Date/Time
Date(s) - March 22, 2023
12:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Location
Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, University Center for the Arts
Music in the Museum Concert Series
Music of Peace & Protest
In conjunction with The Beginning, in the land around me and held in collaboration with CSU’s School of Music
Wednesday, March 22 at noon and 5:30 p.m.
Music of Peace & Protest features Hyeji Seo (piano), Cayla Bellamy (bassoon), and Megan Lanz (flute). The program is inspired by Kei Ito: The Beginning, in the land around me, a current exhibition at GAMA that investigates our shared nuclear histories.
GAMA’s free Music in the Museum Concert Series explores the cross-fertilization of music and the visual arts through concerts in the galleries. Performances by Colorado State University music faculty and students are enriched with context provided by faculty and students from the Department of Art and Art History and the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
These concerts are free and open to the public, but we ask for reservations as space is limited.
Registration closes 1 hour before each concert or if event reaches total capacity.
FREE & OPEN TO ALL.
REGISTER FOR 12 PM (NOON)
REGISTER FOR 5:30 PM (EVENING)
PROGRAM
Music in the Museum Concert Series
Music of Peace & Protest
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
12:00 pm & 5:30 pm
8 Variations for Piano, based on the theme ‘Oh mother and sister’ (1996) Young Ja Lee
Hyeji Seo, piano
Going to the Sun: Snapshots from Glacier National Park Jenni Brandon
Megan Lanz, flute
Cayla Bellamy, bassoon
PROGRAM NOTES
8 Variations for Piano, based on the theme ‘Oh mother and sister’ was composed in 1996 by Young Ja Lee. The composer was born in Wonju, Korea, in 1931. Lee endured hardships during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) and Korean War (1950-1953) and became one of the most influential figures in Korean music in the 20th century. Lee is a founding Korean Society of Women Composers member, and her music has been performed internationally. Through her dedication to work and service to the music society, she is a living example to many musicians in Korea. Her music shows unique intercultural compositions with mixtures of Western and traditional Korean music.
The melody of the theme was brought from a Korean folk song. Lee didn’t write the music directly for the protest movement. However, the lyric has underlying messages against imperialism and war, yearning for independence. This lyric was written by renowned resistance poet Kim So Wol. It was published in 1922 during the Japanese occupation.
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Dr. Cayla Bellamy, assistant professor of bassoon at CSU
Dr. Cayla Bellamy is a performer, collaborator, and pedagogue dedicated to advancing the music field through redefining standard practices in the bassoon studio and chamber ensemble settings. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Colorado State University, where she teaches applied bassoon, chamber music, and instrumental and virtual pedagogy, in addition to performing regularly with the Colorado Bach Ensemble and Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra. As a bassoonist and advocate for new music, she most recently completed a performance series presenting modern concerti by Joan Tower, Libby Larsen, James Stephenson, Mathieu Lussier, and Dana Wilson.
Cayla’s contemporary music ventures extend beyond large ensemble works, and she was a recipient of a 2022 New Music USA Creator Fund alongside CSU colleague Dr. Megan Lanz, which has funded the commission of The Ghosts That Haunt Us for flute/alto flute and bassoon/contrabassoon by Canadian composer Frank Horvat. Additional commissions for this year include works by Jalen Jamal Thompson (for distorted bassoon and fixed electronics) and Kevin Poelking (for flute, bassoon, and piano). Cayla’s debut album, Double or Nothing (2018), consists of premiere recordings for solo and duo bassoon and is available through the Mark Masters label on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. Recordings from this album earned her first honorable mention in the 2020 Ernst Bacon Prize for the Performance of American Music, and she is currently recording her second project, a collection of new compositions for bassoon titled American Bassoon Voices. Live recital recordings from this album’s collection have earned her semi-finalist status in the 2023 American Prize for Instrumental Performance.
Cayla holds a Doctor of Music degree in Bassoon Performance and Literature from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, in addition to Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Bassoon Performance from the University of Georgia, where she was distinguished as a National Presser Scholar. Her primary teachers include William Ludwig, Amy Pollard, and William Davis, with additional studies with Nancy Goeres and Per Hannevold at the Aspen Music Festival and School. In addition to professional affiliations with the National Association for Music Education, College Music Society, and as state chairperson for the National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors, she serves currently on the staff of the International Double Reed Society as Communications Coordinator and was previously on the conducting faculties of the New York Summer School of the Arts and Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Offstage, Cayla is an amateur endurance athlete with academic research focusing on coaching methodologies, burnout, and the intersections of artistic and athletic training. Learn more at www.caylabellamy.com.
Dr. Hyeji Seo, collaborative pianist and instructor of music at CSU
Dr. Hyeji Seo is an avid pianist in solo and collaborative works, embracing a wide range of repertoires and musical style. As a solo pianist, she had a Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut in 2016, and performed solo works at the piano summer program, “Centro Studi Della Giacoma,” in Todi, Italy. Recently, she was invited as a guest artist at the Gala Concert at Kimmel Art Center, Philadelphia, at the Triumph Music Festival, as well as the EOULIM Concert Series at Cheongju Art Center, Korea.
Dr. Seo performed in the Piano Gala Concert for the 110th anniversary founding of Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, and was selected for the Young Artist Debut Concert sponsored by Music Education News, Seoul. In addition, she has appeared in many concert halls in Korea, including Kuemho Art Hall, Youngsan Art Center, Ewon Art Center, Cheongju Art Hall, and Samik Art Hall. She has also concertized as a soloist with several orchestras, including Seoul National University, Sookmyung Women’s University, and Western Illinois University as a winner of the Concerto competition.
Dr. Seo won several international competitions such as WAAEO (World Association for Arts Exchange Organization) competition, American Protégé International Competition, and the Third International Piano Association Competition. Plus, she was the first runner-up of the Honors Concerto Competition at Michigan State University, was a semi-finalist for the Lorin Hollander Award and the American Prize, and many major press competitions in Korea.
Besides her solo piano activities, Dr. Seo is a dynamic and sought-after collaborative pianist and chamber musician. She participated in a sample recording for choral arrangements, which was published by Hal Leonard, many competition recordings, and concerts with professional musicians and guest artists. She served as a collaborative pianist at Michigan State University, Western Illinois University, Centro Studi Carlo Della Giacoma Encore Series in Italy, and Ingham Festival Chorale. She also enjoyed working in sacred music settings and served as an organist and interim music director at St. Jude, St. Pius X, St. Andrew Kim, and St. Martha, Michigan.
Dr. Seo is a passionate teacher and has enjoyed twelve years of teaching experience working with diverse populations of students in various settings; she has given many guest coaching sessions in the United States and Korea. She served as a program assistant for Celebrating the Spectrum: A Festival of Music and Life, and her work for the program was selected for the MTNA Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium in Texas, for additional piano pedagogy research with young musicians on Autism Spectrum Disorder, sponsored by Michigan State University, and the RAIND program. Her previous teaching positions, in addition to her private studio, were at St. Pius X School, and Expressions Music Academy in Michigan.
A native of Cheongju, Korea, Dr. Seo began her piano study at the age of six. Her primary piano professors include Kyungmi Kim, Hyesoo Juan, Tammie Walker, Zhihua Tang, and Deborah Moriarty. Additional studies have been with Hae Sun Paik, Alan Chow, Michael Lewin, Klaus Schilde, Sontraud Speidel, and Laurent Cabasso. She holds her bachelor’s degree from Sookmyun Women’s University, and master’s degree from Western Illinois University, where she was a recipient of a graduate assistantship. At Michigan State University, she was fully supported by a graduate assistantship, the Ralph Votapek Scholarship, and the Dixon Collaborative Pianist Award, earning her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance in 2018, and a second master’s degree in Collaborative Piano. In Fall 2018, she joined the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance faculty at Colorado State University where she is a collaborative pianist and teaches piano.
Dr. Megan Lanz, instructor of music at CSU
Miyazawa Performing Artist Megan Lanz (DMA, CMI) performs regularly as an international solo artist and chamber musician. She finds great joy and fulfillment in helping students make the connection between the musical and physical components of playing an instrument. Her holistic performance and pedagogical approaches encompass all physical, mental, and emotional components of being a human musician.
Megan has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with great artists such as Andrea Bocelli, The Who, Stephen Hough, David Foster, Natalie Merchant, Time For Three, Charles Yang, Jackie Evancho, Celtic Woman, Hillary Hahn, and Edgar Meyer. She has performed with a variety of ensembles and productions, including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (under Andrew Litton and Peter Oundjian), Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Crested Butte Music Festival Orchestra, Opera Steamboat, Las Vegas Philharmonic, the first national tour of Wicked, Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular, and Disney’s The Lion King.
Megan finds inspiration in connecting with composers and commissioning and premiering new works. Her most recent (2023) commissions include a work by Canadian composer Frank Horvat for bassoon and flute (funded by a New Music USA grant award) which musically explores the various “ghosts” we have in our lives – fears relating to control, trusting, and being enough. Additionally, she commissioned and premiered Unbroken for flute and piano by CSU colleague Kevin Poelking in April 2022. (For a more complete list of commissions and premieres, click here.) This performance has earned Megan a Semi-Finalist position in the 2023 American Prize Professional Instrumental Soloist competition. Megan’s doctoral research was centered around modern composer Salvatore Sciarrino and his attempt to use instruments to imitate sounds we might normally disregard in our daily lives. Her research document, a style analysis and performance companion to his collection L’opera per flauto, was published in 2010 and is available here.
In addition to instructing at Colorado State University, she maintains an active private flute studio. Her students are members of Colorado’s All-State Ensemble, the University of Northern Colorado High School Honor Band, the Colorado State University High School Honor Band, and the University of Colorado High School Honor Band. Megan’s students have continued on to perform with professional ensembles, including the Pershing’s Own, American Youth Symphony, and Music Academy of the West. Her former students attend the Interlochen Arts Academy, The Colburn School, University of North Texas College of Music, and various other colleges and universities.
Megan is associated with a variety of professional organizations, including the National Flute Association and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 20-623, Denver). Megan is also a member of the Colorado Flute Association, Golden Key Honor Society and the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Societies. She has recorded on the GIA and Klavier record labels, and plays a 14k gold Miyazawa flute, Hammig piccolo, and Trevor James alto and bass flutes.
Music in the Museum: Peace & Protest is part of the Music in the Museum Concert Series: free concerts featuring faculty and students from the music department at CSU. The performances will be held in GAMA’s Hartford-Tandstad Galleries and feature short lectures on the connection between music and art in the museum’s permanent collection.
Support for this event comes from DATA (Denver-area Art-alumni Transforming the Arts) for GAMA at CSU.
