Winter Issue 2010/2011 - Tarleton State University

24 Pages·2011·8.64 MB·English

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President’s Message
Dear Members and Friends,
Music is the magic within us and making
music is essential to our lives. Right now
there are creative fraternity members who are
working their music magic and promoting
their careers in unique ways. They prove that
there is no such thing as an intellectual
recession. This issue will inform you about
some of those talented musicians.
Creativity is not a solitary process; rather, it happens when creative people avail
themselves of opportunities to explore new ideas and diverse opinions. When
talented people get together, mentalities merge and amazing results are possible.
Individuals need a community where they can bring forth their ideas, discuss
with others, and develop workable plans for new and exciting ventures. To put it
another way, we need to be Connected.
Yes, Connectedis the theme of our convention. We are bringing together our
best and brightest composers and performers so that we present a network of
people who have been successful. Many are connectedinternationally to the
profession of music and we shall learn much from them.
The purpose of a convention is to convene and take care of fraternity business.
We have some good creativity going on with the fraternity business, too. Our
advisory council has supplied some thoughts to challenge us with future plans
for Mu Phi Epsilon. Third Vice President Lenita McCallum is extending those
thoughts and asking each member to respond with fresh new ideas.
Our distinctive identity remains unchanged. As members you share ownership of
sic the Mu Phi Epsilon legacy. After you read this issue of the Triangle, won’t you
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un the future? Plan to be in Rochester next summer, where we will discuss these
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gr questions and enjoy an inspiring convention.
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2 THETRIANGLE | Winter 2011
EDITOR Volume 104, Issue 4 Winter 2011
Melissa Eddy, [email protected]
DESIGN &PRODUCTION
Corinne Lattimer, [email protected] Features
ADVERTISING
Jan Scott, 314-997-6262
[email protected] 4 2011 Convention:
Connected with Each Other, Music, the World
CONTRIBUTORS
5 2011 Convention:
ACME Carolyn Hoover
Keynote Speaker & Featured Artist
FINALNOTES Wynona Lipsett
6 2010 Musicological Research Winner
INTERNATIONALCORNER Keith Ford
7 2010 Musicological Research Winner
INTERVIEWS Marcus Wyche
8 Feature: Aaron Larget-Caplan, Building a Career
UPONLISTENING Sherry Kloss
through Talent and Savvy
Send all material for publication to:
Melissa Eddy, [email protected] 10 Feature: AMu Phi Entrepreneur, Martha MacDonald
Fax [phone] or by mail to: 12 Foundation
P.O. Box 10042, Austin, TX 78766-1042.
All materials submitted for publication 14 Advisory Council Offers New Ideas
become the property of MuPhiEpsilon.
Requests for return are accepted and must
be accompanied with a self-addressed
stamped envelope. Electronic transmissions
Departments
are preferred. Photos must be scanned at a
minimum of 300 dpi.
Deadlines for submissions:
15 International Corner
Summer — March 1
Fall — July 15 16 Applause / Encore
Winter — October 15
18 Final Notes
Spring — January 15
20 District Directors with Chapter Listings
Change of address, renewals, notice of 23 International Executive Board &
deceased members, requests for extra copies
and subscription requests should be sent to: Foundation Board
Mu Phi Epsilon,
International Executive Office
4705 N. Sonora Avenue, Suite 114
Fresno, CA93722-3947
toll free: 888- 259-1471 On the cover: Street Performer
fax: [phone] © Joshua Haviv | Dreamstime.com
email: [email protected]
The Triangle is published 4 times per year by
Mu Phi Epsilon, International Professional Music
Fraternity. Subscription price is $20.00 per
year. Single copies are $8.00. Periodicals
postage paid at Fresno, California and at addi-
tional mailing offices. Printed in the United
States of America. Fraternity Mission Statement
Member, Professional Fraternity Association.
(ISSN 0041-2600)(Volume 104, Issue 4)
Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Music
POSTMASTER: Fraternity is a coeducational fraternity whose aim is
Send all changes of address to: Mu Phi Epsilon the advancement of music in the community, nation,
International Executive Office, 4705 N. Sonora and world through the promotion of musicianship,
Avenue, Suite 114, Fresno, CA93722-3947
scholarship, and music education, with emphasis on
© 2011 Mu Phi Epsilon. All rights reserved. service through music.
MUPHIEPSILON.ORG 3
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With Each Other, With Music, With the World
Mu Phi Epsilon leaders chose the theme “Connected” to With the World
signify important aspects of both the convention and our Mu Phi leaders need skills and vision to carry out our
fraternity as a whole. Here’s what you can look forward to organization's mission. The convention will offer
when we come together this summer in Rochester. leadership trainingsessions that address questions like
“I’ve been elected president of mychapter – what do I do
With Each Other now?” or“I’m a new District Director [or just appointed
First-time attendees will be impressed with the quality of to the X committee] – what next?”The sessions will
Mu Phi musicianship and the opportunity to connect with prepare participants to lead not only within our fraternity
stars of our profession. They will also enjoy meeting Mu but also in other positions and organizations throughout
Phi peers from many other chapters of our profession and their careers:
with Mu Phi peers.
• District directorswill learn how to guide chapters
Mu Phis are also more connected between conventions throughout the year and answer chapter officers’ most
than ever before. Websites, email, e-newsletters, social frequently asked questions.
media – we keep in touch through methods that were little • Every registrant will be assigned to a convention
used or even unknown less than a decade ago. Look for committee. You’ll meet with your committee chair,
more on this at convention, including a session on how to learn what’s needed to carry out the committee’s
develop and manage a chapter website. function, and receive your own task assignment.
• Parliamentary procedure. Just before the first
With Music general session, official Mu Phi parliamentarian Dr.
We are delighted to present several stars of our profession Carla Jo Maltas will instruct all delegates on procedures
at the convention. Composer Libby Larsenwill address a for changing bylaws and standing rules, proposing
general session, lead an open rehearsal, and conduct a resolutions, and electing new international officers. (She
concert of her music. Our keynote speaker, pianist Nelita might even answer the ever-burning question What’s the
True, will also perform and give a workshop. (See difference between a bylaw and a standing rule?)
opposite page for more about these two luminaries.) The • Separate training sessions for alumni andcollegiates
schedule also offers an opportunity to visit Eastman’s to ask questions about their respective roles in the
renowned Sibley Music Library and view its priceless fraternity and discuss Mu Phi issues of most importance
collection, and to hear a demonstration of Eastman’s new to them.
Craighead Saunders pipe organ installed at Christ Church.
If you’re a collegiate, or a young graduate just beginning a
International Committee Chairman Keith Fordwill give career, it’s a sure bet you’ve thought more than once: As a
a presentation on music education in England and will music major, what kind of job can I get? How can I
discuss his experiences teaching and performing in advance my own career? If so, you'll want to attend the
countries on several continents. Pianist and past workshop on music leadership. It’s about being the
International Competition finalist Lei Wengwill perform leader of your own career as well as in our chosen field.
and talk about his performing and master classes in China.
Convention music delegatesand Mu Phi musicians from The 2011 convention is truly an event where Mu Phi
the Rochester areawill also be making music for us, and Epsilon members will get Connected.You will experience
you can catch some 2011 International Competition three days of professional development, plus some
finalist performances on Wednesday afternoon. You’ll wonderful events planned by the Rochester convention
certainly want to hear the winner’s recitalon Thursday committee. It will be a convention to remember – don’t
evening and consider booking him or her for a concert in miss it!
your own community. Programs subject to change.
4 THETRIANGLE | Winter 2011
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Keynote Speaker
Nelita True
(Gamma, Rochester Alumni)
Since pianist Nelita True made her debut at age seventeen with the
Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall and her New York debut with
the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, her career has taken her
to the major cities of Western and Eastern Europe, as well as all fifty
states in her home country. Dr. True earned her DMA with Leon
Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory and later studied with Nadia
Boulanger on a Fulbright grant.
Formerly Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland,
Nelita True is currently Professor of Piano at the Eastman School of
Music. Many of her students have won top prizes at national and
international competitions, including an unprecedented five first
prizes in national MTNA competitions. Her excellence in performing
and teaching has garnered numerous awards. A series of four
videotapes featuring her performances, lectures, and teaching are
currently being seen on five continents. She has recorded over one
hundred works. Learn more at
http://www.esm.rochester.edu/faculty/true_nelita.
Nelita will give the convention keynote speech on Thursday morning.
She is also slated for a Friday workshop session, topic to be announced.
Featured Artist
Libby Larsen
One of the most important and celebrated composers working today, Libby
Larsen is a vigorous, articulate champion of the music and musicians of our
time. She is consistently hailed as a leader in musical thought, and her
music and ideas have refreshed the concert music tradition and the
composer’s role in it.
Known for sensitive orchestration and innovative use of nontraditional
sound, Larsen has been hailed as “the only English-speaking composer since
Benjamin Britten who matches great verse with fine music so intelligently
and expressively” (USA Today). She has written over 400 compositions,
from opera and massive orchestral works to solo and chamber music. She
has held residencies with major orchestras and conservatories and her
commissioned works are performed by world renowned artists. As a
producer, she won a 1994 Grammy®for the CD “The Art of Arleen Auger,” a
recording that features Larsen’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. She is a co-
founder with Stephen Paulus of what is now the American Composers
Forum. Learn more at www.libbylarsen.com.
Larsen will address the convention on Saturday on the topic “All Music Was
Once New.” She will also rehearse and conduct a select group of Mu Phi
artists in a Saturday evening concert of her music. Observers will be welcome at the Saturday afternoon rehearsal.
MUPHIEPSILON.ORG 5
2010 Musicological Research Winners
An Instrumental Voice:
Use of the Flute in Lucia’s Mad Scene
Abstract of winning paper, 2010 Musicological Research Contest, Category III/Graduate Thesis
By Sophia Nicolle Tegart, Mu Beta, member of Alpha Kappa
M.A., University of Oregon
Mad scenes were a prominent part of opera in the scenes, the flute changes the moods, arias, or scenes, and
nineteenth century. Madness has taken many forms on continually participates in dialogue with these mad women.
stage, from comedy and parody to passionate abandon and The primary focus of this paper, however, is on Donizetti’s
hysterics, yet all forms of madness used similar devices. Lucia di Lammermoor, which represents the apex of the
Composers often drew from areas in real life to incorporate mad scene genre.
into their invented on-stage world. These composers’
perceptions of madness created precedents for madness on
Not only is the mad scene in Lucia di Lammermoor
stage. Many scholars, such as Catherine Clément, Sarah
examined, but also the fountain scene and other important
Hibberd, Susan McClary, Mary Ann Smart, and Stephen
appearances of the flute throughout the opera. In Lucia di
Willier, have examined madness in opera. Some have
Lammermoorthe flute creates another persona on stage
chosen to focus on relationships of power between the mad
and changes the mood of the scene. It appears as an
woman on stage and how she interacts with the other
invisible character in the fountain scene, which enhances its
characters in the opera, while others chose to examine
importance when reappearing in the mad scene. The flute,
harmonic relationships, text and music, individual
representing Lucia’s lost love Edgardo, creates a dialogue
characters, and gender roles. Studies by these scholars are
with Lucia thus revealing her madness. Furthermore,
examined in this paper and then applied to the author’s
Lucia’s madness is extended through the flute’s role and
theories concerning instrumentation and madness.
enhanced further by the insertion of the flute cadenza years
later.
Instrumentation has not been examined in depth with
regards to madness; therefore, this thesis fills this void. The
Donizetti used a narrative approach with his orchestration
use of the flute, orchestration techniques, and traditions in
to enhance Lucia’s madness. He highlighted specific
instrumental music are discussed in depth. Using David
phrases and words using the flute to fuse the music and text
Charlton’s theories of instrumental recitative, or the
together. This creates a composite text, which enhances
narrative and conversation provided by instruments thus
particular words in order to portray madness to its fullest
creating a persona for imagined roles, along with
extent. Donizetti chose to use certain devices and lace them
metaphors in music through extra-musical devices, and the
together to create an unforgettable mad scene. Although he
idea of “unsung voices,” or musical narration, by Carolyn
also used key relationships and the rhetoric of the text to
Abbate, the author qualifies the use of the flute in mad
underscore Lucia’s madness, he predominantly created an
scenes. The flute is used in several different ways in the
effective mad scene through the use of orchestration,
mad scenes examined in this paper, from calling to the mad
instrumental narration, recitative, analogies and
woman through playful arpeggios and scales to
metaphors, and extra-musical meaning. He used all of
representing a silent character throughout an entire scene.
these devices by channeling them through the flute, making
it the “instrumental voice” of Lucia’s madness.
Seven dramatic mad scenes and two parodied mad scenes
ranging from the years 1789 to 1887 are examined. The use
The treatment of the flute in the mad scenes of Bellini,
of the flute in Giovanni Paisiello’s Nina, o sia La pazza per
Paisiello, Gilbert and Sullivan, and especially Donizetti
amore, Vincenzo Bellini’s Il Pirata andI Puritani, Gilbert
suggest that madness and the flute are fundamentally
and Sullivan’sRuddigore, and Gaetano Donizetti’sI pazzi
linked. The flute was used in many different ways, yet it
per progetto, Anna Bolena, Linda di Chamounix, and
often represented non-corporeal entities that interacted
Lucia di Lammermoor is analyzed to find similarities
with the mad woman. Moreover, the flute was used extra-
among the mad scenes in these operas. Many of these mad
musically and metaphorically to give sound, meaning, and
scenes treat madness differently; therefore, they treat the
depth to madness in the nineteenth century.
flute differently. While some of the mad scenes use the flute
in a bird-like manner, such as I pazzi per progettoand
Look for an abstract of the winning paper in Category I/DMA
Linda di Chamounix, others use a lyrical melody within the
Dissertation by Kristín Jónína Taylor in the spring 2011 Triangle.
dialogue such as Anna Bolenaand Il Pirata. In these mad See page 19 for more about Sophia Tegart.
6 THETRIANGLE/ Fall 2010
2010 Musicological Research Winner
Arnold Schoenberg’s Prelude from the Suite for Piano Op. 25:
From Composition with Twelve Tones to the Twelve-Tone Method
Abstract of winning paper, 2010 Musicological Research Contest, Category I/Ph.D. Dissertation
By Deborah H. How, Omega Omega, Los Angeles Alumni
Ph.D., University of Southern California
The history of Arnold Schoenberg’s Prelude (1921) from manuscripts from that time. Schoenberg appears to have
the Suite for Piano, Op. 25 (1921–1923), the composer’s been cognizant of this himself, especially as other
first twelve-tone work, is rife with paradoxes and composers offered their own efforts in composing with
discrepancies, conflicts and conundrums. The Suite for twelve tones, and he took extensive measures, centered
Piano itself is historically significant not only because it on the Suite for Piano, to encourage everyone to see
is the first of the composer’s large works to be unified by twelve-tone composition as having been conceived first
a single twelve-tone row, but also because its by him, fully formed. These measures were successful
composition sits astride one of the most complex for fifty years, practically casting in stone an axiom that
stylistic and technical changes—the passage from freely has led many scholars to perceive chronological
atonal to twelve-tone serial composition—in all of 20th- contradictions in the development of the Suite for Piano
century music. These changes, recorded in the Suite for and of twelve-tone composition.
Piano, coincide, ironically, with a widespread rejection
of the very aesthetic basis for Schoenberg’s music. Their In reality, Schoenberg twice abandoned his experiments
tangled history, along with their consequent effects on in composition with twelve tones after making public
musical historiography, has led to a simplified and announcements claiming priority to their invention, not
substantially incorrect account of how Schoenberg’s composing a single work in this new style from late July
conception of twelve-tone music, self-proclaimed as one 1921 to mid-February 1923, when it was clear that both
of music history’s greatest compositional “inventions,” neoclassicism and twelve-tone composition were firmly
developed. The reality concealed by this account is ensconced in the musical landscape. Only then did
considerably more complex, confusing as it does major Schoenberg think to merge the two current trends to
stylistic, technical, and organizational transitions while launch his forays, perhaps a parody of a parody, into
reflecting the musical spirit of the times. This what we now appreciate as his mature twelve-tone
dissertation will show that Schoenberg’s early serial method, showing his colleagues and critics that it was
odyssey cannot be viewed without considering external possible to incorporate an amalgam of ideals and idioms
parameters, including concurrent twelve-tone models drawn from the various schools of musical thought
and neoclassicism, the social-political and artistic evident in Europe after World War I.
climate of the early 1920s, and Schoenberg’s inherent
desire—perhaps extramusically motivated—to be A thorough examination of Schoenberg’s manuscripts,
credited as the inventor of the twelve-tone method. drafts, and sketches—as well as his essays, aphorisms,
and letters, along with written materials of his friends,
It has long been assumed that while working on the colleagues, and students—will demonstrate that the
Prelude from the Suite for Piano, Op. 25, in July 1921, difficulties and inconsistencies of dating the transition
Schoenberg discovered the “Method of Composing with from freely atonal to twelve-tone serial composition are
Twelve Tones which are Related Only with One a result not of discrepancies in the primary sources, but
Another,” and that this discovery would “assure the rather of shoehorning false assumptions into data that
supremacy of German music for the next hundred support earlier, flawed deductions. The Suite for Piano,
years.” As is often the case, however, the truth is more Op. 25, will be revealed as more than Schoenberg’s first
subtle and far richer. In fact, Schoenberg made several twelve-tone composition, as more than a laboratory of
different discoveries that were revealed or announced on early twelve-tone row manipulations, as more than an
at least three different occasions, in 1921, 1922, and example of Schoenberg’s “neoclassical” period, but
1923—discoveries manifested in the compositional rather as a work totally representative of its time, a
history of the Suite for Piano, which spanned those composition that looks forward and reflects backward
years. Understanding that Schoenberg’s conception of while embracing the present.
“composition with twelve tones” was ever-changing in
the early 1920s and that his discovery in July 1921 was
not twelve-tone composition as we understand it today UMI Number: 3368701
is crucial in discussing both his music and text Copyright © 2009 Deborah H. How
MUPHIEPSILON.ORG 7
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Aaron Larget-Caplan:
Building a Career through Talent and Savvy
Interview by Melissa Eddy, Mu Theta, International Editor
Classical guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan(Beta, Boston How did you choose your career path after
Alumni) began learning clarinet in the fourth grade. He college? Or did it choose you?
took up electric guitar at age eleven, playing in jazz and My path is the one I’m on. I like to think I’m choosing it
rock bands and learning from cassette tapes of Led but life (house fire, injuries, love, good coffee) often gets in
Zeppelin, Ozzy Osborne, and other iconic bands. He the way of my ideas. I try not to
dabbled in classical, following the example of Osborne’s turn down an opportunity and I
guitarist, but it was only when he saw Andrés Segovia play, pay more attention to what I can
in a video during sophomore Spanish class, that he was improve than what I have done.
smitten. He began private classical guitar study at sixteen
and at seventeen made his debut at the Tabor Opera How did you learn the skills
House in Leadville, Colorado, playing with his teacher. to be an artist-entrepreneur,
to take charge of your own
Aaron went on to Boston University and the New England career?
Conservatory, where he studied with David Leisner and I learned the skills I have (by no
Eliot Fisk and received his bachelor’s degree in means all that are necessary!) by
performance in 2001. His extensive post-graduate study taking on responsibilities, because
has included attendance and performance at numerous I knew nobody else would or could
festivals in the U.S. and abroad (including the Chautauqua do them for me. If one wants to
Summer Music Festival on a Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation perform and eat, one gets over
scholarship), master classes with several classical guitar one’s fears – of rejection, talking
luminaries, and chamber music coaching. He also began on the phone, writing, organizing
teaching privately at the Community Center of Boston and – which are still not fun, but do
in his own private studio, work which he continues today. become easier.
He launched his solo performance career in 2002 as an I jumped in by gigging while at the
artist with Young Audiences of Massachusetts, performing New England Conservatory, which
in schools and community settings, which he says taught introduced me to contracts, calling
him how to present lively, non-boring programs. An active clients, collecting money, being
recitalist, he has premiered more than twenty-five solo punctual, programming, and other
works for guitar, performs with several chamber important skills. NEC offered a
ensembles, has recorded two-and-a-half solo CDs, and is Career Skills class where I put
featured on two others. One of his many recent ventures is together my first press kit. For my
The Lullaby Project, with performances and a solo CD that website, I traded lessons with a
features fourteen premiere works. Aaron graciously gave student and learned the basics of
The Trianglethis e-interview about his life as an artist- how to update it. For performance
entrepreneur. opportunities, I began calling arts
organizations, applying for grants,
The Triangle: How did you become interested in and asking for advice. I loved new
classical guitar? music (still do) and would offer to
Aaron: At sixteen, when I saw a video of Andrés Segovia play composers’ latest works. To
playing “Asturias” by Isaac Albéniz (The Doors used the build ensemble experience, I
theme in their song “Spanish Caravan”), I wanted to play collaborated when I could and
like that. Once I got started, I found the tactile sensations tried to be a good student with the
to be so amazing that I didn’t want to put the guitar down. groups I played with.
I also loved the ability to adjust timbre, much like one
would use electronic foot pedals or whammy bars in I also had medical issues and had
electric guitar, but doing it myself and not with a device. to learn to make healthy decisions
Since my first performance when I was seventeen, I had from a pretty early age. This is
the bug: I knew I wanted to perform. something conservatories and
8 THETRIANGLE | Winter 2011
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colleges need to teach! Too many people lose careers due ensemble, and designed programs for communities and
to injuries, bad habits, or ill health. Not all of us are schools. I learned to enjoy being successful in business (it’s
blessed with amazing health and energy, but there is a sexy!).
right way to use the body.
What do you think are some personal qualities
I also made sure I was not like every other guitarist or essential to the successful artist-entrepreneur?
classical musician, in that I aimed at being a good Honesty with oneself: if you hate what you’re doing,
businessperson, something that really impresses don’t do it. Hire someone or change something.
promoters. I started an email list, informed people of my Audiences can usually tell.
concerts, wrote many thank you notes, booked for the Desire:if you want it, do what is necessary to get it
(without physically hurting or cheating others).
Patience: classical music careers can be long (unlike most
in pop music). One concert is not a career, nor does one
rejection equate to no career.
Vision:know what you want to play and why.
Love:love your music. If you don’t, play it until you do.
Communication:share your music with the audience
and try to connect, not just play.
Observation: pay attention to what others do and like.
Listening:the life around you and in the concert hall is a
great teacher.
Perseverance and commitment:very few things
happen quickly, so plan to stick around for a while.
Deadlines and budgets don’t always work for art. See
patience.
Humility:surround yourself with smarter people. I
married one.
What mix of tasks makes up your work life?
Practice and performance, of course, but as an
artist-entrepreneur, what else?
In no particular order: Teaching. Receiving Shiatsu body
work. In-person networking. Yoga practice. Website
updates & social networking. Emailing performance
contracts. Reading about other artists and projects.
Creating program ideas for upcoming seasons.
Collaborating, commissioning. Designing and
disseminating promotional materials – emails,
newsletters, CD advertisements. Going to concerts. Paying
bills, balancing checkbooks and credit cards. Seeking out
sponsors and investors for concerts and projects. Speaking
with and looking for mentors. Meeting with ensembles
outside rehearsals, for planning, advertising, logistics.
Performing to promote my CDs. Cleaning my studio and
equipment. Taking care of my transportation. Looking for
ways to make buying easier (currently use a credit card
reader with my cell phone). Trying to book concerts close
to hot springs.
How has Mu Phi Epsilon membership contributed
to your career development?
While I was in school, the concert opportunities and
scholarship were most beneficial and appreciated. I’m
continued on page 19
MUPHIEPSILON.ORG 9
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A Mu Phi Entrepreneur: Martha MacDonald
By Marcus Wyche, Foundation Board President, Delta Delta, Washington D.C. Alumni
A recent Newsweekarticle listed Austin, Texas as one of husband worked on his doctorate and her children were
several cities in the Lone Star State that have weathered the young, her life has been almost exclusively learning,
economic storm. With the continual expansion of the performing, and teaching music.
University of Texas, attractiveness to technology firms, and
strong private-sector growth, the entrepreneurial spirit is Mu Phi: Real Honor, Real Achievement
very much in evidence there. On the Mu Phi Epsilon front, Martha was a member of
Houston Alumniin the early seventies, later held several
Intersection of Art and Enterprise officer positions with Austin Alumni(including president)
Entrepreneurs often talk in terms of opportunities, and with which she is still active, and served as a District
Austin resident Martha MacDonald (Phi Xi, Austin Alumni) Director. She has also served on both the International
is no exception. A longtime Fraternity member with a Executive Board as Collegiate Advisor and the Mu Phi
gentle Southern accent and a charming sense of humor, she Epsilon Foundation Board of Directors, including a stint as
explains the path she has pursued at the intersection of art president.
and private enterprise. “Since I moved around a lot before
living in Austin, I found that if I wanted to do something, I What made her decide to join Mu Phi Epsilon? “I was
usually had to start it myself rather than wait to be found”, honored when I was invited to join Phi Xibecause it was
she says. “Being a musician is an advantage in these such a professional organization,” Martha says, pointing
circumstances. I performed with several chamber out, “It was a large chapter. The focus was probably on
ensembles as well as a community orchestra and concert community service, but there were many activities. All the
band [when living] in The Hague. It was very exciting members were very active … You had to have really good
because chamber music was always my first love, and there grades, and only the top people got in. So when you were
was a lot of that in Holland. My goal when I moved to
Austin was to see that chamber music became an important
part of the community.”
Martha’s ventures have borne considerable fruit. In
addition to starting the Austin Chamber Ensemble
(incorporated in 1985 as a 501(c)(3) organization), she has
helped start the Austin Chamber Music Center and the
Classical Music Consortium of Austin. Other private
ensembles she has founded or co-founded are the Cantilena
Chamber Soloists (clarinet, soprano, piano), Trio Contraste
(clarinet, violin, piano), and Chante Duo (clarinet and
harp). Additionally, she helped the Austin Young Artists
Concert organization secure grants to fulfill its purpose of
presenting a gala concert. Some of these organizations were
started as many as thirty years ago and are still active, with
Martha still serving in a leadership or advisory role.
Music has been a primary driving force in Martha’s life and
career. Attracted to the clarinet because of its closeness to
the human singing voice, she attended Baylor University on
a music scholarship. The subsequent years were spent
crisscrossing the map and going overseas: Detroit for three invited, you felt you had achieved something. People did
years after graduate school at the University of Michigan things together, but … it wasn’t like a ‘fun’ group; it was an
and marriage; three years in Austin; back to Michigan for honor to be in it. Baylor has always had a strong chapter.
one year; Houston for three years; the Netherlands for They still do.”
three years (“In Holland, you could ride your bike
everywhere. I really liked that”); then back to Austin. Aside As for her involvement at the upper leadership levels, her
from non-musical stints in Austin and Houston, when her initial responsibilities with the Foundation were as concert
10 THETRIANGLE | Winter 2011