On August 14, 2014, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and conductor Luke Dollman premiered Our Don, the first symphony written by Hodgson School professor Natalie Williams. The composition is a multi-media symphonic work commissioned by the State Government of South Australia as an orchestral tribute to the late cricketing great, Sir Donald Bradman, AC.

The piece met critical acclaim from international reviewers, including The Guardian:

Congratulations to Michael Pace, recently named Teacher of the Year at Jefferson Middle School in Jefferson, GA. Mr. Pace graduated from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music in 2011 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education, and has been at JMS for three years.

Photo courtesy of Jefferson Middle School

Viola professor Maggie Snyder presents the opening recital of the 2014-2015 Hugh Hodgson Faculty Series on Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall. Tickets to the performance, which also features faculty accompanists Anatoly Sheludyakov and Damon Denton, are $10, $5 for UGA students with ID.

    

Damon Denton, piano, will appears as featured soloist with the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mark Cedel on Thursday, September 11 in Hodgson Concert Hall. The performance, which opens the 2014-2015 Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s 2nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series, will be the first to feature the series’ new 7:30 p.m. start time. Tickets are $18/$5 for students and available via the UGA Performing Arts Center box office at 706/542-4400 or online at pac.uga.edu.

Hugh Hodgson School of Music assistant professor of music theory Rebecca Simpson-Litke was named a 2014-2016 CTL Lilly Teaching Fellow this summer.

Ten fellows are selected each spring semester to participate in the program, an appointment which lasts two years.

Simpson-Litke is the tenth Hodgson School faculty member to be chosen for the group during its thirty-year history.

Congratulations to DMA student David McLemore, who recently placed third in the tuba division of the 2014 Jeju International Brass & Percussion Competition in South Korea. The event attracts the most talented bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, and percussion players from around the globe. McLemore was the only American to place in any of the four divisions.

McLemore is a student of Hugh Hodgson School of Music professor David Zerkel.

Christopher Leslie, DMA student at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, took home first prize last night in the Euphonium Artist Division of the 2014 Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Competition. For four days each August, euphonium and tuba players from around the world descend upon Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Mich., to compete for one of several prestigious awards.

Late last month, University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music alumnus Tim Smolko took home the "Best Historical Research in Recorded Rock Music" award from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. The honor, presented as part of the 2014 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research, was for Smolko's book Jethro Tull's "Thick and a Brick" and "A Passion Play": Inside Two Long Songs (Indiana University Press).

From the Amazon.com description:

All School of Music Scholarships have been processed and are with the Office of Student Financial Aid. However, due to the volume not all have posted to student accounts. In order to give more time for this to be processed, UGA will not be assessing a late fees at this time for any unpaid Athena Student Account Balances. Students are still responsible for paying by Aug. 8 any expenses not covered by Scholarship Funds.

The University of Georgia's Hugh Hodgson School of Music is pleased to present another season of the Second Thursday Scholarship Series, introducing a 7:30 start time for the first time ever. The series began in 1980 and continues the tradition of "Music Appreciation Programs" started by Hugh Hodgson in the 1930s. Proceeds from contributions and ticket sales to these concerts are the primary means through which School of Music scholarship funds are raised each year.