University of Georgia guitar professor Philip Snyder will present the latest entry in the 2014-2015 Hugh Hodgson Faculty Series on Monday, January 12 at 8:00 pm in Ramsey Concert Hall. Snyder, a student of former professor John Sutherland, will perform a series of solo compositions before being joined onstage by fellow Georgia Guitar Quartet members Kyle Dawkins, Brian Smith, and Jason Solomon.

The Bulldog Brass Society, the premier graduate student brass quintet at the Univeristy of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music, will give the first concert of 2015 on Friday, January 9 at 6:30 pm in Edge Recital Hall.

The University of Georgia Holiday Concert, an annual Athens tradition, returns to Hodgson Hall for two special performances on Dec. 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m.

The concert brings together hundreds of student musicians from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music for an evening of seasonal selections by the UGA Symphony Orchestra, British Brass Band, Jazz Band, and choirs.

On Monday, December 1, the University of Georgia British Brass Band will present a special holiday concert in Hodgson Hall. The 8:00 pm performance, which features students and brass ensembles from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, is led by professor and former New York Philharmonic principal trumpet Phil Smith.

Congratulations to Eric Willoughby (BM Ed '94) who was recently named Bartow County Teacher of the Year. Willoughby is a former member of the Redcoat Marching band and currently is Director of Bands at Woodland High School in Cartersville, GA.

In addition to WHS, Willoughby has also taught at Joseph Wheeler and Peachtree Ridge High Schools.

In the age of privacy debates and revelations of government electronic surveillance by Edward Snowden and others, University of Georgia Director of Bands Cynthia Johnston Turner has a message for Google.

Congratulations to the University of Georgia saxophone studio! Undergraduate performance majors Gabe Pique and Brandon Quarles, as well as first-year DMA student and Shawna Pennock, recently competed in the International Saxophone Symposium and Competition at Columbus State University. Out of 70 contestants, Pique was one of six chosen to advance.

Pique also won first prize in the Young Artist Woodwind category of the Georgia MTNA competition on November 4th, with fellow Hodgson student Brandon Quarles taking alternate.

Hailed by The Washington Post as possessing a voice "without qualification, one of the very few most beautiful in the world." Kathleen Battle will join the UGA Hodgson SIngers on Sunday, November 9 at 3:00 pm in Hodgson Concert Hall. The performance, comprised of of spirituals and hymns, celebrates the roots of African-American music and freedom via the Underground Railroad.

Battle is well known as an operatic light lyric soprano, and is a veteran of the Metropolitan Opera. From her official website:

 

Join international trumpeter, conductor, composer, and teacher Stephen Burns for an insightful exploration in a Seminar on Professional Development Thursday, November 13 at noon in Edge Recital Hall of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Burns' background as Founder and Artistic Director of Fulcrum Point New Music Project lends him a unique perspective into how to to follow your aspirations. The seminar is free and open to the public.

The University of Georgia Opera Theatre will present “Hansel and Gretel” in a three-night engagement Nov. 5-7 at 7:30 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall.

The performance, part of both the UGA Spotlight on the Arts Festival and the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s 2nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series, also features the Georgia Children’s Chorus, dance department and UGA Symphony Orchestra, conducted by professor Mark Cedel.