Faculty-Student Teamwork
E. Michael Richards, professor and chair of the Department of Music, and Michelle Ko ‘10 will travel to Sacramento, California, this November to perform at the Festival of New American Music. They’ve been performing for more than a year together – one of the many professor-student mentorships in the music department at UMBC.
“Music is a field where myriad collaborations like these are essential to artistic growth,” said Richards.
Playing the clarinet and flute (respectively), Richards and Ko will perform an experimental set that incorporates various technologies. Through the exchange of “musical ideas and expressions,” the duo has found a niche in music technology, an often underrepresented style of contemporary music. In addition to playing their own instruments, Richards and Ko also control computer generated sounds through the use of a foot pedal and interface, designed by Alan Wonneberger, director of recording in the music department. This hybrid was created for new works they commissioned by American composers.
Through these faculty-student partnerships, students are not only achieving success through performance – they are growing as artists. Music faculty and students both “undertake and develop shared research everyday,” said Richards.
“It’s important for students to collaborate with faculty because we’re aspiring performers, teachers and professionals,” said Ko. “College is a time to find our voices and have our eyes opened to new ideas.”
The partnership has not only allowed time for learning, it’s opened up doors for performance opportunities. Richards and Ko have participated in festivals ranging from new American music to electroacoustic music. Through these festivals, they’ve been able to network and meet others in the industry, helping them develop their skills in this genre of music.
“Contemporary music is like learning a new language,” said Ko. “You need to have an open mind and heart, to allow it sink in and find a personal connection with it in order to have a full understanding of it.”
For more information about the Festival of New American Music, click here.
More information about the Department of Music is available at www.umbc.edu/music.
(10/23/09)
