Category Archives: In the press

Dr Christopher Wiley to join Turning Technologies’ Distinguished Educator Programme

Dr Christopher Wiley, Senior Lecturer in Music at City University London, has been appointed as a Distinguished Educator by Turning Technologies, global leader in voting, polling, and assessment systems used by schools, universities, and corporations.

In this role, Dr Wiley will be responsible for sharing with the company’s growing community of users in the UK and Europe best practice, pedagogical applications, and his own experience as a music lecturer using Turning Technologies’ response technology.

Dr Wiley, who joins the Programme as the first Distinguished Educator to be appointed from the Arts and Humanities, will sit alongside world-renowned educators such as Dr Eric Mazur, Harvard Professor and creator of the highly successful peer instruction method of teaching, as well as other HE professionals from across the world.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr Chris Wiley said, “I have been using Turning Technologies’ electronic voting systems since 2008 and was awarded a University Prize for Teaching Innovation the following year for my pioneering work in this area. I was invited to join the Distinguished Educator programme following my presentation at Turning Technologies’ User Conference at Aarhus University, Denmark in June 2012.

“As a role centred on the provision of academic expertise for a commercial enterprise, the Distinguished Educator position also embodies City University London’s unique focus on ‘academic excellence for business and the professions’.”

Read the full news release here:

http://www.prlog.org/12005628-dr-christopher-wileysenior-lecturer-in-music-at-city-university-londonto-join-turning-technologies.html

http://www.cisionwire.com/livewire-pr/r/dr-christopher-wiley–senior-lecturer-in-music-at-city-university-london–to-join-turning-technologi,c9322676

Ben Schoeman performs as soloist with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra

On 31 October and 1 November 2012 City University student Ben Schoeman (DMA) is performing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op. 43 with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of the American conductor Robert Maxym. The concert form part of the JPO’s fourth annual symphony season. It is one of South Africa’s prominent symphony orchestras. Ben’s performance of Liszt’s Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 2 with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra was televised several times on South African national television during 2012.

City Student Wins Composition Competition

MA Composing for Moving Images student Antonio Ballestin Liarte has won joint first prize in the Italy Percussion Competition for his percussion ensemble piece Highway Soundscapes. The 15 minute piece is based on the composer’s own experience of driving more than 600 km on different motorways every week during last three years. Through the four seasons and different hours of the day, the roads offered changing landscapes that gave inspiration for the piece. Highway Soundscapes was also selected for the Tromp International Percussion Competition in Eindhoven.

The first performance of the work took place on the 30th May 2010 in Rotterdam at the Lantaren Venster Theatre.

Thomas Hyde releases new CD on Guild Records

The Centre for Music Studies’ Visiting Lecturer in Composition, Thomas Hyde, has released a new CD of chamber works on Guild Records (www.guildmusic.com). The disc features seven works composed between 2003 and 2011 and features performers including the Aquinas Piano Trio, Iuventus Quartet, pianist Evelina Puzaite and cellist Katherine Jenkinson. The CD was launched at a special concert in the Performance Space at City on 17th September.

Liam Cagney publishes in Musical Criticism, Sinfini Classical and the Daily Telegraph

Doctoral student Liam Cagney, who is being supervised by Ian Pace, has recently had a few articles published in the press.

Back in March he interviewed the Irish composer Gerald Barry for Musical Criticism (http://www.musicalcriticism.com/interviews/barry-0312.shtml), and reviewed Einstein on the Beach at the Barbican for the same publication (http://www.musicalcriticism.com/opera/einstein-0512.shtml).

For Sinfini Classical, a classical music website funded by Universal Records, he wrote an article on Minimalism and pop music; the first article in a four-part series which will explore contemporary classical music’s crossovers with other genres (http://blog.sinfinimusic.com/classical-connections-1-minimalism-meets-pop/).

And during the summer, Liam reviewed the premiere production of George Benjamin’s new opera Written on Skin at Festival Aix in France for the Daily Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/9403789/Written-on-Skin-Festival-Aix-review.html).

New Cappella Romana CD ‘Live in Greece’ features City Musicians

Live in Greece: From Constantinople to California is the latest CD released by Cappella Romana, the American-based vocal ensemble founded and directed by City University London Senior Lecturer Alexander Lingas. It was recorded on the Greek island of Paros in September 2011 by 11 singers including Spyridon Antonopoulos, a Ph.D. student at City currently writing a thesis on the 15th-century Byzantine cantor, composer and theorist Manuel Chrysaphes.

Dr Lingas chose the music featured on this disc in response to an invitation for Cappella Romana to open the 11th International Festival of Sacred Music on Patmos. Offering the musical fruits of six centuries of cultural encounters between Greek East and Latin West, it begins works arising from meetings of Byzantines with Crusaders and Venetians. East meets West again at St. Sophia Cathedral in 20th-century Los Angeles, where Frank Desby founded a tradition of Greek-American choral music with his Californian colleagues. The programme comes full circle with the mystical ecstasy of Radiant Cloud, a sonic icon of the Transfiguration by Athenian composer Michael Adamis.

The festival concert, which was covered by national Greek television, was held outside the cave where tradition holds that St John the Divine wrote the Book of Revelation.

The ensemble then travelled to the island of Paros, where it performed twice: at a medieval basilica and then in the village of Aspro Chorio, where the programme was recorded by Grammy-winning producer Steve Barnett of Minneapolis and engineer Bill Levey of Seattle.

For additional information and a sound sample, click on this link to Cappella Romana’s blog.

Latest News: A plug from the Eugene (Oregon) Weekly.

BMus alumnus performs at the Olympics

BMus alumnus and singer-songwriter Edward Bell performed at the Olympic Park, Stratford, on Saturday 4 August 2012.

Edward performed on the Emerging Icons stage on the day predicted to be the busiest of the Games, with an estimated 750,000 people in and around the Park.

His debut single, Where We’ve Been, was released on 26 July, and is available for purchase from iTunes. His album is scheduled for release in mid-September 2012.

Further information about this news story is available on the BBC News website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-18831607

Professor Steve Stanton awarded National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy

Professor Steve Stanton receiving the National Teaching Fellowship award from Professor Sir Robert Burgess, chairman of the Higher Education Academy.

Steve Stanton, Professor of Music and Performing Arts at City University London, has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in recognition of his ‘highly valuable contribution to learning and teaching.’

The award winners were chosen from nominations submitted by higher education institutions across England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Submissions were assessed against three criteria: individual excellence, raising the profile of excellence, and developing excellence. Successful Fellows receive an award of £10,000, which may be used for their professional development in teaching and learning or aspects of pedagogy.

Since joining City in 1977, Professor Stanton has proven to be extremely popular with both staff and students. He has led curriculum innovation within the Department of Music and, via his role as Dean of Validation, has influenced the direction of degree courses at several internationally-renowned conservatoires.

His interdisciplinary approach is evident through his contributions to courses connected with City. He initiated the validation relationship with the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre and contributed to the design of groundbreaking Masters and Research programmes.

Professor Craig Mahoney, Chief Executive of the HEA, said: “The new Fellows we have created this year have all made a highly valuable contribution to learning and teaching within their institutions and often more widely. Students deserve – and expect – the best possible learning experience during their time in higher education, and fantastic staff such as National Teaching Fellows help to deliver this experience.”

The new National Teaching Fellows will officially receive their awards at a ceremony due to take place in London on Wednesday 10 October 2012.

Ben Schoeman features in 90th birthday celebration of South African composer Stefans Grové

DMA student and pianist Ben Schoeman has found himself in great demand during the celebrations of the 90th birthday of one of South Africa’s foremost composers, Stefans Grové, on 23 July 2012.

At the Stefans Grové Symposium in Bloemfontein, South Africa on 10-12 August, Ben will give the world premiere performances of two new works by Grové: My Jaargetye/My Seasons (Piano Suite, 2012) and the Piano Quintet (A Venda Legend, 2012). Ben will also present a lecture recital on the composer’s piano music.

Ben was also recently invited to conduct an interview with Stefans Grové as guest journalist for the ClassicSA website: http://www.classicsa.co.za/site/features/view/classicsa_composer_stefans_grove_90/

Ben Schoeman is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Ronan O’Hora and at City University London with Dr Christopher Wiley, preparing a thesis entitled ‘Pedagogical Elements in the Piano Works of Stefans Grové and their Potential Value in the Education of Pianists in South Africa’.

Ben Schoeman awarded top honours in the Ibla Grand Prize Competition, Sicily

DMA student and pianist Ben Schoeman and his duo partner, cellist Anzél Gerbertook, have been awarded the joint first grand prize in the Ibla Grand Prize International Music Competition in Sicily.

The prize includes a concert at the Kurt Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York along with other concerts in the USA.

Further information is to be found here: http://www.classicsa.co.za/site/features/view/schoeman_gerber_earn_top_honours_in_sicily/
http://www.city-maps.it/focus/proclamati-i-vincitori-dellibla-grand-prize (in Italian)
http://www.beeld.com/Vermaak/Nuus/SA-duo-verower-musiekprys-20120724 (in Afrikaans)