The University of Texas Permian Basin Music Department has been busy. They have hired a new administrative assistant, faculty members and an ensemble are up for national awards and you can be a Music Major for a Day.
“We invited high school students to come here on campus in this academic wing of the Wagner and experience a day in the life of a music major. They got to sit down. They got to go to some theory, piano classes, and see what it’s like to be on a college campus and see what everything UTPB might entail for them,” said administrative assistant Aidan Perry, who is new to the department.
“We also included admissions information, and some people even audition, but don’t mandate to be a part of the music program. So it was kind of like a one stop shop for getting information about our music program for high school students. It gave them a day away from regular high school to see what college is like and it gave us the opportunity to dedicate a day to them. I feel like it was a really good experience for all involved both college students to get to mingle with high school students and vice-versa,” Perry added.
Associate Professor in the Music Department Frank Eychaner said for the vocal day, students came in later in the morning and attend vocal rehearsals. The orchestra people will start later in the day because the orchestra doesn’t rehearse until later in the evening.
“An important part of that experience is having a chance to do a side-by-side with the college students in the college ensembles. So the band day started earlier, because, of course, the band rehearses first thing in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” Eychaner said.
Perry said dividing it up this way was beneficial to potential UTPB students.
“I would think so because they’re rehearsing with the applied faculty that they would potentially be working with in the future. So they can start developing those relationships and connections with us here,” Perry said.
Eychaner noted that it gives students a chance to be a part of the ensembles and experiences that they will have when they come to UTPB and enroll as a music major or someone involved in music — such as choir or marching band — and studying something else.
Eychaner said the music program has grown partly because of music major for a day, but other factors, too.
“Dr. (Dan) Keast started in 2004. There were about 25 majors when I got here in 2014. And we have 80 majors now. So yes, is the short answer. We’ve had a huge growth in the program,” Eychaner said.
He added that the music department schedules about 80 performances a semester between performances at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center and performances off campus.
“… We’re really out in the community and being intentional to try to make a difference in the arts and culture of West Texas,” Eychaner said.
Eychaner said the music department also has added some new staff, including Perry.
“We have made an offer to a new director; we’re very close to announcing, but we can’t just yet. We still have a band director. … We’ve also just advertised for an assistant director of bands, who will have primary responsibility with our athletic bands, pep band and marching band. So we’ll have two band directors in the fall,” he added.
Eychaner said they will also have a whole bunch on campus this summer.
“There’s piano and guitar. There’s orchestra and band. There’s musical theater and choir,” Perry said.
Perry said UTPB will be presenting an opera this March also by Puccini that translates to “The Clowns.”
David Corman, an adjunct voice professor at UTPB, is the director.
“It will be sung in Italian, but there will also be English narration. So you kind of get both worlds. So hearing it in the language it was originally written in, but also in the language that probably more of us understand,” Perry said.
Eychaner said this is the first time they have done an opera in the original language.
“We’ll provide some narration that will allow people to understand what’s going on, as well as, of course, providing them with a book, which says this is what’s going on scene by scene, blow by blow so that everybody’s not lost, because that’s not nearly as fun,” Eychaner added.
People in the Permian Basin have little opportunity to see opera, but Eychaner said it’s “really awesome” to give students a chance to perform it and offer it as a gift to the community.
Eychaner said Percussion Director Tim Feerst recently took the percussion ensemble to be guest performers at the Texas Music Education Association Convention in February.
“We were very excited to have our very first ensemble from the university invited to perform at the Texas Music Education Association Convention. Dr. Feerst, our percussion director, organized all that; got our kids down. We performed for the 600-700 people in the hall. It was great. We commissioned a number of new works, both by modern contemporary composers, as well as one of our own students. We did world premiere performances at TMEA of three different new works …,” Eychaner said.
He added that it’s very challenging for a smaller university like UTPB to be recognized in that way.
… We’re competing against some of the largest universities in the world, let alone in the United States. University of North Texas alone has 1,600 music majors; a number of hundreds of doctoral and master’s students. So for our small ensemble from our little university to be honored in that way is very significant. We’re very, very proud of Dr. Feerst and the work that the students have done to reach that level of artistry and musicianship to be recognized at what is essentially an international level because of the competitiveness,” Eychaner said.
He added that this is just another marker of the way the University of Texas Permian Basin continues to grow, excel and provide credible education to the young people of West Texas that want to make music a part of their professional aspirations.
On a separate item, Eychaner said he and a colleague are working toward an international choir festival.
“… We’re getting all our ducks in a row and getting our grant applications in line so we can in the very near future do an international festival that would bring in choirs from all over the world,” Eychaner said.
Eychaner also has been named a semifinalist for the American Prize in choral conducting and Jean Gomez in orchestra conducting. The UTPB ensemble is a semifinalist in choral performance, he said.
“We’re on the same list with some of the largest programs in the country. We’re very excited about that,” Eychaner said.
He’s not sure when they will find out if they are finalists.
“… For me, the takeaway of that is it’s very exciting to know that we have really incredible faculty right here. Our kids don’t have to go away and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get an education. We’ve got some of the finest professionals and artists anywhere, right here in West Texas,” Eychaner said.
He added that the music students know the faculty and vice-versa, something that doesn’t happen as much in larger institutions.
Perry is the daughter of Robert and Irene Perry, both professors at UTPB.
Perry graduated in December with a degree in business.
“… And so I know next to nothing about music, so I mostly help with the logistical side of music so they are free to do their art and expression. And I can deal with the other side of that,” Perry said.
“But I’m just continuously blown away by the students and their talent. It’s such a joy to just be around that; just sitting in my office and hearing them practice and rehearse. It’s just such an amazing environment to be in, day in and day out. Those students are incredible. They’re not only incredible people, but musicians. …,” Perry added.
