Dear Mason Music Family,

We invite you to attend a Grand Piano Celebration on Sunday, September 18 at 3 pm in Mason's Center for the Arts. This concert honors Mason's All-Steinway School and will include a special musical tribute commemorating the legacy of Sid and Reva Dewberry.  Featuring outstanding student and faculty artists from our Dewberry School of Music, September 18th will be a stellar inaugural event of our Fall 2022 Concert Series.

We are eagerly anticipating Saturday, September 24 with a return of Arts by George!  Additionally please take note of our Dewberry School of Music Fall 2022 Concert Series featuring our Symphony Orchestra, Choirs, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, Jazz Ensembles, Opera, and much more!

How thrilled we are to welcome three new full-time faculty for the upcoming year: Dr. William L. Lake, Jr., Director of Concert Bands; Dr. Tina Beveridge, Asst. Professor of Choral Music Education; and Dr. Alisa Jordheim, Visiting Artist Faculty in Voice. We are very pleased to welcome Cristian Perez as the new Producer of Mason Music Productions and excited to welcome three new adjunct faculty members: Prof. Zackery Pride, Applied Jazz Bass; Dr. Eugene Galvin, Stage Director for Mason Opera, and Dr. Scott Seifried, Class Guitar.

Kudos to our Dewberry School of Music students, faculty, and alumni on outstanding accomplishments, as highlighted in this newsletter. Congratulations to vocal alumna Aundi Marie Moore, who has been selected as a 2023 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient! We are extraordinarily proud of our amazing Mason music students, faculty, and alumni and we thank our Friends of Music at Mason for continued support of our artists. 

As we continue to mourn the loss of Sid and Reva Dewberry, we reflect on their legacy within our Mason Music community. Sid and Reva believed in the transformative power of music. Their impact and legacy will be forever cherished and remembered by our students, faculty, and alumni of the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music of George Mason University.

May our music continue to inspire, uplift, heal, and unite our community,
Dr. Linda A. Monson, Director
Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music
Mason remembers the ‘guiding light’ legacy of Sid Dewberry
July 19, 2022 / By Damian Cristodero
Published in The George
At 75 Sid Dewberry began taking piano lessons from Mason Professor Linda Monson, director of what then was called Mason’s School of Music. He is pictured here with Dr. Monson at a student scholarship event.

Photo by Christopher Bobo
A Grand Piano Celebration
September 18, 3:00 pm
Save the date for the annual ARTS by George! on Saturday, September 24, 2022! This annual benefit event supports student scholarships at George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. 

The evening begins by showcasing the remarkable talents of Mason students amid an array of spectacular food and beverages, and culminates with a performance by Kristin Chenoweth in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. 
Dewberry School of Music
Fall 2022 Concert Series
Tickets available for purchase on August 1, 2022
New Music Faculty
Director of Concert Bands
Dr. William L. Lake, Jr.
Dr. William L. Lake, Jr. is the newly appointed Director of Concert Bands. In this role, he will conduct the Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band. He will also teach conducting and wind literature classes. Dr. Lake earned the DMA in Instrumental Conducting from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the recipient of two master’s degrees, the first from Boston University in Music Education and the second from the University of Maryland, College Park in Wind Conducting. Dr. Lake received the BM Liberal Arts - Jazz Studies Piano Performance Degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Asst. Professor of Choral Music Education
Dr. Tina Beveridge
Dr. Tina Beveridge
Dr. Tina Beveridge has been appointed as the new Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education. Dr. Beveridge earned the Ph.D. in Music Education in from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, the MM in Music Education from Northwestern University, and the BA with a concentration in Music Education from Seattle Pacific University. Dr. Beveridge has twenty years of music teaching experience in Seattle, Portland, and Chicago public and private schools. A specialist in choral music, she has taught music at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, as well as the Community College and University levels. 
Visiting Artist Faculty in Voice
Dr. Alisa Jordheim, soprano
Dr. Alisa Jordheim, soprano (photo credit: Rebecca Fox)
Described as “vocally resplendent,” “powerful,” and possessing “impeccable coloratura” (San Francisco Chronicle), soprano Alisa Jordheim’s recent performances include: Gilda in Rigoletto and Despina in Così fan tutte with San Diego Opera, Adele in Die Fledermaus with Central City Opera, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Virginia Opera, Cunégonde in Candide with Palm Beach Opera, Erster Knappe in Parsifal with Opéra national de Paris, Ninetta in La gazza ladra at Lincoln Center with Teatro Nuovo, among others. Dr. Jordheim is an alumna of the Merola Opera Program, Central City Opera Young Artist Program, Florentine Opera Studio, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has won awards from The Sullivan Foundation, George London Foundation, and Metropolitan Opera National Council, and she was a Fulbright Scholar and American Scandinavian Foundation Fellow in Norway to study Scandinavian song and diction.

Biography Credit: Guy Barzilay Artists
Producer of Mason Music Productions
Cristian Perez, guitarist/composer
Cristian Perez, Producer of Mason Music Productions. 
Cristian Perez is an Argentine-American guitarist/composer/arranger currently based in Northern Virginia. He graduated from George Mason University with a BM in Classical guitar ('10) and a MM in Jazz Studies ('12). Cristian has performed internationally (Bulgaria, Canada, South Korea, Bolivia, China, Dominican Republic) and continues to be very active in the local music scene. His debut album “Anima Mundi” (2016) has received numerous reviews throughout the world and reached #13 in the CMJ World Music charts in the USA. Cristian is a former Artist in Residence at Strathmore ('15).
Prof. Zackery Pride
Jazz Bass Applied Faculty
Zackery Pride, bassist
Prof. Zackery Pride was awarded a four-year music scholarship from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music with honors. He later obtained his Master’s of Arts degree at Georgia State University. He currently serves, since 2008, in an active duty capacity with the The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”. He’s performed for four presidents, nine Medal of Honor recipients, three USO tours in theaters of combat, and several notable heads of states in governments abroad. 
Dr. Eugene Galvin
Stage Director-Mason Opera
Dr. Eugene Galvin, bass-baritone
Dr. Eugene Galvin, bass-baritone, earned the B.A. in Music Education from Frostburg State University, the M.M. in Voice Performance from The Catholic University of America, and the D.M.A. in Opera Performance from the University of Maryland, where he studied with Dominic Cossa. Dr. Galvin has served on the adjunct music faculties of Shenandoah Conservatory, West Virginia University, George Washington University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as The Catholic University of America, University of Maryland, and Frostburg State University.
Dr. Scott Seifried
Class Guitar
Dr. Scott Seifried, guitarist
Dr. Scott Seifried earned the BFA degree in Classical Guitar Performance from Carnegie Mellon University, the Master of Music degree from James Madison University, and the PhD in Education from George Mason University. Dr. Seifried taught guitar at James W. Robinson Jr. Secondary School in Fairfax County, Virginia, from 1991 until his retirement in 2022. He is the author of The Guitar Workbook: A Fresh Approach to Exploration and Mastery, published by Oxford University Press, which is an invaluable resource for class guitar instruction.
Kudos:
Alumni, Students, and Faculty
Aundi Marie Moore
2023 Sphinx Medal of Excellence Recipient
Alumna Aundi Marie Moore, BA in Music, will receive the The Sphinx Medal of Excellence in 2023. This medal is the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization, recognizing extraordinary classical Black and Latinx musicians. Along with a $50,000 career grant, Sphinx annually awards the Medals of Excellence to three artists who, early in their career, demonstrate artistic excellence, outstanding work ethic, a spirit of determination, and an ongoing commitment to leadership and their communities.
Credit: Sphinx Music
Dr. Michelle Fegeas
Selected to Perform at SAI Convention
Dr. Michelle Fegeas (DMA Vocal Performance '21) has been selected to perform at Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity's National Convention, to be held at the end of July in Greensboro, NC.

Dr. Fegeas is President of the Washington, D.C. Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI). Along with Dr. Jeongseon Choi at the piano, she will be performing composer Lori Laitman's Orange Afternoon Lover song cycle, which she researched and performed at her Doctoral Lecture Recital in November 2020.
Sonja Phillips-Thomas
Winner of Best Film Score at Mason Film Festival
Sonja Phillips-Thomas, a Mason Music Ambassador, recently won Best Film Score at the 2022 Mason Film Festival produced by the Film and Video Studies (Film at Mason) Department. Sonja is pursuing double degrees in music (music technology with classical guitar as her main instrument) and film (production and post-production) composed a film score for the student film White Mirror directed by Taj Kokai. 

The film is about a young man who while interviewing for his dream job pushes a button that gives him the opportunity to appear white to the outside world. While appearing white instead of black or any person of color can make things easier, is it right for him to appear to be someone he’s not? To find out what he chooses you’ll have to watch the film.
George Mason University Tuba Euphonium Ensemble featured in Midwest Conference
George Mason University Tuba Euphonium Ensemble (GMUTEE) was invited to perform at the 2022 Midwest Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. 

Two of the composers whose music was performed came to see them specifically to hear their music- Wycliffe Gordon and Ian Lester. GMUTEE performed a piece that they commissioned from Mr. Gordon. The concert was well received and the trip was a great success!
CVPA Faculty Fellows for Curricular Innovation
Dr. Niyati Dhokai selected as
CVPA Faculty Fellow
Mason music alumna, Dr. Niyati Dhokai, has been selected as a CVPA Faculty Fellow for Curricular Innovation. Dr. Dhokai, along with Dr. Emily Green, (featured below) will focus on creating new opportunities within program development.

Dr. Niyati Dhokai is Research Associate Professor in CVPA and Program Director for the Veterans and the Arts Initiative. Under her leadership, the Initiative has served over 11,000 military-connected people through virtual, hybrid, and in-person workshops and special events; their impact has been shared through numerous peer-reviewed publications and presentations.
Dr. Emily Green selected as
CVPA Faculty Fellow
Dr. Emily Green (she/her) has been selected as a CVPA Faculty Fellow for Curricular Innovation. Dr. Green and Dr. Niyati Dhokai (featured above) will develop curriculum expansion for Mason Core offerings in the arts, expand the role of arts and wellness in teaching, research, and community engagement, and additional credential opportunities (majors, minors, certificates) in the arts and in multidisciplinary clusters.

Dr. Emily Green is Associate Professor in the School of Music, where she has taught since 2013. Her musicological research focuses both on European musical print culture of the eighteenth century and also on the music of early Black Americans (for which she and her team won a 4-VA grant). She teaches Euro-American music history at the undergraduate and graduate levels, sits on various committees, and advises dissertations. Her Ph.D. is from Cornell University.
Dr. Elaine Rendler honored with
Jubilate Deo National Award
Dr. Elaine Rendler has been recognized with the prestigious Jubilate Deo National Award in recognition of her outstanding service and contributions to music and liturgy in the United States. Dr. Elaine Rendler-McQueeney is a nationally recognized musician, teacher, author, composer, pastoral liturgist and speaker.

Board chair Jeremy Helmes remarked: “Dr. Elaine Rendler’s lifelong contributions as an author, teacher, liturgical minister, and pastoral musician have profoundly shaped the musical worship of the Church. We give thanks for Dr. Rendler and celebrate this award with her.”
Prof. Julianna Nickel
Interview: Navigating Focal Dystonia
Professor Julianna Nickel speaks with resident flutist Alex Xeros about being an active flutist while living with focal dystonia. Learn about the process of being properly diagnosed and how to be an advocate for yourself, treatments that worked, and participating in a groundbreaking study with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She also talks about her approach to teaching at George Mason University and having the privilege to play in an array of groups in the Washington DC area.
Prof. Julianna Nickel is an active performer, teacher, and freelancer in the Washington, DC area. Ms. Nickel is a lauded, versatile performer on the stage known for her “talent, intelligence, beauty, the will to work and succeed…” She is the Adjunct Professor of Flute at George Mason University and a two-time recipient of Mason’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year (2019, 2017).
New Flute Donation
Prof. Nickel honored to select instruments
In the form of an anonymous gift, a monetary amount of $10,000 was pledged to the George Mason University Flute Studio. Professor Julianna Nickel had the honor of selecting new instruments to support the flute program.

Professor Nickel worked with the Flute Center of New York to select two piccolos, an alto flute, and a bass flute. Professor Nickel and Mason are incredibly honored to have received such a generous gift that will impact flutists at Mason for years to come.
Summer Conducting Symposium with
Dr. Soo Han and Prof. Anthony Maiello
‌
The Mason Summer Conducting Symposium provided continuing professional development opportunities for conductors and music educators of all levels
(K-12 through professional).

Led by Dewberry School of Music professors, Anthony Maiello and Soo Han, the symposium focused on conducting technique, score study, rehearsal skills and other special topics as it related to the art of conducting.
Mason Community Arts Academy:
Mason Strings Camp
The Mason Strings Camp celebrated its inaugural season this summer. The camp's 41 participants were string players, ages 9 - 13. A dedicated team of faculty, alumni, and students from the Dewberry School of Music joined forces to provide the campers an exciting musical experience. 

Instructors and assistants included Prof. Fowkes, Dr. Han, and Dr. Joanna Owen; Mason alums Mark Evans, Rachel (McAleer) Holloway, and Brian Bera; Mason students Telah Harper, Alex Keitt-Saenz, Annette Lee, and Kevin Paredes.