Quality quartet
Students make their musical marks

Four of the top students in the Department of Music- Tomoko Azuma, Adrienne Harding, Megan Jenkins and Amelia Nagoski-have demonstrated high levels of musical talent and serious commitment to their art.

"They have a great deal of energy," Elaine Brenchley, music, said, "which is very clear when you meet or speak with any of them. They're extremely dedicated to their work. They're like sponges; they keep taking on more and more challenges, which originate from within themselves."

In the following profiles, this quartet of talented students share their interests and experiences.

Tomoko Azuma

Harvey Price, a long-term faculty member, has seen his share of talented music students. Many of them, he said, have gone on to become full-time professionals. But, he added, 19-year-old marimba performance major Tomoko Azuma "is a once-in-a-lifetime student."

Tell Tokyo-born Azuma that people think of her in these terms, and she smiles but is taken aback by the compliment-even though she has won several competitions, including the Delaware Young Musicians Contest and the Student Concerto Competition.

"The more you learn, the less you know," Azuma said. "The higher I go in my playing, the more flaws I see in my music."

Price, who has been teaching her since she began playing the marimba in the eighth grade, said, "Just hearing her play right off the bat, I knew she was very bright. She has a lot of innate desire to succeed and the rare combination of being very talented and driven."

The grande dame of the marimba, Keiko Abe, sparked Azuma's motivation. After listening to one of Abe's pieces, "Dream of the Cherry Blossoms," Azuma said she was instilled with the passion to become a more serious marimba student.

A high note in the student's career was studying with Abe during a trip to Japan the summer after her freshman year. Azuma's mother had orchestrated the audience for her daughter. It was a daunting experience for Azuma, but despite the language barrier, the lessons were fun, she said.

"It was quite an honor," Azuma said. "It was like going to the Juilliard of Japan."

That rare lifetime experience boosted Azuma's musicality up a notch, Price said. Azuma likes to play a variety of music-classical, contemporary and popular on the marimba, but she mostly enjoys performing 20th-century compositions. Yet, it is Beethoven, with his drive and energy, she said, who really speaks to her when she's seeking inner peace and serenity. Eventually, Azuma said she wants to teach at the university level, although performing will always be a part of her repertoire.

"I want people to know I love the instrument that I'm playing," she said, "and that I'm willing to dedicate the rest of my life to the instrument."

Adrienne Harding

Adrienne Harding has encountered her share of obstacles while pursuing her musical career. The 21-year-old Harding began playing the violin in fourth grade at Richardson Park Elementary School in Wilmington. Two years later, Harding switched to the flute. As a high school sophomore, she auditioned late for the Governor's School For Excellence Program. While most of her competitors had taken private lessons, Harding had not, but she still was accepted. Even now she doesn't own a flute but practices on one belonging to a friend.

"Money issues made music impractical," the senior performance major said. "Many times, it looked like it wasn't going to work."

When Eileen Grycky, music, first met Harding during that week of the Governor's School, she knew she had a diamond in the rough, and Grycky said she was thrilled when Harding chose to study at Delaware.

"She had some catching up to do and absolutely blossomed. Adrienne's a very hard worker," Grycky, Harding's private flute instructor, said. "She absolutely loves music. She loves what she does and that comes through in her playing. She has a wonderful music sense-dramatic and sensitive, an especially wonderful stage presence. She really communicates with the audience."

Harding, who is most comfortable on the stage, calls herself, "incredibly shy and introverted," but playing the flute is "a natural way to express myself."

One piece that Harding said she feels the most emotionally connected with is the French composition, Hue Fantaise, with which she has won a couple of competitions.

Harding teaches at the University Community Music School. In 1998, Harding was the College Division Winner of the Newark Symphony Orchestra's Young Musicians Award, and she placed second in the Delaware Contest for Young Musicians. This year, she placed third in the Austrian-American Music Competition.

"My mother raised me with confidence," Harding said. "If I was meant to fail, I would have never had made it this far. I think about that everyday."

Harding also credits Grycky,

her sole inspiration for the past seven years. "She was my backbone," Harding said. "I

would never have thought I could do this. She never let me think that I couldn't do it. Whatever comes of my life, I'll never be able to thank her enough."

When it comes to Harding's future, she knows exactly what she wants. She wishes to follow in Grycky's footsteps and teach privately at a college while also performing. But Harding's admiration of her mentor is not one-sided.

"Adrienne is an unusually positive person; upbeat," Grycky said. "She brightens up my day whenever I see her."

Megan Jenkins

For junior Megan Jenkins, passions for music and literature eventually converged academically. But, in her quest for an honors degree, the two have combined in yet another love-opera.

A theory and composition major with a minor in English, Jenkins is already at work on her senior honors thesis. The project

involves the creation of a

computer-based multimedia lesson where students can embark on a comparative journey between Verdi's opera Othello and

Shakespeare's play of the same

name. Franco Zeffirelli's film of

the opera will be used for the comparison.

"The most exciting thing about the project," Jenkins said, "is that students will be using this for years."

Othello will become the third instructional program of its kind in the music department-joining the classics La Boheme and The Magic Flute. But this new program will offer a greater depth, Jenkins said.

Larry Peterson, music, said the lesson will be usable in at least three music classes, including an honors music course, "Introduction to Opera" and a music history course. "It's a first for the University Honors Program-a project instead of a paper, " Peterson said. "I hope we will see other students consider this kind of honors thesis."

The model will guide the operatic novice through four areas or goals of learning-Verdi's music, the librettist Boito's words, Zeffirelli's direction and, lastly, a comparison of the play to the opera.

Often during the instruction, information, such as an aria, will be repeated several times throughout the lesson. "The repetition is good for students," Jenkins said. "The more you repeat something, the better you learn it."

Hypermedia is an excellent way to learn about opera, Jenkins said, because students are active participants. A grant has been obtained for the lesson to be converted to a digitalized video disc.

Jenkins' project was happenstance. She became interested in pursuing an honors degree in music and sought out Peterson to advise her thesis. Jenkins had recently completed a software analysis assignment in his class, and it was Peterson who suggested the lesson concept.

Because of the amount of work required for the thesis, Jenkins was permitted to start the summer before her junior year. The Arts and Humanities Summer Scholars Program in the Undergraduate Research Department provided monetary backing for the flutist to begin her research.

"It was wonderful," Jenkins said. "It was the best summer I ever had."

With the lesson currently in the design phase, Jenkins spends about 40 hours a week on the project. Despite the challenges of learning about new software, this has proved to be a valuable experience for the New Jersey native.

"I love the opportunity of getting an honors degree," she said. "I love that I"m so familiar with this opera and it makes me want to be more familiar with others."

Amelia Nagoski

Amelia Nagoski remembers standing in front of the mirror and waving her arms. Even at the age of 13, she knew she wanted to be a choral conductor. In the past year, she's had plenty of practice in the position by conducting classes, two summer workshops and a local church choir.

In February, Nagoski conducted a much larger group when she competed in the National Student Conducting Awards at the American Choral Director's Association Convention. Nagoski was one of eight undergraduate semifinalists who performed at the Chicago meeting.

The senior music education major was chosen from hundreds of applicants who submitted a 10- to 12-minute tape conducting two arrangements with choirs of their own choosing.

"It's performance and history and theory all wrapped up in one," she said. "You have to really understand the piece to teach it to someone. Conducting is everything about music."

Paul Head, music, said Nagoski has proved herself to be an effective educator and competent conductor. He attributes Nagoski's success to being assertive, goal oriented and knowing what she wants. All of which are important qualities for a conductor to get ideas across, he added.

"Conducting is about convincing people to go someplace with you," Head said. "Conductors are charismatic leaders who are able to convey their vision to the public."

And that is exactly what appeals to Nagoski about conducting. "I like the leadership," she said. "I'm a control freak. You have to be, to be a conductor. I like the intellectual aspect of it, too."

Nagoski admits an obsession with music. She said that even while drifting off to sleep, she's thinking of what color an articulation might be or some other way to make someone understand music on their terms.

Singing since the age of 6, Nagoski was part of several junior and senior All-State choirs in Delaware. She also will be inducted into the Phi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society this month.

Musicality runs high in her family, too. Her father plays the guitar and one brother composes electronic music. Her mother, who has taught piano and voice, is a music teacher at Friends School in Wilmington. In fact, the same year her mother received her music degree from UD, Nagoski entered the University.

A choral music education major, Nagoski said the study of voice and conducting go hand-in-hand. "You teach through choral sound," Nagoski said. "I think it makes me a better conductor."

In addition to Head, Nagoski has high praise for Melanie DeMent, with whom Nagoski began studying voice while in high school. Nagoski acknowledged DeMent's intuitiveness, her understanding of the physiology of the voice and her generosity of time.

"Music is an active thing and about paying attention," she said. "You must be a participant."

-Paula Kelly

---