Four Frost School of Music faculty members received 2018 Provost Research Awards, granted at the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus this year. Applications were evaluated based on their scholarly, scientific, and creative merit.
Jeffrey L. Duerk, Executive Vice President and Provost, announced the Provost Research Awards (PRA) which are designed to foster excellence in research and creative scholarship, providing both salary support and support for direct research costs.
Associate Professor of Bassoon Gabriel Beavers received a PRA for the project Swagger, the recording of a collection of original works commissioned specifically for Beavers performing on amplified bassoon with digital guitar pedal effects, pushing the boundaries of modern art music.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to introduce the world to these pieces,” said Beavers. “One in particular, Swagger by Frost faculty composer Charles Mason, will be the first commercial recording of a chamber work for amplified bassoon and brass quintet. Through this project, I am able to grow in a new direction, thus expanding my relevance as both a professor and performer.”
Associate Professor of Music Theory Juan Chattah, PhD was granted an award for The Congruence-Association Model in Musical Multimedia: New Insights from Eye-Tracking and Facial Expression Capture, an interdisciplinary study investigating the effects of musical soundtracks on viewers’ attitudes toward geometric figures within animated films.
Reflecting on why receiving the PRA is so important, Chattah said, “Receiving the award allows my research team to advance the interdisciplinary vision of our institution, bridging the methodological, perspectival, and rhetorical divides that currently exists between the humanities and the sciences, while resorting to new technologies as tools for research into the human experience.”
Professor of Vocal Performance Alan Johnson, who serves as Program Director of the Frost Opera Theater, received an award for the project Black Lives – A Recital Program from The Operas of Anthony Davis, a first-ever evening length concert compilation and series of performances drawn from Davis’ acclaimed repertoire (1985-2018) portraying critical moments in the history of African American lives.
Said Johnson upon receiving the award, “I have long hoped to present the ever-relevant new and existing operatic work by composer Anthony Davis in recital format. Doing so in North Carolina, Maryland, California, and Florida with UM alumnus Carl DuPont and former FROST faculty member Kevin Short is a dream come true.”
Assistant Professor of Musicology Marysol Quevedo, PhD received an award for her project Classical Music in Cuba: Aesthetics and Politics between 1940 and 1989. Quevedo will research and write her first monograph Breaking with Tradition: Classical Music in Cuba during the Cold War.
In regard to the project, Quevedo said, “I have felt extremely supported and encouraged by all of my colleagues since arriving at UM and the Frost School in August of last year. This award will help me make a significant contribution to hemispheric music studies and Cuban musicology.”
For more information about the awards and to view a list of this year’s awardees, please click here.
