News Archive
May 2008:
· Cole Conservatory Alumnus wins ASCAP award
The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music is proud to announce that Ryan Brown (B.M. Composition, 2000) has been awarded the 2008 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. He will begin is Ph.D. studies at Princeton in the fall. Congratulations Ryan!
You can read a nice article about it at the ASCAP foundation here.
· Inaugural Cole Conservatory Festival May 2-12, 2008
Ten Days of Outstanding Musical Performance from the Newly Designated Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University Long Beach
Vocal Jazz Concert—Fri, May 2 at 8pm at the University Theatre
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Directed by Christine Guter. Featuring our award-winning, internationally acclaimed ensembles: Pacific Standard Time and Jazz & Tonic.
Musika Kharoshaya: An Evening of Russian Chamber Music—Fri, May 2 at 8pm at the Daniel Recital Hall
$10 gen adm $7 disc.
Guest Conductor Sergei Proskourin leads the Cole Conservatory Chamber Orchestra in an evening of music by Russian composers, Igor Beschastniy, Georgiy Sviridov, Dmitri Shoskakovich, and recent CSULB graduate, Alex Sramek.
Caribbean Extravaganza—Sat, May 3 at 2&8pm at the University Theatre
$15 gen adm $10 disc
Directed by Michael Carney. At our annual event, our 30-member Steel Drum Orchestra performs a variety of music from calypso and high-energy up-tempo soca to reggae, and salsa. The concert will also feature a special Brazilian performance by the 25-member World Percussion Group.
Piano Plus!—Sat, May 3 at 4pm at the Daniel Recital Hall
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Directed by Shun-Lin Chou, this varied program features award-winning CSULB piano students in solo, duet/duo, and chamber performances in collaborations with other outstanding CSULB instrumentalists.
Ariapalooza!—Sun, May 4 at 4pm at the Daniel Recital Hall
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Directed by David Anglin, this annual celebration is a favorite for CSULB Opera Institute audiences. After the concert of opera and art song favorites, join the performers for a “potluck” provided by students, faculty and friends to thank our audience for their continued support.
Saxophone Choir—Sun, May 4 at 8pm at the Daniel Recital Hall
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Directed by Jay Mason, the program features works by J.S. Bach, Mussorgsky, Roger Przytulski, and others.
Composer's Guild—Mon, May 5 at 8pm at the Daniel Recital Hall
$10 gen adm $7 disc
The first half of the concert features the Robin Cox Ensemble playing thirty "one-minute wonders"—one-minute works composed by CSULB students. The concert is directed by Carolyn Bremer
Percussion Ensemble—Wed, May 7 at 8pm at the Daniel Recital Hall
$10 gen adm $7 disc
The concert, directed by Dave Gerhart, features work by Frank Zappa, Lou Harrison, Steve Schmidt, David Maslanka, and more.
Wind Symphony / Symphonic Band / Concert Band—Thurs, May 8 at 8pm at the Carpenter Center
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Our internationally-renowned Wind Symphony performs the evocative Ra! by David Dzubay and ballet music from Le Cid by Massenet. Other pieces on the program include Exultate by Samuel Hazo and a musical tribute to Rosa Parks.
Concert Jazz Orchestra—Fri, May 9 at 8pm at the University Theatre
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Last year’s Concert Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Jeff Jarvis, won the University Level Next Generation Jazz Competition, earning a performance spot at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival. This year’s ensemble proves themselves just as strong and swinging.
University Choir & Women's Chorus—Fri, May 9 at 8pm at the First Congregational Church of LB
Free-will offering
The University Choir presents a variety of Choral works, including pieces by J. S. Bach, Darius Milhaud, Johannes Brahms, Lloyd Vick, Sigvald Tveit, Alfred Jansen and William Lovelock. Sean O'Neal is the guest organist. Dr. Leland Vail and Julie Ramsey conduct.
Chamber Choir Concert—Sat, May 10 at 8pm at the Bay Shore Church
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Ain't Got Time to Die, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Joshua Fit the Battle, Down in the River to Pray, Psalm 150, Otsche Nash, and more. The concert will be guest conducted by Charles Bruffy, one of the most admired choral conductors in the United States.
University Symphony Orchestra—Sun, May 11 at 4:30pm at the Carpenter Center
$10 gen adm $7 disc
Directed by Johannes Müller-Stosch. The evening program features Chabrier's España, Respighi's Pines of Rome, and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with special guest artist Martin Chalifour—concertmaster for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The CSULB College of the Arts and the Department of Music present Cole Conservatory Festival Gala—Monday, May 12 at 7pm at the Carpenter Center
Free Admission, Reservations required and accepted after March 17
A tune-filled sampling of the terrific musical flavors found in our Cole Conservatory concerts—swinging jazz, the sweeping sounds of a full orchestra, favorite standards sung by the best jazz choir in town, award-winning pianists, and a fanfare played by a combined concert band more than 200 players strong.
March 2008:
California State University Long Beach Announces the Creation of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music
In Recognition of $16.4 Million Gift and Endowment, CSULB restructures its Music Department
On Friday, March 7, 2008, before a crowd of music students and their supporters, California State University, Long Beach officials announced the largest donation in university history: a $16.4 million gift from the Bob Cole Trust to provide scholarships for student musicians. In recognition of the generosity of the donation, CSULB will seek the permanent naming of the Department of Music as the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at next week’s meeting of the California State University Board of Trustees.
"In establishing the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, we are doing more than recognizing a man for his extraordinary generosity to our university,” President F. King Alexander said. “The conservatory will forever honor a Long Beach businessman who looked to the promising futures of students at our university, and wanted to help them succeed.”
Bob Cole, who died in 2004, was a successful Long Beach real estate entrepreneur for more than 35 years, and the founder of Bob Cole Realty. His innovative thinking led to the development of a lucrative method for trading real estate tax free, and helped propel him to the forefront of the area’s real estate industry. When Mr. Cole was away from the office, playing piano to entertain his family and friends was a lifelong favorite pastime. It was that passion for music that led him to the CSULB College of the Arts and its Department of Music.
The College of the Arts (COTA) at California State University, Long Beach is the largest and most comprehensive publicly-funded school for the arts in the West, with more than 4,200 graduate and undergraduate majors. It includes the Departments of Art, Dance, Design, Film and Electronic Arts, Music, and Theatre Arts, as well as the University Art Museum, the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, the Center for First Amendment Studies, and the California Institute for the Preservation of Jazz.
“The establishment of the Cole Conservatory at Cal State Long Beach will attract the finest students to what is already one of the most respected programs in the country,” said Donald Para, Dean of the College of the Arts. “Bob Cole specifically wanted to ensure an excellent education to the most talented music students, regardless of financial capability. This gift will allow that. We are proud and honored to have been chosen to serve that goal on his behalf.”
Currently, the CSULB Department of Music offers a “real world” education, combining practical and theoretical experiences in Music Performance, Music Education, Music History, and Music Composition and Theory. It is a well-rounded and comprehensive program, with a proven history of excellence and recognition. The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music will continue and expand that tradition. The virtuosity of CSULB music students is already celebrated regularly on a national level: the CSULB Chamber Choir recently made its Carnegie Hall Debut, Pacific Standard Time—CSULB’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble—received a prestigious invitation to perform at the International Association of Jazz Educators in Toronto, and the CSULB Concert Jazz Orchestra won the Next Generation Jazz Competition at the University Level, earning a performance spot at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival.
The Cole Conservatory evolves from a Music Department with a long tradition of exceptional training for students from all backgrounds, and will now be positioned to further expand those musical and educational opportunities. Part of the mission of the Cole Conservatory will be an increased emphasis on targeted recruitment, identifying those musically-talented, but not college-focused students for whom higher education was not ever considered a possibility. With full-tuition, four-year scholarships available, many young musicians will now have the chance to realize their dreams and fundamentally alter their futures.
John Carnahan, who has served as chair of the Music Department for the past 8 years, has been named the first Director of the Cole Conservatory, effective immediately. “I look forward to the increased exposure and the increased opportunities the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music makes possible for our current and future students,” Carnahan said. “The expanding resources of the Cole Conservatory will allow for growth in touring, recruitment, outreach, and cultural exchanges—already an integral part of the music education offered at Cal State Long Beach.”
Tours throughout California and the nation will aid in recruitment, and in identifying worthy young students who deserve a chance to be a student at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music. Partnerships with the Long Beach Unified School District will be strengthened, enabling the Cole Conservatory to ensure worthy students in our own “backyard” are identified. International tours will be made more affordable for Conservatory students, through the availability of travel and performance scholarships.
Additionally, the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music is expected to become a magnet for nationally and internationally recognized master musicians and educators, increasing the quality of musical experiences for all Cole Conservatory students and the surrounding communities.
The Bob Cole Conservatory begins its existence already positioned at the forefront of music education programs in the western United States. Within five years, we believe it will be among the best and most comprehensive undergraduate music programs in the nation.