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2011 - 2012 Releases
02.08.12
Pianists will be “Russian” around the keyboard during upcoming recital
February 8, 2012
For Immediate Release
Pianists will be “Russian” around the keyboard during upcoming recital
Note to media: For additional information, contact the Hastings College Department of Music at (402) 461-7448.
(Hastings, Neb.) – On Sunday, February 12, at 3:00 p.m. in Perkins Auditorium of the Fuhr Hall of Music on the Hastings College Campus (723 E. 9th St.), faculty members from Hastings College and the University of Nebraska-Kearney will perform Russian music for four hands. Dr. Jonathan Sokasits, Professor of Music at HC, and Dr. Nathan Bruckner, Professor of Music at UNK, will showcase their talents through works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Arensky and Rachmaninoff. The performance is free to the public.
Bio for Dr. Jonathan Sokasits
Jonathan Sokasits, NCTM, is Professor of Piano at Hastings College, where he teaches studio piano and class piano, piano literature, piano pedagogy, and chamber music. Dr. Sokasits holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Sokasits is an active solo and collaborative recitalist. He is a member of the artists’ rosters for the Nebraska Arts Council Touring Artists Program and the Heartland Arts Fund/Mid-America Arts Alliance, and is a regular presenter at conventions of professional organizations such as the Music Teachers National Association and the College Music Society. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras and wind ensembles, and recorded Karel Husa’s Concertino for Piano and Wind Ensemble under the supervision of the composer. Dr. Sokasits appears on Mark Custom Records (with the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble and the Ithaca Children’s Chorus) and Albany Records (with flutist Leonard Garrison). Sokasits has performed with the Chiara String Quartet, the Oakwood Chamber Players, the Petrella percussion and piano duo, the Lincoln Symphony Third Chair Chamber Players, and numerous faculty colleagues and students.
Recent significant performances for Dr. Sokasits include: a recital and master class tour to universities in New Zealand; a lecture-recital at the Rhodes International Rachmaninoff Conference; and appearances as featured recitalist, master class teacher, and adjudicator for the inaugural Be?parmak International Piano Festival at Eastern Mediterranean University in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
A devotee of contemporary music, Dr. Sokasits has worked with composers Christian Berg, Karel Husa, John Psathas, Christopher Rouse, and Dana Wilson, whose set of piano pieces, Persona, were commissioned by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association and given their premiere performance by Sokasits. Dr. Sokasits recently was honored as a national MTNA Foundation Fellow. In the summers he continues to serve on the piano faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan.
Bio for Dr. Nathan Buckner
Nathan Buckner joined the UNK music faculty in 1997. Buckner has appeared throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and Latin-America as a soloist and chamber musician. Recent performances include multi-recital tours of Taiwan and Mexico; recitals in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Belarus, and Slovenia; and two UNK multi-recital series: "The Nine Mature Piano Sonatas of Franz Schubert" (2007), and "The Ten Sonatas for Piano & Violin of Ludwig van Beethoven" with violinist Ting-Lan Chen (2009). Other American performances include solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall and the Kennedy Center, as well as chamber performances with the DaCapo Chamber Players at Merkin Hall, and Washington's Contemporary Music Forum at the Corcoran Gallery. He has appeared summers as artist and teacher at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp: Michigan (2003-2006), Delmarva Piano Festival: Delaware (1992-2010), and Shandong University Summer Session: Weihai, China (2008). He serves as pianist for the UNK Faculty Piano Trio. Buckner's editions of the piano works of nineteenth century American composer Philip Antony Corri are published by Kallisti Music Press of Philadelphia, and are reviewed in Notes: Journal of the Music Library Association; his article on the composer appears in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
A native of Eugene, Oregon, Mr. Buckner holds a B.M. from The Juilliard School, an M.M. from Indiana University and a D.M.A. from University of Maryland. He studied piano with Edward Auer, Shoshana Cohen, Olegna Fuschi, Thomas Schumacher, and Beveridge Webster; and early keyboard practice with Albert Fuller. At UNK, he teaches applied piano, piano literature, and core curricula. His piano students have gone on to successfully pursue graduate and undergraduate piano performance degrees as scholarship/fellowship students at Indiana University, University of Maryland, University of New Mexico, Ohio University, and SUNY Purchase Conservatory; his studio has produced MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition state winners, as well as a national finalist.
A spirit of excellence has long been the hallmark of the Hastings College music experience. Hastings College students and faculty have been making music from the beginning of the College in 1882. Hastings College is recognized as a National Liberal Arts College in the U.S. News and World Report annual “America’s Best Colleges” issue and a Best Midwestern College by Princeton Review. The Hastings College Department of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and also was named an All-Steinway School, one of only 82 worldwide.
The Department of Music offers a full range of vocal and instrumental opportunities for all Hastings College students. Major ensembles and small groups travel regularly, making special appearances at music conferences, schools, and churches. Vocal ensembles at Hastings College include the renowned Hastings College Choir, Men’s Chorus, HC Singers (treble voices), Spectrum vocal chamber ensembles, along with other special smaller groups. Instrumental ensembles include the Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Marching Band; Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Chamber Orchestra, Brass, and Percussion Ensembles, and the Bell Choir. The department serves as the permanent residence of the South Central Nebraska Children’s Chorale; the Nebraska State High School Honor Choir, Band, and Orchestra; and the Hastings Symphony Orchestra.
Music students can earn a Bachelor of Music degree with majors in applied performance, music education, and piano pedagogy. A Bachelor of Arts degree in music with an emphasis in performance, elementary education, music history or sacred music is also available. Hastings College offers a Master of Arts in Teaching with emphasis in music. In addition, the department sponsors student chapters of Sigma Alpha Iota, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Music Educators National Conference, and Music Teachers National Association.
02.08.12
Pianists will be “Russian” around the keyboard during upcoming recital
February 8, 2012
For Immediate Release
Pianists will be “Russian” around the keyboard during upcoming recital
Note to media: For additional information, contact the Hastings College Department of Music at (402) 461-7448.
(Hastings, Neb.) – On Sunday, February 12, at 3:00 p.m. in Perkins Auditorium of the Fuhr Hall of Music on the Hastings College Campus (723 E. 9th St.), faculty members from Hastings College and the University of Nebraska-Kearney will perform Russian music for four hands. Dr. Jonathan Sokasits, Professor of Music at HC, and Dr. Nathan Bruckner, Professor of Music at UNK, will showcase their talents through works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Arensky and Rachmaninoff. The performance is free to the public.
Bio for Dr. Jonathan Sokasits
Jonathan Sokasits, NCTM, is Professor of Piano at Hastings College, where he teaches studio piano and class piano, piano literature, piano pedagogy, and chamber music. Dr. Sokasits holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Sokasits is an active solo and collaborative recitalist. He is a member of the artists’ rosters for the Nebraska Arts Council Touring Artists Program and the Heartland Arts Fund/Mid-America Arts Alliance, and is a regular presenter at conventions of professional organizations such as the Music Teachers National Association and the College Music Society. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras and wind ensembles, and recorded Karel Husa’s Concertino for Piano and Wind Ensemble under the supervision of the composer. Dr. Sokasits appears on Mark Custom Records (with the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble and the Ithaca Children’s Chorus) and Albany Records (with flutist Leonard Garrison). Sokasits has performed with the Chiara String Quartet, the Oakwood Chamber Players, the Petrella percussion and piano duo, the Lincoln Symphony Third Chair Chamber Players, and numerous faculty colleagues and students.
Recent significant performances for Dr. Sokasits include: a recital and master class tour to universities in New Zealand; a lecture-recital at the Rhodes International Rachmaninoff Conference; and appearances as featured recitalist, master class teacher, and adjudicator for the inaugural Be?parmak International Piano Festival at Eastern Mediterranean University in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
A devotee of contemporary music, Dr. Sokasits has worked with composers Christian Berg, Karel Husa, John Psathas, Christopher Rouse, and Dana Wilson, whose set of piano pieces, Persona, were commissioned by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association and given their premiere performance by Sokasits. Dr. Sokasits recently was honored as a national MTNA Foundation Fellow. In the summers he continues to serve on the piano faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan.
Bio for Dr. Nathan Buckner
Nathan Buckner joined the UNK music faculty in 1997. Buckner has appeared throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and Latin-America as a soloist and chamber musician. Recent performances include multi-recital tours of Taiwan and Mexico; recitals in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Belarus, and Slovenia; and two UNK multi-recital series: "The Nine Mature Piano Sonatas of Franz Schubert" (2007), and "The Ten Sonatas for Piano & Violin of Ludwig van Beethoven" with violinist Ting-Lan Chen (2009). Other American performances include solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall and the Kennedy Center, as well as chamber performances with the DaCapo Chamber Players at Merkin Hall, and Washington's Contemporary Music Forum at the Corcoran Gallery. He has appeared summers as artist and teacher at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp: Michigan (2003-2006), Delmarva Piano Festival: Delaware (1992-2010), and Shandong University Summer Session: Weihai, China (2008). He serves as pianist for the UNK Faculty Piano Trio. Buckner's editions of the piano works of nineteenth century American composer Philip Antony Corri are published by Kallisti Music Press of Philadelphia, and are reviewed in Notes: Journal of the Music Library Association; his article on the composer appears in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
A native of Eugene, Oregon, Mr. Buckner holds a B.M. from The Juilliard School, an M.M. from Indiana University and a D.M.A. from University of Maryland. He studied piano with Edward Auer, Shoshana Cohen, Olegna Fuschi, Thomas Schumacher, and Beveridge Webster; and early keyboard practice with Albert Fuller. At UNK, he teaches applied piano, piano literature, and core curricula. His piano students have gone on to successfully pursue graduate and undergraduate piano performance degrees as scholarship/fellowship students at Indiana University, University of Maryland, University of New Mexico, Ohio University, and SUNY Purchase Conservatory; his studio has produced MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition state winners, as well as a national finalist.
A spirit of excellence has long been the hallmark of the Hastings College music experience. Hastings College students and faculty have been making music from the beginning of the College in 1882. Hastings College is recognized as a National Liberal Arts College in the U.S. News and World Report annual “America’s Best Colleges” issue and a Best Midwestern College by Princeton Review. The Hastings College Department of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and also was named an All-Steinway School, one of only 82 worldwide.
The Department of Music offers a full range of vocal and instrumental opportunities for all Hastings College students. Major ensembles and small groups travel regularly, making special appearances at music conferences, schools, and churches. Vocal ensembles at Hastings College include the renowned Hastings College Choir, Men’s Chorus, HC Singers (treble voices), Spectrum vocal chamber ensembles, along with other special smaller groups. Instrumental ensembles include the Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Marching Band; Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Chamber Orchestra, Brass, and Percussion Ensembles, and the Bell Choir. The department serves as the permanent residence of the South Central Nebraska Children’s Chorale; the Nebraska State High School Honor Choir, Band, and Orchestra; and the Hastings Symphony Orchestra.
Music students can earn a Bachelor of Music degree with majors in applied performance, music education, and piano pedagogy. A Bachelor of Arts degree in music with an emphasis in performance, elementary education, music history or sacred music is also available. Hastings College offers a Master of Arts in Teaching with emphasis in music. In addition, the department sponsors student chapters of Sigma Alpha Iota, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Music Educators National Conference, and Music Teachers National Association.
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