Baylor School of Music Lyceum Series Ends Fall Semester with Master Classes and Concert

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Baylor University's School of Music will present Martin Katz, Arthur Schnabel Collegiate Professor of Collaborative Piano at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., for piano master classes on Friday, Nov. 11, and Saturday, Nov. 12, and Dr. Jeffrey Nytch, composer and director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music at the University of Colorado-Boulder, for a concert on Monday, Nov. 14.

The events, which are free and open to the public, are part of the Lyceum Series, founded in 1976, is a year-long series of lectures, classes and recitals hosted by the School of Music to share professional knowledge and skills from internationally acclaimed artists and teachers with students.
Martin Katz
Katz will host two master classes on Friday, from 1 to 4 p.m. and from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and two classes on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m. The classes will be held in Roxy Grove Hall, 624 Speight Ave., on the Baylor campus.
Dubbed "the gold standard of accompanists" by The New York Times, Katz boasts a 40-year music career which has taken him to five continents. He has collaborated with some of the world's most celebrated singers in recital and recording, including Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Kathleen Battle, David Daniels, Karita Mattila and Jose Carreras, and has recorded for labels such as RCA, CBS, BMG, EMI and Decca. He also is winner of the 1998 "Accompanist of the Year" award from Musical America.
Katz is an active conductor and editor. He has led opera productions for San Francisco's Merola program, the BBC and Tokyo's NHK Broadcasting Center, as well as performances in Michigan. His editions of baroque and belcanto operas have been performed in Houston, Canada and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
A member of the University of Michigan faculty for more than 20 years, Katz teaches vocal repertory, ensemble piano and vocal coaching, as well as conducting university opera productions.
Jeffrey Nytch
Nytch will perform in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, in Roxy Grove Hall. The event will feature one of his works, as well as the premiere of a composition by Dr. Edward Taylor, lecturer in music theory at Baylor, and three premieres of works by students of Dr. Scott McAllister, professor of composition at Baylor.
The program will open with "Leap of Faith," for double bass and percussion, by Matthew Kline, senior music composition major at Baylor, followed by a performance by the chamber ensemble Precipice. The group will play "Apprehensions" by Eric Evans, senior music composition major at Baylor. Precipice, founded in 2009 at Baylor, is a student ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary music.
Nytch will continue the concert with his composition, "Three Songs of War," heard in countertenor and double bass. Nytch will provide the vocals, accompanied by Dr. Sandor Ostlund, associate professor of double bass at Baylor. Written in 1992, the songs are set to a text by English pacifist poet Wilfred Owen and depict the hell of war, the destruction of innocence and the poet's despair over the death of a friend.
Following intermission, the concert will close with the premiere of Taylor's "Dodecahedron," performed by Todd Meehan, assistant professor of percussion at Baylor, and "Ecstatic Utterances" by Jim Simmons, master's candidate of music composition at Baylor. The final song will be performed by Baylor faculty: Dr. Francesca Arnone, assistant professor of flute; Dr. Doris Deloach, professor of oboe; Dr. Vanguel Tangarov, part-time lecturer in clarinet; Ann Shoemaker, lecturer in bassoon; and Dr. Kae Hosoda-Ayer, assistant professor of piano. McAllister will conduct.
For more information, contact the Baylor School of Music at (254) 710-3571.
by Katy McDowall, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805