Theatre Professor Receives Love of Learning Award

Congratulations to Theatre professor Becky Becker for her recent recognition through Phi Kappa Phi as a Love of Learning Award recipient. She is among 147 recipients from universities all across the nation who have received the distinction and $500 award as active members of Phi Kappa Phi.

To find out more about our theatre program connect with us on our webpage or Facebook.

College of the Arts Faculty Begin Production of Active Shooter Video for Muscogee County School District

Columbus, GA – Faculty and students in CSU’s Communication and Theatre departments are coming together on the next three Saturdays in September to produce a training video for the Muscogee County School District which can then be shared with other school districts in Georgia and in neighboring states. The video covers faculty and student response in the event an active shooter attack.

            Spearheading the project production are Roger Hart, Dr. Danna Gibson, and Dr. Chris McCollough in the Department of Communication. Hart currently directs the department’s Non-Profit and Civic Engagement (NPACE) Center, Gibson is the chair of the Department of Communication, McCollough is an Assistant Professor who specializes in crisis communication and public relations. Students from the Department of Communication will be tasked with filming and editing of the project through October.

            Assisting the Communication Department is Dr. Steven Graver and students from CSU’s Theatre Department. They will be providing make-up and wardrobe assistance for those acting in the video. Providing on-camera talent will be students and faculty from each of the high schools in Muscogee County, as well as additional CSU students and faculty. Theatre teachers from each of the high schools are consulting in script development and direction of actors on-site.

            The video project is the culmination of a 7 month long Risk Management Assessment involving school district and public safety personnel that prompted the Muscogee County School District to enhance their crisis response in the event of an Active Shooter incident in a school setting. The goal is achieving student, faculty, and staff safety by enhancing classroom and school security measures throughout the life of the crisis.

Online Ordering for "A Beautiful Noise" Now Available

      "A Beautiful Noise" is now available for purchase online. This recording is the result of a six-semester synergy between students, soloists, faculty members, composers, producers, engineers, and of course a business coordinator, facilities manager, and other staff. It was only through the hard work and dedication of all these people, along with the vision of the administration of the Schwob School of Music and Columbus State University that this massive project came to fruition.

     Recorded in Legacy Hall at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, friends of Schwob School and local fans of classical music can be proud of this CD, produced right here in Columbus. "A Beautiful Noise" is currently receiving airplay on NPR and other radio stations across the country.

     For more information about the track list, a video trailer for the CD and online ordering information, please visit the CSU Trombone Studio webpage at www.music.columbusstate.edu/trombone

Zellmer Competition Finalist Offered Position with Memphis Symphony

       Junior Evan Williams played three rounds with the Memphis Symphony for second trombone audition and was offered a position last Friday August 23. This isn't the first time Williams has been in the spotlight, he was a finalist at the 2013 Zellmer Trombone Competition. Dr. Bradley Palmer noted that, though Williams has classwork and other obligations that will prevent his being able to accept a fulltime position, that this is a significant professional achievement. We offer our congratulations to Evan Williams, Dr. Palmer, and our Trombone Studio at the Schwob School of Music for their hard work.

Schwob student takes third at regional voice auditions

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Columbus State University student Jeanette Luna finished third place in the Third Year College Women category of the Southeastern Regional National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions held March 22-23 at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla.

Luna, a mezzo soprano and voice student of Dian Lawler-Johnson, a lecturer in CSU's Schwob School of Music, was among 350 singers competing from Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Four other Schwob school students — Lydia Jackson, Kelly Goodson, Ashley Seldon and Victoria Leggett — also represented CSU at the Florida auditions. All five women were among top CSU competitors in the Georgia NATS student auditions held in February.

In March 2014, Columbus State will host the Southeastern Regional NATS competition

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Communication student receives Townsend Achievement Award

A Communication student in the Columbus State University College of the Arts was awarded the John Townsend Achievement Award at the recent Legacy Celebration Banquet. This award is given annually to a male and female student with the highest grade point average of African-American decent.

Read more about this distinction here: 2013 Legacy Awards

Shaping OurSpace: CSU gets Youth Involved in and Downtown Columbus Redevelopment

In a collaboration across three CSU colleges (Arts, Letters and Sciences, and College of Education and Health Professionals) Drs Becky Becker, Amanda Rees, Andrea Frazier and Camille Bryant have recently received a Knight Foundation grant of $10,000 to develop a program that worked to develop spatial reasoning of low-income children.  The population the team is working with are subject to a large-scale community upheaval due to planned changes to the Booker T Washington/Liberty Theatre District in downtown Columbus and we look to support children's ability to both understand, take part in the public planning process.  The project, called Shaping OurSpace, was piloted over the summer (2012) and we will now be delivering the program in CSU's after school project, directed by Anne Thibault called Empowered Youth of Columbus this spring..

MTNA Collegiate Competitio​n: Schwob students win three categories in Southern Division

The national conference of the Music Teachers National Association will see three CSU students competing at the national level of the Collegiate Artist Competition. Congratulations to these students who won the nine-state Southern Region auditions by presenting a full recital:

Anna Vertypolokh, piano student of Professor Alexander Kobrin

Mark Spradley, trombone student of Dr. Brad Palmer

Branson Yeast, cello student of Professor Wendy Warner

Congratulations also to Likai He and Sophie Wang, violin students of Professor Sergiu Schwartz, who won the MTNA Georgia competition in their age brackets and were recognized for their performances at MTNA Southern Region as Alternate and Honorable Mention, respectively.

Private giving made possible the underwriting of travel expense to Greensboro, NC for these five contestants and their collaborative pianists, Yien Wang, Ksenia Kurenysheva, and Alina Sarkisyan. The national finalists will compete at Disneyland in Southern California in March.

Graduate Student recognized by Georgia Arts Council

Steven Tette, a Columbus State University Graduate student was recently recognized by the Georgia Arts Council. In a call to all Georgia Artists, his painting "self concept (family affair)" was chosen to be displayed at the Georgia Capitol Executive Offices.

Tette will hand deliver his painting to the Governor, after which the painting will be put on rotation. A digital guide for this exhibition will be provided in the near future. To see more of Tette's work visit his website: steventette.com