WAC Newsletter, May 1997: WAC News

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Spring, '97 WAC conference held in Madison

The Madison Chapter of WAC (MadWAC) hosted the statewide WAC conference on April 25 and 26. The first day's activities, including two concerts and a panel discussion on the topic of Harry Partch's work in Madison, took place at Grace Episcopal Church. The second day's activities, including two more concerts and a general membership meeting, took place at the First Unitarian Meeting House. The conference was very well organized, and the concerts well performed, well attended, and well received. WAC congratulates MadWAC on its excellent work in organizing and presenting this conference. Josh Schmidt received his prize as winner of the 11th annual WAC Student Composition Contest, and his winning work, She Couldn't Scream, was performed at the Saturday morning concert. Other composers whose works were performed are: Judy Baity, Al Benner, Philip Blackburn (Program Director of the American Composers Forum), David Bohn, Jeff Burns, Ryan Conners, Michael Cunningham, Tom Eisenhut, Chris Frye, John Jeffrey Gibbens, Elliot Goldkind, Joseph Koykkar, Joel Naumann, Tom Patterson, Emily Maxson Porter, Thomas Powell, Hal Rammel, Steve Nelson-Raney, William Rhoads, Jim Schwall, and Jon Welstead.

Board of Directors elections held

Annual elections to WAC's Board of Directors were held at the general membership meeting at the April conference in Madison. Re-elected to another three-year term (to expire in 2000) was James Chaudoir. Newly elected to a three-year term was John Jeffrey Gibbens. Newly elected to a one-year term as student member of the board was Josh Schmidt. Re-elected to one-year terms as officers of the board were Yehuda Yannay, President; Thomas Powell, Vice-President; and Chris Frye, Membership Secretary/Treasurer. Congratulations to all. Other continuing members of the board, along with their term expiration dates, are as follow: Al Benner ('99), David Drexler ('99), Joseph Koykkar ('98), and Gregoria Suchy ('98.)

Board of Directors to meet June 7

A meeting of WAC's Board of Directors has been scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 1997, 11:00 a.m., at the home of Joel Naumann. As always, all WAC members are welcome to attend in addition to directors. Contact Joel for directions to his home.

New Editor of WAC Newsletter appointed

Al Benner has been appointed as the new Editor of the WAC Newsletter, effective with the October, 1997 issue (Volume XIV.) Benner replaces James Chenevert, who has served as Editor since 1992. Benner, who lives in Greenleaf, WI, has been a member of WAC since 1995, runs his own music publishing company and also serves as editor of Composer USA, the Bulletin of the National Association of Composers, U.S.A. Future submissions for the WAC Newsletter should be forwarded to Benner at:

Al Benner
6780 State Road 57
Greenleaf, WI 54126-9738
phone: (414) 864-3465
e-mail: almei@wnonline.net

Call for Proposals: Kohler Arts Center

The John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan announces a new series for emerging contemporary performing artists in the region. Open to all genres. Send press information plus recordings, videos, and information on upcoming performances in the area. Ongoing deadline. If interested in the 1997-98 season, respond by July 1, 1997. Send to:

Stephanie Beerling
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
608 New York Avenue
P.O. Box 489
Sheboygan, WI 53082-0489
phone: (414) 458-6144
FAX: (414) 458-4473

La Crosse Chamber Chorale sponsors "Words to Music" project

The La Crosse Chamber Chorale's concerts on March 22 and 23 featured premieres of six brand new compositions based on poems written by 5th - 8th grade students in the La Crosse Public Schools. Over 120 students from five elementary and middle schools submitted poems about animals in the Chorale's first "Words to Music" project. Last December, Language Arts Coordinator Susan Schumann forwarded the poems to Chorale conductor Paul Rusterholz, who passed them along to four area composers: Chris Frye, Brian Luckner, Eric Heukeshoven, and Gary Walth. Frye set to music the poems Bugs, by fifth-grader Jake Martin, Mr. Mcspider, by seventh-grader Joel Bryant, and Ladybug, by eighth-grader Elizabeth Dostal. Luckner set to music the poem Frog's Day, by eighth-grader Ashly Kendhammer. Heukeshoven, a cat-lover, set to music the poem Different Eyes, Different Sights, by seventh-grader Kelsey Wille. And Walth set to music the poem Nile Crocodile, by eighth-grader Alyson Williams. Rusterholz said, "This has turned out wonderfully! The students' poems are delightful and well-written, and the new music is great. When the Chorale sang through the first new piece there was spontaneous applause from the singers. I'm proud of these student authors, I'm delighted with the way creative writing is being taught in our public schools, and I'm very pleased that the Chamber Chorale can feature new music of four excellent, local composers!" All of the students who submitted poems and their parents were invited to the March 23 concert, which included a "meet the composers" session for the students, and a display of all of the poems that were submitted.

WAC-on-the-Web targeted for summer, '97

Tom Powell, WAC web site developer, hopes to have the site up on the World Wide Web sometime this summer. [Editor's note: you're looking at it!] WAC members who have not yet forwarded information for their own page on the site may still do so. Powell requests to receive submissions as soon as possible. Members should forward the following to Powell: a small photograph of the composer, preferably a head shot no more than 4 inches square; a brief bio.; a list of compositions; contact information. The preferred means of submitting information is via e-mail to: trpowell@students.wisc.edu. Photos may be sent to Tom Powell, 130 E. Gilman St., Madison, WI, 53703. Members may also send information on floppy disk to the above address, Microsoft Word for the Macintosh preferred, though other word processors and even IBM format are acceptable. For those who are scanner literate, you may also scan your photo and forward it to Powell as a "TIFF" file.

Wisconsin Sesquicentennial update

July 1 is the deadline for submissions to the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Commission for small grant proposals. The commission is charged with awarding grants to projects or activities that will be recognized as official sesquicentennial events during the year-long celebration in 1998. Any WAC members with ideas regarding WAC involvement in the sesquicentennial may forward them to any member of WAC's Board of Directors before the June 7 meeting of the board.

Invitation to form chapter of the American Composers Forum

Philip Blackburn, Program Director for the American Composers Forum (formerly the Minnesota Composers Forum) in St. Paul, MN, extended an invitation at the April WAC conference in Madison for Wisconsin composers to form a chapter of the American Composers Forum. Blackburn noted that the focus of such chapters is on facilitating connections between composers and local communities, rather than on actual presentation of concerts.

Bach Chamber Choir seeks scores

Brian McLinden, music director of the Bach Chamber Choir (approximately 32 mixed voices), is interested in programming works by Wisconsin composers. McLinden may be reached at (414) 223-0572.

WAC Newsletter, May 1997
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