Academy Details:
Cost | Faculty | Ensembles & Courses
Students will participate in large ensembles, spend time in sectional coachings with expert faculty and staff, receive instruction in music theory, and take elective courses in areas including:
- Music Theory
- Music Literature
- Conducting
- Class Piano
- Musical Theatre
- Music Technology (We have a new 13-station Music Technology Lab and a state-of-the-art digital recording studio).
Cost:
The cost of attending the Summer Honors Academy in Music is $350 all-inclusive (tuition, room, board, recreation). Scholarships are available.
See an example of a typical day's activities and learn about Academy Life.
Faculty
Dr. Linda Cowan
Voice, Musical Theatre
Prof. Alfred R. de Jaager
Director of Choral Activities, Conducting
Dr. Matthew Inkster
Director of Bands, Brass
Dr. Matthew Harder
Percussion, Music Technology
Dr. Gerald Lee
Piano, Music Theory
Soprano Linda Cowan holds the Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Indiana State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she studied with Judith Nicosia and Faith Esham.
She has had many opportunities to perform in the genres of opera, musical theater, theater, oratorio, and the concert hall. Some of her major roles have included the Countess/Marriage of Figaro, Micaela/Carmen, (Ariel in Shakespeare’s Tempest), Bellamy in The Fantasticks, M’lynn in Steel Magnolias, Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, and Domina in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. (Her directing experience includes the musicals Mame and The ThreePenny Opera.) She served as vocal director for West Liberty productions of Scrooge, Godspell and A Little Night Music. (She held the dual roles of performer/music director for three summers at the ISU Summer Stage Cabaret, an Actors Equity company.)
(Dr. Cowan made her New York City debut singing the Brahms Requiem at the church of St. Luke’s in the Fields in Greenwich Village.) Other oratorio performances include Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Haydn’s Creation, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, the Durufle and Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ. She has concretized extensively in NJ, IN, PA and West Virginia.
At West Liberty, Dr. Cowan teaches private and class voice, diction, and musical theater/opera workshop classes. She also maintains a small private voice studio consisting of some of the area’s top voice high school students.
Alfred R. de Jaager is the interim Chairperson of the Department of Arts and Communications at West Liberty. He holds degrees from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (Bachelor of Music) and West Virginia University (Master of Music). He holds the ChoirMaster Certificate from the American Guild of Organists (1964) and has completed additional graduate studies at West Virginia University, Westminister Choir College, The University of Texas at Austin, North Texas State University, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
In addition to chairing the department, Professor de Jaager directs the All-College Chorus and the Chamber Choir. He also teaches conducting and music literature classes. Professor de Jaager was given the Award of Excellence by The American Choral Directors Association of West Virginia in 2002. And recently, he received the 2006 Professor of the Year award from the WLSC Student Government Association.
Matthew Inkster is recently appointed as the Director of Bands at West Liberty State College where he conducts the Wind and Jazz Ensembles and coordinates the brass area. He recently served in a similar capacity at the D’Angelo School of Music, Mercyhurst College. Inkster is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician. He has specialized in conducting the music of our time, and he has led ensembles on several compact disc recordings of new music on American and European labels. His performances have been heard on national and regional NPR and worldwide on the BBC.
Dr. Inkster is Artistic Co-Director of Winds on the Lake, a professional chamber ensemble of some of the finest musicians from the greater Tri-State Lake Region including Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Erie. Reception of this ensemble has been warm and accolades have been numerous. The group is committed to the performance and promotion of seldom-heard compositions for chamber and orchestral winds by familiar composers, as well as works by contemporary composers. The ensemble plans to extend its season from its current three concerts per year to six or more by touring in an expanded geographic area.
Inkster is also active as a trumpet soloist, recitalist, and clinician and has performed in 45 states and across Europe. He is Principal Trumpet of the Symphony of the Mountains (Tennessee/Virginia), and has held similar positions with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Chapman and Redlands Symphony Orchestras (California). He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, and he has competed in a number of the most prestigious trumpet competitions across the world: the Prague Spring International Music Competition, The International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition, the National Trumpet Competition, and the MTNA National Collegiate Artist Competition.
Dr. Inkster is the WVMEA Research and Grants Chair and has recently served as the Composition Contest Chairman for the International Trumpet Guild. He has a number of research articles submitted for publication in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild and in the Journal of Research in Music Education.
He holds the degrees Doctor of Music (The Florida State University), Master of Music (University of Redlands), and Bachelor of Music Education (University of Wyoming). Dr. Inkster has taught in the public schools of Wyoming, California, and Florida.
Matthew D. Harder is Assistant Professor of percussion and music technology at West Liberty. Dr. Harder teaches Electronic Music, Recording Techniques, Music Appreciation, Fundamentals of Percussion and private lessons in Percussion and Composition.
Dr. Harder has been employed at institutions of higher learning in Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, two Masters degrees from Bowling Green State University (Percussion and Composition), and a Doctor of Music degree in Composition from Northwestern University.
Dr. Harder is active as a performer, clinician and composer who has had his works performed in numerous cities around the country. Most recently, his piece Bagatudes for clarinet and piano was performed by the chamber group Juventas last Spring in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Harder has been commissioned to write music for a wide variety of instruments and electronic media. His compositions have received numerous awards, including the William T. Faricy award for creative composition from Northwestern University in 2000, and a performance of his orchestral piece Catharsis by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in 1998.
Dr. Harder often leads performances of dance-drumming music from Ghana, West Africa. He studied with the Ewe people of Ghana in the summer of 1998 with a group from Bowling Green State University.
Dr. Gerald Lee is Assistant Professor of Piano and chairman of the Concert Artist Series at West Liberty. He has earned three piano performance degrees: Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from Illinois Wesleyan University, Indiana University, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, respectively. He has studied with such great artist-teachers as Lawrence Campbell, Andrew Cooperstock, Reiko Neriki, Logan Skelton, Arthur Greene, and the late Distinguished Professor György Sebök. Dr. Lee has been a prizewinner in several competitions including 1st place in the 2002 National Society of Arts and Letters Piano Competition (Lansing, Michigan), 2nd place in the 2002 National Finals of the Music Teachers’ National Association Collegiate Artists’ Piano Competition, and 3rd place in the 2003 International Beethoven Piano Sonata Competition held in Memphis, Tennessee. He performs actively as a soloist and chamber musician, recently forming a duo with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra violinist, Mr. Jeremy Black. Dr. Lee frequently serves as an adjudicator for piano festivals and competitions, and he is currently 2nd Vice President for the West Virginia Music Teachers’ Association.
Ensembles and Courses
Academy Wind Ensemble
Instrumental students will play in the Academy Wind Ensemble. The Wind Ensemble will rehearse twice each day and perform on the Finale Concert on Saturday. Dr. Inkster
Academy Chamber Choir
Vocal students will all participate in the Academy Chamber Choir. The Chamber Choir will rehearse twice each day and perform on the Finale Concert on Saturday. Prof. de Jaager
All-Academy Chorus
ALL Academy students will sing in the All-Academy Chorus. We believe that singing is an important skill for all musicians. Rehearsing once per day, the All-Academy Chorus will perform on the Finale Concert. Prof. de Jaager
Music Theory
ALL Academy students will take a course in Music Theory. Based on their background, students will be divides into an introductory and an intermediate section. Both sections will be skills oriented and focused on basic theoretical concepts that allow further depth in musical learning. Dr. Lee
Music Literature
An elective class that will explore the basic principles and rudiments common in all "Art Music" through the ages. How do we know our Bach from our Brahms. Dr. Inkster
Conducting
An elective class that will allow address the most fundamental elements of conducting. Prof. de Jaager
Class Piano
An elective class that is designed to give a basic start to the beginning piano student. Highly recommended for students with no prior piano experience and a desire to pursue music as a career. Dr. Lee
Musical Theatre
An elective class with an emphasis on introducing musical theatre historical and performance concepts. This class has a limited enrollment. Enrollment is first-come first-served. Dr. Cowan
Music Technology
An elective class that will introduce students to the basic concepts in digital recording techniques. Due to the limitation of the size of our state-of-the-art recording studio and MIDI lab, this class has a limited enrollment. Enrollment is first-come first-served. Dr. Harder