We seek two colleagues who will help us build the future of jazz trumpet at UNT. Applications are now being accepted for these positions. Send questions to jazztrumpetsearch@unt.edu.
Jazz Trumpet, Improvisation Emphasis
https://facultyjobs.unt.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=53389
Jazz Trumpet, Lead Trumpet Emphasis
https://facultyjobs.unt.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=53402
Dave Meder, our new professor of jazz piano, has just released the single "Elegy," featuring Chris Potter, from his upcoming debut CD, Passage. Read about it at Nextbop. Here's the Kickstarter page for the CD.
Recent DMA graduate Keith Karns will join the faculty of Western Oregon University this fall. He will direct the WO Jazz Orchestra and Latin Jazz Ensemble, coach brass ensembles, and teach applied trumpet lessons. He'll also collaborate on the jazz festival and summer camp. Congratulations, Keith!
UNT Jazz Studies alumni Jordan Burchill and Mikaela Kahn "started a group called Beth // James a couple years back when a big exodus of UNT grads moved to Austin," Jordan reports. "We recently found out that one of our original songs, 'Lion Eyes,' is going to be in Spike Lee’s newest movie called BlacKkKlansman (in theaters everywhere August 10th). Terence Blanchard did the score and the movie also includes music by Prince, James Brown, and Emerson Lake & Palmer. We’re very excited about this news and we wanted to share it with our UNT family!" Congratulations Jordan and Mikaela!
UNT alumna Michelle Alonso, who earned a bachelor's degree in composition and a master's degree in Jazz Studies at UNT, has released her first EP, entitled "The Present." Michelle reports that she is "very proud to say that it was recorded, produced, and engineered by almost 100% UNT alumni (the string players were the only non-alumni)." Congratulations to Michelle and her colleagues!
Website: www.michellealonso.com
iTunes: https://apple.co/2O6hvgz
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LpIGV4
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mizinha81
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellealonso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellealonso
UNT vocal jazz Principal Lecturer Rosana Eckert has published a book titled "Singing with Expression." It is a collection of exercises and etudes aimed at helping singers develop an original point of view with their songs, react in-the-moment, experiment with interpretation, unlock their vocal potential, and establish deeper connections with their audiences. It is divided into five sections: Timing (phrasing), Tone, Melodic Alterations, Style, and Other Factors. The book comes with over 145 downloadable tracks of Rosana's demonstrations as well as backing tracks in various keys. Styles discussed include Rubato Ballad, Swing, Cha Cha, Salsa, Funk, Odd Meter, R&B, Double time-feel samba, and more! Published by Hal Leonard. Available at amazon.
Alumni Dan Higgins (tenor 1), Alex Hahn (lead alto), and Ramsey Castaneda (tenor 2) recently recorded for Michael Bublé's newest record produced by David Foster.
Rosana Eckert was invited to contribute a "recipe" for a new book entitled The Voice Teacher's Cookbook: Creative Recipes for Teachers of Singing, published by the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
From the product description:
57 experts from across the U.S. working as professors, studio teachers, professional singers, choral directors, composers, vocologists, and speech-language pathologists have all contributed to this amazing collection of quick-to-read, yet deeply insightful strategies. It's like finding expert trade secrets all placed in one easy source. With outstanding records of performance, workshop clinics, recordings, research, composition, leadership, and teaching, the authors provide their favorite "recipes" that will expand your current knowledge and inspire all levels of voice teachers and singers.
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Jonathan Patterson has accepted our invitation to join the faculty of the UNT College of Music Division of Jazz Studies as an Assistant Professor of Popular/Commercial Music (tenure-track) this fall.
Dr. Patterson earned the D.M.A. in Guitar Performance at the University of Southern California in 2011, with a Music Education minor field and elective fields in Music Recording and Jazz Studies; the M.A. in Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999, with a research focus in Japanese Popular Music; and the B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Southern California in 1997, with a research focus on Japanese Music, Language and Culture. He has been a certified AVID Sibelius Instructor since 2015.
Dr. Patterson is currently an Assistant Professor of Practice at the USC Thornton School of Music, where he teaches the harmony and aural skills curriculum in the Popular Music Performance, Songwriting and Music Production program, and classes in audio recording and editing (ProTools), MIDI sequencing (Logic X), and notation (Finale and Sibelius). He has taught previously at Whittier College, The Musicians Institute, and other colleges.
Dr. Patterson is active as a recording and performing artist, and has released more than 25 CDs. A fluent speaker of Japanese, he tours regularly in Japan, where he uses the artistic name Dr. Capital and appears on TV as an educator and performer. He records with his Brazilian music group Bossa Zuzu. His music has been heard in a large number of TV and radio programs and commercials.
To learn more about Dr. Patterson’s work, be sure to visit his website and his Bandcamp page.
We are pleased to announce that Mr. David Meder has accepted our invitation to join the faculty of the UNT College of Music Division of Jazz Studies as an Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano (tenure-track) this fall.
Mr. Meder earned the Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School in 2017, where he studied with Kenny Barron and Julian Martin; the Master of Music degree in Jazz Instrumental Performance from New York University in 2015, where he studied with Mark Turner and Ari Hoenig, with coursework in film scoring and digital audio; and the B.A. in Music and Spanish and the B.S. in Political Science from The Florida State University in 2013. He has studied with Fred Hersch. Mr. Meder won first place in the Jacksonville International Jazz Piano Competition in 2013 and was a finalist in the Barry Harris National Jazz Piano Competition in 2015.
Mr. Meder is currently a faculty member in The Juilliard School’s Evening Division and Music Director at Fordham Lutheran Church in the Bronx. He served as an adjunct instructor of jazz piano at New York University.
In New York, Mr. Meder has played at Jazz at Kitano, Smalls Jazz Club, and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where his group presented “The Music of Jaki Byard” this year.
To learn more about Mr. Meder’s professional biography, be sure to visit his website: www.davemeder.com.
