SmartGuitar Project Wins First Place Reply

 

Faculty artist Serap Bastepe-Gray (BM ’96, MM ’99, Guitar) and her SmartGuitar group at Hopkins led by Dr. Nathan Scott, Associate Teaching Professor, Whiting School of Engineering won first place in the Whiting School of Engineering Design Day on May 7 presented by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers judges. Peabody junior Liam Ashwill, guitar, gave the demo performance during their pitch. This project involved a wide range of people and was truly interdisciplinary. Others involved include Dr. Iulian Iordachita, Associate Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Dr. Garrett Lee, luthier; Peabody faculty member Melissa Hullman (MM ’99, Violin); Dr. Jing Xu, Assistant Research Scientist in the Malone Center of Engineering in Healthcare and a member of the Brain, Learning, Animation and Movement (BLAM) Lab; and engineering students Allen Ren, Daniel Hsu, Can Kocabalkanli and Khanh Nguyen.

Serap Bastepe-Gray Featured in She Shreds Magazine Reply

Faculty artist Serap Bastepe-Gray (BM ’96, MM ’99, Guitar) was featured in the April 2019 edition of She Shreds magazine in an article titled “A Seat at the Table: The Women in Higher Guitar Education.” It noted her work in her joint appointment at both Peabody and the School of Medicine as the co-founder of the JHU Center for Music and Medicine, her creation of the online class Playing Well, her coaching and direction of the Conservatory’s guitar ensemble program, and her work in the design and development of the prototype SmartGuitar as a tool for research and Guitar pedagogy. The article cited her as a “standout, innovative educator…applying her unique expertise in both music and occupational therapy.” Other schools with notable women guitar faculty mentioned in the article included, The Juilliard School, Berklee College of Music and Princeton University.

Andrew Oswinkle Wins Third Place Reply

Masters student Andrew Oswinkle, guitar, recently competed in the annual Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society Competition and was awarded third prize. This competition has rapidly become one of the more prestigious venues for both national and international young artists to enter. Berta Rojas, a Latin Grammy Nominee and a former student of mine at Peabody, was the featured performer of this weekend event.

Zachary Grim to Teach at CCBC Reply

DMA candidate Zachary Grim, guitar, was recently hired as the guitar teacher for the Community Arts program of the entire Community College of Baltimore County system. He will be teaching in the community programs on a number of campuses within the larger Baltimore County music offerings.

David and Becky Starobin Write Libretto Reply

From left: David Starobin, Poul Ruders, and Becky Starobin

David Starobin (BM ’73, Guitar) and Becky Starobin (BM ’73, Violin) wrote the libretto for an opera, The Thirteenth Child, which was previewed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York during a “Works and Process” event that explored how the librettists, composer, and creative team worked to bring this opera to life. The opera was composed by Poul Ruders. The full work will be premiered at Santa Fe Opera on July 27 of this year.