Suren Bagratuni, professor of cello, area co-chair of strings, member of the NOBILIS Piano Trio, performed at the Reno (Nev.) Chamber Music Festival, Music in the Vineyards festival, International festivals “Virtuosi” (Brazil), Qingdao (China), Pontlevoy (France). His CDs Bach Suites and Music for Cello and Piano were reviewed in Fanfare and American Record Guide. He gave recitals at Cold Spring Harbor Lab (N.Y.), Longy School of Music (Cambridge, Mass.), Cleveland Institute of Music, Salle Cortot in Paris, Montagnana and Este (Italy), Pretoria, Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa). He performed with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Philharmonic in South Africa, the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, and Alexandria (La.) symphony orchestras. He served as artistic advisor for the St. Gallen International Festival (Switzerland), artistic director of Cello Plus, newly appointed artistic director of Michigan Chamber Music Society and as a jury member for the Byrd International String Competition (Mich.). He taught master classes at the Australian National Academy of Music (Melbourne), Daejong University (Korea), Yerevan State Conservatory (Armenia), International Festival Qingdao (China), Taipei (Taiwan), Peabody Conservatory and Cleveland Institute of Music. He commissioned and performed Cello Concerto by Vache Sharafian for the Sesquicentennial Celebrations of MSU.

Dmitri Berlinsky, assistant professor of violin, recently performed with St. Petersburg Philharmonic in Russia and on tour in Germany, McGill Chamber Orchestra in Montreal, UNAM Symphony in Mexico City, Miami, Bogotá, and Kalamazoo Symphonies, New Philharmonic of New Jersey, Puerto Rico Symphony at the Casals Festival, and Jupiter Chamber Players in New York. He also taught and performed at the Schlern International Festival and International Academy of Music in Italy, Shuan Yin Festival in Taiwan and gave master classes at Temple University in Philadelphia, Roosevelt University in Chicago and Kalamazoo College. He regularly directed and performed with the International Chamber Soloists – an MSU based string ensemble, and led them on an acclaimed tour of Costa Rica and Mexico. He gave recitals in New York, Washington D.C., Duluth, Florida, Bahamas, and Taipei.

Wesley J. Broadnax, assistant professor of music and assistant director of bands, conducts MSU Symphony and Concert Bands and Chamber Winds. He was conductor of the High School Honors Band (Music Festival) at St. Ambrose University (Iowa) and conductor of the Greater Lutheran Honors Band (Mich.). He served as pre-festival clinician/adjudicator for Traverse City, Forest Hills, and East Kentwood band programs, Detroit School of the Arts, Detroit, and the State Band and Orchestra Festival in Standish (Mich.). He conducted the second Michigan performance of Maryland composer Joel Puckett’s Ping Pang Pong, the consortium premiere of Michael Weinstein’s Suite of Dances, and the world premiere performance of New York composer Dana Wilson’s The Avatar: Concerto for Bassoon and Chamber Ensemble, with bassoon soloist Michael Kroth. He guest conducted at Forest Hills Public Schools in a combined orchestra concert performance.

Winston Jack Budrow, professor of double bass and area co-chair of strings, was principal bass at the Carolina Ballet and with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. He taught a master class at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He wrote the article “A New Way of Listening” in the American String Teachers Association National Journal. He serves on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp as a Valade Fellow in double bass. He performed with the North Carolina Symphony for eight subscription concerts and performed in a recital with Walter Verdehr. He served as principal bass in four concerts with the St. Stephen’s Chamber Orchestra. He was editor of the article “Different Strokes” for the International Society of Bassist.

Nathaniel Chaitkin, assistant professor of chamber music, performed a chamber music concert at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. with the Washington Chamber Players and with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra for the Washington Opera’s 50th Anniversary Gala. He taught at the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival in Oneonta (N.Y.).

Robert Dan, professor of viola, performed in Japan with Chamber Music Concerts in Tokyo, Osaka, Tenri, and Kyoto. He performed at the Manitou Music Festival and at Concordia College.

Jan Eberle, associate professor of oboe and a member of Spectral Trio, was adjudicator at the Meg Quigley Vivaldi International Bassoon Concerto Competition in Austin (Texas) and at the SAI National Concerto Competition preliminary round in Chautauqua (N.Y.). She performed and taught a master class at Arizona State University. She appeared in a feature article in the International Double Reed Journal. She, with Spectral Trio, premiered three works at the International Double Reed Society Convention in Austin, Women’s League Chamber Series (Chautauqua, N.Y.), Jamestown Concert Association Series (N.Y.), “Sampler Concert” Live Radio Broadcast (Vt.), and the Hill and Hollow Festival. She appeared on NPR Live radio broadcast, VPR Vermont Public Radio, PBS National TV Broadcast, alone and with Spectral Trio. She performed during the John Mack Camp International Symposium and Lexington Chamber Festival Concert. She presented the paper “The Making of a Star! Simple Ways to Improve Your Oboist,” at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. She also served on a “Psychology of Auditions” panel at the Symphony Sessions at Chautauqua School of Music.

Molly Fillmore, assistant professor of voice (mezzo-soprano), returned to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center as the alto soloist for the Mozart Requiem and Haydn’s Paukenmesse. She had her debut with the Seattle Symphony. She performed as the mezzo soloist in the Verdi Requiem at Smith College, the United States Naval Academy, and with the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra. She performed and taught a master class at Shenyang Conservatory of Music (China). She sang the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo with the Chattanooga Opera and was reviewed by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Richard Fracker, assistant professor of voice (tenor) and area chair of vocal arts, performed as principal soloist in Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera, and performed three gala concerts in Norway. He received an honorary “master teacher” and guest professor award from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music (China) and, along with Haijing Fu, co-founded and co-directed the MSU-Shenyang Collaboration. He adjudicated the local Federation of Music Teachers Voice Competition and the Black Women’s Business Association vocal competition for African American students. He performed and worked with students at Schoolcraft College, Jackson Symphony, and Jackson Choral. He performed and taught a master class at University of Michigan NATS chapter. He adjudicated a concerto competition at Bowling Green State University.

Janine Gaboury-Sly, associate professor of horn and a member of the faculty quintet Beaumont Brass, adjudicated at the International Horn Competition of America. At the Southwest Horn Symposium at the University of Nevada, she gave a solo performance, a performance injury presentation, and a guided warm-up session. She is a member of the International Federation of Musicians Executive Board, Local 56 in Grand Rapids, representing Lansing-area musicians. She was invited to teach horn at the Interlochen Arts Camp All-State Orchestra

Derrick Gardner, assistant professor of jazz trumpet, performed with Professors of Jazz at MSU, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He is a member of the Burgess Gardner Jazz Orchestra and the Gerald Wilson Jazz Orchestra. He performed with the Harry Connick, Jr. Big Band “Only You” Tour throughout New York, Nevada, and California. An interview with him appeared in Jazz Improv. He toured Europe with the Roman Schwaller Sextet “Thurgovian Suite” and with the Brad Leali Organ Quartet. He performed with the Harry Connick Jr. Big Band at the Fredrick P. Rose Hall in New York. He performed with Jon Faddis at Detroit’s Max Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and Detroit Symphony Hall and with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Grand Opening Festival “One Family of Jazz,” which aired on PBS Television. He performed at the Generations 2004 International Jazz Workshop (Switzerland).

Leon Gregorian, professor of music, director of orchestras, and head of the graduate orchestral conducting program, guest conducted the Traverse City Honors Orchestra and conducted at the Connecticut Orchestral Festival. He guest conducted and taught master classes in The People’s Republic of China, Zhejiang and Nanning Symphony Orchestras (China), and at the Sydney Conservatorium (Australia). He also served as adjudicator for the Orchestral Clinic (N.C.).

Caroline Hartig, assistant professor of clarinet, was awarded the Intramural Research Grant Program grant at MSU. She was also a member of the Clarinet Faculty All-State Band and Orchestra at Interlochen Center for the Arts and was a clinician at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. Her most recent CD, Clarinet Brilliante II, was released by Centaur Records. She performed as soloist at the 2005 International ClarinetFest in Tama (Tokyo) Japan where she gave the world premiere of Chalumeau for Solo Clarinet, by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom. She presented recitals and master classes at Oklahoma State University, Western Michigan University, Henderson University, and Eastern Kentucky University, and completed a recording residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada). She was heard on NPR’s Morning Edition and was an adjudicator for the 2006 International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition held in Atlanta.

Melanie Helton, associate professor of voice (soprano) and director of opera theatre, was favorably reviewed in Opera News for her work in the American premiere of Francisco Conti’s Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena and Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon at the Caramoor International Festival of Music. Other solo work included Dvorak Stabat Mater with the DuPage Chorale in Glen Ellyn (Ill.) and a recital in Bregenz (Austria). She performed and taught a master class at Shenyang Conservatory of Music (China). She also sang the world premiere of Ricky Gordon’s orchestral song cycle, and flowers pick themselves, commissioned for her by the MSU Sesquicentennial Commission.

Jere Hutcheson, professor of composition, completed Reflections - Caricatures V, which was premiered by the MSU Symphony Band in 2006. Hutcheson has now completed 45 musical caricatures. The Carmel (Ind.) High School Wind Ensemble performed Suite of Caricatures at the 2005 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and the Carlsbad (Calif.) High School Wind Ensemble performed several Caricatures at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C., in 2006. Hutcheson appeared as guest composer and lecturer at the Governor’s School East in Raleigh (N.C.), the University of Southern Mississippi, Wayne State University, and Western Michigan University. The Governor’s School East Wind Ensemble premiered the gamelan-inspired composition Desert Flower, and the MSU Concert Band gave the Michigan premiere. Hutcheson’s trilogy of pieces for tuba and piano, Trois Pièces, was given its world premiere by musicians in the Korean Society for New Music in 2005, in Seoul, Korea. The Ride (with a text by the composer) was premiered by the MSU Women’s Chamber Ensemble and Musique 21. Concertino for Orchestra was commissioned and premiered by the MSU Philharmonic Orchestra. The MSU University Chorale commissioned and premiered Mist of Tears on texts of Jean Toomer, and performed two movements, Beehive and Cotton Song, in Detroit’s Orchestra Hall and at the ACDA Regional Conference in Chicago. The Nobilis Piano Trio commissioned and premiered A Good Old-Fashioned Trio in 2006. Other recently completed compositions by Hutcheson include Sunrise, Sunset, a work based on the Korean Samul Nori folk tradition of drumming, and Games, a concerto for clarinet and wind ensemble composed for Caroline Hartig. Flutist Danilo Mezzadri premiered Hutcheson’s Divertimento for Solo Flute, Winds, and Percussion with the University of Southern Mississippi Wind Ensemble in 2006.

Richard Illman, associate professor of trumpet and a member of the faculty quintet Beaumont Brass, performed in the Millennium Brass Quintet and was a featured soloist in Estenfeld (Germany) Festival and Big Band Concerts. He was lead trumpet in the Bijou Orchestra and in the Thom Jayne Band. He taught a master class at Centre College and was featured soloist in the Advocate Brass Band concert in Danville (Ky.). He critiqued and conducted a concert by the Motor City Brass Band. He is the on-going exhibits coordinator for the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Harlan Jennings, associate professor of voice (baritone), wrote the article “Her Majesty’s Opera Company in Kansas City” in The Opera Quarterly and the article “The National Opera Company in Western Missouri, 1887” in On Bunker’s Hill: Essays on Music in Honor of J. Bunker Clark. He was an adjudicator for the Elizabeth Gardner Vocal Competition, Birmingham (Mich.), and for the Charlotte Ruppel Memorial Voice Competition. He, along with Anne Nispel, gave a joint recital at the Northport Community Arts Center (Mich.).

Raphael Jimenez, assistant professor of conducting and associate conductor of MSU orchestras, conducted the Zheijang Symphony in China and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Perú. He conducted the world premier of the song cycle and flowers pick themselves by Ricky Ian Gordon. He was selected as one of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies’ (CLACS) outstanding faculty. His script, Viaje al Fondo de Una Orquesta, was performed by the Gran Mariscal de Ayachucho Symphony Orchestra at the Romulo Gallegos Center for Latin American Studies Hall in Venezuela. He was advisor to the Children’s Ballet Theater of Michigan.

Isaac Kalumbu, assistant professor of ethnomusicology, performed and presented the paper “The Contribution of Peter Tosh to the Liberation Struggles in Southern Africa” at the fifth annual Peter Tosh Symposium at the University of the West Indies in Mona (Jamaica). He was invited to perform at the Annual Reggae in the Hills Concert in St. Catherine (Jamaica). He evaluated the Ethno-musicology Program of the Zimbabwe College of Music. He reviewed the article, “Christian Music as a Discipline: a Religious Appraisal of Christian Music in Nigeria Today,” for the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. He is on the programming committee for the Michigan Folk Festival, and he is a liaison to the University of the West Indies.

John Kratus, professor of music education, served as educational consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense and traveled to Tokyo, Atlanta, and Bingen, Germany, to provide training for music educators working in schools on American military bases throughout the world. He presented the following papers: “Fear and Embrace of Students’ Original Compositions” at the Asia Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research in Seattle; “Music Education at the Tipping Point” at the MayDay Group Symposium in Vancouver (Canada); “Songwriting: A New Direction of Secondary Music Education” and “Future Directions for Music Creativity Research” at the MENC National Biennial Conference in Salt Lake City; “Rethinking Ensemble Teaching: New Ideas From the Garage” at the Conference of Music Teaching and Learning in Oakland (Mich.); “Leadership and Identity in Informal Music Ensembles” at the International Conference on Music Collaboration (Milton Keynes, England) and other presentations at the Philosophy of Music Education International Symposium in Hamburg (Germany), and at the Committee for Institutional Cooperation in Bloomington (Ind.). He coordinated the annual Michigan Honors Composition Concerts for the MMEA and was elected to the executive board of the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education. He presented the paper “Development of a Measure of Creative Music Listening” at the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition in Evanston (Ill.), which was published in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Music Teaching and Learning. He coordinated and chaired the session “Interviews with Young Composers” at the Michigan Music Education In-service Conference. He is a member of the editorial board of the research journals Psychomusicology, and Action, Criticism, and Theory in Music Education, and a consultant to Oxford University Press and Indiana University Press.