Music Students Receive Dean’s Award at Research Exposition

04/20/2012 11:57 AM

Congratulations to students in the Department of Music for receiving the Slane College of Communication and Fine Arts Dean’s Award for outstanding achievement in student scholarship at the 20^th annual Student Scholarship Exposition held April 19, 2012.

Sponsored by the Office of Teaching Excellence and Faculty Development (OTEFD), the event shows off the best of student research and creative endeavors from all five of the University’s colleges. Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students discussed their poster presentations and scholarly work with the campus community and others.

“That emphasis on experiential learning was music to some students’ ears,” stated Frank Radosevich in an article on the event posted on the Bradley website.  “Nine students (from the Department of Music) won for their musical composition that weaved together their nine pieces of music.”

The team of nine students from the Department of Music consists of Kelsey Klopfenstein, Amanee Avery, Justin Bainter, Sarah Brown, Sarah Casey, Andrew Maya, Alex Moore, Ashlie Schlatweiler and Britney Whiting.  The faculty mentor is Dr. Stephen Heinemann.

The musical project, entitled Enneapropaedeudodecaphonia (meaning nine pieces for the purpose of teaching twelve-tone composition), was as extraordinary as its musical result.   

“We could pick and choose any instrument we wanted from our class,” said Alex Moore, a senior music education major who participated in the project. “We had some use violin, cello and piano. We had one use saxophone, flute and trumpet. It just depended on the individual.”

At its inception, each of the nine student members collectively contributed a pitch-class set.  A twelve-tone row was constructed that would accommodate all nine of these sets.  This row formed the basis for individually composed pieces.   The row also became the unifying element that allowed these pieces to be combined as an artistic collection while allowing for a variety of stylistic and technical approaches. 

Kelsey Klofenstein ’12 stated, “My role in Enneapropaedeudodecaphonia was to compose one of nine movements using a method of composition called twelve-tone technique.  I had always been under the impression that musical compositions come about from beginning to end in one long flow of inspiration, and while that may be true for a few composers, that is not generally the case. Working on this project under Dr. Stephen Heinemann’s direction clarified to me how composing takes place: one idea at a time and with lots of revision.  It is a process that takes practice, as does any art form that is worthwhile.”

The complete composition received its world premiere at the concert of Peoria Lunaire, the Bradley University New-Music Ensemble, at Dingeldine Music Center on April 18, 2012.