On May 30 the State Board of Regents approved establishing the Bachelor of Music (B.M.) degree at SUU. This rigorous year-long process will result in SUU being able to offer what is considered the professional degree in music, in addition to offering its liberal arts B.A. and B.S. degrees. “Our Music Department, which is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), has reached a point in its development where offering the B.M. degree is a logical progression of years of work in strengthening and enhancing the study of music at SUU,” noted Bill Byrnes, Dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts. The program changes also include adding the B.M. in Music Education.
The Music Department completed a very successful year of classes and concerts. The number of music majors increased by 21.6% from the previous year. Over 60 concerts and recitals were held throughout the academic year and the department hosted several successful events such as the SUU Honor Band and the Day of Percussion. The department will also be welcoming its first full-time faculty member with a degree in Music Education in fall 2008. This new faculty member will help us do an even more effective job serving our many music education majors in the department. The new 
Bon Appétit Concert Series was also a big success this year. These four wonderful dinners followed by concerts raised over $10,000 in scholarship support for our music students. (Photo: SUU music students performing in Crazy for George, 2007)
Current Student Highlights
The SUU Department of Music is very proud of the success of SUU Music students at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Conference in Las Vegas March 8, 2008.
Three students of SUU Assistant Professor Dr. Grace St. Pierre came home with high honors. William Tyler Melling was awarded first place in the College Freshmen Men category, Adam Rogers took second place in the College Sophomore Men category, and Amanda Merrill received third place in the College Freshmen Women category.
Two students of Professor Carol Ann Modesitt were also awarded high honors. Theora Hansen took second place in the College Junior Women category, and Elise Read received an honorable mention in the College Freshmen Women category.
Three students of Assistant Professor Lawrence Johnson were also honored at NATS. J.P. Kentros was awarded second place in the Musical Theater Men category and third place in the College Senior Men category, Sarah Lummus received second place in the College Senior Women category, Katie Robinson took second place in the College Freshmen Women category, as well as third place in the Musical Theater Women category.
Over the past three years, more than 35 SUU music students have taken home high honors at NATS conferences. Music students study under the direction of our outstanding Music Faculty that have an exceptional
combination of both teaching and performing expertise. SUU students have won state, regional, and national recognition for their efforts, both at SUU and after graduation, and have gone on to teach music and pursue professional performance careers. (Photo: SUU music students performing in Too Many Sopranos)
Dr. Keith Bradshaw will direct the Heritage Choir of St. George, Utah at the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake City for the Mormon Battalion Flag Day Celebration. The concert will be rebroadcast at a later date. Keith will also compose a new piece of music for the Orchestra of Southern Utah which will be performed during the 2008-09 season.
Assistant Professor Lawrence Johnson will be performing the lead role of Gabriel von Eisenstein in Johann Strauss' opera, Die Fledermaus in late July. The unique summer festival, "Music by the Lake”, is in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin where many audience members attend the performances by boat! Mr. Johnson will also perform several solo and ensemble pieces in the Dedication Gala of a new pavilion at the same festival in late June.
Dr. Kirill Gliadkovsky and Dr. Anna Gliadkovskaya will be touring in Southern California at the beginning of May as a duo-piano team. Their performances will be for the Concert Series at Westwood Hills Christian Church in Los Angeles and for a Keyboard Club Concert Series at Leisure World in Laguna Woods, CA.
Professor Carol Ann Modesitt plans to attend the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) National Conference in Nashville in July.
Dr. Joel Neves will be a participant in the Cadaques International Conducting Competition in Barcelona, Spain the week of May 31 through June 8.
Dr. Patrick Roulet was featured in a front-page story of the Cedar City News on May 13, 2008 for his work with a fifth grade class at Fiddlers Canyon Elementary School. Dr. Roulet has been working with students teaching them African music and history. The students actively participated in making music while learning about the culture and tradition of Ghana. (Photo: Patrick Roulet teaching Fiddlers Canyon 5th graders)
Dr. Mark Stickney will be working as the production manager for the Newport Music Festival in Newport, Rhode Island for the month of July. It will be his 20th season at the Festival.
This spring, Dr. Virginia Stitt was a participant in the 4th Annual English Horn Master Classes of Patrick McFarland (Atlanta Symphony), Merrill Greenburg (Israel Philharmonic), and Sidney Rosenberg (Philadelphia Orchestra, retired). This August she will participate in the Master Class of Thomas Stacy, English Hornist of the New York Philharmonic.
Associate Professor Xun Sun will be teaching a Conducting Master Class in Hunan, China this summer. While in China, he will act as a guest conductor for Hubei Opera and Ballet Theatre Orchestra.
Chad Baker, Music Education (07), will be the band director at Hurricane Middle School and music keyboard teacher at Fossil Ridge Middle School in St. George.
Kelly Ball, Music Education (08), has accepted a position as Band Director and Music Teacher at Delta Middle School.
Olivia Biddle, Music (05), is working on her Masters in Music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.
Kristin Briggs, Music Education (06), and Andrew Briggs, Music Education (06), will attend Arizona State University this fall 2008 to pursue their Masters degrees in Voice. Both will be receiving full tuition scholarships while at ASU.
Crystal Kennard Liddiard, Music (07), is teaching voice in Boston at The Royal Academy of Arts.
Jessica Searle, Music (07), will be singing as Mabel in Pirates of Penzance at the Capitol Hill Arts Center in Washington, D.C. in August 2008.
Michael Winslow, Music Education (04), has accepted the Band Director position at the new Desert Hills High School in St. George.
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