational things a musician can do,” he says. “Especially in my case, doing all of the editing myself really forces me to become even more familiar with what I’m creating and shape that, instead of it being just a performance, and then it being gone."

Wilder will also be working on finalizing the transcriptions he created, with the goal of publishing.

The immersive choral experience

Jessie Flasschoen, also a doctoral student, had been wondering how she could reimagine the choral performance experience. “I’d been really interested in taking choral music out of the stuffy concert hall experience, and wondering how to engage the community and the audience more deeply,” she says. “I wanted to create a choral experience that had active participation on the part of the audience.”

Flasschoen started a choir called Renova in January 2022, comprising up to 25 ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� affiliates dedicated to performing student compositions. In November 2022, Renova presented an immersive choral experience centered around the concept of alchemy.

“Depending on which version of alchemy you’re following, it has three processes. It’s a story of transformation,” explains Flasschoen. “What’s interesting about the ancient study of alchemy is that it wasn’t just about the metal turning into gold, but also about some sort of spiritual transformation of the alchemist personally. So alchemy in its origin has always been about human transformation in addition to making gold out of other metals.”

The audience was led through three rooms, each representing a different stage in the alchemical process. Room one covered blackening and death, room two featured opposites and purification and room three represented fire. The ECM grant helped to fund logistics such as the technical elements and decorations used in the rooms.

Flasschoen says the audience was enthusiastic and willing to participate, and that after the show was over, she received glowing feedback from community members, colleagues and choir members.

“The generosity of the grant made this crazy idea possible and it came together really really well in a way that people are talking about even months later,” she says. “And because of this generosity, I want to take this idea further, so this is a launching point for more research.”

The Wolf Opera

Artist Diploma student Chas Barnard and alumna Sabina Balsamo were artistically inspired by the proposition passed by the state legislature in 2020 to reintroduce gray wolves into Colorado.

“We just got to talking with our composer friend, Ben Morris about the proposition and then we thought, 'oh, this could be a great opera!'” Barnard says.

The project that emerged, named Colorado Sky, is a family-friendly chamber opera that also features shadow puppetry. The opera is written for three voices and a string quartet. The ECM grant helped with the cost of hiring baritone Andrew Garland, who also happens to be an assistant professor of voice at our College of Music.

“There were two parts to this project. There was a workshop in January where we recorded the whole work with Andy and then we’ll also present live performances on June 3 and 4,” Barnard says.

The team has also collaborated with Art Song Colorado, Boulder Opera, and the Broomfield Council on the Arts and Humanities.

Barnard says, “It means a lot to have the support of the school. The grant gave our project momentum and the ability to hire someone like Andy who is an incredible artist, and who really gives our project a lot of credibility. I’m just grateful that we were able to move forward.”

Find out more about the live concerts of Colorado Sky in Broomfield and Boulder.

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Student spotlight: Erika Gossett

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Student spotlight: Erika Gossett Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/10/2023 - 00:00

When Erika Gossett enrolled at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, she never imagined she’d win funding for a business pitch.

“I thought I was going to come in, get a music degree and leave,” says the senior who—four years later—will graduate next month with a BM in flute performance, as well as a BA in media studies, a minor in business and a Music Entrepreneurship Certificate, exemplifying the College of Music’s universal musician vision.

“��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� has given me a lot of different opportunities and a lot of space to grow as a musician, and as a student and a professional,” she adds.

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Daily Camera: Music YouTuber discusses career in ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� talk

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 20:56:55 +0000

Daily Camera: Music YouTuber discusses career in ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� talk Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/01/2023 - 13:56

A Daily Camera reporter attended our February 28 Career Launchpad event with Youtuber "Sideways," read about the event below!

https://www.dailycamera.com/2023/02/28/music-youtuber-discusses-career-in-cu-boulder-talk/

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Fall 2022 Newsletter

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 19:56:36 +0000

Fall 2022 Newsletter Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/12/2022 - 12:56

Check out what Fall 2022 held for the ECM by reading our newsletter here!

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Spring 2022 Newsletter

Anonymous — Wed, 11 May 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Spring 2022 Newsletter Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/11/2022 - 00:00

Check out what the ECM got up to in Spring 2022 by reading our newsletter here!

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Fall 2021 Newsletter

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Fall 2021 Newsletter Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/17/2021 - 00:00

Check out what Fall 2021 held for the ECM by reading our newsletter here!

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In the News

Spring 2023 Newsletter

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ECM artist assistance grants help fund student projects

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Student spotlight: Erika Gossett

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Daily Camera: Music YouTuber discusses career in ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ talk

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Fall 2022 Newsletter

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Spring 2022 Newsletter

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Fall 2021 Newsletter

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Daily Camera: Music YouTuber discusses career in ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� talk