School of Music and Dance - Experience teaches.

Allen Biggs, Percussion Ensemble Make Noise at SF State

907614011 — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:39:55 +0000

May 22, 2013

KALW-FM -- Most days, when you walk the halls of the music department at San Francisco State, what you hear is a cacophony of muffled pianos, clarinets, and violins, all playing at once behind rows of closed doors. Students are shut in practice rooms, repeating phrases over and over, mastering the intricacies of the music they want to play. But walk down a hallway, and turn the corner, and you start to hear something very different--strange sounds of whirring and whining, clanging and crashing. That’s how you know you’re in Allen Biggs’ class. Biggs is a percussionist who’s been teaching at SF State for the past five years. And his approach involves some pretty unusual instruments.

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School of Music and Dance Graduation and Awards Night

908856213 — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

May 8, 2013

General

Music and Dance Graduation and Awards night will be held May 24th at 7PM in Knuth Hall. To Purchase tickets, please click on the link

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SF State Percussion Ensemble Featured on Public Radio

907614011 — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:18:56 +0000

May 2, 2013

KALW-FM CROSSCURRENTS -- Music performed by the SF State Percussion ensemble is featured.

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Chamber Singers bring ‘Peace’ to New York City cathedrals

907614011 — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:48:36 +0000

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May 2, 2013

The SF State Chamber Singers recently went on tour to perform at historic venues.

After months of planning and preparation, 35 students in the SF State Chamber Singers gathered on campus April 17 for one final rehearsal before their tour in New York City. With black binders balanced on their palms, the singers’ eyes darted back and forth from pages of their sheet music to the entertaining and expressive waves of their conductor, Associate Professor David Xiques, who cheerfully danced on the floor to their rendition of a catchy Cuban folk song, Son de la loma...

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SF State's Music Scene Fosters Vibrant Community

907614011 — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:20:42 +0000

May 1, 2013

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- “I have to say that they—studying music—that’s all they do every day, at school as well. So they’re very practiced musicians who are constantly developing. The music program has shaped them, I think, by pushing them to practice every single day,” DiMartino of Black Cobra Vipers said. Many student musicians meet in the SF State music department and form tight-knit bonds that have turned the school into a music-central community. “I feel like the people here have the same consciousness as far as what they want to do and the goals they have. I mean, a lot of our first shows were house shows put on by SF State students and just getting in that network is pretty close-knit with everyone,” said Ryan Wong, Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts major and guitarist of Cool Ghouls, a self-described rock ‘n’ roll band with three SF State members, two being alumni.

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Alum Omar Firestone Plays Cello for Oberon Quintet

907614011 — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:14:12 +0000

April 29, 2013

DEL MAR TIMES -- Omar Firestone has a Bachelor of Music from San Francisco State University and played with the California Chamber Orchestra and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. He is now an active soloist, teacher and chamber musician in the greater San Diego/Tijuana Metropolitan Area, where he is principal cello of the Tijuana-based “Orquesta de Baja California” and a founding member of the Hutchins Consort. He plays a “Luigi Amici” cello made in Rome in 1816.

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Professor Spencer Helps Bring Music to City's Children

907614011 — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:10:06 +0000

April 25, 2013

SF STATE NEWS -- When Dee Spencer isn't busy leading SF State’s School of Music and Dance, she’s bringing music into the lives of public elementary school students throughout San Francisco. Spencer, professor and chair of music and dance, has for the past two decades participated in Adventures in Music (AIM), a program put on by the San Francisco Symphony in conjunction with the San Francisco Unified School District. The program's goal is to instill in the city’s children a lifelong appreciation for music, whether or not they someday become performers themselves. “These are first and second graders,” Spencer said. “We’re teaching them how to snap their fingers for the very first time. That’s a very significant thing for them. We’re trying to shape their listening skills and their experience with music for the rest of their lives.”

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Vocal Performance Student Rachel Larson Discovers Lost Filipino Love Songs

907614011 — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:43:13 +0000

April 23, 2013

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- Standing at a mere 5-foot-3, 22-year-old Rachel Larsen is packed with passion and — surprisingly — one of the biggest voices you’ve ever heard. As a graduating senior this May, pursuing a degree in vocal performance, Larsen performed her senior recital March 8, which is a final project requirement for all performance music majors. While most students use easily accessible music for their performances, Larsen had a tough time finding her music of choice. “I’m half Filipino, so I feel very involved with my culture and my heritage, and I thought it would really be great to be able to involve a piece of Filipino culture in my senior recital. So, I Googled it and woah, there was a whole bunch of stuff — except I couldn’t find any music,” said Larsen.

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Student Qinmin Liu impresses at dance festival

907614011 — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:05:10 +0000

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April 18, 2013

Student Qinmin Liu recently performed her original choreography at the American College Dance Festival's gala concert.

Student Qinmin Liu recently performed her original choreography on a big, important stage: the American College Dance Festival’s regional gala concert. Liu’s work was one of 12 selected for the gala concert, held April 14 during the Baja Region conference at El Camino College in Torrance.

“With stunning imagery and detailed choreography, ji (season) won over the adjudicators and the entire festival’s participants,” Assistant Professor of Dance Ray Tadio says. “Liu was able to seamlessly...

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American Brass Quintet to perform, lead master class April 19

900020373 — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:27:18 +0000

American Brass Quintet. Photo by Peter Schaaf.

April 17, 2013

General

The iconic American Brass Quintet visits campus this Friday, April 19. It gives a master class to students at 2:10pm and performs a concert at 8pm. Both events are admission-free and part of the College of Liberal and Creative Arts’ Morrison Chamber Music Center.

Now in its 51st season, the American Brass Quintet is an icon in the brass world. Its rich history includes performances in six continents and all 50 of the United States, more than 50 recordings and premieres of more than 100 brass works. Adson, Weelkes, Wilbye, Morley, Monteverdi, Maurer, Lacerda, Sampson, Tower.

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