This spring edition of the College of Music e-notes brings you news and updates at the conclusion of a wonderful Spring Semester. The unparalleled opportunity to hire a number of new faculty will further define the creative and collaborative range of our College. New additions include world renowned artists and scholars including a baritone in the vocal arts area, a pianist, a clarinetist in the woodwind area, a music theorist, and four faculty in the composition area who will focus on new directions in media arts and film composing. International dimensions were stretched with two fully staged and double cast operas with our colleagues from the China Conservatory of Music—one in Mandarin and the other in English, performed in both Beijing and East Lansing—commemorating a 10-year vocal arts exchange. Outreach and engagement took on a new focus at CMS-Detroit with an innovative songwriting and literacy project, “Verses,” funded with through a partnership between the College of Music, the Carhartt Corporation and Eminem’s Marshall Mathers Foundation. Finally, the academic year was brought to a substantive and ceremonial conclusion with commencement and an address by distinguished and entrepreneurial music alumnus James Roe, President and CEO of New York’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s. On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students, I express my appreciation for your interest and support of the MSU College of Music, and for being a key partner in helping us to rocket forward.

Sincerely,

James Forger
Dean, MSU College of Music