Prior Research + Creative Activity
The Why Here: 1877 Railroad Strike
J. Dana Sperry, Associate Professor of Digital Media, says that he is “not a historian, but [likes] to think about how history dovetails into technology and how it affects us at different intersections of life—in other words, what technology is doing to us.” This audio walk explores the historical events of 1877 in Pittsburgh as much as it is a reflection on the human consequences of swift technological and economic shifts. The walk examines the physical and intellectual connections between the largely forgotten uprising of 1877 and the technology advancements currently taking place just blocks away involving Big Tech corporations such as Uber. When a society greatly alters its technology and economic models, it must also address the human consequences of such changes. As history has shown, not doing so can prove disastrous.
Take the walk
Cantica Obsoleta
Kivie Cahn-Lipman, Assistant Professor of Music, is a founding member of the Baroque string band, ACRONYM (Archive Crawlers: Researchers of Niche Yellowed Manuscripts), which is dedicated to giving modern premieres of the wild instrumental music of the 17th century. ACRONYM has been hailed as an “outstanding young early-music string ensemble.” With music from the Düben Collection, Cantica Obsoleta is comprised of the first recording of 12 compositions from the collection, all of which Cahn-Lipman rediscovered and input from the manuscript. “For this recording, we searched this treasure trove of seventeenth-century music for the most beautiful and fascinating works available. It is likely the first time any of these ‘forgotten songs’ have been heard in hundreds of years.”
Listen to Cantica Obsoleta
A COLLISION AT THE MCDONOUGH
YSU’s John J. McDonough Museum of Art continues to find new ways to open its doors to the campus and community. “The definition of an art museum has changed so much over the last decade. Our new initiatives - Muse, the Emerging Artist Series, and the Scribe Literary Collaborative - are designed to create inclusive programming and increase community engagement and outreach.”—Claudia Berlinski, Museum Director
Read about the collision
Tango
The Cleveland Orchestra’s social media outreach featured two performances by Professor James Umble with Carolyn Warner (piano) and Steve Warner (violin), including their interpretation of Tango,by Professor David Morgan
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Portal
Portal,a collage by McDonough Museum Director Claudia Berlinski, was selected as a winner in the fine art category of the journal Creative Quarterly. Berlinski also recently had work exhibited in the Akron Soul Train Gallery and Niza Knoll Gallery in Denver, CO.
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Neoliberal Contradictions, Music Education, and the Knowledge Economy
Associate Professor Paul Louth published a new article, “Emphasis and Suggestion versus Musical Taxidermy: Neoliberal Contradictions, Music Education and the Knowledge Economy,” in Philosophy of Music Education Review.
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National Conference Recital
Professor James Umble played an invited recital at the North American Saxophone Alliance 2020 Biennial Conference at Arizona State University.
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Wind Ensemble at OMEA
Professor Stephen Gage and Associate Professor Brandt Payne conducted the Wind Ensemble in a concert at the 2020 OMEA Professional Development Conference that featured Assistant Professor Andrew Mitchell on trombone.
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Music and the Cinematic Experience
Musicologist Ewelina Boczkowska Co-edited the collection Music, Collective Memory, Trauma, and Nostalgia.The book also includes her article, “Chopin Meant Everything to Us Then.”
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Blue Is More Than a Color
Professor Dave Morgan released Blue Is More Than a Color.The recording features seven tracks performed by 30 musicians, including several faculty, alumni and current students from YSU. “It’s one of the few recordings I hear that makes me want to listen again and again!” – Rick Lawn, author of Jazz Scores and Analysis.
Listen to the recording
Lincoln Center Performance
Assistant Professor Kivie Cahn-Lipman played three performances with the International Contemporary Ensemble in conjunction with the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.
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ACRONYM at Utrecht Early Music Festival
The baroque ensemble ACRONYM, directed by Assistant Professor Kivie Cahn-Lipman, made its European debut in the Netherlands at the 2019 Utrecht Early Music Festival.
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Designing Costumes
Associate Professor Katherine Garlick designed and built costumes for It Had to Be You,directed by Helga Terry, at Pittsburgh’s South Park Theatre. Katherine also presented a clinic on costume rendering techniques at the 2020 United States Institute for Theatre Technology Conference.
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Super Bowl LIII
Professor Stephen Gage and more than two dozen alumni, faculty, staff, and students recorded Derek Dixie’s arrangement of American the Beautiful,which was sung by Chloe and Halle during Super Bowl LIII pregame ceremonies.
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International Planning History Conference
Assistant Professor Johnathan A. Farris presented a paper, “Contingency and Opportunity: The First Century of Hong Kong’s Public Parks,” at the 2018 International Planning History Conference in Yokohama, Japan. The paper was also published as part of the Conference Proceedings.
Akron Art Museum Exhibition
Professor Dragana Crnjak’s work was featured in a curated exhibition entitled “Frameworks” at the Akron Art Museum.
Tadd Dameron
Professor Kent Engelhardt transcribed, notated, and edited scores and parts from Dameron’s final album as a bandleader, which was recorded in 1962. Engelhardt and Stephen Enos organized a 15-member band that performed and recorded the music on Tadd Dameron: The Magic Continues.
Film Music
Associate Professor Daniel J. Keown gave two peer-reviewed presentations and co-presented a lecture at the 2018 OMEA Professional Development Conference, including Discovering the Lost Ark of Possibilities: Bringing Visibility to the Invisible Art Form of Film Music in Your Music Classroom.
Concert at OMEA
Professors Stephen Gage and Glenn Schaft led the YSU Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble, respectively, in performances at the 2018 OMEA Professional Development Conference. The Wind Ensemble programmed Reactions,composed by Professor David Morgan, with Schaft as featured soloist.
National Art Educator’s Association Conference Presentation
Professor Michelle Nelson and two other art faculty members presented at the 2018 National Art Educator’s Association Conference in Seattle. Their presentation, titled "Transforming Teaching Toward Transforming Community,” discussed their work on a grant they were awarded by the Puffin Foundation.
Solar Screen
Associate Professor Missy McCormick’s sculpture lights up the night in downtown Youngstown. Solar Screenwas one of five community art projects funded by a grant awarded to YSU by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Passing Perceptions
Associate Professor Missy McCormick’s solo art exhibit, titled “Passing Perceptions,” was featured at Indiana University East.
Markers
Joy Christiansen Erb, Professor and Chair of the Department of Art, was a featured artist at the Pittsburgh/Philadelphia Exchange Exhibition, titled “Markers,” which was on display at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists in Philadelphia.
Art in Sweden
Associate Professor Joseph D’Uva work was included in an exhibit, titled “Intuitive Repetition,” that was displayed at the 7th International Lithographic Symposium in Valkenswaard, Sweden, and is now part of the permanent collection at the Dutch Museum of Lithography.