Published on October 17, 2012 by Sarah Waller  

A summer trip to the Soundscape New Music Festival in Maccagno, Italy, proved to be influential for Samford's School of Arts Associate Dean Kathryn Fouse.

Having studied the style of New Music since 1991, the Soundscape New Music Festival provided Fouse the opportunity to teach about the style she loves and perform new orchestrations submitted to the festival.

The festival celebrated the 100th anniversary of John Cage, a New Music composer and creator of the "prepared piano." Fouse decided she wanted to bring that celebration back to Samford.

At the School of the Arts' recent Art Ambush, she organized students in sporadic performances of Cage's "Songbook Project."

Fouse also performed Cage pieces at her Oct. 16 faculty recital.  The pieces used Cage's technique of a "preparing" the piano, by adding materials like screws, bolts and rubber to the inside strings.

Along with performances, Fouse educated students about the New Music movement through lectures.

Sarah Waller is a senior journalism and mass communiation major and a writer in the Office of Marketing and Communication.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.