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Joel Davis ('05) was never the average music student, and he continues to pursue extraordinary goals. "My years at Samford were literally life-changing. I discovered my true interests in composition and scholarship, and the experiences I had there continue to sustain me in my pursuit of a career in music."
A theory/composition major who also earned an honors certificate in double bass performance, Joel was a member of numerous instrumental and choral ensembles at Samford. He played double bass in the Samford Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble and was a guest bassist with the Percussion Ensemble and University Chorale and in several Samford opera and musical theatre productions. He sang in University Chorale and A Cappella Choir under the directorship of Drs. Timothy Paul Banks and Milburn Price. "My love for choral music is a direct result of the artistry that these men demonstrated in their choice of choral literature for performance," he says.
He also conducted on several occasions, including performances of his composition Fanfare for Six Trumpets with the Wind Ensemble and more of his own vocal and instrumental pieces at a convocation service in March 2005.
Currently he is completing the final term of his Master of Arts in Composition at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, where he serves as teaching assistant in the music department, teaching classes on music technology and contemporary music as the recipient of the endowed Helen M. Smith Fellowship. His instructors at Claremont have included Edward David Zeliff and Grammy-nominated composer Peter Boyer; under their guidance, he has seen one of his recent compositions recorded on CD and selected for inclusion in a faculty recital. Recently, he assisted Dr. Boyer as he prepared the orchestration and film score arrangements for the Academy Awards.
In October, 2008, Davis premiered a new composition at Carnegie Hall in New York in collaboration with Drs. Kathryn Fouse and G. William Bugg of Samford, who performed the work. The piece, Songs About God, was a song cycle for voice and piano based on the writings of southern philosopher John Crowe Ransom. "Writing a new piece for a Carnegie Hall premiere was a thrilling process. I never imagined that I would be given an opportunity of this magnitude so early in my career, and I would like to thank Samford University and the professors, administrators and staff who made it possible. Had I gone elsewhere for my undergraduate degree, an experience like this would have been much more difficult to achieve," Davis says.
In the fall Davis will begin doctoral studies in music composition. He has been named as one of 24 finalists across the nation for the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts.
Davis has achieved much and looks forward to his future studies but emphasizes the pivotal role his formative years at Samford played in his development. "The professors in the music department took the time to invest in me as an individual. They continue to be a guiding force in my life, and I am thankful for their example of how to use one's talents for the glory of God and the betterment of mankind."
For more about Joel Davis, see his blog at www.songalwaysknown.blogspot.com.
Dr. Peter Boyer's web site is www.propulsivemusic.com.
Transfer musical theatre major Shara Lewis' journey to the Samford stage began the night of her senior prom.
Her date suggested she look into ministry with Student Life, so she auditioned and was hired for the summer of 2007. There she met and performed with Chelsea Reynolds, a junior musical theatre major at Samford. The two became good friends and kept in touch afterward. Shara was about to graduate from community college and was looking for a school to transfer to. "I'd never heard of Samford before, but I knew that Chelsea went there and loved it. I decided to audition at Samford. I enjoyed my audition, and everyone was so nice — the faculty made me feel wanted," she says. Decision made — she was headed to Samford.
Shara plunged immediately into her theatre studies, landing several lead roles in her first year. First, she was cast as Angellica Bianca in Aphra Behn's The Rover. "I'd never done any classical theatre before, and we had a short time to put on such a big show, so it was crazy at times, but I enjoyed it," she says.
She found her role as Laura in The Glass Menagerie a challenge. She had come to the role without much enthusiasm for the play or her character, but that changed as rehearsals began. "I discovered a lot of qualities in Laura that I saw in myself — qualities I didn't really care for. It's easier to play characters who are very different from me. However, I hope identifying with Laura helped me portray her in a way that made people like her."
Shara says she feels blessed to go to a school where she is surrounded by faculty who truly care about and believe in her, often more than she believes in herself. "I'm honored to have been entrusted with the roles I've been given this year. I've learned so much and had so much fun!"
Shara will also perform in the musical High Society April 30 through May 3 at Samford.
View photos of Shara in The Rover and The Glass Menagerie on Flickr.
For years, Dean Milburn Price has been a respected member of the Samford faculty, a great influence on the direction of church music in America, and a fine tennis player. Dr. Price officially retired in 2006, but much remains the same.
He still teaches one course at Samford each semester, which he calls a "pleasure and privilege." He is also interim conductor of the Samford Orchestra, which he began in 1995 when he was Dean of the School of Music.
In July of 2006 he was invited to serve as an editor for Celebrating Grace: Hymnal for Baptist Worship. He collaborated with five committees composed of ministers of music, pastors and university church music teachers on the challenging task of selecting and organizing hymns to include in the book. Mercer University Press will publish the now completed work in 2010.
He also continues playing tennis competitively. "Tennis has been an avocation for me since I was ten years old, growing up in a junior college town across the street from the college tennis courts," he says. He played all four of his undergraduate years at the University of Mississippi and has been competing ever since, winning state championships in four states.
Most recently, he and his son, Steve, placed third in the 2008 USTA National Senior Father & Son Clay Court Tennis Championships in Sarasota, Florida, and he was runner-up in his age division in the 2009 Southern Indoor Championships in Nashville, Tennessee, in January.
He speaks most proudly, though, of his family: Barbara, his wife of 47 years; Steve and Catherine, his son and daughter-in-law, who serve as co-pastors of Harvest United Methodist Church in Bradenton, Florida; and his "bright, intelligent and attractive" grandchildren, Shelby Hart and Sidney.
In February and March the Samford Art Gallery featured an exhibition of glass works by Sam Cornman, an internationally-recognized artist who has been working with molten glass in various techniques for nine years.
Cornman's pieces in the Samford exhibit included blown glass, flame-worked glass and "dripped" glass. The works displayed a range of styles, from formal vessels to organic pieces incorporating natural elements, such as driftwood, cactus skeleton and the artist's own hair. A video of
the glassmaking process was also on display to help visitors better understand how the works were created. The exhibition was sponsored by the Marion B. Sanders Charitable Foundation.
In 2008 Cornman helped set up a glassblowing studio at the University of Montevallo, and a group of Samford students recently traveled there to experience glassmaking first hand. Under Cornman's supervision, the students created their own blown glass Christmas ornaments.
Sophomore graphic design major Sarah Wilkinson said, "The glass-
blowing was awesome! I think people interested in experimenting with their artistic abilities should experience it. On the trip we not only got to do the glassblowing workshop, but we also toured the ceramic hut's huge kiln and viewed an art gallery. This exposure to art only helps get creative juices to flow. The trip was a great learning process that gave us the opportunity to live and
learn art!"
View photos of the glassblowing field trip on Flickr.
Dr. Jim Smisek and the Division of Music founded the Samford Honor Band for select high school students in 2007 with the purpose of bringing potential future Samford instrumental musicians on campus to experience the environment and facilities. In just three years the program has taken off, with attendance increasing from 52 students (forming one high school band) the first year to 500 students (forming two middle school and two high school ensembles) in 2009.
In the Honor Band program, students work for three days in clinics and 45-minute masterclasses with guest musicians and Samford faculty to prepare for solo and ensemble performance. "The masterclasses allow students a period of time to train with faculty who are experts on their particular instrument," says Dr. Smisek.
"The classes have been extremely well-received by students and their band directors."
The event closes with a grand concert of the four Honor Bands to showcase what the students have learned in only nine hours of rehearsal.
The Fourth Annual Samford Honor Band, set for January 7-9, 2010, will include two middle school and two high school bands, with several band scholarships being awarded to outstanding participants after the grand concert in Wright Center. High school and middle school directors will be permitted to nominate a select number of students for consideration as finalists.
Three generations of Lindsay Cleveland's family have been music education majors and members of A Cappella Choir. Pictured here at the recent A Cappella Choir reunion are (left to right) current choir member Lindsay Cleveland; her father, Ed Cleveland (1980-85 choir member); her mother, Sharon Pate Cleveland (1983-87 choir member); and Sharon's mother, Bobbie Sue Tindol Pate (1958-61
choir member).
