Wyatt Willard Will Soon Be a Published Composer
Music and physics double major Wyatt Willard will soon be a published composer! He wrote a piece titled “Cascade” that was accepted by C. Alan Publications. The Cal Poly Jazz Ensemble, led by Dave Becker, premiered it at the Winter Jazz Concert on Feb. 23. “The two main draws of the piece are the harmony and the interplay between the different sections in the ensemble,” said Willard. “It borrows harmony from game soundtracks, pop songs and jazz standards, and blends it all into one cohesive journey.” “This is a big step for Wyatt,” said Aaron Kline, Willard’s composition instructor who encouraged him to submit the work for consideration.
Cantabile Performance at the ACDA Western Region Conference
Cantabile at the American Choral Directors Association Western Region Conference in Pasadena
Cantabile’s performed at the ACDA Western Region Conference titled “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in Pasadena, California, on March 8. The conference is one of the largest choral conferences in the U.S. and represents choral directors, singers and composers from seven states.
“An invitation to perform on an ACDA regional conference is highly competitive and sought after and one of the greatest honors a college choir can receive,” said Scott Glysson, Cal Poly’s director of choral activities and vocal studies.
Cantabile commissioned two pieces that were performed: “She Weeps” by celebrated choral composer Childs of Dallas, and “Charity Begins Today” by music Professor Meredith Brammeier. “She Weeps” addresses the crisis of climate change and sustainability. It is scored for viola, percussion, piano and choir and was crafted in conjunction with 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw’s “Its Motion Keeps,” which reflects on the concept of the steady march of time. “Charity Begins Today” is a setting of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, the patron saint of World Youth Day and the Missionaries of Charity who is better known as Mother Teresa, and addresses the subject of caring for the poor.
The concert also includeed a modern setting by Michael Engelhardt of Hildegard von Bingen’s “O Antiqui Sancti.” Von Bingen (also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine), lived in 11th century-Germany, and was one of the world’s first “named” composers. This arrangement is pulled from a portion of her famous morality play, “Ordo Virtutum.” Engelhardt is a singer, songwriter, composer, vocal coach, producer, and director, whose work has been featured on ABC, NBC, PBS and NPR broadcasts.
Music major Jayden Perez, viola, a senior from Visalia, California; and Cal Poly faculty member John Astaire, percussion; accompanied the choir for the Childs, Shaw and von Bingen works.
The concert also featured a portion dedicated to the theme of imagination. The set included a wonderful setting of “Pure Imagination” from the soundtrack of the 1971 musical fantasy “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” as well as the impressionistic composer Lily Boulanger’s setting of “Les Sirènes.”
Glysson conducted the concert, and Paul Woodring accompanied on piano.
Cal Poly Symphony and PolyPhonics Tour France
Members of the Cal Poly Symphony and PolyPhonics in France
The Cal Poly Symphony and PolyPhonics went on a tour of France in June, which included performances for the 80th anniversary of D-Day at the American Cemetery in Normandy, in the Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Paris, and other locations throughout the country.
The combined ensembles presented a variety of shorter works by Gabriel Fauré and Camille Saint-Saëns. Both composers held the position of music director for the celebrated Madeleine Church, which is shaped like a Greek temple, in the late 19th and early 20th century. “The motets by Saint-Saëns are beautiful, elegant and simple,” said Glysson. The works are also the subject of his research and dissertation.
As a part of the D-Day remembrance of the Allies’ June 6, 1944, invasion of France (Normandy) in what became known as the largest amphibious operation in military history, PolyPhonics presented a haunting version of “In Flanders Fields” by Stephen Rew. “In Flanders Fields” is a famous war memorial poem published in 1915 by World War I Canadian medical officer John McCrae. The groups combined to perform John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen” composed for the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan.”
The symphony also performed Aaron Copland’s “Variations on a Shaker Melody,” taken from one of the composer’s most iconic works, “Appalachian Spring.”
The groups combined for two larger pieces by important American composers: Dan Forrest and R. Nathaniel Dett. “i thank You God for most this amazing day” is a setting by contemporary composer Forrest of the E.E. Cummings poem. The poem, as demonstrated in the title, plays with word order and analogies to celebrate the beauty of God and nature.
Dett’s “Chariot Jubilee,” based on the African American spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” is a cantata for tenor, choir and orchestra. Dett was an early 20th-century African American composer whose works were vital in bringing the “spiritual” genre to the masses through his symphonic settings of folk songs. Special guest tenor Wayne Jennings, staff soloist of the Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital, was featured on the piece. Jennings specializes in the music of Dett.
All the performances were enthusiastically received, and the ones at Normandy were so moving that both audience members and performers were brought to tears. "By showcasing the rich tapestry of both French and American musical traditions, Cal Poly students from all disciplines and majors experienced how music not only reflects historical contexts but also fosters connections between different cultures and histories," said Music Department Chair Alicia M. Doyle who also went on the tour.
David Arrivée directs the symphony, and Scott Glysson directs PolyPhonics.
Music Majors Receive Awards at College of Liberal Arts Reception
Melissa Scarpelli, soprano; and Jayden Perez, viola; were honored at the College of Liberal Arts Student Awards Reception. Scarpelli received CLA’s Outstanding Senior in Music award (pictured with Director of Choral Activities Scott Glysson). Perez received Cal Poly Arts’ Service to the Arts award (pictured with Cal Poly Arts Director Molly Clark). Both students graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music in June.
Vinayak Sharath Performs at CBDNA Western/Northwestern Division Conference
In March, Vinayak Sharath a music minor and mechanical engineering major, performed in the Intercollegiate Honor Band at the College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Divsion Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sharath, a percussionist in the Cal Poly Wind Bands, applied for the opportunity and was among select student-musicians to be invited. In addition to the Wind Bands, Sharath has participated in the department’s Jazz Combos, Mustang Band, Percussion Ensemble, Saxophone Ensemble and Symphony, and has served as president of Kappa Kappa Psi - Iota Pi.
Trinity Patterson Receives Rotary Club Scholarship
Music major Trinity Patterson was winner of a Billy Watson Memorial Music Scholarship through the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo. She played Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor for a rotary club meeting in May at the Madonna Inn. She is concert master of the Cal Poly Symphony.
Students Introduduced to Frost Center's Expressive Technology Studio and Spatial Audio Possibilities
On Dec. 7, nearly 50 students were introduced to the Cal Poly Frost Center’s Expressive Technology Studio (ETS) and its 32-channel sound system, and the expansive possibilities of spatial audio. Guest composer and producer Hassan Estakhrian (pictured at left) presented a spatial audio workshop, the first in the space. The event was a collaborative effort organized by the Music Department’s Julie Herndon, supported by the College of Liberal Arts’ speaker fund, and hosted by David Gillette and Michael Haungs of the Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies Department. It was a precursor to the hands-on Embodied Resonance Workshop in June with Estakhrian, made possible by a 2024 Center for Expressive Technologies Seed Grant which Herndon received.