Texas Christian University String Department

TCU CelloFest 2007 -- March 7-9, 2007

The Texas Christian University String Department is one of the most active areas in the School of Music. The curriculum includes studio instruction, orchestral performance, chamber music study, and instrumental pedagogy. The String Faculty, which includes nationally and internationally renowned soloists, chamber musicians, and pedagogues in violin, viola, cello, and bass, is dedicated to providing its students with individual attention and top-quality instruction. String studies at TCU are offered for both music majors and minors. The Programs for Majors in Performance, which include the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, are designed to produce well-rounded musicians of the highest caliber who are prepared for successful performing careers. The Bachelor of Music Education degree stresses performance as an integral part of the curriculum and prepares and certifies students for a teaching career in the public school system. Additional programs include the Bachelor of Arts in music, a minor in music, and non-major activities.

String Faculty:
Dr. Germán Gutiérrez, Chair; Director of Orchestras & the Center for Latin American Music
Dr. Curt Thompson, violin, Director,of Chamber Music and Mimir Chamber Music festival
Dr. Misha Galaganov, viola and violin
Dr. Jesús Castro-Balbi, violoncello
Dr. Blaise Ferrandino, Doublebass
Mrs. Jo Lerue Todd, String Education

Scholarships and Assistantships
Each year the String Department awards several scholarships to music majors. Outstanding non-music majors might also benefit from a partial or full scholarship. Students receiving a String Department scholarship commit to become members of the TCU Symphony and String Orchestras and to participate in all orchestra related activities. The orchestra rehearsals are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. All orchestra members are required to register for the class and will receive 0.5 credit-hour per semester. Students receiving a String Department scholarship are also required to take at least one hour of Applied Lessons. Graduate Assistantships include full-tuition remission plus a stipend.

Auditions and Audition Requirements

Information about audition dates for string students newly entering TCU may be found here. For other admission requirements please visit the School of Music website at www.music.tcu.edu, where you will find the links to Admissions/Audition, Faculty, Programs, etc. To schedule an audition you may contact Erin Gossett, via e-mail at e.gossett@TCU.edu or by phone at 817-257-6527 where she will be glad to help you with any questions.

Audition requirements for violin
Audition Repertoire (BME. BM, MM)
• 2 contrasting movements of Bach (fugue preferably)
• 1st movement of a standard concerto with cadenza
• 1 piece of applicant’s choice
• 2 etudes of appropriate technical demand
• a portfolio of music studied, experience, teachers, etc.
• Statement of professional goals

Audition requirements for viola
1) A fast movement of a concerto
2) Two movements from a work for viola solo by Bach, Hindemith, or Reger
3) A scale, including arpeggios (double stops are required for MM applicants).
One of the first two compositions could be replaced by a caprice, an etude, or a virtuosic piece.

Audition Requirements for Cello (BM, BME, BA, MM):
Three works or movements of contrasting styles, such as:
A Suite by J. S. Bach
A concerto
A work showing virtuosity such as an etude or caprice

-Please contact Dr. Castro-Balbi j.castro-balbi@tcu.edu, 817.257.6617
with questions regarding repertoire selections and substitutions.-

Audition requirements for double bass
Prepare a SOLO - a movement from a standard concerto or a pre-approved solo of your choice
Plus THREE ORCHESTRAL EXCERPTS.
Choose ONE excerpt from
Beethoven: Symphony #9 - recitative,
Beethoven: Symphony #5 - 3rd movement beginning to 5 bars after "A"; Trio beginning to 23 after "B",
Mozart: Symphony #35 - 4th movement, beginning to 5 bars after "B"; bars 134-181,
Mozart: Symphony #39 - 1st movement bars 13 to 21; 14 before "A" to "C"; 4th movement - 27 bars after "B" to "C",
Mozart: Symphony #40 - 1st movement bars 114-134, 4th movement bars 49-70; Double bar to 132; 154-205,
Choose ONE excerpt from
Brahms: Symphony #2 - first movement 11 bars after "A" to 1 bar after "B", "E" to "F", 4th movement - "L" to "M",
Strauss: Don Juan - letter "A" to "C",
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben - #9 to 6 bars after #12; 8 bars before #16 to #17,
Choose ONE solo excerpt from
Mahler: Symphony #1 - 3rd movement solo,
Verdi: Otello - soli section,
Britten: Young Persons Guide To The Orchestra - Variation H soli,
Stravinsky: Pulcinella - Movement 7 solo,
Prokofiev: Lt. Kije - solo in Romance reh 15-16

Graduate Studies Requirements:
A movement of major double bass concerto, two works from standard solo literature in contrasting tempo plus 2 standard orchestral excerpts.
Graduate student majors of other music disciplines such as
Conducting, Theory/Composition and Musicology are encouraged to apply.
NOTE: Acceptable repertoire substitutions may be made by contacting the applied faculty.

The TCU Symphony Orchestra and String Orchestra
The TCU Symphony Orchestra is a full symphonic ensemble dedicated to playing professional-level concerts from the best orchestral repertoire. The String Orchestra presents a variety of programs ranging from baroque to contemporary repertoire. Under the baton of Dr. German Gutierrez, the TCU Symphony Orchestra and the String Orchestra present several concerts each season. The orchestras also participate in symphonic, choral, dance, drama, and theater performances. The Symphony Orchestra travels nationally and internationally.
Both ensembles include a diverse student body representing more than ten foreign countries including students from across the US, Central and South America, Europe, South Africa, and the Far East.

The Chamber Music Program
Extensive chamber music experience is an integral part of every well-rounded musician’s education because it combines the performance aspects of solo and ensemble playing and develops musical sensitivity in the performer. Chamber groups at TCU receive coaching from the faculty and perform regularly in master classes for faculty and distinguished guests, and present concerts throughout the year.

As a part of the chamber music program, the Mimir Chamber Music Festival is offered each July to twenty students selected by audition. Now in its seventh season, Mimir presents TCU faculty in concert with members of the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and leading concert artists from the United States and Europe. Student groups receive two coaching sessions daily, master classes, performance opportunities, and tickets to all five faculty performances.

Center for Latin-American Music

The Center for Latin-American Music at TCU emphasizes the performance, recording, and dissemination of the music of Latin-American composers by collecting and cataloging both published and unpublished music as well as serving as a liaison to promote commissions of new works. The Center presented its first biannual Latin-American Festival in conjunction with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in the spring of 1998, hosting performances and lectures by artists and composers such as Daniel Binelli, Luis Jorge Gonzales, Marlos Nobre, Blas Atehortua, Arturo Marquez and Edgar Valcarcel. The Festival has grown in size an importance and includes Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts, Film, Literature and Music for a month of celebration of the arts and artists of Latin American.

TCU New Music Ensemble (see G.Gabel)

Collegium Musicum (see J. Butler)TCU and Dallas Fort Worth Area

Each semester TCU School of Music students have many opportunities to attend and participate in numerous concerts and master classes of world-renowned artists and guest orchestras. A wide variety of top quality ensembles perform in the area including the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, the Fort Worth and Dallas Symphony Orchestras which perform in Fort Worth’s Bass Performance Hall and the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas respectively.

Dr. Germán Gutiérrez
Associate Professor, Director of Orchestras & the Latin American Music Center
BM Tolima Conservatory
Maestro en Musica, Tolima Conservatory
MM, Illinois State University
DA, University of Northern Colorado

Associate Professor, Director of Orchestras and Director of the Center for Latin American Music at Texas Christian University, Dr. Gutiérrez is also a frequent guest conductor of international and American professional orchestras such as the Fort Worth Symphony and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá, the National Symphony Orchestras of Peru, Colombia and Puerto Rico, the Rio de Janeiro’s Teatro Municipal and Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestras in Brazil.

In 2004, Gutierrez returned for an unprecedented seventh year as guest conductor of the Dallas Symphony's Hispanic Festival concert. He was also invited to conduct the DSO in the celebratory concert for the opening of the new Latino Cultural Center in Dallas, TX on September 16, 2003. Gutiérrez also serves as Music Director of the Greater Fort Worth Youth Orchestras Program. During the summer 2004, he conducted a European Tour with the GFWYO conducting concerts at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Esterhazy palace in Vienna, the Policka Teather, and in the Check Republic of Prague.

Among other orchestras, Dr. Gutiérrez has conducted the Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand, the Barranquilla Symphony Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Valle in Colombia, the Greeley Philharmonic of Colorado, and the Xalapa Symphony in Mexico. In 2002 he was invited to conduct the Opera Festival “Pergine Spettacolo Aperto” in Italy.

Gutierrez received his Bachiller and Maestro in Music degrees from the Tolima Conservatory in his native Colombia. He subsequently received his Master in Music degree from Illinois State University and his Doctor of Arts Degree from University of Northern Colorado.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram listed maestro Gutierrez and the TCU Symphony in the Top Ten Best Classical Performers of 2002. Among other awards Dr. Gutierrez was the recipient of the 1999 Dean's Teaching Award, the 2002 TCU Dean's Award for Research and Creative Activity, and the 2003 Chancellor's Award for Research and Creative Activity.

Curt Thompson, Violin
Associate Professor of Violin and Director of Chamber Music
BM Indiana University
MM Indiana University
DMA Rice University

Violinist CURT THOMPSON is quickly gaining recognition as a performing artist through concerts given in the United States and abroad. Performances for north Texas audiences have been included three times in the ‘Top 10’ musical events of the year in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and recent performances have been described by the Dallas Morning News as “...sensitive...he makes passion out of restraint." Mr. Thompson has given recitals throughout Europe, Central America, and South America including performances at Salle Chopin-Pleyel (Paris), the Bulgarian State Academy of Music (Sofia), and the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica (San José). He has been a featured artist in the Copland/Shostakovich Festival in Rio de Janeiro, the Festival de Primavera in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Spettacolo Aperto festival in Pergine, Italy and the Seventh Centennial Festival of Villarobledo, Spain. As a concerto soloist, Mr. Thompson has performed with several orchestras including the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra, the Texas Chamber Orchestra, the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra (Colombia), and in the upcoming season with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Peru. His debut CD of the violin sonatas of Charles Ives was released in 2003 on the Naxos label.

Mr. Thompson’s musical experiences have been diverse. A strong proponent of chamber music, he is Founder and Artistic Director of the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, held annually in Fort Worth, Texas. Since its inception in 1998, the festival has gained prominence as one of the premiere chamber music institutes in the southwestern United States. In 2002, he maintained a violin studio at the Indiana University School of Music where he was invited as Guest Artist/Lecturer. Mr. Thompson has given master classes at leading music schools including Indiana, the Bulgarian State Academy of Music (Sofia), and the Royal Academy of Music (London). As an orchestral musician, he has served as Concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (by special invitation), the Spoleto (Italy) Festival Orchestra, the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra, and the Texas Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Thompson holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University where he was a student of Russian pedagogue Nelli Shkolnikova. While at Indiana he was awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate, an honorary diploma for outstanding artistry. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2003 from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, where he served as a teaching assistant to Sergiu Luca. His dissertation topic was the violin sonatas of Charles Ives.

Currently, Mr. Thompson makes his home in Fort Worth, Texas where he has served since 1997 as Professor of Violin and Director of Chamber Music Studies at the Texas Christian University School of Music.

Teaching Philosophy
My purpose is to prepare students to lead successful careers, or to be able to do so, in a capacity congruent to their specified degree while guiding their study in such a way as to insure interest and knowledge in the world around them.

Misha Galaganov
Associate Professor of Viola and Chamber Music
BM-Jerusalem
Artist Certificate-Southern Methodist
MM-Rice
DMA-Rice
m.galaganov@tcu.edu 817.257.6619

Dr. Misha Galaganov, Associate Professor of Viola at TCU, has performed as a soloist in Russia, Israel, Czech Republic, Holland, Belgium, Austria, the USA, and Mexico. He has been invited to collaborate in solo and chamber music performances with such musicians as Martha Katz, Paul Katz, Donald Weilerstein, Ko Iwasaki, Eduard Brunner, and many others in Europe and the USA.

Dr. Galaganov has taught and given master classes in numerous festivals, including Orlando festival, Music in the Mountains, Mimir, and others in Holland, Austria, Israel, and the USA. He is referenced in Who’s Who in Fine Arts on AcademicKeys.com, an informational source about the faculty, educational resources, and professional activities in the USA. He has also been selected to be profiled in Marquis Who’s Who in America, 2005 scheduled for publication in October 2004. Misha Galaganov serves as the conductor of the String Orchestra division of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth and as the director of the YO chamber music program. In addition, Dr. Galaganov is a co-director of Fort Worth Amateur Chamber Music Roundup festival.

Born and educated in Russia, Dr. Galaganov also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Jerusalem Rubin Academy, an Artist Diploma Certificate from SMU in Dallas, and a Master of Music and DMA from Rice University in Houston. He has taken master classes with Tabea Zimmermann and Tokio Quartet, and his main teachers included Pavel Galaganov, Michael Kugel, Barbara Hustis, Martha Katz, and Wayne Brooks.

VIOLA LESSONS
The approach to each student is highly individual.
The following skills are taught to every student:
• Critical use of knowledge
• Efficient practice/study skills
• Objective self-evaluation
• Concentration on individual progress and goals
• Ability to learn from performances of others
• Basic technical principals of playing the instrument
• Predominance of musical approach to performance, including performances of exercises and scales.
The following is varied:
• Goals
• Amount of assigned music
• Amount and character of assigned analyses, research, reading, etc.
• Grading for performances
• Programs
• The manner of playing the instrument, including hand positions, bowing, fingering, hold of the violin or viola, and many other details.
• The ways of communicating with students

Jesús Castro-Balbi
Assistant Professor of Cello
BM-Conservatoire National Superieur, France
Artist Diploma-Indiana University
MM-Yale University
DMA-The Juilliard School
j.castro-balbi@tcu.edu 817.257.6617

Cellist Jesús Castro-Balbi performs around the globe as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Among other awards, Mr. Castro-Balbi is the winner of the First Prize at the First Carlos Prieto Latin American Cello Competition, in Mexico, and served as a juror to the Second Prieto Competition. He has given master-classes at the Boston Conservatory, the Yale School of Music, in Peru and in Venezuela.

Highlights for 2004/2005 include appearances with the Dallas Symphony, the Corpus Christi Symphony, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the UNAM in Mexico City, the Aguascalientes Symphony (Mexico), the National Symphony in Lima (Peru), the Orchestra of Cannes (France), the Aarhus Symphony (Denmark), and the premiere of the Concierto Indio by Edgar Valcárcel with the TCU Symphony. Mr. Castro-Balbi has collaborated with conductors Giancarlo Andretta, Germán Gutiérrez, Arild Remmereit, Joel Sachs, and Lawrence Leighton Smith, performing with the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale, and the New Juilliard Ensemble in the New York premiere of the Cello Concerto by Mark-Anthony Turnage. Other appearances include Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and Symphony Space in New York; SummerFest La Jolla, California; and the Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada. His performances have been broadcast on BBC World, Japanese public television NHK, Korean national television KBS, French television TV5, and in the US on WNYC and on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.

Mr. Castro-Balbi collaborates in chamber music with Maria de los Angeles Castro-Balbi, Rostislav Dubinsky, Henning Kraggerud, Jesse Levine, Cho-Liang Lin, Arnaud Sussman, and is a founding member of the Castro-Balbi/Lin Duo and of the Momentum Piano Trio with pianist Gloria Lin and violinist Jennifer Choi. He took part in prestigious festivals, including Norfolk, Connecticut; the Bartók Festival in Szombathely, Hungary; the Isaac Stern Third International Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem, Israel; and the Manchester (England), and Beauvais (France) international cello festivals.

Mr. Castro-Balbi is a graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Lyon (France), Indiana University-Bloomington, Yale, where he received the Aldo Parisot Prize, and of The Juilliard School, where he was a Pre-college division faculty member. He studied cello with Iseut Chuat, Marc Coppey, Jean Deplace, Aldo Parisot and Janos Starker and chamber music with Boris Berman, Rostislav Dubinsky, Joseph Kalischtein, Fred Sherry and members of the Amadeus, Juilliard, Ravel and Tokyo String Quartets.

Blaise Ferrandino , Double Bass
Since 1990
Associate Professor of Music
BM-Ithaca College
BME-Ithaca College
MM-Syracuse
DMA-Hartford

b.ferrandino@tcu.edu 817.257.6608

Blaise Ferrandino earned a DMA from the Hartt School of Music where he studied composition with Edward Diemente and Donald Harris and double bass with Gary Karr and David Murray.

He has performed in numerous orchestras and, as a composer and theorist, had performances, lectures and publications presented on an International level. He is the President of the Texas Society for Music Theory.

For further information about the TCU String Program, contact:

Dr. Germán Gutiérrez
Division Chair, Strings
Texas Christian University
School of Music
TCU Box 297500 - Fort Worth, Texas 76129
1.800.TCU.FROG
817.257.7602 Fax: 817.257.7344
music@tcu.edu