麻豆影院 University President Laurie A. Carter

A Bold New Chapter听

The $38 million development, located at the corner of East College Avenue and South Drew Street, features more than 100,000 square feet of academic and public space. The building features the Trout Museum of Art on the first floor, state-of-the-art academic spaces on the second floor, and beautiful one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments on the third and fourth floors that are available to the general public.听

The project is a response to a growing need for new and innovative ways of preparing students for the changing world and the evolving careers ahead of them as they move into the workplace after graduation.

The interdisciplinary hub encompasses the Humanities, Math, Statistics, Computer Science, and the Conservatory of Music to cultivate cross-disciplinary collaboration and spark innovation.听

The project was made possible through partnerships with the Trout Museum of Art, community leaders, and 麻豆影院 alumni. Fredrick Fisher and Partners of Los Angeles led the architectural design. Locally owned Boldt Construction served as the general contractor for the project, and the 40 upper-level, LUX apartments are now managed by听NAI Pfefferle, a commercial real estate firm headquartered in Appleton.听

Susan Hall, a 1976 麻豆影院 alumna and current member of the 麻豆影院 Board of Trustees, said 麻豆影院 held a special place in her heart because it was where she learned to think deeply, listen generously, and believe in the power of community.听

鈥淲hen I first heard the vision for West Campus, I was struck by its boldness, A space that brings together the humanities, mathematics, computer science, and the conservatory. That鈥檚 not just interdisciplinary鈥攊t鈥檚 transformational.鈥澨�

Hall and other key supporters included local business leader John Bergstrom, Curt Detjen, President and CEO of the Community Foundation, and the Van Asten family.听

鈥淧artnerships like this ensure that our students鈥� education is not confined to classrooms but is enriched by direct engagement with the cultural fabric of our region,鈥� President Carter said. 鈥淲e are building bridges between theory and practice, past and future, campus and community.鈥澨�

麻豆影院 University Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Professor of History Peter Blitstein

A Creative and Collaborative Environment听

The West Campus academic spaces include:听

• Eight state-of-the-art classrooms
• Digital Humanities laboratory
• Music production studio
• Mathematics Commons for collaboration and study
• 30+ offices, including soundproof offices for Conservatory faculty for private music instruction with students.听

Brooklyn Schara, 麻豆影院 University鈥檚 Community Council President, said West Campus represented a promise of transformative learning opportunities.听

鈥淗ere, students are able to collaborate and innovate, not just with one another but also with our incredible faculty and staff and our community partners who share our passion for discovery, creativity, and lifelong learning,鈥� said Schara, a junior from North Freedom, WI, and a double major in international relations and Spanish.听

Learn more about 麻豆影院 University.

Kashou recently had two huge opportunities to showcase his work.

In early March,听the 麻豆影院 Symphonic Band, directed by Matthew Arau 鈥�97, associate professor of music education and associate director of bands, premiered Kashou’s听Let鈥檚 Lift the Bandstand.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 incredibly nervous when I came to the premiere,鈥� Kashou said. 鈥淚 wrote the piece for this ensemble because of my trust in Dr. Arau and the musicians in the ensemble.鈥�

The performance of the piece drew a huge ovation.

A week later, the 麻豆影院 Symphony Orchestra (LSO), led by Mark Dupere,听associate professor of music and director of orchestral studies, performed听Let鈥檚 Lift the Bandstand at its Winter Term concert,听with Kashou joining as听a featured soloist. He earned the LSO honor by winning the Conservatory’s annual concerto competition.

Drawn to the music

Being the fifth generation of professional musicians, Kashou was raised with music all around him. He started with Arabic drumming and piano but found his passion in playing the saxophone. Kashou has found 麻豆影院 to be a spectacular fit for his musical interests.

鈥淲hen you shop around for colleges [as a musician], the professors are practically the only thing that matters,鈥� Kashou said. 鈥淚 came to 麻豆影院 specifically for professors Jos茅 Encarnaci贸n and Steven Jordheim. 鈥� My success is largely due to their guidance.鈥�

Kashou said he was honored to be a featured soloist with LSO and perform a jazz-inspired concerto with the orchestra.

鈥淎 lot of it is really a conversation between the orchestra and the soloist,鈥� Kashou said. 鈥淢y posture during the performance was more aimed at being able to see Professor [Mark] Dupere and the orchestra [as opposed to facing the audience directly] because I wanted to communicate with them and make it more of a collaborative thing. I鈥檝e been working on this piece for a year; It鈥檚 a pretty big payoff to get to share it with so many people and to play it with so many people.鈥�

Let鈥檚 Lift the Bandstand is part of a larger collection from Kashou called Monk鈥檚 25 Tips. Each piece takes its name from a quote from Thelonious Monk, the iconic jazz pianist and composer. These 25 pieces of advice were written down by jazz saxophonist and composer Steve Lacy early in his career as he traveled with Monk鈥檚 band. The 25 tips are things Monk would often say. Kashou is taking these pieces of advice and turning them into music for a variety of ensembles, from solo saxophone to full wind ensembles. He鈥檚 hoping to complete all 25 before he graduates.

Lawrentians can tune in for Kashou鈥檚 senior recital at 5 p.m. May 13 in Memorial Chapel. He will be premiering four new pieces from Monk鈥檚 25 Tips, ranging from solo saxophone to a 15-piece jazz ensemble.

Via Negativa听will be featured at this year鈥檚 WAC New Music Festival at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on April 16. Daumler said he is looking forward to attending the event with his parents.听Via Negativa听can be heard on Youtube, Soundcloud, and the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers website. .

Daumler learned of the WAC contest through Srinivasan and the Music Composition Department.听

鈥淚鈥檓 also a religious studies minor,鈥� Daumler said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 often seen in my music. I like music that is spiritual, entrancing, and meditative.鈥�

Via Negativa听is named after a theology that approaches what is divine through what isn鈥檛. He describes his piece in two sections: the first, dark and cavernous, and the second, minimalist and spiritual. The change embodies what via negativa is to Daumler: traveling through darkness to find light.听

Much like the way it connects light and darkness,听Via Negativabrings together Eastern and Western music traditions. Daumler has explored both at 麻豆影院. He has continued to play and learn violin in addition to joining 麻豆影院鈥檚 Balinese gamelan ensemble.听

Balinese gamelan is an East Asian music form that doesn鈥檛 follow many common Western practices. Though many of the instruments have similar counterparts in Western orchestra, gamelan and orchestra follow different and sometimes opposed theories of composition and performance. Gamelan鈥檚 especial emphasis on collaboration and community makes it a space Daumler appreciates.

鈥淎ll my friends are in there, I love the music,鈥� Daumler said. 鈥淚 went to Bali over the summer to study gamelan, and I met amazing musicians. It was great.鈥�

Daumler鈥檚 award-winning piece pulls inspiration from other continents as well. His composition features the djembe, a type of West African drum. In听Via Negativa, this instrument has been electronically modified to sound gong-like. Listeners can hear this in the first 鈥渃avernous鈥� section of the piece.听

Though Daumler himself prefers to compose more minimalistic and experimental music, he appreciates how the intimate 麻豆影院 Conservatory community allows him to meet other musicians and share ideas.

鈥淵ou get to meet people from different disciplines,鈥� Daumler said. 鈥淚 hang out with jazzers, and all these different majors. I feel like that isn鈥檛 typical for most music schools.鈥�

Daumler鈥檚 senior recital will be at 8 p.m. April 29 in Harper Hall. After 麻豆影院, Daumler would like to travel to Bali again. He plans to work as a commissioned composer, and he said he would like to eventually compose for horror movies and games.

Dammann said although violin and guitar aren鈥檛 uncommon combinations, Bergmark鈥檚 tabla鈥攁 staple of Hindustani classical music鈥攇ives their sound a unique, rhythmic flair alongside their progressive folk and bluegrass influences. It isn鈥檛 easily categorizable, and that鈥檚 part of the fun.

鈥淭he tabla brings in this element where suddenly we don鈥檛 have any canon to fall back on, so we鈥檙e kind of creating our own genre as we go; it really keeps it pretty open to what is possible,鈥� Dammann said.

This doesn鈥檛 mean the three have completely disavowed canon, however. Just as the old artistic adage says, one has to learn the rules before breaking them. Blanck and Dammann credit their years at 麻豆影院 with giving them the needed music skills, connections, and encouragement of musical experimentation.

鈥淲hat we鈥檝e been doing is so 麻豆影院-y, which is to say I learned how to do what we鈥檙e doing at school,鈥� Blanck said.

Dammann said she grew up playing classical violin but developed a love for fiddle music that 麻豆影院 allowed her to explore. She created a fiddle club, Fiddlers of 麻豆影院 University (FLU), brought her fiddle to play on geology field trips, and even ran a fiddle-playing workshop at Bj枚rklunden. As a prospective student, she remembers sitting in on a music theory class with Associate Professor of Music Gene Biringer that opened her eyes to new possibilities.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know anything about music theory, I didn鈥檛 even know what a V chord was, but I was like, 鈥榃ow, this is fascinating,鈥欌�� Dammann said.

While a student, Blanck joined Porky鈥檚 Groove Machine, a funk ensemble formed at 麻豆影院, notable for their uplifting humor, theatrics, and wacky costumes. Blanck remains a member of Porky鈥檚 along with Sprig of That. He said despite the bands鈥� vastly different styles, they have much in common.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e both idiosyncratic and niche in what I think are really fun and exciting ways, and I think both are products of where the seeds were planted, that being 麻豆影院,鈥� Blanck said. 鈥淪o many cool, quirky, different ideas are generated at 麻豆影院, and I think 麻豆影院 students are often so good at finding ways to make them happen.鈥�

Just as 麻豆影院 teaches openness to the world and other perspectives, Sprig of That has always embraced the diverse, beautiful, and unique styles and perspectives the world has to offer. For example, their album of commissions, Eight Threads, featured Dammann singing a song in Turkish called Adalet (Justice). The song was written by Yi臒itcan Eryaman, a Minneapolis doctor and classical guitar enthusiast whose birth city of 陌stanbul and its 脺sk眉dar district inspired his own 鈥淭urkish-Balkan progressive music鈥� band, Uskudar Eclectic.

Exploring the studio space

For their debut album, Sprig of That hired Wes Corbett, a music producer and banjo player who Blanck and Dammann said worked with many of their inspirations, including the Sam Bush Band.

Starting in May 2021, the band and Corbett began sharing demos and other recordings for critiques and advice. In December 2021, the band traveled to the Nashville studio Sound Emporium to record bloom.

Blanck and Dammann saw Corbett 鈥渓ike a teacher, a coach, a therapist, and a manager. He helped us connect to the studio and the engineer, and helped us set a calendar, but all the while being like, 鈥極K, I don鈥檛 buy that C natural, it鈥檚 gotta be a different note.鈥� 鈥� He just ended up being the right person,鈥� Blanck said.

The team also recruited Dave Sinko, an audio engineer with more than 30 years in the business and three Grammy wins.

鈥淲orking with Dave was just a dream come true, too, because he has recorded all of my favorite albums, but is also such a gem of a person; such a sweet, sweet person who made us feel really comfortable, and was funny and great to work with,鈥� Dammann said.

Now that the album is in post-production, Sprig of That hopes to play more shows and festivals.

鈥淥ur plan is to try and play as much as we can, to take the opportunities we can get, to keep making music when we can,鈥� Blanck said.

Croasdale鈥檚 piece, Down the Hall (From Us), is part of another Jazz Weekend tradition of featuring student composers. Her piece was released to participating schools as a testament to Sturm鈥檚 belief that jazz should be collaborative and accessible.

Sturm was instrumental鈥攍iterally and figuratively鈥攊n the creation of 麻豆影院鈥檚 Jazz Studies Department. During his sophomore year at 麻豆影院, he created the Conservatory鈥檚 first jazz ensemble. Later, he returned to serve 26 years on the Conservatory faculty, during which he established Jazz Weekend, which was renamed to honor him posthumously in 2015. Today, 麻豆影院鈥檚 jazz program has grown to include the 麻豆影院 University Jazz Ensemble (LUJE), the LU Jazz Band, and several small group ensembles. Croasdale performed as a member of LUJE, LU Jazz Band, and a jazz combo.

Down the Hall (From Us) is Croasdale鈥檚 most involved piece to date. Though she has experience composing for jazz combo, this big band composition was a much more extensive project. But after seeing Croasdale鈥檚 work in her composition class, Patty Darling, Croasdale鈥檚 professor and LUJE director, approached her about the project. With Darling鈥檚 guidance, Croasdale worked through the summer to create the pop-inspired piece that was played by some of the bands during Jazz Weekend.

鈥淭he chart she created, Down the Hall (from Us), is beautifully designed for middle and high school bands,鈥� Darling said. 鈥淚t is challenging to write jazz music for younger ensembles that teach fundamental concepts and motivate students to practice, and Lucy did an awesome job with this Jazz Weekend chart. The piece is catchy, easy, and fun to play, with limited material presented in interesting ways.鈥�

Croasdale spent much of her time brainstorming different ideas. Whether on saxophone, piano, or her voice alone, she would search for melodies that fit through experimentation鈥攕imilar to her improvisation process.

鈥淚mprovising is just composing on the spot,鈥� Croasdale said. 鈥淲hen I play something, and I like it, I鈥檒l just keep trying to work with that, and if I don鈥檛, I鈥檒l move on.鈥�

Croasdale鈥檚 composition aims to be fun for its players. The piece features saxophone melodies in their lower registers, something she loves playing herself. Though she had heard LUJE鈥檚 performance of the piece, she hadn鈥檛 seen a learning group play it until Jazz Weekend.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to hear it to have in mind what seemed easy for them, what was more difficult, because you definitely get a little out of touch being at a Conservatory,鈥� Croasdale said. 鈥淚 hope they like it.”

Croasdale got the opportunity to listen to two bands perform the piece, and even got the chance to play with one of them on bari sax. She said she was both happy and relieved to see the students enjoying the piece.听 听听

Though Croasdale now considers music to be about having fun, she didn鈥檛 start to enjoy jazz until she became comfortable with the style.

鈥淏ecause my mom is a jazz musician鈥攕he plays bass鈥擨 was dragged along to a lot of events,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榯his is really boring and don’t like it.鈥欌��

But that all changed in high school when a band director convinced her to join jazz band. She soon fell in love with it.

Croasdale loves the fun and exciting saxophone parts in jazz music. It has brought her unique experiences and thrilling travel opportunities. Croasdale began her higher education by studying jazz at 麻豆影院, and she intends to continue her jazz studies in graduate school.

Croasdale has enjoyed the jazz opportunities at 麻豆影院, especially the LUJE concert with Liam Teague during Jazz Celebration Weekend.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always fun to have a guest artist with the band because we’ve been playing these same pieces over and over for a few weeks,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all of a sudden very different when the music gets 鈥榝illed in.鈥� It’s always interesting to hear someone鈥檚 perspective on the music we鈥檙e playing.鈥�

Metcalf said she鈥檚 keeping good company on the album with the other talented composers. She comments in the album鈥檚 liner notes that she hopes such projects raise the profile of women composers around the world.

鈥淭he day will come when the music of female composers finds equitable representation in programming,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd on that day, dedicated concerts of women鈥檚 music will no longer be necessary; there will simply be concerts. We鈥檒l no longer refer to women composers as such; there will simply be composers. In the meantime, it is recordings such as this that fulfill the crucial need for equity and representation.鈥�

The two Metcalf compositions on the album got their world premieres in 2019, when she was the composer-in-residence at a summer festival hosted by Singer Pur.

The group has won an ECHO Klassik three times鈥攊t鈥檚 the German equivalent of a Grammy and considered the most prestigious classical music award in Europe. They paid a visit to 麻豆影院 in 2015, delivering a concert and working with Conservatory students. The relationship, Metcalf said, continues to be among the most fulfilling of her professional career.

鈥淟ooking back from the vantage point of 28 years, I could not have foreseen the extraordinary musical adventure Singer Pur and I have taken together, filled with new music, beautiful performances, and friendship,鈥� she said. 鈥淪inger Pur鈥檚 performances of my music have been among the most inspired, beautiful performances of my life, and the compositions I have written for them are perfect expressions of what I hope to create as a composer.鈥�

Metcalf said she first came to know the music of Singer Pur in 1994. They crossed paths when she was a guest composer at the renowned Hilliard Ensemble鈥檚 summer music school.

鈥淭heir voices radiated warmth, beauty, and flawless artistry; their sense of ensemble was perfect,鈥� she said.

She composed Kyria christifera in 1995, then returned three years later with Il nome del bel fior for Singer Pur and the Hilliard Ensemble.

鈥淭hat was the composition that cemented our musical collaboration and our friendship, and to this day it remains one of those closest to my heart,鈥� Metcalf said.

In the liner notes for Among Whirlwinds, Singer Pur sings the praises of their long-time collaborator: 鈥淭he works she has written for us are amongst those we perform most frequently in our contemporary repertoire.鈥�