Union HS Advanced Treble Choir, from Camas, WA led by Margaret Green performed at the festival.
Eighteen area middle school and high school choirs performed at the 9th Annual Choral Festival on Friday, November 15. Hosted by the Clark College Music Department, the festival is a favorite fall event in our area that inspires choral directors and singers for a season of creating and performing choral literature for the year. Participants travel from as far as Lacey, Washington, 109 miles away.
The festival is more than a schedule of performances. It’s an on-site gathering for community and learning for both the directors and singers.
Festival Director Dr. Jacob Funk, who is also the Director of Choirs at Clark College, said, “Participating choirs got the chance to work with some highly skilled clinicians and receive written feedback on their performance. Each choir had a mini-clinic onstage, allowing for the other schools to see how a different choir learns new ways to succeed.
Two of the Clark College Choirs performed for all the participating choirs in the middle of the festival. It was a wonderful time of music making, learning, and supporting each other in song.”
After their performance, Dr. John Guarente gave some feedback to the Woodland High School Choir, while the director Patrice Lins listened in.
The choir clinicians who offered choirs on-stage feedback between performances included Dr. Katy Green, Dr. John Guarente, Dr. Shohei Kobayashi, and Dr. Tiffany Walker.
Participating choirs included:
Timberline HS Chamber Choir—Lacey, WA
R A Long HS Chor Diem—Longivew, WA
Henrietta Lacks HS Phoenix Choir—Vancouver, WA
La Center HS Select Treble Choir—La Center, WA
Skyview HS Chamber Choir—Vancouver, WA
ACMA Synergy Choir—Beaverton, OR
Union HS Concert Choir—Camas, WA
North Marion HS Concert Choir—Aurora, OR
Woodland HS Choir—Woodland, WA
Union HS Advanced Treble Choir—Camas, WA
Clark College Treble Ensemble and Concert Choir —Vancouver, WA
Dexter McCarty MS Concert Choir—Gresham, OR
Richland HS Chamber Choir—West Richland, WA
VSAA Vocal Rep Ensemble—Vancouver, WA
Heritage HS Women’s Ensemble—Vancouver, WA
Camas HS Select Treble Choir—Camas, WA
VSAA Vocal Style & Tech Ensemble—Vancouver, WA
Heritage HS Select Treble—Vancouver, WA
Camas HS Select Bass Choir—Camas, WA
Woodland High School Choir performed at the festival.
Students in the Jazz band perform at the 2023 fall term concert in Gaiser Hall.
The Clark College Music department presents five winter term concerts from March 6 through 22. Admission is free. All are welcome. Donations for the college’s Music programs are accepted at the door.
The Music department presents extraordinary concerts and programs throughout the year for the college community and the greater community. Faculty and students work together to create professional level performances that are entertaining and provide students with valuable experience to help develop their musical talents. See details of music performances at www.clark.edu/cc/music.
Jazz Band Winter Concert
When: Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Gaiser Student Center, Gaiser Hall, main campus
Conductor: Dr. Doug Harris
Admission: Free; donations accepted for Band Scholarship fund
Conductor Dr. Doug Harris said, “We’re going to perform music from many of the great, and varied, big bands, including music from Louis Bellson, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson and, of course, the great Count Basie. We are also excited to debut our jazz combo.”
Clark Treble & Chorale Winter Concert
When: Thursday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: First United Methodist Church, 401 E. 33rd St., Vancouver
Director: Dr. Jacob Funk
Pianist: Jeongmi Yoon
Admission: Free; donations accepted for the Clark College Choral Fund
The Treble Ensemble will perform “Er ist gekommen” by Clara Schumann, “Lux Aeterna from Missa” by Z. Randall Stroope, “The Silver Swan” by Oliver Tarney, “The Rising” by Andrea Ramsey, “Listen” by Reena Esmail and “Does the World Say?” by Kyle Pederson.
Clark College Chorale will perform a traditional camp meeting song “No Time” arranged by Susan Brumfield, “Calling from Afar” by James Eakin III, “Sudden Light” by Thomas Juneau, “We are the Music Makers” by Reginal Wright and “Song of Life” by Reginald Unterseher.
Clark College Concert Band Winter Performance
When: Friday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Skyview High School Auditorium, 1300 NW 139th Street, Vancouver
Director: Dr. Doug Harris
Admission: Free; donations accepted to the college’s Music department
The concert includes David Maslanka’s “Mother Earth (A Fanfare),” Hiroaki Kataoka’s “Barbaresque,” Johan de Meij’s “Lord of the Rings: Symphony No. 1: Gandalf,” Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Fantasia in G Major,” Erika Svanoe’s “Mary Shelley Meets Frankenstein: A Modern Promethean Tango” and John Zdechlik’s “Celebrations.”
Clark Concert Choir and Chamber Choir Winter Performance
When: Saturday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: First United Methodist Church, 401 E. 33rd St., Vancouver
Director: Dr. Jacob Funk
Admission: Free; donations accepted for the Clark College Choral Fund
The program includes the world premiere performance of “One Last Time,” a work composed by Clark music student Benjamin Friend. Also on the program are Dawson’s “Soon Ah Will Be Done,” Runestad’s “The Peace of Wild Things,” Barnum’s “After the Music,” Hagen’s “On My Dreams” and “Temporal” by Puerto Rican composers Diana V. Sáez and Suzzette Ortiz. The Chamber Choir will begin the program with two songs concerning existential anxiety and closing with a piece about eternity.
Clark College Orchestra Winter Concert
When: Friday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Durst Theater, Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, 3101 Main St., Vancouver
Music Director/Conductor: Dr. Donald Appert
Admission: Free; donations accepted for the Orchestra General Fund
The program features works by Ethel Smyth, Richard Wagner and “Symphony No. 2” by Jean Sibelius.
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth was an English composer and a member of the women’s suffrage movement. Smyth tended to be marginalized as a ‘woman composer’ as though her work could not be accepted as mainstream. Yet when she produced more delicate compositions, they were criticized for not measuring up to the standard of her male competitors. Nevertheless, she was granted a damehood, the first female composer to be so honored. Smyth composed her most famous opera The Wreckers (premiered in 1906) to a French libretto by Henry Brewster. The Wreckers is considered by some critics to be the “most important English opera composed during the period between Purcell and Britten. The orchestra will perform the Overture to “The Wreckers”.
60th Jazz Festival Results
Henrietta Lacks High School was one of the bands who participated in the festival. Clark College/Jenny Shadley
Thanks to the student musicians, band directors, chaperons, family, and community members who attended the 60th Annual Clark College Jazz Festival from January 25-27. Nearly 60 middle school and high school jazz bands performed and delighted the appreciative audience—from toddlers to seniors. I’m pleased to announce the 2024 Jazz Festival results.
Yamaha Performing Artist Allen Vizzutti hosted a clinic on January 26. Photo: Justin Cushner
The top award of the competition is the Dale Beacock Memorial Sweepstakes trophy, named after the Clark College band instructor who brought the jazz festival to our campus so many years ago.
Top award: 2024 Dale Beacock Memorial Sweepstakes trophy: Bothell High School Jazz 1, Bothell
This year featured a concert by the One O’Clock Lab Band® on the Wednesday before the festival. Photo: Justin Cushner
A Division—Outstanding Jazz Ensemble:
1st place: South Whidbey High School, Langley
2nd place: Seton Catholic High School, Vancouver
3rd place: Tukes Valley Middle School, Battle Ground
A Division—Outstanding High School Musicians:
Adna Middle/High School, Adna
Jordan Stout
Myra Medina
Columbia High School, White Salmon
Anna Zendt – Columbia High School, White Salmon
August Peterson – Columbia High School, White Salmon
Concordia Christian Academy, Tacoma
Danny McCarthy
Jason Nguyen
Henrietta Lacks High School, Vancouver
Jeremy Solis
Graham Rank
La Center High School, La Center
Kristin Dunlap
Dominic Stub
Aleks Chygasov
Seton Catholic High School, Vancouver
Joseph DiPrima
Parker Zaemann
Kyler Dixon
Stephen Samwel
South Whidbey High School, Langley
Olin Nelson
Corbyn Orchard
Tukes Valley Middle School, Battle Ground
Lincoln Toland
Jackson Pierce
Basil Middlemas
Woodland Middle/High School, Woodland
Stacti Dore
Emma McCaullough
Sam Purcell
Harland Wakefield
AA Division—High School Jazz Ensemble:
1st place: Hockinson High School, Brush Prairie
2nd place (tie): Richland High School Freshman, Richland
2nd place (tie): Lakewood High School, Lakewood
AA Division—Outstanding Middle School and High School Musicians:
Battle Ground High School, Battle Ground
Hayden McCarty
Chloe Kalson
Bishop Blanchet High School, Seattle
Zandy Owens
Columbia River High School, Vancouver
Preston White
Heritage High School, Vancouver
Naomi Halbrook
Cynthia Reyes-Mendoza
Jocelyn Cole
Hockinson High School, Brush Prairie
Thilo Kluth
Jack Smith
Levi Brown
Adam Haunreiter
Blake Bruning
Lakewood High School, North Lakewood
Leo Sandoval
Isaias Fuentes-Palominos
Richland High School, Richland
Henry Van Mason
Victor Zinchuk
Ridgefield High School, Ridgefield
Michael Grove
W.F. West High School, Chehalis
Amanda Linwood
Parker Morrison
THe Jazz Festival also features performances by the Clark College Jazz Band. Photo: Justin Cushner
AAA Division—High School Jazz Ensemble:
1st place: Heritage High School Jazz I, Vancouver
2nd place: Bothell High School Jazz II, Bothell
3rd place: Battle Ground High School Intermediate Jazz I, Battle Ground
AAA Division—Outstanding High School Musicians:
Battle Ground High School, Battle Ground
Logan Gillespie
Janae Clark
Bothell High School, Bothell
Christian Oversvee-Choi
Nathan Bardsley
Sachita Kadievelu
Aliah Bragg
Grant High School, Portland
Nathan Lauruhn
Heritage High School, Vancouver
Gavin Williamson
Kamiak High School, Mukilteo
Heidi Anderson
Ryan Jackson
Ingraham High School, Seattle
Maggie Roth
Felix Lewis
Lake Stevens High School, Lake Stevens
Allison Llubit
Mark Rodeheaver
Prairie High School, Battle Ground
Kyle Davenport
Judah Bollock
Richland High School, Richland
Cannon West
Tyler Hornell
Skyview High School, Vancouver
Liam Purcell
Cadence Sempk
Union High School, Camas
Cooper Givens
Kieran Iyer
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, Vancouver
Sam Arslanian
McKelvey Brewer
AAAA Division—High School Jazz Ensemble:
1st place: Bothell High School Jazz I, Seattle
2nd place: Lake Stevens High School Jazz I, Lake Stevens
3rd place: Grant High School Jazz I, Portland
AAAA Division—Outstanding High School Musicians:
Battle Ground High School, Battle Ground
Andie Townsend
Carter Stafford
Bothell High School, Bothell
Dylan Reed
Thomas Holmes
Aaron Mamula
Nicholas Ang
Buchanan High School, Clovis, Calif.
Kono Tiyaamornwong
Will Damrose
Trevor Nix
Edmonds-Woodway High School, Edmonds
Gavin Bunbury
Addisyn Johnson
Grant High School, Portland
Sasha Burns
Xander Buck
Oli Rangle
Ingraham High School, Seattle
Henry Goss
Nathan Doyle
Kamiak High School, Mukilteo
Ethan Park
Ian Park
Lake Stevens High School, Lake Stevens
Phineas Ruji
Jack Santos
Richland High School, Richland
James Brady
Henry Rice
Skyview High School, Vancouver
Alejandro Santana
Sean Malcom
Union High School, Camas
Izzy Cryan
Evelyn Lo
60th Clark College Jazz Festival
Mountain View High School jazz band won the Beacock Sweepstakes prize in 2023.
If you’re a fan of jazz, you’re in for a treat, thanks in large part to the dedication of Dr. Doug Harris and the intrepid Shelly Williams, who bring the Clark College Jazz Festival to our campus every year.
Clark College will host the 60th Annual Clark College Jazz Festival in three full days of exhilarating big band jazz on Thursday through Saturday, January 25-27 in the Gaiser Student Center at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way.
Middle and high school jazz ensembles from Washington and Oregon are scheduled to perform in addition to a new attraction, a ticketed fundraising concert by the Grammy-nominated The One O’Clock Lab Band® from the University of North Texas on Wednesday, January 24. The Clark College Jazz Band will kick off the fundraiser event at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22 if purchased online through Jan 22 and $25 (cash only) at the door. All proceeds from the festival will go directly to student scholarships. View ticket info.
University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band® directed by Alan Baylock. Photo by Ahna Hubnik.
“We are so excited to present this year’s Clark College Jazz Festival, now celebrating our 60th anniversary. We are adding new attractions to this year’s festival,” said Clark’s Director of Bands and Festival Director Dr. Doug Harris. “We are thrilled to present the University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band® directed by Alan Baylock. This band is recognized as the preeminent collegiate big band in the world—and has held that distinction for decades. It will be a performance no jazz lover will want to miss.”
The Clark College Jazz Band.
Special festival performances by the Clark College Jazz Band under the direction of Dr. Harris:
8:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 25
7:45 p.m. on Friday, January 26 with guest soloist Yamaha trumpet artist Allen Vizzutti
12:15 p.m. on Saturday, January 27
Another new event is that legendary trumpet player Allen Vizzuttiwill appear with the Clark College Jazz Band on Friday night. Harris said, “I first heard Allen when I was a freshman at the University of Florida and was amazed, as I’m sure our audience will be.”
The three-day event will culminate with last year’s Beacock Award-winning band, Mountain View High School Jazz I, directed by Sam Ormson performing on Saturday night.
Competition Highlights
During this year’s competition, 56 middle and high school jazz ensembles from Washington and Oregon are scheduled to perform in this year’s competition with trophies presented to the top three jazz ensembles for middle schools and division A through division AAAA high schools.
Individual outstanding musician awards will be presented at the end of each division’s preliminary competitions. On Saturday evening, the Dale Beacock Memorial Sweepstakes Award will be presented to one outstanding band selected from the entire festival.
Dr. Harris said the event is not just a competition, but also a learning opportunity for the young musicians to participate in “valuable clinics from an outstanding group of jazz educators.”
The clinicians are Dr. Nate Jorgensen, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of New Hampshire on Thursday, and Seattle-based Yamaha artist Allen Vizzutti on Friday.
Special!Wednesday, January 24: The festival will kick off with a 7:30 p.m. ticketed fundraising concert by The One O’Clock Lab Band from the University of North Texas
Thursday, January 25: Middle school bands and Division A high school bands
Friday, January 26: Division AA high school bands
Saturday, January 27: Division AAA high school bands and Division AAAA high school bands
Admission is $10 per day. Clark College students and children under 12 accompanied by an adult will be admitted free of charge.
About Guest Artists
Yamaha Artist Allen Vizzutti has performed in 70 countries and every U.S. state with notable artists and ensembles including Chick Corea, Doc Severinsen, NBC Tonight Show Band, Army Symphony Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, New Tokyo Philharmonic, Budapest Radio Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Leipzig Wind Symphony, and Slovenian National Orchestra. The Seattle-based musician is also a composer and recording artist.
Nominated for seven Grammy Awards, The One O’Clock Lab Band®from the University of North Texas jazz studies program is noted for its exceptional individual musicianship and tight ensemble performance. The band has performed throughout the U.S. and in 18 countries. The band also has performed at major jazz festivals, including Monterey, and at major jazz venues, including Birdland in New York City.
About Clark College Jazz Festival
Dr. Doug Harris has been director of bands at Clark College since Fall 2018. Previously, he was assistant director of bands at Western Kentucky University, director of bands at Santa Clara University and Southern Utah University and a high school band director in Florida. Harris received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Florida and his Master of Arts and Doctor of Arts degrees from the University of Northern Colorado. As a freelance trumpet player, Dr. Harris has performed with the Madison Scouts, Sacramento Mandarins, Teal Sound and Suncoast Sound Drum and Bugle Corps. He is an active clinician, adjudicator, composer, arranger, and transcriber.
History of the Clark College Jazz Festival
1962: The beginning: Hudson’s Bay High School band director, Don Cammack, organized a one-day high school stage band invitational, the Southwest Washington Jazz Festival, for schools from Clark and Skamania counties.
1962-1969: The festival was organized by Vancouver and Evergreen public schools. Fort Vancouver High School and Evergreen High School took turns hosting. In the early days, trophies were made by middle school band director Jack Ager, who constructed musician figures from miscellaneous hardware and car parts.
1965: The festival grew to include bands from 8 high schools and 3 junior high schools. The program, called Jazz at the Fort, was directed by music educator Dale Beacock.
1970: Dale Beacock, then band director at both Clark College and Fort Vancouver High School, held the invitational Clark Stage Band Contest for the first time at Clark College. This inaugural event hosted 17 high school jazz bands with preliminary competitions held in the Gaiser Hall dining area, with finals in the gymnasium. Beacock’s vision of a competitive jazz showcase for schools throughout Washington and greater Portland promoted the growth of the festival.
1971: The festival grew to 32 bands held over two days.
1976: The number of participating bands grew to 52, welcoming bands from Oregon and Idaho.
1985: Chuck Ramsey became festival coordinator, a position he held for 22 years. He brought consistency to festival operations, increased student involvement, set the groundwork for the educational enhancement, leadership, teamwork, and a sense of ownership by Clark student volunteers.
2008: Richard Inouye became festival director. His professional and educational experience brought a new dynamic by encouraging a focus on jazz education and using technology to promote community awareness, public support, and streamline festival operations.
2012:Clark College Jazz Festival celebrated it’s 50th anniversary. Highlights included the Clark College Alumni Band directed by Chuck Ramsey featuring Clark band alumni from three generations of Clark band directors. Beacock and Ramsey were presented Legacy Sweepstakes Awards for their historic contributions to the festival.
2013: The festival went international, welcoming two bands from Tsawwassen, B.C.
2021-2022: The festival was on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2024: The 60th Annual Clark College Jazz Festival welcomes 56 middle and high school jazz ensembles, more than 1,200 student musicians and more than 3,000 people during the three-day event.
For Jazz Festival details, contact Shelly Williams, 360-992-2662 or sjwilliams@clark.edu
View the schedule for all Clark College Music Department 2024 concerts.
Photos (unless noted): Clark College/Jenny Shadley
The Inaugural True Voice Award
photo: Greg Parkinson
Professor Katherine Goforth, who teaches voice lessons at Clark College, has been named the inaugural recipient of The Washington National Opera’s True Voice Award for transgender and nonbinary singers. Goforth will perform at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington, D.C. in May 2024.
A talented, celebrated opera singer, Goforth has performed in several countries and in several languages. For years, Goforth had been singing tenor in male roles, but it was a struggle to identify with the male characters.
While an undergraduate at St. Olaf College, a private Lutheran college in Minnesota, Goforth reached self-realization that she was queer and that this included her gender identity.
However, Goforth was unsure how to move forward in an authentic way. From where she stood at the time, transgender and other gender-diverse people did not get to participate in the world of classical music or opera. She had so many questions: How could she continue pursuing her dream of singing classical music and opera? Would she ever be offered roles again if she presented as a woman?
Eventually, Goforth told a small number of people she trusted. But she continued presenting male, using her birth name, and singing male roles, even though it did not feel authentic.
A decade passed before Goforth started to live her life authentically. She came out publicly as a woman January 2020, shortly before the pandemic lockdown.
Her Beginning
Goforth grew up in Vancouver in a home where “music wasn’t art—it was a part of everyday life. Part of my family’s life,” she said.
Encouraged by her parents, especially her musician father, Goforth began singing before she could remember and she first performed at 3 years old. She loved singing and she enjoyed performing, whether hymns at church or in a variety of choirs.
She explained: “I got serious about singing because I liked the positive attention I received from adults, especially from people outside of my family. Participating in music was how I navigated social situations, how I made friends, how I felt like I was worth something.”
At 14, when Goforth was a student at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA), she started taking private voice lessons at her choir teacher’s recommendation.
“VSAA gave me the space to develop my own creative voice,” Goforth said. “We did tons of concerts and performances, but the projects that we designed ourselves are what most sticks with me, and the teachers who taught me to think critically and creatively.”
She said, “As I work to make spaces where we can deconstruct white supremacy and patriarchal domination, where all artists can show up authentically, I’ve found myself using those creative skills – creating opportunities where I can thrive, where others can thrive.”
At VSAA, she participated in vocal music, theater, and she played the clarinet. She also co-created a mural and wrote an opera for her senior capstone project. She graduated from VSAA and went to college to focus on singing. She received her bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College, Minn., and her master’s degree from The Julliard School, N.Y.
Since then, Goforth has performed around the U.S. and in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. She has performed in French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Russian, and Polish.
Goforth has excelled at thriving—despite the barriers.
Her Accomplishments
In the Pacific Northwest, Goforth has performed with Portland Opera, Bozeman Symphony, Walla Walla Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Opera Bend, Harmonia Seattle, Opera Theater Oregon, Sound Salon, Artists Repertory Theatre, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, Pink Martini and more.
She was a member of the International Opera Studio of Opera Köln. She attended the Franz Schubert Institut in Austria, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in England, Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie in Germany, Georg Solti Accademia in Italy, and the Boston Wagner Institute in the U.S.
Goforth received the Career Advancement Award and was a featured speaker and performer at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s fourth Women in Classical Music Symposium, 2022.
Outside of opera, she played the role of Rebbetzin Tzurris in a reading of Dan Kitrosser’s “Why This Night?” for Artists Repertory Theatre Mercury Festival and played Emily Webb in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” for Fuse Theatre Ensemble, both in Portland.
Most recently, she appeared in Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s The F****ts and Their Friends Between Revolutions that premiered Summer 2023 at Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenzer Festspiele, some of the biggest arts and opera festivals in the world.
Goforth advocates for the self-determination of trans and nontrans people. A member of the Trans Opera Alliance, she has lectured for Renegade Opera, published an essay in Opera Canada Magazine, was quoted in Opera America Magazine, and been a guest speaker for Boston Conservatory and the League of American Orchestras, among others.
In the years since Goforth the undergraduate student realized her authentic self, she says there are more transgender opera singers now.
“More people had the courage to come out during/after the pandemic lockdown, but they aren’t necessarily working in the industry yet,” Goforth said. “Now I’m working on coalition building. We aren’t organized enough to change the industry yet.”
photo courtesy of Katherine Goforth
We met up with Professor Goforth during Fall term finals week. She made time in her schedule to sit down with us in Penguin Union Building to talk about her journey, her passion for singing opera, and her values she shares with her students.
Q & A with Katherine Goforth
Q: What was it about opera drew you in and made you say, “Yes, I will sing opera!”
KG: Because I was good at it. I wish that my answer was more about how much I loved it. I was definitely obsessed, especially at first, but I got a lot of privileges when I started winning singing competitions. I didn’t learn to love classical music until much later, when I was in my early twenties.
Q: In your biggest and bravest dreams, did you ever imagine you’d be singing at the Kennedy Center?
KG: Always. Not necessarily the Kennedy Center, but I always imagined that I’d be on the biggest stages. That was what made singing feel valuable to me. That’s also what made it hard to come out. What if I lost access to these big stages, the reason I’d been pursuing music in the first place? Who am I without the privileges that music has given me? Those were really important questions for me to ask myself and working (continuing to work) on my answers to them has finally helped me grow.
Q: What was your reaction to receiving this award—and being the first recipient?
KG: It’s very difficult to be the first person to do something. There are opportunities, but there are also limitations. It’s felt important to push for the True Voice Award to be as expansive as possible, so that the next winner doesn’t have to be anything like me, so that they can push on the award to make space for them. It’s felt like a huge opportunity, because representation can be validating, but it can also be a way of limiting, of saying, this is the one acceptable way to be this kind of marginalized person. Especially as a white trans person, it’s important to me to push back on that. To say, I’m not the definition of what it means to be trans, I’m one of many.” Q: How long will you be at Kennedy Center? What are your criteria/thought process for choosing the pieces you will perform at The Kennedy Center?
I’ll be in residence at the Kennedy Center for a week, and I want my performance to lay a foundation that is going to be broadening instead of narrowing. We have a narrative in the opera field that when trans women participate, they sing male parts and present as male onstage. I want people to know that there’s no such thing as one kind of trans woman, and we’re not all okay with playing male roles, so I want to present a variety of other images. Definitely female roles, but maybe a male role in female presentation. Some songs that don’t require the singer to have any particular gender identity.”
When I was at Juilliard, Melissa Harris-Perry came to give a talk for Martin Luther King Day. She talked about the “I Have a Dream” speech and told us that one reason King spoke at the Lincoln Memorial was because of Marian Anderson’s performance at the same place in 1939. Anderson sang at the Lincoln Memorial because the Daughters of the American Revolution would only allow white artists to perform at D.C.’s Constitution Hall, where Howard University wanted to host her concert. I will never forget the way Professor Harris-Perry described Marian Anderson as “preparing the Lincoln Memorial as a site of resistance.” I may only be able to resist in tiny ways, but my dream for my performance at the Kennedy Center is that it might prepare the True Voice Award as a place of resistance against all that is imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal in our lives.
Q: In the last year, you decided you will no longer perform male roles. You said you came to this conclusion after having the opportunity to play female roles, including Emily Webb in “Our Town.” How did you come to this decision? How did playing female roles resonate with you?
KG: When I came out, I expected to keep playing male roles. That was the space that existed for trans women in opera. But when I had my first chance to play a male role with a major company after coming out, it was a painful experience. And then I had my first chance to play a female role, and it was so easy. I could relate to the character, I could react intuitively to my scene partners and my emotions, and for once, no one told me that I looked or sounded wrong. And in 2022, it became increasingly clear to me that I couldn’t continue to have parts of myself stuck in the pre-coming out and parts in the post-coming out. I would need to step forward with every part of myself, and I would have to leave behind the things that were holding me back, or I was never going to be able to move forward.
Q: What is your essential message—as an opera singer and as a voice teacher?
KG: First, the question: When we have a stage, what do we do with it? And when I say that, it comes with the understanding that every action, every conversation is a platform as much as any concert program. That we can act consciously or unconsciously just like we can choose the song we want to sing both consciously and unconsciously. That our choices in music and in life can be made in or out of alignment with our values.
And also, that we always have the power to think for ourselves. It’s like when bell hooks discusses the book, Powers of the Weak in Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center: we have the power to disbelieve what others tell us about ourselves, and to believe our own stories. We have the power to think critically, and to develop our critical thinking skills. We have the power to listen to our bodies and to act on that information.
Q: What are the values behind your career and your teaching?
KG: I’m always reading Black feminist and liberation theory and try to choose actions that are in alignment with what I’ve learned. For me, there’s no point in living if your life isn’t yours, and I found that my life wasn’t mine when I didn’t come out, when I don’t tell my truth. I think about when Audre Lorde’s daughter said, “Tell them about you’re never really a whole person if you remain silent,” and Lorde wrote, “the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak. We can sit in our corners mute forever while our sisters and ourselves are wasted, while our children are distorted and destroyed, while our earth is poisoned; we can sit in our safe corners mute as bottles, and we will still be no less afraid.” I think about this quote because that has been my experience. That reminds me of what it felt like to be closeted.
So, I’m always hoping that I can connect my teaching to my real life, and to my students’ real lives. Maybe they don’t realize it now, but they’ll realize it in ten years. I’ve had that experience, where I only realized what I learned in retrospect. And maybe they’ll never realize that I had a positive impact on their
thinking, and that’s good too, because what’s important is that the impact happens, and they think for themselves, and live a life that they feel is worth living. And even if I have a negative impact on an individual, maybe they learn what they don’t want, and how to be in a better situation in the future, or they learn to walk away from a situation that doesn’t work for them. Because my negative experiences can be important to my learning as well, and I have struggled to walk away from detrimental situations, and helping a student learn to do that might be the most important thing they learn at all.
Q: How do you instill the love of singing in your students? Is this different from how you were taught?
KG: This is a very complex question. To begin, I don’t think I was taught to love in any facet of my life. I hope that wouldn’t be hard for anyone who has been part of my life to hear, and I’m sorry if it is, but I don’t think love was part of the majority of my life.
To talk about love, we have to start by defining what we’re talking about. I find that, over and over, when I talk about love with another person, it means something different to each of us. bell hooks had two main definitions of love: that it is “a combination of six things: care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust,” and, quoting M. Scott Peck, that it is “the will to nurture our own and another’s spiritual growth.” When we look at love like this, it might not apply as directly to singing.
In addition, we have to talk about what we mean by the word “singing.” If you had asked me at 18 whether I loved singing, I would have said yes. But what I would have meant was that I was addicted to how good it felt to be onstage, to be applauded, to feel superior to others, to feel a sense of self-worth through my accomplishments.
So, I would say that I hope I’m teaching my students not to get addicted to adulation, and instead to develop a personal relationship with singing. To me, singing isn’t something that we do on a stage. It’s something that’s done in private, alone, day in and day out, when it’s easy, when it’s not. It’s connected to forming a relationship with one’s own body: how do I feel today, how does my voice feel, can I understand why I’m feeling those things, what do I like, what do I not like, what do I want to change, what changes can be immediate and what changes will take time? It’s not only how I feel in this moment, but it’s connecting what I experienced today to what I experienced a week ago, next week, etc.
Q: What’s next for you (not including Kennedy Center)?
KG: I’m going to Boston in March to give a recital for the Boston Wagner Society, returning to Opera Bend to do a production of La traviata where we’ll adapt a tenor role into some kind of female and/or trans presentation, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Vancouver Symphony in June, and work on creative projects. And hopefully some other projects that I can’t announce quite yet!
Union High School Concert Choir captured the attention of the audience.
As the Union High School Concert Choir began its last song, they immediately commanded the attention in crowded Gaiser Student Center. Three students set the pace by pounding a staccato rhythm on djembe drums. The singers swayed to the rhythm, their voices clear and joyful. They moved to the music—smiling and clearly enjoying themselves. Some singers held cupped hands to their mouths and whooped. People in the audience bobbed their heads and smiled. The room’s atmosphere was electric.
This enjoyable, immersive performance was one of many when choirs from 13 high schools and middle schools from the region performed at the Clark College Eighth Annual Fall Choral Festival on November 17 at Clark College. The choirs came from as far away as Ilwaco, Washington (106 miles) and Aurora, Oregon (60 miles).
Dr. Jacob Funk, Director of Choirs at Clark College, left and festival director said, “We love hosting this event at Clark College. Shelly Williams, program coordinator of the Fine Arts division, does all of the organizational heavy lifting for this event. Then we get Clark students in the ASCC Vocal Music program to volunteer and run this event along with Shelly and myself.”
Five choir clinicians with experience teaching at University of Portland, Oregon State University, Whitworth University, Pacific Lutheran University, and Portland Community College listened in the back of the room and then took turns offering useful advice to the choral students.
Each choir performed for 20 minutes. Then a clinician came onto the stage and spoke to the student musicians to offer useful suggestions about their performance. For example, one choir had sung a song that included Russian words, and the clinician offered pronunciation tips for the words, then had the students and the audience practice enunciating the words.
Dr. Funk added, “The schools come from all over because they know it’s a supportive atmosphere and they know we have amazing clinicians. Our festival is at a time of year when not many other festivals are happening, so it gets their choirs out there singing. It’s just a real joy to see it all come together and to get so many high school students on our campus.”
Clark College Concert Choir performs at the Choral Festival.
Participating choirs from Clark County:
Clark College: Concert Choir and Treble Ensemble, Director Dr. Jacob Funk
Camas High School: Select BassChoir and Select Treble Choir, Director Ethan Chessin
Heritage High School: Concert Choir and Select Treble, Director Billy Buhl
La Center High School: Select Treble Choir, Director Rhonda Catchpole
Ridgefield High School: Concert Choir and Treble Choir, Director Bob Meek
Union High School: Concert Choir and Women’s Ensemble, Director Joel Karn
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA): Vocal Rep Ensemble and Vocal Style & Tech Ensemble, Director Joel Thoreson
Participating choirs from other counties:
Arts & Communication Magnet Academy, Beaverton, Oregon: Synergy Choir, Director Lauren Craig
Dexter McCarty Middle School, Gresham, Oregon: Concert Choir, Director Ron Neighorn
Ilwaco High School, Ilwaco, Washington: Concert Choir, Director Rachel Lake
Kelso High School, Kelso, Washington: Hilander Concert Choir, Director Brent Liabraaten
North Marion High School, Aurora, Oregon: Concert Choir, Director John Haddock
R.A. Long High School, Longview, Washington: Chor Diem, Director Alison Askeland
Woodland High School, Woodland, Washington: Choir, Director Patrice Lins
Clinicians who offered constructive advice to the choirs were:
Dr. Samuel Barbara, Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Portland Community College, Rock Creek Campus
Dr. Tina Bull, Emeritus Professor of Music, Coordinator of Music Education at Oregon State University (1996-2015)
Dr. David De Lyser, Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music, University of Portland
Dr. Xiaosha Lin, Assistant Professor and Director of Choral Activities at Whitworth University in Spokane
Dr. Tiffany Walker, Visiting Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Pacific Lutheran University
Piano faculty members were Dr. Jeongmi Yoon, who serves on faculties at Clark College and University of Portland, and Yena Lee Halsel, who accompanied the Clark College choirs.
Fulbright Scholar
Congratulations to Clark College adjunct piano instructor Melissa Espindola Terrall, who recently received a Fulbright grant for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Melissa will travel to Mexico to study and conduct research in piano at Conservatorio Nacional in Mexico City. Her research will focus on Mexican classical piano repertoire as she works to publish an anthology of music from this era. While abroad, Terrall will also perform recitals featuring the work of Mexican and American composers.
The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. The U.S. Student Fulbright program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as their record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. Fulbright grants provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident insurance and, where relevant, tuition.
Terrall lives in Portland. She earned a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Kansas in 2022.
Clark College Treble Ensemble perform at the Sakura Festival.
The Clark College Music Department is presenting five spring concerts from June 3 to 10 at various venues. All performances are free and open to the public. Donations to the college’s music programs are accepted at the door. For a complete roster of Clark College music events, see here.
Clark College Jazz Band under the direction of Dr. Doug Harris presents their spring concert on Saturday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Gaiser Student Center, Clark College main campus. Clark’s Jazz Band will be joined by the Advanced Jazz Band from Battle Ground High School, directed by Greg McKelvy.
Battle Ground HS was the Sweepstakes winner of the Clark College Jazz Festival in 2020 and it recently won the Basically Basie Jazz Festival in Kansas City. The program will include music by Tom Kubis, Dominic Spera, Bob Mintzer, Paul Baker, Matt Catingub, and more.
Clark College Concert Band under the direction of Dr. Doug Harris presents their spring concert on Wednesday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Durst Theatre at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, 3101 Main St., Vancouver.
Music will include “Shenandoah” arranged by African-American composer Omar Thomas, “Asuka” by Tetsusnosuke Kushida, Aaron Copland’s “Variations on a Shaker Melody,” “Marche of the Parachutists Belges” by Pierre Leemans, and “Golden Light” by David Maslanka. Clark College’s Treble Ensemble will join the band on Ron Nelson’s “Aspen Jubilee.”
Clark College Treble Ensemble and Clark College Chorale under the direction of Dr. Jacob Funk and accompanied by Dr. Jeongmi Yoon present their spring concert on Thursday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 401 E. 33rd St., Vancouver.
The Treble Ensemble is singing pieces in English, Japanese, Estonian, and Spanish. Music will include “She Lingers On” by Zanaida Robles, The Highwomen’s “Crowded Table,” and “Mis on inimene?” by Estonian composer Pärt Uusberg.
Clark College Chorale is presenting “The Last Words of David” by Thompson, “Let the Music Fill Your Soul” by Jacob Narverud, and “Afternoon on a Hill” by Barnum. The sopranos and altos will sing an arrangement of “This Little Light of Mine.” The tenors and basses will sing a classic arrangement of “Riders in the Sky.”
Clark College Orchestra under the baton of Music Director/Conductor Dr. Donald Appert on Friday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Durst Theatre at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, 3101 Main St., Vancouver.
The concert program includes works by Dohnani, Debussy, and Bernstein’sSymphony No 1 “Jeremiah” featuring soloist mezzo soprano Laura Beckel Thoreson, a Clark College music instructor.
Clark College Concert Choir and the newly formed Clark College Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Jacob Funk and accompanied by Dr. Jeongmi Yoon presents their spring concert on Saturday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 401 E. 33rd St., Vancouver.
Music includes “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners,” “Ndikhokhele Bawo,” “Mata del Anima Sola,” Dale Trumbore’s “In the Middle,” and a lush arrangement of “Good Night Moon” by Eric Whitacre, with text is from the children’s picture book. Bring your copy and follow along.
The Chamber Choir will sing works by Rheinberger, Britten, and Macdonald, as well as an arrangement of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Adam Podd.
Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley
Bringing back the music
Clark College’s Jazz Band performs with Dr. Doug Harris
When the Clark College Jazz Band holds its fall concert this Saturday, November 20, it won’t just be celebrating the work of modern composers and swinging tunes; it will be holding the college’s first live, in-person music performance in almost two years.
“It is so exciting for the musicians to be rehearsing in person again after an 18-month-long hiatus,” said music professor and Jazz Band director Dr. Doug Harris. “We’re looking forward to performing some great jazz tunes for an in-person audience!”
The performance is only the first of a whole series of fall concerts: The college’s string orchestra, chorale, concert choir, and concert band all will be performing live during the first week of December.
Each performance will include enhanced safety practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Guests will need to wear masks, follow social distancing guidelines, and provide information to a contact-tracing form.
When the college moved to remote operations in March 2020, faculty had to get creative to make virtual classes that worked for what is traditionally an in-person learning experience. They rallied to the challenge, but one thing they couldn’t provide was the experience of performing together before a live audience.
Music department chair Dr. Don Appert said that it was important to get students back to performing onstage as soon as it was safe to do so. “Music is a shared experience between the performers and the audience,” he explained. “There is no substitute for live music-making, and concerts are the culmination of the preparation by the musicians.”
All concerts are free and open to the public. Donations to the college’s music program are accepted at the door.
On Wednesday, December 4, the award-winning Clark College Orchestra will present its fall concert as part of the 2019-2020 season celebrating the 30th anniversary of Dr. Donald Appert as Clark College Music Director/Conductor. This all-orchestral extravaganza will include La Valse by Maurice Ravel, Nuages and Fêtes from Claude Debussy’s Nocturnes, and Josef Suk’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor.
The performance is at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Skyview High School in Vancouver. Admission is free and open to the public. Donations to the Orchestra General Fund will be accepted at the door.
Dr. Donald Appert has appeared as a guest conductor in Japan, Australia, Central America, and throughout Europe. In Italy La’ovadese wrote, “… the performance of the ‘Serenade in C Major’ of Tchaikovsky, under the exceptional direction of Appert, was in such a style that it brought out the elegance and grace of the melodic lines with Mozartian inspiration.” Giornale di Sicilla praised his interpretation of Nielsen’s First Symphony as “lyrical with an airy freshness,” and his conducting as “precise, painstakingly accurate, and diligent.” In the United States, he has appeared as a guest conductor of the Vancouver (Washington) Symphony, the University of Texas – Arlington Symphony Orchestra, the Eastern Washington University Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Central Arkansas Symphony.
As one of only five musicians chosen, Dr. Appert received the 2015 Honored Artists of The American Prize for “individuals who have proven themselves to be musicians of sustained excellence over a number of seasons.” Adding to this distinctive honor is his 2011 The American Prize in Orchestral Programming – Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award for his work with the Oregon Sinfonietta.
Dr. Appert was awarded the 2015 ASCAPLUS Award in recognition of his performances in Italy and the United States. His awards in previous years were for performances in Romania, Qatar, Europe, Central America, Japan, and the United States. Dr. Appert is the recipient of the 2014 Clark County Arts Commission Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award, and in 2009, he received the Washington Community College Humanities Association Exemplary Status Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Humanities.
As a member of ASCAP, most of Dr. Appert’s compositions have been performed throughout the world. A recent work, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, commissioned by and for Jeffrey Butler of the Houston Symphony, had its world première to great applause on June 17, 2018, with Mr. Butler as soloist and the Clark College Orchestra accompanying him.
