The College of Fine Arts and Department of Music are excited to announce that Dr. David Edmonds will be joining our faculty this fall as the new Director of Choral Studies. Dr. Edmonds joins UNM after serving as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Montana since 2012. Under his direction the UM Chamber Chorale was invited to perform for the 2015 NAfME NW and 2016 NW ACDA Conferences—both first-time invitations for the choir.
As an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, he has held multiple leadership roles through the organization, including Montana R&R Chair for Women’s Choirs and NWACDA R&R Chair for Student Activities. In 2018, he was appointed as the ACDA National R&R Chair for Student Activities. Before his work at the University of Montana, Dr. Edmonds obtained advanced degrees in conducting from the University of North Texas and Westminster Choir College and taught high school choral music for six years in Iowa and Texas.
His original choral works and arrangements have been commissioned and recorded by schools and arts organizations in the United States and Canada and are available through Alliance Music Publications, Inc., Colla Voce Music, and Morningstar Music Publishing.
Music from the Americas presents “Scaling the Wall”
“Scaling the Wall” is a project that promotes works for flute by Canadian, American and Mexican ex-patriate composers. It seeks to showcase how contemporary composers connected to those countries have successfully bridged the political, cultural and geographic borders crossing the western 100th meridian. Featured composers’ works vary in style, instrumentation and compositional approach, but also illustrate the universality of music, regardless of nationality.
Music from the Americas presents Iracema de Andrade, cello
Brazilian cellist Iracema de Andrade is strongly committed to the music of our time. Her repertory includes pieces for solo cello, cello and electronics, as well as multimedia and improvisation.
Dr. Kristina Jacobsen, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology, releases book
The Sound of Navajo Country: Music, Language and Diné Belonging (University of North Carolina Press), examines cultural intimacy and generational nostalgia on the Navajo (Diné) Nation (click here for brief interviews in English and Italian about her research).