Student News

Current Students

Rebecca Yates placed third in her division in the 2012 National Association of Teachers of Singing state competition. Mary Keck, Angela Snyman, and Arielle Koss were finalists. Yates and Koss are students of Dr. Robert Daniel. Keck and Snyman are students of Dr. Shannon Unger.
Ryunosuke Hamada (BA, Performance, 2012) was named a semi-finalist in the 2012 Naftzger Young Artists Audition, sponsored by the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. He was accepted to the Master of Music program at the Longy School of Music in Boston, MA. Hamada is a student of Dr. Norman Wika.
Daniel Frerichs (B.M.E. 2013) has been hired as counselor for Lutheran Summer Music, which will be held this year at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Lutheran Summer Music brings together 150+ young people from throughout the U.S. and abroad for four weeks of rigorous musical study and performance in a supportive community.
Congratulations to Sarah Morrow (BA, Performance, 2012) who has been hired by the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (Twin Lake, Michigan) for their 2012 summer staff. Morrow is a student of Dr. Jason Dovel.
Congratulations to Christopher Beard (BA, Jazz Studies, 2013) was recently selected as division winner for woodwinds at the 2012 Oklahoma Community Orchestra Young Artist Competition. Beard is a student of Dr. Tommy Poole.

Congratulations to Jonathan Rice (BA, Jazz Studies, 2012) who has been accepted to graduate programs in music performance at the University of Arizona and Texas Tech University. Rice is a student of Dr. Tommy Poole.
Congratulations to Sarah Morrow (BA, Performance, 2012) who has been accepted to graduate programs in music performance at the University of Oregon, Bowling Green State University, Eastern Michigan University, and the University of Arkansas. Morrow is a student of Dr. Jason Dovel.
Congratulations to this winners of the 2011-12 NSU Concerto Competition: 1st prize: Amanda Jespersen (flute); 2nd prize: Chris Beard (saxophone); 3rd prize: Jared Wallis (trumpet).
The NSU Baroque Trumpet Ensemble (Timothy Moore, Kristen Layne, Jared Wallis, Jospeh Tiger, and Dr. Jason Dovel) performed at the 2011 Midwest Trumpet Festival in Kansas. They are the only Baroque (Valveless) trumpet ensemble in Oklahoma and were the only such ensemble at this event.
Timothy Moore (BA, Performance) participated in the 2011 Rafael Mendez Brass Institute at the University of Denver, where he was one of four finalists in the Mock Orchestral Audition. The complete NSU news story can be found here. Moore is a student of Dr. Jason Dovel.
On 6/29/11, NSU jazz studies majors Stephen Schultz (guitar) and Joe Barger (saxophone) performed Miles Davis' "Nardis" on Good Day Tulsa (KTUL Channel 8) as part of a jazz combo named Gate 48. The video from that performance is available on the KTUL website.
Sara Burns (BME, 2011) was selected as "Full Intern of the Year" among all interns in NSU College of Education for the 2010-2011 academic year. The teachers she worked with in the public schools have seen her to be one of the best college student teachers they have ever had. Burns is a student of Dr. Patricia Surman.
Michiko Saiki (BA, Performance, 2011), has been accepted into the Master of Music degree program in Piano Performance at Bowling Green State University, University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Denver, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. She will be attending Bowling Green State University in the fall of 2011. Saiki is a student of Dr. Ronald Chioldi.
Becca McNeil, a Music (Business) major from Sapulpa, and Mary Keck, a music performance major from Muskogee, are the first recipients of the Lou Summers Vocal Music Scholarship Award. The scholarship was established by Lloyd and Linda Spyres in the name of Mrs. Spyres’ mother, Zelma Lou Summers, to assist students majoring in vocal music. Full story can be found here.
Daniel Thompson (BA, Musical Arts, 2011) has been accepted into the Master of Music degree in Composition program at the University of Arkansas, and has been offered a graduate teaching assistantship. Thompson is a student of Dr. Ronald Chioldi.
Tyler Acord, Amber Woods, and Mary Keck were finalists at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Competition (Oklahoma Chapter) in April 2011. Amber and Mary study with Dr. Shannon Melody Unger. Tyler studies with Dr. Robert Daniel.
Daniel Frerichs (BME, junior) has been hired as a residence counselor by Lutheran Summer Music, which will be held at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, from June 23-July 25, 2011. Founded in 1981, Lutheran Summer Music (LSM), is a four-week training and performance program. Each summer LSM brings together more than 150 band, orchestra, choir, and keyboard students from the United States and abroad in a supportive, intentional community. Frerichs is a student of Dr. Robert Daniel.
Congratulations to trumpet student Jared Wallis (BME, freshman) who has been hired by the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan as a staff member for the 2011 summer camp. Wallis is a student of Dr. Jason Dovel. Full story can be found here.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2010-2011 NSU Concerto Competition:1st prize: Timothy Moore (trumpet), 2nd prize: Chris Beard (saxophone), 3rd prize: Amanda Jesperson (flute).
Michiko Saiki (piano) was accepted to the Brevard Music Center summer program in Brevard, NC as well as the Chautauqua Institution Music Festival in New York. She won 1st prize in the 2010 NSU Concerto Competition and 1st prize in the 2009 Oklahoma Music Teachers Association Collegiate Competition (Junior/Senior division). She was also a finalist in the 2010 Delta Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Saiki is a student of Dr. Ronald Chioldi.
Timothy Moore (trumpet) participated in the International Baroque Trumpet Workshop in Bloomington, Indiana in June 2010. Moore is a student of Dr. Jason Dovel.
Mary Keck (voice) was among three area singers selected to perform a chorus number with Broadway stars during Neil Berg's "100 Years of Broadway" show in March 2010. Keck is a student of Dr. Deborah Popham.