WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., June 22, 2021 —West Liberty University music faculty ended a stressful year of pandemic rules and regulations with a new competition and festival geared toward high school students and called the Creative Musical Arts Competition (CMAC)!
“We invited West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania high school students to enter our new competition. There was a wide range of topics permitted including performance, composition, theory, history, or pedagogy. We also welcomed a variety of formats that the student could use,” explained Dr. Mitch Greco, CMAC director and assistant professor of music.
There were just two categories for the competition, one for solo performance (regardless of instrument or voice type) and one for all ensemble performances (instrumental, vocal or mixed).
“We did this in hopes of encouraging creativity and collaboration between vocal and instrumental students – as well as those students that are both!”
Winning submissions are:
• Solo Performance, John Marshall High School student Olivia Miller, Strive to Be Happy
Each entry required a teacher-sponsor to be accepted into the competition – high school band and choir directors, general music teachers and/or other appropriate teachers to coach, direct, conduct and/or generally serve in an advisory role for students and their projects.
“We wanted to give music students an incentive to engage in all kinds of creative performance, academic and collaborative opportunities. We even made sure to create a submission deadline to correlate well with students’ final projects for the semester,” Greco explained.
Other WLU faculty serving as advisors guiding the new competition include:
- Dr. Anna Stephan-Robinson: Associate Professor Music Theory and Ear Training
- Dr. Gretchen Pohlman: Director of Bands/Assistant Professor of Music
- Dr. Ryan Keeling: Director of Choral Activities
- Dr. Caryn Crozier: Adjunct Music Instructor
The competition is expected to return next academic year and Greco promises it will be even bigger and better.
“We are grateful for all the students and faculty who took part in this spring’s inaugural competition and we expect to announce details about next year’s Creative Music Arts Competition in the fall.”
WLU’s Division of Music offers the Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance degree, the Bachelor of Arts in Music Education degree and the Bachelor of Music Technology degree programs. Students also may choose to minor in either music or world music (NEW for Fall 2021). For complete information, please contact the music department at 304-336-8006.
