Red River Scrapbook
Three new faculty members make UNT debut this fall
By UNT News Service
Sep 25, 2011
DENTON (UNT), Texas -- The University of North Texas College of Music will showcase new faculty members James Ryon, professor of oboe; Kimberly Cole Luevano, assistant professor of clarinet; and Jennifer Barnes, director of vocal jazz, in free concerts this fall.
Sept. 13 — James Ryon
Ryon — who has appeared as a recitalist and soloist in the United States, South and Central America and the Middle East —- will perform at 8 p.m. Sept. 13 (Tuesday) in Voertman Hall in the Music Building, southeast corner of Avenue C and Chestnut Street, with pianist and UNT faculty member Steven Harlos. The concert will feature Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata in G minor, Gordon Jacob’s Sonata for Oboe and Piano, Nikola Resanovic’s Sonata for Oboe and Piano, and Osvaldo Lacerda’s Variations on “Carneirinho, carneirão.”
“I chose to come to UNT because of the excellent reputation of the College of Music, the outstanding oboe students I encountered in the two master classes I gave last year at UNT and the warm reception afforded me by faculty and administrators in the college,” Ryon said. “I'm looking forward to participating in a very vibrant musical community.”
Nov. 7 — Kimberly Cole Luevano
Cole Luevano, a former UNT student, has joined the UNT faculty after teaching for 15 years at Eastern Michigan University. She has filled the post of her former teacher, James Gillespie, who recently retired from UNT.
“It’s especially poignant for me to be asked to fill my teacher’s job; it’s an honor,” she said. “UNT has outstanding faculty and students, and I have always appreciated the diversity of the programs in the College of Music, including jazz, early music, computer music, musicology and music theory. So many other music schools don’t have the breadth and depth of UNT’s College of Music. I’m humbled to be here; it’s my dream job.”
On Nov. 7 (Monday), she will present an all-American program by living female composers: Roshanne Etezady’s Bright Angel for clarinet and piano; Abbie Betinis’s Nattsanger for clarinet, soprano and piano; Joan Tower’s Fantasy; and Libby Larsen’s Licorice Stick. The concert with pianist Midori Koga begins at 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall in the Music Building.
Nov. 11 — Jennifer Barnes
Jennifer Barnes -- a highly sought-after jazz vocalist, educator, clinician and arranger throughout the U.S. and Canada -- has joined UNT from Los Angeles. She will lead the Jazz Singers in a concert at 8 p.m. Nov. 11 (Friday) in Voertman Hall in the Music Building. The concert also is a sendoff for the Jazz Singers before the group heads to Washington, D.C. for a Nov. 20 performance at the Kennedy Center.
"I have known about the internationally renowned Jazz Studies program at UNT for more than 20 years, and have worked with countless alumni from the program in my experiences as a professional musician,” Barnes said. “I knew that to join this faculty is to be part of something world-class and to get to work with the very best of the best students who are serious about studying jazz. What's not to like about that?!"
About James Ryon
Ryon continues to serve as the principal oboist of the Baton Rouge Symphony. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the Juilliard School and has received performance fellowships at the Aspen, Berkshire, Blossom, Kneisel Hall and New College Music Festivals. His principal teachers are Robert Bloom and John Mack.
Ryon has also served as professor of oboe at the Louisiana State University and the University of Akron, as well as principal oboist with the Akron Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Caracas, and the Orchestra Estadual de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. For 19 years, he was a member of the Solaris Quintet in residence at the University of Akron. He has also taught at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory; at the University of South Florida, where he was a member of the Ars Nova Quintet; and at the Caracas Philharmonic Conservatory, where he was director of "Musica en las Escuelas," a musical outreach program.
Ryon's interest and research in Brazilian music led to his organizing BrazilFest '91 at the University of Akron, performing at several festivals of Brazilian contemporary music, and establishing the Burle Marx Brazilian Music Collection at the University of Akron's Bierce Library. In March of 2000, he commissioned and premiered João Guilherme Ripper's "Abertura Concertante" for Oboe, English Horn and Orchestra with the Akron Symphony. Ryon's CD of 20th Century Brazilian Chamber Music for Oboe, Cello and Piano with the Burle Marx Trio has been released by Jeanné Digital. His two recordings with Solaris may be found on Capstone Records.
With a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts in 2005, Ryon and the Burle Marx Trio inaugurated the Pelican State Chamber Music Series, a series of 12 concerts in New Roads and Baton Rouge, La. Ryon's wide-ranging musical experience includes tours and concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Cleveland Opera, the Cleveland Ballet, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Ohio Ballet, the Canton Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, the Bach Aria Group and the British rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ryon also holds a degree in engineering and applied science from Yale University.
More information and high-resolution photos are available at http://music.unt.edu/instrumental/ryon/.
About Kimberly Cole Luevano
Cole also is a member of the clarinet faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp, where she has taught since 2003. Cole has given acclaimed solo and chamber performances and adjudicated and presented master classes throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and South America. She performed at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest® on numerous occasions, including those held in Stockholm, Sweden; Vancouver, Canada; and Austin, Texas. Her former students occupy performing and teaching positions throughout the United States and Canada.
A versatile and active freelance musician, Cole has performed as a member of the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra, as principal clarinetist of the Ann Arbor, Lansing, Toledo, and Traverse Symphony Orchestras, with the Detroit and Windsor (Canada) Symphony Orchestras, and with Keith Brion’s New Sousa Band, among others. She was clarinetist in the contemporary music ensemble Quorum for more than 10 years. She is featured on a Centaur release of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet with the Arianna String Quartet and with Quorum on an Albany release of composer Evan Chambers' works titled "Cold Water, Dry Stone." Her recordings of Anthony Iannaccone’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, Wind Quintets and Woodwind Trio are also available on the Albany label. An advocate of new music, Cole has performed as soloist in acclaimed performances of prominent works for clarinet and wind ensemble: Michael Daugherty’s “Brooklyn Bridge” and Scott McAllister’s “X” and “Black Dog.” She also founded the Clarinetists Commissioning Cooperative, a consortium created to commission new works for clarinet from emerging composers including Roshanne Etezady.
Cole has studied with Keith Lemmons in Albuquerque and with Guy Deplus and Alain Damiens in Paris. She is the recipient of a U. S. Government Fulbright Grant and Kade Fellowship. She earned her M.M. and D.M.A. degrees at Michigan State University, where she studied with Elsa Ludewig Verdehr, and her undergraduate degree at UNT, where she studied with James Gillespie. Prior to her appointment at UNT, she was professor of clarinet at Eastern Michigan University for 15 years.
About Jennifer Barnes
Barnes taught privately and directed DownBeat Magazine award-winning vocal jazz ensembles at seven universities. She has served as a guest conductor for District and All-State Music Festivals in 10 states and has taught jazz vocals at the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camps since 1998. Her vocal ensemble arrangements are published by Sound Music Publications and UNC Jazz Press.
In addition to her teaching activities, Jennifer is an active performing and studio vocalist, including her roles as alto vocalist, composer and arranger for the vocal collective Sixth Wave, singing solo and group vocals for television shows and films including “Wall-E,” “Enchanted,” “Star Trek” and “Glee.” Jennifer has also served for the past three years as the vocal ensemble adjudicator for the DownBeat Student Music Awards.
She earned a master of music degree in studio music and jazz performance from the University of Miami and the bachelor of music degree in piano performance from Western Michigan University.