For more information, check out the AMRC website.

The College of Music is finalizing testing of new live webcasts, and we’d love you to join us for Faculty Tuesdays this fall! For a schedule and to view video, visit music.colorado.edu/live/

We hope you’ll join us for this week’s celebratory events!

Reprinted from the Daily Camera:

CU-Boulder College of Music’s Dan Sher to be honored in performance celebrations
Dean is stepping down at end of June after 20 years at the helm
By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer

Dan Sher — who has spent two decades on the University of Colorado’s campus, serving as dean of the College of Music — says his favorite place on campus is Grusin Music Hall on a Tuesday night when faculty members are performing.

It’s a close tie with the walk from the Imig music building to the historic Macky Auditorium on a snowy winter afternoon right before the college’s holiday festival program.

Those music school traditions link the college to the broader community — and, in fact, when Sher looks back on his career, that relationship is among his proudest achievements. Sher will be stepping down as dean at the end of June, and he will join the faculty.

“What makes me so happy is the wonderful relationship that our faculty and students have developed with our community audience,” Sher said. “It’s just grown and grown. To have them feel like they are a part of our concerts and value them the way they do is so important.”

To honor Sher, there will be two performances this week to celebrate the outgoing dean — including a free, public musical fete 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Macky Auditorium. Faculty performers will premiere performances of “Sher’s Originals,” penned by faculty composers.

In Denver, student musicians at the college will dedicate their Wednesday performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the outgoing dean. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in Boettcher Concert Hall and tickets are $15 for general admission.

“I can think of no music better suited for this than the monumental Ninth Symphony by Beethoven, which has been integral to many important events since its premier,” said Gary Lewis, director of orchestral studies and conductor for the Wednesday concert.

The program — which also includes Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80″ — is “truly a celebration of Sher’s tenure as dean of the college,” Lewis said.

Sher, a pianist, first started taking lessons at age 5, but became focused on a music career after going away to a music camp while in high school.

“I think everyone here knows I’m just a sucker for the 19th century romantic music of Brahms and Schubert and Chopin,” Sher said. “But as an educator and a dean, I have just come to value and appreciate all of the things that we do here.”

Sher came to CU from Louisiana State University in 1993. During his time on the Boulder campus, the college has added programs in jazz studies and collaborative piano, as well as launching the Entrepreneurship Center for Music, which was the first of its kind in the United States.

The past three years in a row, CU has been cited by the Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of just 25 in the nation — among a total 1,200 music programs in higher education — for its excellence in music. It has been ranked in the top 20 among all college, university and conservatory music programs by U.S. News and World Reports.

“I think his legacy is he’s created a nationally prominent College of Music,” said CU Provost Russell Moore. “It was a fine school before he came, but he has taken it up the charts. What I think is really telling is the school has sustained its national reputation. It’s one thing getting there, but staying there is an accomplishment — especially in a challenging fiscal environment.”

Judith Glyde, chairwoman of the strings department, said Sher’s “interest and support of faculty is celebrated.”

“He’s a musician first,” she said. “He’s a real humanist. And, as an administrator he had a real passion for music.”

If you go
What: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, performed by CU College of Music symphony orchestra and choirs, conducted by Gary Lewis, dedicated to outgoing Dean Daniel P. Sher
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1400 Curtis St., Denver
Tickets: $15 general admission, $20 reserved
More info: cupresents.org or 303-492-8008

If you go
What: A CU College of Music faculty concert in honor of Dean Daniel P. Sher
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Macky Auditorium, CU campus
Tickets: Free and open to the public

Colorado Music Festival Concert: July 18, Chautauqua Auditorium

Ages: children who have finished Kindergarten, first or second grade. Maximum 8 children!

Location: N180C and N1B85 in the College of Music

Goals: learning basics of rhythm and music reading. Basics of playing technique and correct hand position. Learning to play simple solo and ensemble pieces at the piano. Learning about classical music, instruments, and composers, with special focus on Prokofiev and the piece Peter and the Wolf.

Materials: Hal Leonard Basic Piano Library Lesson and Theory book, Hal Leonard Keyboard Ensembles. The teacher will also use music materials and games published by TCW Resources (Brillante for K-2 kids). Percussion instruments will be available for rhythmic games and improvisation

Price: $200. This is approximately $22 per contact hour.

To register: yen-shi.li@colorado.edu

After 20 years at the helm of CU College of Music, Dan Sher will step down as Dean at the end of July, 2013.  Under Dan’s visionary leadership, the College of Music has grown to be an internationally-recognized institution and is an important resource to the campus and the community.  He and his wife Boyce have worked tirelessly to build bridges and cultural connections through music.

The Daniel & Boyce Sher Colorado Music Scholarship Endowment Fund honors the Shers’ 20 years of exceptional leadership and service.  A permanent endowment, this fund will provide merit-based scholarships to undergraduate students from Colorado high schools.

We invite you to join board, staff, faculty and community members in honoring Dan and Boyce in the most meaningful way-by creating a lasting legacy that will support talented young Colorado musicians who wish to attend the College of Music.

If you have questions or would like additional information about ways you can support this scholarship and the College of Music, please call 303 735-6070.

NAfME Chapter officers for 2012-2013. Front row, L-R: Hannah Smith, Holly Bennett, Jenna Jorgenson, Casey Lawson, Madeline Smith, Megan Malm. Back row, L-R: Spencer Malott, David Rickels, Kevin Beck, Tim Dailey.

The students of the pre-professional organization for music education majors at the University of Colorado Boulder have recently been recognized nationally and locally for the quality of their programs and their commitment to providing learning experiences for their members. On March 11th, CU Boulder’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Collegiate division received not one, but two 2013 National Chapter of Excellence Awards. NAfME presents these awards annually to as many as three college and university chapters nationwide in each of four categories. Out of 11 total awards this year, CU Boulder’s NAfME Collegiate chapter received the rare honor of being recognized with two awards in separate categories in the same year, for Music Program and for Professional Development.

The award for Professional Development recognizes the chapter’s unique student-led initiative known as the Colorado Conductors Ensemble (CCE). Formed in 2011, CCE is a voluntary weekly program where music education students have the opportunity to practice the secondary instruments they will one day need to teach, and to take turns teaching short lessons with their peers acting as students. Students benefit from the opportunity to try out their instrumental skills and teaching strategies beyond their coursework in a lab-like setting before working with actual children.

The award for Music Program highlights the work of chapter members with the Middle School Wind Ensemble and String Ensemble program. University students apply to work as conductors or small group coaches as part of this outreach program for local 6th-8th grade students.  The university students work with the children for about 12 weeks and present a concert in late April, with an emphasis throughout the program on gaining practical teaching experience and applying concepts from their academic classes.

“The NAfME Collegiate students show a true dedication to their professional future through these activities,” says chapter advisor Dr. David Rickels, assistant professor of music education.  “They consistently go beyond their academic requirements to further their education through engagement, service, and leadership. They should be very proud that their efforts are recognized at such a high national level.”

In addition to earning these high national honors, the NAfME Collegiate chapter also was recently awarded a campus grant from the Student Group Funding Board (SGFB) of the Boulder campus student government. The award will provide $20,000 in funding toward chapter members’ travel to professional conferences during the 2013-2014 academic year, including the Colorado Music Educators Association conference in Colorado Springs and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. Chapter President Tim Dailey notes, “Conferences give students the chance to network with hundreds of other professionals, get inside knowledge on how to become better teachers, and learn from incredible performances from different schools, colleges, and professional musicians.”

The NAfME Collegiate chapter in the College of Music at the University of Colorado Boulder involves over 65 active students each year, representing over three-quarters of the students majoring in music education. Dedicated to the professional development of future music teachers and the advancement of music education, the chapter provides a range of workshops, outreach programs, fundraising, and professional support for its members and for all students in the College of Music.