Kendra Iversen Places In Top Three In State Competition

Kendra Iversen, a Vocal Music Education from Sidney, Mont., was one of three Black Hills State University students to place in the top three in the collegiate composition category of the South Dakota Music Teachers Association (SDMTA) competition.

“I’m very proud of the work they’ve done,” said Dr. Symeon Waseen, assistant professor of music. “I feel that this is the beginning of a strong tradition of composition here at BHSU. Composition is my passion, and I am very excited to share it with willing students in the region.”

According to Waseen, composition students submit a work they have written to the composition chair who sends it to a judge. The judge then reviews the submissions and chooses the top in each age category.

Raquel Sweat placed first. Sweat’s piece was titled “Frive” and was a piano piece using the 20th century technique of quartal and quintal harmonies--harmonies that are based on the intervals of fourths and fifths.

“We all wrote our own pieces using a 20th century technique we learned in Advanced Music Theory II. We didn’t have any rules and could use any instrument we wanted. I wrote for piano, so I could play it myself,” Sweat said. “I named my piece ‘Frive,’ which is like if the words four and five had a baby.”

Jesse Dunaway placed second, and Kendra Iversen got an honorable mention.

Dunaway’s piece “Messagejio de Dio,” which is Italian for “The Message of God,” started with two vocals and later was revised to four vocals for a full men’s choir. Like Sweat, Dunaway also performed his piece himself along with some fellow students. Iversen chose BHSU students Matt Adair, music major from Sheridan, Wyo., and Kortney Brunner, music education major from Nisland, to perform her composition.

“My piece was a piano and vocal piece,” Iversen said. “I used the 20th century theme, with a lot of tone rose, serialism, and word paintings in my piece.”

The collegiate composition category of SDMTA is a competition that provides opportunities for instructors and music students to gain recognition of their musical growth as an undergraduate or high school student. SDMTA holds student competitions every year. The competitions are for instrumental/vocal performance and composition.

“I am very thrilled that BHSU students received all of the top places for the competition,” Sweat said. “Dr. Waseen is such an inspiration to all of us and is a wonderful instructor. When I came to BHSU, I was completely against composition and improvisation, but he helped us learn enough to feel confident in composing our own pieces. He has taught me so much about piano and theory, and it is because of him that I want to pursue my master’s degree in music theory after graduation.”

Founded in 1883, Black Hills State University is a master’s level University that promotes excellence in teaching and learning; supports research, creative and scholarly activities and provides service to the state, region, nation and global community. The University enrolls 4,464 students from each of the 66 counties in South Dakota, 44 states, and 29 different countries. BHSU is the third largest University in South Dakota and is the only comprehensive University in western South Dakota.

On the web: http://meritpages.com/achievements/Kendra-Iversen-places-in-top-three-in-state-competition/7579677.