Music faculty honored

Current and former members of the music department have been in the spotlight recently, both literally and figuratively.

Professors Adolphus Hailstork and Andrey Kasparov have been named as recipients of the annual American Society of Composer Awards. The honor, which includes a non-published cash award, is based upon the unique prestige value of each writer's catalog of original compositions, as well as recent performances.

ASCAP is the world's largest performing rights organization, with more than 140,000 composers, authors and publishers in the United States, representing music of every variety and style.

"We are especially proud of members like Adolphus Hailstork and Andrey Kasparov who, while affiliated in an educational capacity with noted institutions, also continue to be active composers creating valuable additions to the catalog of American contemporary works," said Ken Cicerale, ASCAP Awards director.

Music professor John Toomey has also received rave reviews of late for his performances with jazz vocalist Rene Marie. They performed at the Bahamas Jazz Fest in August and helped open the Kennedy Center Jazz Club last month in Washington, D.C. before an audience that included jazz legend Billy Taylor. They were also featured in a spotlight performance for the entire board of the Kennedy Center.

In addition, Toomey performed at the Getty Center in Los Angeles Sept. 20 and at the Monterey Jazz Festival the following night.

"Many jazz luminaries were there, including Nancy Wilson and the Heath Brothers," Toomey said. "It was lots of fun and, I hope, also good exposure for ODU."

An original composition by a former member of the music department, John J. Davye, "Fanfare for Trumpets and Timpani," was recently published by DHQ Publishing House, of Waco, Texas.

Davye, a professor emeritus of music, was commissioned to write the two-minute-long piece in 1991 by then President James V. Koch for the dedication of the Fine and Performing Arts Center (now the F. Ludwig Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center) and Visual Arts Building on March 5, 1992.

"Fanfare" has been performed six times since then, including June 1999 when an ensemble from the Virginia Symphony Orchestra played it on Kaufman Mall as part of the "Three Thursdays in June" concert series.

Davye, an active composer and conductor up until his retirement in 1995, has had other compositions performed in England, Germany and Italy.

Old Dominion's choir director for 17 years, Davye is also known for his work "Cry of Anguish, Song of Praise," commissioned by the First Lutheran Church of Norfolk for the 500th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther in 1983.