Music, Department of

By J. Cale StricklandDr. Evren Kutlay, this semester’s Martha Daniel Newell Visiting Scholar, gave a lecture-performance on the intersection between the arts and geopolitics, “Cultural Diplomacy and Music,” earlier this month.Kutlay performed 12 pieces in total, seven solo and five alongside students, staff and faculty from the Department of Music.She says the lecture-performance, which focused on the relationship between Eastern music and international relations, was the result of...

Afew years ago, if you’d told Army veteran and former microbiologist Arron Holland that he would be studying music education at Georgia College & State University, he probably would have laughed.   After 14 years in the military and an injury in Iraq—coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic—Arron was pushed out of the only field he’d known. And changed the trajectory of his life.  “Coming to campus was like I was colorblind and seeing through corrective lenses for the first time,” Arron...

Story developed by University Communications. Bryan Hall, assistant professor of music and director of orchestras at Georgia College & State University (GCSU) attended a well-known and highly-regarded conductor training program in January—and walked away with an award for best conductorship. “I wasn’t focused on the competition at all, just focused on making myself better,” said Hall, who was hired in 2022 to teach upper strings at Georgia College. “I approached it through the lens...

Story developed by University Communications. Photo Credit: Nicole Young. Caroline Miller from Suwanee, Georgia is completing her Master of Music Therapy this December. The double Bobcat worked in the Georgia College & State University (GCSU) Music Therapy Clinic as a graduate assistant since graduating with her Bachelor’s of Music Therapy in December 2020.  While there, she’s served about 80 children a week in eight special education classrooms, as well as individual clients. “I’ve...

Rafal remembers the feeling. In early 2020, Rafal, who goes by just his surname, was in the audience at an honors conference hearing his composition for saxophone quartet played by an ensemble of professional musicians. It was a turning point. “It felt like that was one of the first times that one of my pieces was actually performed,” he said. “I felt like a real composer—I felt like I had just done something in real life rather than just pretending.” But it might not have played out...

Georgia College & State University students are creating unique music and sharing it with the world. Student chamber ensemble, the Imposter Trio, and saxophonist Savannah McDowell represented Georgia College in performances at the American Single Reed Summit (ASRS) this month in Columbia, South Carolina. The American Single Reed Summit is a national conference focusing on clarinet and saxophone. The summit brings professional and student musicians together to develop connections between...

Paul McCartney once said: “I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity … to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.” That about sums up what Georgia College & State University’s annual “High School Choral Day” is all about: fellowship, collaboration, good music—and a little recruitment too. “It started off as an effort to get high school singers...

Yalonda Wright of Milledgeville, Georgia lives for musical moments. The moments when musicians are in a group setting, playing well and harmonizing.  She thought performing was her future, but volunteering and leadership opportunities have spotlighted a new path to the young star.  “Having the chance to be that leader for somebody in music: helping them develop, seeing them grow and watching them amazed at the final product and themselves for doing it led me to this,” Wright said...

Michael Kobito, '22, received more than his Master's in Music Education in May. The Georgia College graduate was also named Georgia’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. “Being a student again has helped me be a better teacher, in the sense I'm taking ideas from my professors that I enjoy and sharing them with my students,” Kobito said. “I know the other teachers of the year for the state are incredible, so I'm just proud to stand next to them and be in this profession with them.” Currently,...

Torrianna Harris, a Forsyth, Georgia, native and music major discovered the Georgia College difference.  “What I like most about this university is the freedom to be creative and expressive,” she said. “There are no limitations on how you should act or what you should be like.” Having access to a variety of classes, workshops and discussions has allowed her to learn about different people, cultures and perspectives. She’s also learned to think independently. “Because of this experience,...