NATCHITOCHES – Faculty and students from Northwestern State University will join guest artists from Louisiana Tech and the University of Louisiana at Monroe in a tribute to composer Mauricio Kagel on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Dr. John Dunn will present a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m.

Admission is free and open to the public. University COVID protocols will be in effect. Those attending are asked to wear a mask. A livestream of the concert will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream.

Kagel was an Argentinean born German composer, film maker, teacher and writer. He was renowned for the fantasy, humor and originality of his works, which often blur the distinction between musical performance and theatre, as well as the boundaries between performer and audience.

Performers are NSU student Taylor Carrell of Huntington, Texas, Northwestern State faculty Paul Christopher and Dr. Oliver Molina, Trevor Davis and Gregory Lyons of Louisiana Tech, Mel Mobley of the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Born and raised in Huntington, Texas, Carrell is currently a senior music education major at Northwestern State. He is a member of the Spring 2022 NSU Wind Symphony. Taylor Carrell currently studies tuba with Dr. Masahito Kuroda.

Christopher received his Bachelor of Music Education from the New England Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Memphis. In 2005, Christopher joined the string faculty at Northwestern State where he currently serves as associate professor of violoncello and music theory. He has appeared as clinician, adjudicator and guest artist throughout the United States and internationally. Christopher’s articles have been published in American String Teacher, Bass World, the Jacques Offenbach Society Newsletter and Strings. In 2017 he was awarded the Mildred Hart Bailey Research Award in recognition of his exceptional scholarship as a faculty member at NSU.

Davis is assistant professor of single reeds and director of jazz activities at Louisiana Tech. He is a Silverstein Artist and is an active clinician, adjudicator and performer. Since moving to Louisiana, he subs often in the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. In the summers, he is a clarinet and saxophone performer for the New Music on the Bayou new music festival.

Dunn is an assistant professor of fine arts at Northwestern State, where he also serves as the course steward for the core curriculum Fine Arts courses. At NSU, he has taught fine arts survey, music history, music for stage and screen, a history of opera, a seminar on music and disability studies, and several music theory courses. He is currently the president of the Faculty Senate and has been the faculty sponsor of the NSU Gamers’ Guild. He recently completed his doctorate at Louisiana State University in Musicology; his dissertation explored the representation of disability in the music of Alfred Hitchcock films.

Lyons teaches applied percussion, percussion ensemble, percussion methods, secondary instrumental methods, and introduction to non-western music at Louisiana Tech University where he is associate professor and assistant director of bands. Recently, he was awarded the James Alvey Smith Endowed Professorship with support funds from the Louisiana Board of Regents. He earned the BME from the Wheaton College Conservatory, the MM from Central Michigan University, and the DMA from The Ohio State University.
Mobley was named the 2019 Performing Artist of the Year by the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council. As a composer, conductor, performer and advocate of new music, he has been part of numerous premieres and festivals around the country. Serving as principal percussionist of the Monroe Symphony Orchestra and frequent performer with the Shreveport, South Arkansas, and Rapides Symphonies, Mel also performs with many chamber groups including the Implosion Percussion Group, the NMB Percussion Group, and M2.

Molina is an associate professor of music and assistant director of bands at Northwestern State. As an active percussion performer, educator, arranger, adjudicator and clinician, Molina has presented and performed at various state Day of Percussion events, PASIC, NCPP, and other music conferences and festivals. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Iowa under Dr. Dan Moore. Additionally, he has is a founding member of the Omojo Percussion Duo and the Ninkasi Percussion Group.

Caption

Faculty from three Louisiana universities will perform at a tribute concert to composer Mauricio Kagel on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Among those taking part are, from left, Northwestern State faculty Dr. John Dunn and Paul Christopher and NSU student Taylor Carrell of Henderson Texas.