The Mexican Repertoire Initiative
Clinic Synopsis:
Mexican students are the largest minority population in our schools and the fastest-growing population in the United States. However, this population is not reflected in our ensembles or our programming. Our panel will present on the Mexican Repertoire Initiative at Dartmouth, which will assist you in serving all of your students.
Brian Messier
- Biographical Information
Dr. Brian Messier is Director of Bands at Dartmouth College, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, Pep Band, and Youth Wind Ensemble. He also teaches courses in applied conducting, musical leadership, and entrepreneurship in the arts. After arriving at Dartmouth in 2019, Messier launched a Mexican Composition Competition, which he has since stewarded into the Mexican Repertoire Initiative at Dartmouth: an ongoing commitment to bringing Mexican repertoire to the international stage, providing opportunities for Mexican composers, and combating institutionalized racism in educational and professional performing ensembles.
In addition to his work at Dartmouth, Messier is founder and Artistic Director of the 2016 American Prize-winning Valley Winds based in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Prior to his position at Dartmouth, Messier served as Artist in Residence and Director of the Wind Ensemble at Williams College and was Director of Bands at Belchertown High School, where his ensembles consistently received highest ratings at state and national levels, including being awarded the American Prize for High School ensembles in 2016. Lauded for his work with youth instrumental groups, Messier is in high demand as a clinician and guest conductor.
Messier received his bachelor's degree in music education from Ithaca College, his master's degree in wind conducting from the University of Massachusetts, and his doctoral degree in conducting from the University of Minnesota where he studied with Craig Kirchhoff.
Nubia Jaime-Donjuan - Biographical Information
Born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Nubia Jaime-Donjuan began studying cello at the age of six. After graduation from the Centro de Educacíon Artística (CEDART), she pursued a Bachelor of Music at the University of Sonora. Ms. Jaime-Donjuan has studied with Arturo Márquez, David H. Breton, Alexis Aranda, and Brian Banks. Nubia is the first and only woman to win the Arturo Márquez Composition Contest (2021), with her work Maso Ye’eme, which merges the popular genre of danzón with the Yaqui Deer Dance.
Her music has been performed by the Sonora Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexican Arts Orchestra, Merida Chamber Orchestra, National Polytechnic Institute Symphony Orchestra, Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble, The Valley Winds, Ibero-American Orchestra, Tzintzuni Philharmonic Orchestra, University of North Florida Wind Symphony, and more. She was part of the Jury for the First Latin American Composition Contest and was a composer in residence for the Music Mexico Symposium at Dartmouth College.
Ms. Jaime-Donjuan exists in two worlds: that of a composer and a performer. Nubia is founder of the Sonora Philharmonic Orchestra, where she serves as co-principal cellist, and a member Pitic Quintet, beneficiary of the Mexican National Endowment for Culture and Arts (FONCA). As a composer and performer, Nubia participates in the “Las Montoneras” project, dedicated to bringing together female composers and performers, with the goal making the work of women visible in Mexico.
Eric Jimenez - Biographical Information
Eric Jimenez has over 12 years of revitalizing music programs throughout the Houston area. His programs increased in student participation, campus morale, earned Division I and “Best in Class” ratings at UIL and numerous other festivals. He is the recipient of Hamilton Middle School’s Teacher of the Year award in 2012, LULAC-League of United Latin American Citizens-Educator of the Year in 2015, a Grammy Educational Award for his work at Davis HS in 2015, Prairie View A&M University’s top 40 under 40 in 2016, Yamaha’s top 40 under 40 in 2021. He is a co-host of The Score Podcast, clinician, mentor, and consultant for arts education programs throughout the United States.
Sixto Montesinos - Biographical Information
Dr. Sixto F. Montesinos Jr. is assistant professor of music and head of instrumental studies at Saint Mary’s College of California in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is an active Mexican-American conductor, flutist, music educator, and scholar researching new and effective ways to strengthen Mexican-American relations through the study and performance of music. These include overcoming stereotypes as well as Mexican, LGBTQ+, and LatinX representation in the field of music education, repertoire, and performance He is the artistic director of the Saint Mary's College Jazz Band as well as its Chamber Musicians program. He also oversees the instrumental private lessons faculty at The College.
Dr. Montesinos is a regular guest conductor with the Awesome Orchestra, a Bay-Area organization that amplifies voices of marginalized folk, forms deeper partnerships with communities and organizations as well as creates more equity and representation at every level. The mission of the Awesome Orchestra is also to make awesome orchestral adventures accessible to musicians and the public. He has also been a guest conductor with the Youth Musical Theater Company, most recently for their spring 2022 production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
Cory Meals - Biographical Information
Dr. Cory Meals teaches undergraduate courses in secondary instrumental music education focusing on band and graduate courses in music education research. A native of northwestern Pennsylvania, he earned his Bachelor of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music, a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from the University of Houston, and a Doctorate in Music Education from the University of Washington. Dr. Meals’ research interests include ensemble conducting, perception and cognition of gesture in music, music, and human learning, individual and ensemble instrument pedagogy, sociocultural interaction within music ensembles, and preservice teacher preparation. His work has been published in several journals, including Frontiers in Psychology, and he has presented at research and professional development conferences across North America, Asia, Australia, and the United Kingdom. He previously served as Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Kennesaw State University (GA) and additionally served as a public-school band director in the Waller (TX), Klein (TX), and Keller (TX) school districts. He has an established history in the marching arts as an instructor for numerous groups, including The Cavaliers, Santa Clara Vanguard, and the Boston Crusaders, and as a visual designer for groups across North America. He is an active clinician in Texas schools and is keenly interested in cross-pollinating research and practice within instrumental music education.
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