Notes from the Director
Dr. Linda A. Monson
Dear Mason Family,

You are invited to attend our special holiday performances featuring our terrific School of Music students and faculty.  We hope you will join us for our Mason Opera this weekend and for our Mason Choirs concert and Mason Symphony Orchestra concert next weekend. We also are thrilled to present our wonderful chamber ensembles, including the Guitar Ensemble, Baroque Ensemble, and String Chamber Music Recital. We look forward to welcoming you to our many student recitals (listed on website calendar) that are being presented in the upcoming weeks.  Please join us for inspiring music at Mason!

Warm regards,

Dr. Linda A. Monson
Director, School of Music
lmonson@gmu.edu 
Featured Holiday Concerts
Just in time for the holidays, the School of Music's Mason Opera
proudly presents its adaptation of Engelbert Humperdinck's classic and beloved opera, Hansel and Gretel , the family favorite wherein innocence and goodness overcome evil. 
Featuring the University Chorale, University Singers, and Soundcheque Vocal Pops Ensemble

Enjoy holiday favorites such as Many Moods of Christmas, Jubilate Deo, Northern Lights, popular jazz arrangements including The Christmas Song, and other seasonal winter music. A candlelit processional and a moving “surround-sound" rendition of Silent Night finishes out the program.
Upcoming Performances
Mason Guitar Ensemble with
Special Guests
Saturday, December 2 at 8:00 PM
de Laski Performing Arts Bldg 3001
Free Admission

The George Mason University Guitar Ensemble is a performance group playing music written or arranged for multiple guitars. The music spans the entire course of Western music ranging from Renaissance to contemporary composers. In addition to playing as a full company, students are divided into smaller groups; duos, trios and quartets. Their fall concert will be performed with special guest Robinson Secondary School Guitar Ensemble . The concert will include works by Granados, Dyens, Tedesco, and many more.
Baroque Ensemble
Monday, December 4 at 8:00 PM
de Laski Performing Arts Building Room 3001
Free Admission
GMU Baroque Ensemble presents the music of the Baroque period (1580 - 1740) on historically appropriate instruments performing repertoire from Bach, Purcell, Telemann, Charpentier, Muffat, Handel, and Vivaldi.
Strings Chamber Music Recital
Wednesday, December 6 at 8:00 PM
de Laski Performing Arts Building Room 3001
Free Admission
Chamber music of Dvorak featuring the Terzetto in C Major, op. 74, the String Quartet no. 12 in F Major “American”, and movements from the Serenade for String Orchestra in E Major, Op. 22.
Mason Jazz Featured in
University-Wide Newsletter
Mason's School of Music and the Mason Jazz Ensemble put on their annual Jazz 4 Justice concert at the Hylton Center on the SciTech Campus, Nov. 10-11. Proceeds help the Fairfax Law Foundation and Mason's Jazz Studies Department. Photos by Bethany Camp. Read more.
VMEA Wrap-Up
Another great year at  Virginia Music Educators Association  (VMEA) annual conference! We are so proud of our six alumni who presented sessions and conducted ensembles this past weekend! Thank you to our students and faculty for representing Mason at this state-wide gathering of music educators.
Our students in  Mason NAfME  (National Association for Music Education) attended educational sessions on becoming a music educator.
Dr. Charles Ciorba (right), Director of Music Education, presented on "Music Education in the United States: Perceptions from the K-12 Educational Community" and soon-to-be Dr. Nathan St. Pierre (left) presented on "Using Achievement Goal Theory to Investigate Pre-Service Music Teachers' Attitudes Toward Grading Practices."
American Festival Pops Orchestra
Celebrate the Christmas season with Northern Virginia’s very own pops orchestra in its annual family concert of cheerful carols and cherished holiday tunes. This jovial evening includes a program of sentimental favorites including Leroy Anderson's festive "Sleigh Ride," and culminates in a rousing sing-a-long in which the audience gets a chance to share in the experience. Under the baton of founder/artistic director and School of Music faculty Prof. Anthony Maiello , these talented musicians will perform favorites that are guaranteed to fill you and your family with holiday warmth and merriment. Special guest artists include Mason faculty Linda Apple Monson, piano; Dennis Edelbrock, trumpet; and Matt Neiss, trombone.  
Friday, December 8 at 8:00 PM
Hylton Center, Manassas
Saturday, December 9 at 8:00 PM
Center for the Arts, Fairfax
Piano Pedagogy Faculty Publication
With her new book,  Think Like an Artist: Lessons for Experiencing the Artistic Creative Process , Dr. Joanne Haroutounian has completed a decades-long quest to create a curriculum and a mechanism to bring the arts into education. It is a valuable resource for teachers, parents, and homeschool co-op instructors to give their students greater exposure to the creative arts. Read more.
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