The Division of Music at Jacksonville University in partnership with Jacksonville Dance Theatre and Ronan School of Music are pleased to host the Ninth Annual Electroacoustic Barn Dance, a three-day festival of electronic music and art, to be held November 14-16, 2019 on the campus of Jacksonville University and the Ronan School of Music in Jacksonville, Florida. This year’s festival will feature Andrea Cheeseman, clarinetist; Thomas Dempster, bassoon; Sarah Jane Young, flutist and Tony Steve, percussionist. Composers are encouraged to submit solo works for all featured artists and duo or trio works for Andrea, Sarah and Tony.
The Electroacoustic Barn Dance strives to create a balanced event of contemporary electroacoustic music from the diverse range of composers and presenters who submit, regardless of the age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality of the composer or presenter.
The Division of Music at Jacksonville University fosters a community of engaged performers, pedagogues and entrepreneurs within the framework of the liberal arts setting. Our students and faculty are critical thinkers, collaborative artists and community ambassadors. We prepare our students (pre-professionals) for life long success in the evolving field of music in the 21st Century.
Performers
Andrea Cheeseman is a clarinetist and teacher living in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Boone, North Carolina. Throughout her career, she has been committed to playing good music and collaborating with inspiring people who challenge her.
A versatile performer, Cheeseman frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician. Although she regularly performs traditional repertoire, she is an advocate of new music and is a sought-after performer of electroacoustic music written for clarinet and bass clarinet. Wishing to promote electroacoustic music, she has toured extensively, giving recitals and masterclasses throughout the country. Additionally, Cheeseman has been a featured performer at festivals such as the Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival and the Electroacoustic Barn Dance and has appeared at SEAMUS (Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States) conferences. She has been described as “a skilled performer with an ability to connect to the audience. And comfortable in her own skin, she has the uncanny ability to slide into the soundscape as if she were physically part of it.” Cheeseman has premiered pieces by today’s leading composers and is recording her debut album to be released Fall 2018.
Since 2009, Andrea has served on the faculty at Appalachian State University where she teaches studio lessons and a methods course as well as coaches chamber music. Prior to her appointment at ASU, Cheeseman was on the faculties of Delta State University, Alma College and Hillsdale College. Cheeseman earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in clarinet performance from Michigan State University and the Bachelor of Music degrees in clarinet performance and music education from Ithaca College.
When not teaching or performing, Cheeseman spends her time gardening, swimming, practicing ashtanga yoga and perfecting her kimchi recipe.
Tony Steve (b.1959) teaches percussion and composition. He has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony (member 13 years), Israeli Festival Orchestra, Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, North Eastern Pennsylvania Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, and Bridgeport Symphony as a percussionist. He has toured with “A Chorus Line” in Europe, appeared in Korea as marimba soloist with the Brooklyn Percussion Ensemble, and performed as percussionist at Madison Square Garden for “ A Christmas Carol”. In addition, he has worked with Henry Mancini, Lou Rawls, Sheri Lewis and The Xaiver Cugat Orchestra. As a recording artist he has appeared on numerous recordings. The latest is performing the music of Robert Moore with Karen Adair on her solo release. The work “Sonnets from Assisi” is for marimba and soprano soloist in three movements. Other recording include, Release with Free Range, and Midnight Clear with Bob Moore. His works are published by Keyboard Publications. He is a Mike Balter Mallet artist. Professor Steve has also won numerous ASCAP writers awards and his music is performed in America as well as Europe and Asia.
Sarah Jane Young Currently on faculty at the University of West Florida and Bethune-Cookman University, Dr. Sarah Jane Young has performed with the Tallahassee Symphony since 2005 and the Pensacola Symphony since 2007 after having begun her orchestral career with the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut. Afterreceiving her Master’s degree from Florida State University, Sarah Jane was selected as the Professor of Flute at the King Hussein Foundation National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. While there, she served as Principal Flute with the Amman Symphony Orchestra and the Amman Sinfonietta, as well as the National Music Conservatory Woodwind Quintet. She has performed for both Queen Noor (Queen Consort of Jordan) and Princess Muna al-Hussein (Princess consort of Jordan). As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed in Canada, England, Jordan, Costa Rica, Belgium, Italy, Bolivia, and throughout the United States. Performance venues include Sprague Hall, Woolsey Hall, Jerash South Theater in Jordan, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. She has had the honor to share the stage with such prestigious artists as Gunther Schuller, Christopher O’Riley, J. K. Simmons,and Renée Fleming.
As a chamber musician Sarah Jane currently performs with Bold City Contemporary Ensemble based in Jacksonville, Florida, a featured ensemble at the TEDxJacksonville 2018 Conference. She is a founding member of Traverso Colore, a baroque flute ensemble; founding member of the Coreopsis Wind Quintet winner of the Promising Young Artist Competition; founding member of Duo Velocipede, an adventurous flute and saxophone duo specializing in the music of Neil Anderson- Himmelspach; and founding member of award winning new music ensemble What Is Noise.
She has performed as a guest artist at the National Institute of Music in Costa Rica, Harford Community College in Maryland, Furman University, the University of North Carolina at Ashville and Chapel Hill, James Madison University, University of Missouri, Florida State University, Webster University, the Conservatory of Music in Bolivia, University of Florida, and Troy University. She served on faculty at the FSU Summer Band Camp, Montelione Music Camp, and is currently on faculty at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
While at Florida State she studied with Eva Amsler and completed her treatise: A Survey of Orchestral Excerpt Books for the Flute. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Massachusetts where she studied with Christopher Krueger.
