Extra Credit Opportunity: Washington Garcia, piano

October 28, 2011

Born in Quito, Ecuador, Washington García holds a bachelor of music degree from the National Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He has been an active recitalist, soloist, and lecturer in prestigious venues in Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Hungary, Canada, Israel, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Japan, China, Indonesia, Singapore, and the United States.
Dr. García served in the faculty of the Peabody Preparatory Department of the Johns Hopkins University and is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Texas State University-San Marcos, where he is the chair of the piano department and Founder and Director of the Texas State International Piano Festival. He also teaches at the Austin Chamber Music Festival.
Upcoming engagements include performances in Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, Canada, Ecuador, and Taiwan.

All performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in McCray Recital Hall on the PSU campus.
Tickets are available at no charge to full-time PSU students with valid student ID.

Extra Credit Opportunity: Gilmar Goulart, Marimba recital

Mon, October 24 2011 07:35 PM – 08:35 PM, McCray Hall. Free Event.

The Pittsburg State University Department of Music will be hosting Dr. Gilmar Goulart, marimbist for a guest recital performance Monday evening, October 24th.  The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in McCray Recital Hall.  The performance is free and open to the public.
Dr. Goulart is being hosted on the PSU campus by the Department of Music percussion instructor Dr. James Clanton, and APEX Percussion, the student percussion organization on the PSU campus.  During his visit Dr. Goulart will be working with percussion and music students in private lesson and master classes sponsored by Sabian cymbals.
Gilmar Goulart is head of the Percussion Department at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil. He finished his DMA in 2001 at the University of Colorado at Boulder, with Douglas Walter; studied with Ian Wright at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England; and Ney Rosauro in Santa Maria.
At the RNCM he became the first marimbist to be awarded the Professional Performance Diploma with Distinction. He also presented the British premiere of David Maslanka’s “Concerto for Marimba and Winds”, with the RNCM Wind Orchestra.  Goulart has recorded two CDs: “The World of Marimba”, (1998), and “The Moods of Marimba” (2006).
He has presented many Brazilian premieres and first recordings of important composers for percussion such as Christopher Deane, Eric Ewazen, James Ure. He has also commissioned works for solo marimba to composers from Brazil, USA, and Europe.  As a clinician, he has taught courses and seminars in Brazil and Argentina; and is commonly invited as a guest member in search committees and Master’s examinations in universities in Brazil.

Homecoming Convocation and Schedule Change, Homework

As you can see from the course schedule page, I have adjusted next week to allow students to participate in the Homecoming Convocation, Wednesday noon. To keep things even, I am also cancelling the 2pm section, and encouraging those students to attend the Convocation, if their noon classes allow.

I have had to shift the schedule a bit to accomodate: most importantly, rather than do a lecture on the Roman Religion questions, I’m going to rely more heavily on the Frontline From Jesus To Christ series that I had assigned. You will now be required to not only watch it, but to write a short (1 page) summary and reaction paper for each of the 3 assigned hours (parts 1, 2 and 3), due by email no later than Friday the 14th.

Extra Credit Opportunity: Joe Alessi, Trombone

The name of Joseph Alessi is synonymous with excellence in matters related to trombone performance, and it is our great privilege to present this internationallyacclaimed artist on the Series. Mr. Alessi was appointed Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic in 1985. He has performed as a soloist with the Philharmonic, as well as with orchestral ensembles throughout the world. A distinguished pedagogue, he is on the faculty of the The Juilliard School, and his students now occupy posts with many major symphony orchestras in the U.S. and abroad.
Mr. Alessi’s discography includes many releases on the Summit record label, including the recent Trombonastics. His recording on the Bridge record label as soloist in George Crumb’s Starchild won a Grammy Award for 1999-2000. Other recordings featuring Mr. Alessi are with the Canadian Brass on Sony Classical and Philips Records

Sun, October 9 2011

7:30 p.m. in McCray Recital Hall on the PSU campus.
Tickets are available at no charge to full-time PSU students with valid student ID.

Test 1 Results

Here is the overall distribution of grades for the test as a whole. The high raw score in the class was a 94, so that was used as the 100% mark, and extra credit was added after the adjusted score was calculated. (Most people who did the extra credit got 2 points or more, by the way)

Level % of class
A 10%
B 14%
C 34%
D 28%
F 14%

Note: Now that I’ve given back the tests, if you weren’t in class (or took a make-up test today), you’ll have to come get your test from me. I won’t use additional class time tracking people down. I will bring the tests to class for the next day or two, to make it easier, though.
Another Note: I know that my handwriting isn’t always clear; I’m happy to translate if necessary. Sorry.

Athens Question Distribution and Successes

The grade distribution for the essay question was a fair distribution, but lower than I was hoping.

Grade %age
 A-level  5%
 B-level 10%
 C-level  25%
 D-level  45%
 F-level  15%

Quick and dirty interpretation of grades:

  • F: Nothing resembling an answer or even good information about the documents
  • D: Some information, but not an effective answer, because it never addresses values or one document isn’t addressed, or significant errors of fact
  • C: A real attempt to answer the question, addressing both documents. May be one-dimensional, shallow, or weak in one area.
  • B: Substantial discussion of both documents, mostly on point, with a reasonably well-supported conclusion
  • A: Detailed discussion of documents, careful consideration of context, strong conclusion.

Question: The Melian Dialogue and Funeral Oration are both critical sources in our understanding of Athens. What values does each portray Athens as having, and are they in conflict?

Here are some of the best answers from the test. Note that these are not necessarily perfect, but they did earn A-level or high B-level grades. (also, any typos or misspellings are probably my fault, not the student’s) Also note that all of these take the “conflicting” position, but there were also several well-done essays arguing that both documents pointed at sources of power for the state — conquest and citizenship — and noting that Athens, like many early states, did not treat all people equally even within its own borders.
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