Current Composition Students

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Hannah Heaton, Piano major, Music Education (Fall 2018-)

     https://hannahehmusic.wixsite.com/pianist

Hannah is a very talented young lady. During her freshman year she composed a violin-piano duet called Out of Reach, and started working on a brass trio called In the Clouds (Bb trumpet and two trombone). Her Out of Reach was performed at President Miller's Inauguration recital, A Music Student Showcase, and at the 2019 New Music at the W recital. In the Spring, she completed the 3 movement brass trio and a piano piece called I Wish.  She played I Wish on a student recital hour and at the Mississippi University for Women's 2019 Homecoming Showcase concert. Later in the Spring, she completed a SATB choir piece called The Jenjuly Flower (with cello accompaniment). During her sophomore year, Hannah was named the Mississippi Music Teachers National Association's Young Artist Composer and her Out of Reach was performed at the state conference meeting in Columbus. She received an honorable mention at the 2019 MTNA regional level.  In the spring of 2019, she joined BMI. In March of 2020, her Out of Reach was performed at the Music by Women International Conference. 

As a result of the performance, the performer, Serena Scibelli commmissioned a new piece. Heaton composed For Serena (violin and baritone saxophone). The piece was specifically written for the University of North Georgia violin professor and her chamber music partner, saxophonist Shawna Pennock. Hannah submitted For Serena to the 2020 Mississippi Music Teacher's National Association composition contest and she won. The piece was then sent to the Southern Division Composition competition for the Young Artist category. She won this too. In the Spring of 2021, her For Serena won the Arnold Salop Composer Competition hosted by the Southeastern Composers League. 

  

Current Brass Students  

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Ren Garrison (Fall 2019-) is a BM-Instrumental Education music major. During the Fall of 2019, he performed Joe L. Alexander's Historical Duets on a student recital hour, 2019 New Music at the W, and on a NACUSA Mid-south concert. After in person classes resumed in the Fall of 2021, he performed two Schubert songs in recital hour and on the Fall Recital.  He also played three movements of Anthony Passch's duets, Seven Minatures, on the same two recitals. In addition, he performed Ken Davies' duet, Colloquium with Dr. Alexander on the Fall Recital and on the October installment of Music in the Library. Ren also performed Ken Davies piece with Dr. Alexander at the W's NACUSA concert and at the University of Montevallo's NACUSA concert in November.

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Former "W" Composition Students

  

Biraj Adhikari, Composition major (Fall 2017-Spring 2020)

     http://beeking161.wixsite.com/biraj-music

During the Fall of 2017, Biraj completed a set of monophonic pieces for euphonium (or tuba), and a set of violin duets. In the Spring of 2018, he completed a two movement piece for string quartet called Journey. His solo tuba piece and the violin duets were premired on the 2018 New Music at the W recital. The violin duets were also performed on the Mississippi University for Women's 2018 Homecoming Showcase, and the solo tuba piece was performed on the W's Spring 2018 NACUSA Mid-South concert. The string quartet was later arranged for string orchestra and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra read the piece in April at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. During the Fall of 2018, Biraj completed a two movements brass quartet and started on a full orchestra piece, Helpless. At the end of 2018, Biraj was named the Mississippi Music Teachers National Association's Young Artist Composer! His I'm Back (brass quartet) was performed at the state conference meeting in Hattiesburg. He received an honorable mention at the 2018 MTNA regional level. In Janurary of 2019, his I'm Back (brass quartet) was performed at President Miller's Inauguration recital, on the Music Student Showcase, and at the 2019 New Music at the W concert. He completed the orchestra piece, Helpless, and it too was played at the 2019 Mississippi Symphony Orchestra reading session in Jackson. He also composed a SATB choir piece, I will return, and another unaccommpanied tuba solo, A Dream. Biraj joined BMI in late 2018. In the fall of 2019, Biraj was awarded an Honorable mention in the Mississippi Music Teachers National Association's Young Artist Composer. He had his string quartet, Journey, played at the 2020 CMS Southern chapter meeting in Nashville, TN at Vanderbilt University. Biraj graduated with his BA, Composition Concentration in the spring of 2020 and became MUW's first composition graduate!

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Earl Marshall, Trombone major, Composition (Fall 2019-)

During the Fall of 2019, Earl had two soundfile pieces performed on the 2019 New Music at the W recital in October. 

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KevinAnthony Carroll, Jr., Composition major (Spring 2017-Spring 2018)      

       https://kacomposer.squarespace.com/

While working with me, Kevin completed a set of violin/viola duets, a set of piano pieces, and a choir piece. The string duets were performed on the New Music at the W recital (February 2017), and the piano pieces were performed on a Mid-South - NACUSA concert (April 2017). Kevin has also arranged his piano piece, Pulse of the Fallen, for orchestra. The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra read his piece on April 23, 2018 at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. Kevin left the W after the spring, 2018 semester.

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Former "W" Brass Students

 

Demarcus Smith, trombone was the first instrumental student to

graduate at the W with a BA major. (Spring 2021) 

During his freshman year, Demarcus performed Joe L. Alexander's arrangement of Henry Purcell's Since from my dear on his jury. He performed it again on a student recital in February, on the April student recital hour, and on the W Performs: Student Recital. He also performed Purcell's The Knotting Song on the April concerts. Demarcus regularly performs with the MUW's Jazz Ensemble, and during the Spring 2018 semester, he performed with Mississippi State's Concert band and  MSU Trombone Troupe. In the spring of 2019, he played Aaron Copland's song, The Little Horses, Lullaby from Old American Songs, Set 2. He performed the Copland song on a student recital hour and on the Spring Recital. During the Fall of 2019, he performed Joe L. Alexander's  Historical Duets on a student recital hour, 2019 New Music at the W, and on a NACUSA Mid-South concert.

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Earl Marshall, trombone (Fall 2018-2020) is a BA major. In the spring of 2019, he performed an arrangement of the Henry Purcell song, If Music Be the Fruit of Love. He later performed it on the Spring Recital. During the Fall of 2019, he performed Joe L. Alexander's Historical Duets on a student recital hour, 2019 New Music at the W, and on a NACUSA Mid-South concert.

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Emma Potter, trumpet (Fall 2018-2019) was a BA major in music. In the Spring of 2019, she performed Franz Schubert's Danksagung an den Bach from Die Schöne Müllerin on a recital hour at the W and on the Spring Recital. Emma left at the end of her freshman year.

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Former Louisiana Tech University Students

   

Low Brass Students

This is a partial list of my students who graduated. Several started teaching in public schools directly after graduation and are not listed.

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Cody Ford, BA euphonium performance, 2017      https://www.conductingeuph.com/

Cody (2013-16) is the finest euphonium student I have ever taught. I taught him for three years before I moved to the W. While studing with me during his freshman year, he performed Robert W. Smith's In a Gentle Rain from the Willson Suite on the Louisiana Tech Wind Ensemble's Fall 2014 concert, as well as the band's Louisiana Music Teacher's Association concert in Baton Rouge, and on the band's Spring Concert. He performed (with me) my Dialog #4 for euphonium and tuba at the 2015 Southeastern Composers’ League Forum which was held at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. I composed the Dialog for him. Cody also performed with the Red & Black Tuba/Euphonium Duo. They played my Dialog #4 on several NACUSA, Mid-South concerts held at the University for Women in Columbus, MS and at Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA. He later performed the Dialog #4 with me on the 2nd Birmingham New Music Festival, on a Mid-South NACUSA concert held at Tennessee State University in Nashville, and at the 2016 National Association of Composers, USA's National Conference Meeting in Knoxville, TN. Cody also performed my Partita #4 for unaccompanied euphonium on Mid-South NACUSA concerts at Louisiana Tech University and at the Mississippi University for Women. Cody graduated in May of 2017 with a B.A. in Performance and is attending the University of Central Arkansas where he recently completed his master's degree in conducting and a bachelors degree i a music education. In the fall of 2021, he starte working as the high school band director in Nashville, AR.

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Nicholas Wood, bass trombone, BME 2009
While at Tech, he auditioned twice for the Monroe Symphony League's Young Artist Audition for Instrumental-Young Adult Division. In 2007, he also auditioned for the substitute bass trombone position in the Monroe Symphony. He worked as a band director for several years in Allen Parish, Louisiana.

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Keith Sanders, tuba (2003-08)
Keith studied tuba at Tech. While there, he auditioned for the Monroe Symphony League's Young Artist Audition for Instrumental-Young Adult Division. In the Fall of 2009 he became the substitute tuba player for the Monroe Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, he began a M.M. degree in tuba performance at Northwestern University (Louisiana) where he studied with Dr. Mark Thompson. For the 2017-2018 school year, he worked on a D.M.A. in tuba performace at the University of North Texas, where he studied with Don Little. He currently works as a junior high school band director in Nashville, AR.
 

Tracy Bedgood, BM tuba performance, 2002  

Tracy was in the final year of his BM degree when I started teaching at Louisiana Tech. He presented his senior recital under my tutelage. After graduating from Tech, he started a M.M. degree in tuba performance at the University of Kansas, where he studied for two years with Scott Watson. Tracy returned to Louisiana Tech in the Fall of 2006 to work on the Alternative Master degree (education). In 2008, he began a M.M. degree in tuba performance at Northwestern University where he studied with Dr. Mark Thompson. In the Spring of 2009, I had the pleasure of attending his master’s performance recital. I have also seen read his performance document, an analysis of Roger Jones’ composition, Bellerophon, and it is a solid contribution to the tuba world. He graduated from Northwestern University in the Winter of 2009. In the Fall of 2010, Tracy started a D.M.A. degree (tuba performance) at the University of Southern Mississippi. In March of 2020, he defended his dissertation. Tracy has taught low brass as an adjunct professor at Centenary College & Bossier Parish Community College in Shreveport, LA.; Belhaven University in Jackson, MS., at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, MS; and at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He eurrently is a band director at the Manhattan Catholic Schools in Manhattan, KS.

 

Composition Students

 

Joshua Mattison, BA composition (2013-16)

Joshua studied composition with me from 2013 until I left for the W. His Musical Performance/Analysis of Tango: Sextet for Low Brass Ensemble was selected for presentation at the 2014 Louisiana Tech Undergraduate/ Graduate Student Research Symposium. Because he placed second in the Undergraduate Oral Presentations division, Josh was able to represent Louisiana Tech at the University of Louisiana System's 2014 Academic Summit. In addition to his Tango presentation at the Academic Summit, Josh and I performed his Optional Duets (for trombone and tuba) at the Showcase Recital. His Don’t be Seen, for solo tuba, was selected by Kenyon Wilson for inclusion in the Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame contest and was premiered at the 2014 International Tuba/Euphonium Conference held at Indiana University, Bloomington.

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Luke Ellard, BM clarinet performance, 2011       

  http://www.lukeellard.com/

Luke began studying composition with me in the Fall of 2009.  He has twice been awarded second prize in the Southeastern Composers' League's annual Arnold Salop Memorial Composition Contest.  The first piece, Choral and Elaboration (2009), was for clarinet quartet, and the second piece, Two Abstracts, (2010) was for Woodwind Quintet. While at Tech, I taught him fundamentals, sophomore theory, composition, 16th Century & 18th Century Counterpoint, Choral Arranging and Form & Analysis. During the summer of 2010, Luke attended a composition academy at Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and Academy where he composed and premiered Two Abstracts. While at the Academy, he began Bright Overture, a composition for band. The piece was premiered by the Louisiana Tech Wind Ensemble on May 14, 2011. In the Fall of 2011, he started a Masters degree in composition at the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating with his Masters degree in composition in the Spring of 2013, Luke then completed a M.M. degree in clarinet performance at Indiana University Bloomington. He recently completed his D.M.A. in clarinet performance at the University of North Texas.

 

Joshua Carver, BM guitar performance, 2009   

  http://joshuacarver.us/

Josh was my second composition student. He graduated in the Spring of 2009 and entered into a M.M. degree in Theory/Composition at University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He graduated from ULL in the Spring of 2011. While at Tech, I taught him fundamentals, sophomore theory, composition, 16th Century & 18th Century Counterpoint, Choral Arranging and Form & Analysis. Two of his compositions, Cavalier Suite (for tuba/euphonium quartet), and Silent Moon (for SATB choir), were awarded second place in the 2007 and the 2008 Arnold Salop Memorial Composition Contests held by the Southeastern Composers League. After graduating ULL, Josh started a Ph.D. in Composition at Louisiana State University. He graduated in the summer of 2014. In 2013, Josh had his Sonata #1 for guitar performed by Cain Budds, at the NACUSA National Festival. 

 

Greg Hennigan, BM guitar performance, 2004

Greg was my first composition student. I taught him sophomore theory, composition, 16th Century Counterpoint and Set Theory. After graduating from Louisiana Tech, he attended Yale University where he graduated in 2007 with a M.F.A. in Sound Design-Music.

  

Programs for Louisiana Tech Low Brass

Ensemble Performances 

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Octubafest 2015  November 1, 2015  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA   11th Annual

 

An Evening of Chamber Music  May 4, 2015  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA

 

2015 South Central Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference March 20, 2015  University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 

 

Student Recital Hour  March 18, 2015  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 

 

Princeton Place Retirement Center  March 15, 2015  Ruston, LA

 

Octubafest 2014  October 26, 2014  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA   10th Annual

 

An Evening of Chamber Music  May 6, 2014  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA   

 

Louisiana Composers Consortium  April 6, 2014  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA  World Premieres of: Baroque Inventions and Dialog #4 for euphonium & tuba, and Life in a Koi Pond for tuba/euphonium quartet

 

Octubafest 2013  November 6, 2013  Bossier Parish Community College, Bossier, LA

 

Octubafest 2013  October 27, 2013  Louisiana Tech University,  Ruston, LA   9th Annual

 

Faculty Luncheon  October 15, 2013  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA