John Hennecken, instructor at the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music, won a Harvey G. Phillips Award for Excellence in Composition at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Knoxville, Tenn., on June 2.

Hennecken’s work, “Sonata for Euphonium and Piano,” won in the “euphonium in a solo role” category. Hennecken described the piece as “an abstract drama in three movements.”

“I set out to write the best work I could imagine for the euphonium, and I feel vindicated and honored to receive this award from the tuba-euphonium community,” said Hennecken.

Talented young musicians from far and wide will converge on the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music from June 20-24 when the school hosts Flutissimo, an advanced, intensive workshop for flutists.

Now in its third year of operation, Flutissimo is hosted and organized by Angela Jones-Reus, professor of flute at the School of Music, and Katherine Isbill Emeneth, an alumna of the School of Music (B.Mus. ’07, M.M. ’10).

Yoonsook Song, DMA student at the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music, won second prize in the 2016 Salzburg Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition’s piano competition, the Austrian competition’s organizational committee announced on May 24.

Song, who studies under Martha Thomas, UGA’s Despy Karlas Professor of Piano, submitted a recording earlier in the spring to the competition, and her second-place finish earned her an invitation to play with other winners in Salzburg this summer.

Franziska Brunner, a Ph.D. Music student at the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music, has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to Austria in musicology from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Brunner will be researching and lecturing at the Arnold Schoenberg Center and University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

"I will be living in Vienna, where my work will focus on Arnold Schoenberg's vocal music, specifically on functional and timbral diversity in his use of Sprechstimme," said Brunner.

Nikki Hill (MM '11) is the latest graduate of the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music to earn a spot in a prestigious US military band: the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. 

Jacob Powers, an alumnus of the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s percussion area, is the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra’s (LPO) new principal percussionist.

The announcement was made on Tuesday, May 17 that the UGA alum would be joining the New Orleans-based orchestra, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

College couples become married couples all the time, but how often do those couples work in the same field? How about in the same place?

Bradley and Elizabeth (Liz) Robinson, from the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music, did just that when they both auditioned—and were subsequently selected—for the US Air Force Band of the West.

“It was a dream of ours to both find jobs in the same area, to say nothing of playing for the same band,” said Bradley.

Rachel Matz, 2016 DMA–Performance graduate of the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music, is the newest faculty member at the University of Florida’s School of Music.

Matz will teach tuba and euphonium in Gainesville beginning in the fall 2016 semester.

“Rachel is not only a very talented player and effective teacher, but also an incredibly hard worker who is totally committed to constant improvement,” said David Zerkel, professor of tuba and euphonium at UGA. “Her students in Gainesville will be in good hands.”

Lineage Percussion, a percussion trio from the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music, made history at last weekend’s 2016 Fischoff Competition in South Bend, Ind., by becoming the first percussion group finalist in the competition’s 43 years.

Lineage, composed of percussion students Trevor Barroero, Lauren Floyd and Wesley Sumpter, received third place in the Senior Wind Division of the Fischoff Competition, which bills itself as the nation’s largest chamber music competition.

The Hodgson Wind Ensemble, one of the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s premier large ensembles, recently won a performance spot at the 2017 College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) national conference.