Professor of Music Lois Ferrari celebrated her 16th consecutive appointment as music director of the Austin Civic Orchestra (ACO) by opening the 2018–19 season on Oct. 6 with a concert titled Bella Italia! Guest trumpeter and Part-Time Assistant Professor of Applied Music Kyle Koronka joined the ACO in a concert that featured music by Italian composers Vivaldi, Puccini, Verdi, Rossini, and Respighi.

Professor of Music Lois Ferrari hosted the 2016 SU Conductors’ Institute from Jun. 23 - 25. Associate clinician for the workshop was Peter Bay, Music Director of the Austin Symphony. Bay and Ferrari coached ten participating conductors, including recent alum Mattie Kotzur ’16, in Igor Stravinsky’s Octet and L’histoire du soldat. Performers included the following part-time faculty: Instructor of Applied Music Adrienne Inglis, Instructor of Applied Music Daniel Chrisman, Assistant Professor of Applied Music Jessica Gilliam-Valls, and Assistant Professor of Applied Music Kyle Koronka. Sir David Whitwell gave a lecture on score memorization. The Institute concluded with a public concert presentation in which all ten participants conducted movements from these two chamber works.

Eileen Meyer Russell, associate professor of music, presented two recitals with Don McManus, organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown. The recitals were in Lufkin, Texas, at St. Cyprian’s Church, and in Georgetown at Grace Episcopal Church. Both recitals featured Meyer Russell on alto and tenor trombones and euphonium. The repertoire included several original arrangements created by Meyer Russell and McManus. In addition, Meyer Russell presented two recitals by invitation from the Georgetown Symphony Society as part of the GISD Music Enrichment Program. More than 1,600 students attended the recitals, which were presented at the Klett Center for the Performing Arts. Meyer Russell collaborated with Southwestern faculty members Kiyoshi Tamagawa and Kyle Koronka on these recitals, as well as Round Rock Symphony member Reese Farnell.