Bill Cunliffe jazz piano; arranging; Fullerton Jazz Orchestra, Fullerton Big Band and combo director
Rodolfo Zuñiga* jazz studies, jazz percussion, and music techology; Fullerton Chamber Jazz Ensemble director
PIANO, ORGAN, PIANO PEDAGOGY
Bill Cunliffe jazz piano
Alison Edwards* piano, piano pedagogy, class piano
Dr. Robert Watson piano
MUSIC EDUCATION, TEACHER TRAINING, AND TEACHING CREDENTIAL
Dr. Christopher Peterson choral
Dr. Gregory X. Whitmore* instrumental
MUSIC IN GENERAL EDUCATION
Dr. John Koegel*
Dr. Katherine Reed
MUSIC HISTORY AND LITERATURE
Dr. Vivianne Asturizaga musicology
Dr. John Koegel* musicology
Dr. Katherine Reed musicology
STRINGS
Kimo Furumoto Director of Orchestra Studies and University Symphony Orchestra conductor
Bongshin Ko cello
Dr. Ernest Salem* violin
THEORY AND COMPOSITION
Dr. Hesam Abedini composition, theory
Dr. Pamela Madsen composition, theory
Dr. Ken Walicki* composition, theory
VOCAL, CHORAL, AND OPERA
Dr. Robert Istad* Director of Choral Studies and University Singers conductor
Dr. Kerry Jennings* Director of Opera
Dr. Christopher Peterson CSUF Concert Choir and Singing Titans conductor
Dr. Joni Y. Prado* voice, academic voice courses
Dr. Bri’Ann Wright general education
WOODWINDS, BRASS, AND PERCUSSION
Dr. Dustin Barr Director of Wind Band Studies, University Wind Symphony, University Band
Jean Ferrandis* flute
Sycil Mathai* trumpet
Dr. Gregory X. Whitmore
University Symphonic Winds conductor
Michael Yoshimi* clarinet
STAFF
Michael August Production Manager
Eric Dries Music Librarian
Gretchen Estes-Parker Office Coordinator
Will Lemley Audio Technician
Jeff Lewis Audio Engineer
Chris Searight Musical Instrument Services
Paul Shirts Administrative Assistant
Elizabeth Williams Business Manager
* Denotes area coordinator
Welcome to the Fall 2025 performing and visual arts season at Cal State Fullerton’s College of the Arts. Each new semester, our campus comes to life with the energy and creativity of thousands of arts students eager to share their unique visions. Whether you’re returning to our venues or here for the first time, we are so excited to present another season to you. Thank you for joining us.
On October 12, the School of Music presents the interdisciplinary performance “Shakespeare in Sound,” featuring the University Symphonic Winds along with vocal and theatre students. Later in the semester, “Here’s Johnny!: Celebrating 100 Years of Johnny Carson” swings its way onto the stage with a program of jazzy favorites on November 16. More toe tapping is in order when the Department of Theatre and Dance presents their fall musical “9 to 5,” based on the hit 1980 film and featuring the music of Dolly Parton. To close the season, “Fall Dance Theatre: Tethered” returns to the Hallberg Theatre with a fully interactive stage set for our dancers and choreographers to explore.
If you haven’t yet visited the College of the Arts Galleries, join us for the October 4 opening reception for the exhibitions Soo Kim: “(Charlie sings in the quietest voice)” and Carol Caroompas: “Mystical Unions.” Kim is known for her intricately cut and layered photographic work while trailblazing alumna Caroompas is widely recognized for her layered visual narratives. Don’t forget to stop by our student galleries while you’re there!
There are so many exhibitions, concerts, and performances to experience across the college this season, but they wouldn’t be possible without you – our extended Titan community. In every class, every rehearsal and with every hour spent in the studio, our students are pushing creative boundaries, but they need your support to thrive. The Dean’s Fund for Excellence provides arts students with necessary funds for scholarships, off-campus opportunities, and so much more. Help transform their potential into possibility by making a gift of any amount to the Dean’s Fund for Excellence today.
Thank you for joining us for this performance. Our students are ready to make the Fall 2025 season unforgettable, and we are so proud to share their artistry with you.
Sincerely,
Arnold Holland, EdD Dean, College of the Arts
PROGRAM
Longing (Tesknota) Song Cycle ......... Pamela Madsen (from In America: Modjeska (2025))
(World Premiere)
I. Lost Father
II. Hymn to the Earth
III. A Tree Ascended There
IV. Arden
V. Parallel Disasters-Loss and Gain
Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano
David Bergstedt, piano
***** Intermission *****
Which Side Are You On? (from North American Ballads) ........................ Fredric Rzewski
David Bergstedt, piano
Proof and Disproof (an opera for one alone) ........................................... Pamela Madsen Movements V-VII
Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano
David Bergstedt, piano
Recovery Family
Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano (a capella)
Molly Pease
From I to We Molly Pease
Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano
David Bergstedt, piano
The Singing of the Waves: Nereid’s Lyre ................................................. Pamela Madsen
Molly Pease, voice
David Bergstedt, piano
CSUF New Music Ensemble
Approaches and Departures (from Four Meditations for Orchestra) Pauline Oliveros
Molly Pease, voice
David Bergstedt, piano
CSUF New Music Ensemble
PROGRAM NOTES
Longing (Tesknota) Song Cycle (from In America: Modjeska (2025))
PAMELA MADSEN
In America: Modjeska! Longing (Tesknota) is a 40-minute, five-movement song cycle that explores immigration in America through the life of Helena Modjeska, a Polish immigrant and renowned Shakespearean actress who moved to the United States in the late 19th century. Seeking refuge from personal and political challenges, she settled in Southern California, where she founded the Bohemian artist community “Arden” in Modjeska Canyon, near my home against the Laguna Coast Wilderness Preserve. Inspired by my grandmother’s similar journey from Poland to the US, this work delves into themes of immigration, creativity, and the quest for a homeland. Modjeska envisioned an artistic sanctuary akin to Shakespeare’s Forest of Arden—a place where Polish plays could be freely staged and artistic talents nurtured.
The project traces Modjeska’s journey from Poland to California, capturing her nostalgia and longing despite finding what she considered a “Paradise on Earth.” Her home, renovated by architect Stanford White, merged Californian exoticism with the ambiance of a Polish manor, providing a refuge for her creative endeavors, including studying, writing, painting, and illustrating fairy tales. The work consists of five movements, each depicting a stage in Modjeska’s life, using texts from her autobiography and works by poets such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Rainer Maria Rilke, Elinor Wylie, Edna St. Vincent Millay, alongside early American hymn melodies and Shakespearean texts. These movements reveal Modjeska’s dual identity as both an actress and a woman confronting the realities of her life.
The unique structure of the work combines a hybrid concert/aria form creating a dramatic work for solo soprano voice, and solo piano. My intention was to give the pianist and vocalist equal roles, to have equal solo capacity, to create a more
dramatic structure of expression. The work will be orchestrated for larger chamber ensemble and solo voice and piano. The work was commissioned by pianist David Bergstedt, for his doctoral dissertation on my work, and composed for Renee Tatum, mezzo-soprano, who will premiere the concerto-aria with orchestra. Both of these performers were students of mine in my earlier days as professor of music composition at Cal State Fullerton School of Music, and performed in my early operas, and chamber music works. They are the first to initiate a new series of “Extraordinary Alumni” at Cal State Fullerton New Music Series in the 2025-2026 season. - Pamela Madsen
I. Lost FatherYouth and Leaving Poland
II. Hymn to the EarthAwakening of Awareness and Wonder, Farewell to Homeland
III. A tree ascended thereA Feeling of LongingSadness-TesknotaJourney to America
IV. ArdenJourney to California-Modeska Canyon and Embracing Shakespeare’s Arden
V. Parallel DisastersHardships of Life, Poverty, Loss, Illness and AcceptanceLoss and Gain
I. Lost Father
(from Memories and Impressions of Helena Modjeska) and autobiogrraphy, 1910)
Childhood and Youth
“You ungodly child! Kneel down and Pray God to forgive your sins! Why take so much trouble with her, Surely she will not die. Les maiv-vais herbs oussant tourjours, Wild weeds will always grow. Flames black smoke shoot high in the air.
O God such a red, red sky Terrifying but so beautiful
PROGRAM NOTES
O how glorious this red sky. I have lost my home forever, Nothing left here on this earth. God forgive me for all that I say. Hear the crying voices there. Days of sorrow upon us sleepless nights of tears. Sighs of regret for the past.
II. Hymn to the Earth
I reach so high with my own thoughts that no mortal can reach me. Struggle is necessary. I know I am alive, when I am fighting. I say to be, to be, to be. Not, “to be, or not to be” I gather all my strength, of my soul and go ahead, farther and farther and always higher. The sun sheds upon the snow myriads of sparks, which glisten. So many precious gems, a purple strip of mist rises above the distant forest of dark pointed pines., which form a background to white humble huts, throbbing with loives of patience and toil, under the iron hand of the ruler. . . I feel a mysterious glow penetrating into the very depth of my heart tears rise to my eyes, I humbly bow my head and whisper, Hail Beloved. . . . if I forget you Jeresulem, may my right hand wither.. . .
(Helena Modjeska)
Hymn to the Earth (Elinor Wylie) Farewell, Incomparable element, Whence man arsoe, where he shall not retrun; And hail, imperfect urn of his last ashes, and his firstborn fruit; Farewell, the long pursuit, and all the adventures of his discontent; The voyages which sent His heart averse from home: Metal of clay, permit him that he come to thy slow-burning fire as to a hearth; Accept him as a particle of earth
III. “A tree ascended there” from Memories and Impressions of Helena Modjeska (1909) by Helena Modjeska “Talent is born with us, but the influence of surroundings, shapes and develops or subdues it” “That sweet sadness, limitless tenderness, longing, ‘Tesknota’
from The Day is Done by Henry Wadsworth Longellow (as quoted in diary of Helena Modjeska) “A feeling of sadness and longing, That is not akin to pain, And resembles sorrow only As the mist resembles the rain.
Come, read to me some poem, Some simple and heartfelt lay, That shall soothe this restless feeling, And banish the thoughts of day.”
The day is done, and the darkness Falls from the wings of Night, As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
from The Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Marie Rilke
First Part:
A tree ascended there. Oh pure tanscendence! Oh Orpheus sings” Oh tall tree in the ear!
And all things hushed. Yet even in that silence a new beginning, beckoning, change appeared. Creatures of stillness crowded from the bright unbound forest, out of their lairs and nests;and it was not from any dullness, not from fear, that they were so quiet in themselves. but from just listening, Bellow, roar, shriek seemed small inside their hearts.
from Distress: So Fades the Blooming Flower by Anne Steele (1760)
So fades the lovely blooming flow’r Frail, smiling solace of an hour; So soon our transient comforts fly, And pleasure only blooms to die. Is there no kind, no healing art, To soothe the anguish of the heart” Spirit of grace, be ever nigh; Thy comforts are not made to die.
PROGRAM NOTES
(the melody of Distress is from William Walkers’ “The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion, a white spiritual, Early American Hymn (pub. 1835)
IV. Arden
Journey to California-Modjeska Canyon and Embracing Shakespeare’s Arden
Ebb by Edna St. Vincent Millay
I know what my heart is like since you have dies. It is like a hollow ledge, holding a little pool left there by the tide. A little tepid pool drying inward from the edge . . .
The New World from Memoir of Helena Modjeska (p. 260-263)
Oh Holy Mother, Nothing but wind and water. We are in full ocean the weather is fine. Our ship moves majestically, cutting the aqure depths of the sea. The sky is clear. There is such a fulnees of peace in me. The ships mumuring some sad and solum humn. Heaven’s what color!Is there no regret for my country left in me. Or is it that the ocean has filled my soul.
I feel homesick for you and for my country-why--stillness.
“Quo Vadis? Where goest thou? Where, yes and now. Everything must be thought through carefully. No reason for haste.”
(Quo Vadis is a Polish historical epic novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz that was instrumental in his 1905 Novel Prize in Literature.)
When life must bring regret, I would forget--and yet For memories rapturous pain, my heart would yearn again, yearn again. Ah me!, Ah, me! Why would it be? I know that love is blind, that so it is more kind. And yet in my delight, Ah, me, Ah me, It must not be. I wonder if love meant, to tiled no full content, and yet, for some reply, That does not come, I sigh, Ah me!, Ah me, It cannot be. from Wild Peaches by Elinor Wylie
V. Parallel Disasters: Loss and Gain from The Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Marie Rilke First Part: but from simply listening, Bellow, roar, shriek seemed small inside their hearts. And where there had been just a makeshift hut to receive the music. a shelter nailed up out of their darkest longing, with an entryway that shuddered in the wind--you built a temple deep inside their hearing.
from Elegy before Death by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) from Second April (1921) There will be rose and rhododendron When you are dead and under ground; Still will be heard from white syringas Heavy with bees, a sunny sound; Still will the tamaracks be raining After the rain has ceased, and still Will there be robins in the stubble, Brown sheep upon the warm green hill.
Spring will not ail nor autumn falter; Nothing will know that you are gone, Saving along some sullen plough-land None but yourself sets foot upon;
Saving the may-weed and the pig-weed
Nothing will know that you are dead-These, and perhaps a useless wagon Sanding beside some tumbled shed.
Oh, there will pass with your great passing Little of beauty not your own,-Only the light from common water, Only the grace from simple stone!
“I shall go back again to the bleak shore” by Edna St. Vincent Millay I shall go back again to the bleak shore And build a little shanty on the sand, In such a way that the extremest band Of brittle seaweed will escape my door but by a yeard or two, and nevermore Shall I return to take you by the ahand; I shall be gone to what I understand,
PROGRAM NOTES
And Happier than I ever was before. The love that stood a moment in your eyes, The woods that lay a moment on your tongue, Are one with all that in a moment dies
A little under-said and over-sung.
But I shall find the sullen rocks and skies
Unchanged from what they were when I was young.
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments, love is not love Which alters when I alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is a star to every wand’ring bark Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. Loves’s not times fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come. Love alters not with his brief hour and weeks, But bears it out ot the edge of doom: If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
The Covenant
(from Readings of History-Adrienne Rich)
The present breaks our hearts. We lie and freeze.
Our fingers icy as a bunch of keys. Nothing will thaw these bones except memory like an ancient blanket wrapped about us when we sleep at home again, smelling of picnics, closets, sicknesses, old nightmare, and insomnias spreading stain. Or say I sit with what I halfway know As with a dying man who heaves the true, version at last, now that it hardly matters. Or gropes a hand to where the letters sewn in the mattress can be plucked and read.
Here’s water. Sleep. No more is asked of you. I take your life into my living head. I take your life into my living head.
from Loss and Gain by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (as quoted in diary of Helena Modjeska)
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The tide rises, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls; Along the sea-sands damp and brown The traveller hastens toward the town, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls, But the sea, the sea in the darkness class; The little waves, with their soft, whlte hands, Efface the footprints in the sands, And the tide rises, the tide falls, The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls; The day returns, but never more Returns the traveler to the shore, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Loss and Gain-In the Harbor by H.W. Longfellow When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained, What I have missed with what attained, Little room do I find for pride.
I am aware
How many days have been idly spent; How like an arrow the good intent Has fallen short or been turned aside. But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise? Defeat may be victory in disguise; The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
Which Side Are You On?
(from North American Ballads) FREDRIC RZEWSKI
The American composer Frederic Rzewski’s North American Ballads, composed in 1978-9, is a set of four pieces based on folk or protest songs from
PROGRAM NOTES
the United States. “Which Side Are You On?,” the second piece, sets a protest song of the same name by Florence Reece, written amidst the brutal fight to unionize the coal mines of Harlan County, Kentucky in the 1930s. The lyrics of the first verse are:
Come all you poor workers, Good news to you I’ll tell: How the good old union Has come in here to dwell.
The song is a call to action, to pick a side in the bitter union conflict, a message that could be extended to the many contentious struggles of our day.
Rzewski was a formidable pianist, and his music makes sometimes exhausting demands of its performers. Reece’s melody permeates the entire piece, as Rzewski takes it through an exhaustive transformation that displays the wide diversity of his style in a relatively compact form. He begins with a densely contrapuntal exposition as the theme is thrown all across the keyboard in unrelated keys, in inversion, and with varying rhythms. But some sections are beautifully consonant with the melody simply stated over a gentle accompaniment. After all these different permutations, the piece settles into a slowly developing minimalistic repetition of the theme down in the bass, that gradually gets bigger and louder until it breaks out into a thick, full-voiced statement of the theme, which leads into an improvisation section for which Rzewski provides only minimal parameters. Finally, a brief composed coda punches out Reece’s melody one last time, asking: “Which side are you on?”
Proof and Disproof (an opera for one alone) . . . Movements V -VII
PAMELA MADSEN
This work was composed during the Covid pandemic, where this insecurity of self, and connection with others was most intense, as most were left in isolation to
deal with this solitude, and wondering about the reality of one’s connection with the outside world asking: Dost thou love me, my Beloved? Who shall answer yes or no? What is proved or disproved When my soul inquireth so, Dost thou love me, my Beloved?
As for dynamics and articulations, phrasing, they are left free and open to the performer to express and governed by the emotional content and interpretation of the text —with quite a lot of freedom. Above all, embody the emotion of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and imagine her refection of “Dost though love me?” As she wanders through in her musings whether or not her love is true. This sentiment is universal and extremely personal, as one goes through uncertainty during separation, alone, and without confirmation of the presence of others.
It is this opera, for one alone that you must embody. The piano part is really a part for vocalist to be played for themselves-intentionally simple enough to be played and sung. (The pianist could also be a pianist, and sing the vocal line, since this too is simple and direct). The piano part should ideally be almost unified with the voice, the voice amplifies the piano part, the piano resonates with the voice, echoing its sound and emotion with pedal held throughout, to give resonance to the body of the singer. As pianist, and singer, I perform this work for myself alone. If this work is performed as a duo, then it should be as if one person performing—here is no separation of piano and voice, since this is an Opera Alone.
Proof and Disproof by Elizabeth Barrett Browning V
I have known how sickness bends, I have known how sorrow breaks, — How quick hopes have sudden ends, How the heart thinks till it aches Of the smile of buried friends.
PROGRAM NOTES
VI
Last, I have known thee, my brave Noble thinker, lover, doer! The best knowledge last I have. But thou comest as the thrower Of fresh flowers upon a grave.
VII
Count what feelings used to move me!
Can this love assort with those?
Thou, who art so far above me, Wilt thou stoop so, for repose? Is it true that thou canst love me?
Recovery Family MOLLY PEASE
“Recovery Family” from Inner Astronomy
Text by Randall Pease
Inner Astronomy, a cantata I wrote originally for treble voices and string quintet, sets eight poems by my father, Randall Pease (1/2/53-9/8/17). In his later years, he battled esophageal cancer, severe depression, addiction and later, early-onset dementia. My father wrote the poems included in Inner Astronomy during some of those dark times, using poetry to process his depression, family relationships, and spirituality. My interpretation of his poems helped me process his struggles and my relationship with him, as well. I composed the music for “Recovery Family” during improvised sessions with a dancer, who interpreted the text and melody through movement as I explored my father’s words through sound. Later, I choreographed my own symbolic gestures for the piece, as it felt incomplete without movement to express the oceanic poetry.
Our love
Above
lip buds bloom as if they’re moons
Spirits starring, still eyes shining
To pass to others
As if one mother
One wave
As cave
When wave breaks, beach they seek Lip buds bloom as if they’re moons
Eternal sea.
Our womb
Our tomb
From I to We MOLLY PEASE
“From I to We” from Inner Astronomy
Text by Randall Pease
My father loved to explore the experience of flight, often comparing humans to birds. In this poem, he references “the bird in us,” which feels like a hopeful statement suggesting that we can fly, escaping the darkness within us. The climactic moment in From I to We is meant to imitate the exorcism of that darkness, as I inhale and exhale rhythmically as if cleansing the body of an inner demon, chanting the lyrics “But if spirit speaks.” There is also warmth in the poem and music during a cappella moments when I softly yodel, meditating on the idea of love for others as a way out of depression.
Blackbirds in flight turns sun in sight
On tops of trees they set us free
As if their rays that raise the day I cannot fly but if spirit speaks. They talk of love with worlds above That world’s inside when we are kind But once, given up the bird in us Into flock takes flight As we’s the I’s insight
The
Singing of the Waves: Nereid’s Lyre PAMELA MADSEN
This work is part of a collection inspired by the imagined sounds and images of seductive Sea Nymphs (Nerieds) who predict the future. It draws inspiration from sounds collected during my visit to Luciano Berio’s birthplace, Oneglia, Italy—a small fishing village by the sea. The text incorporates
PROGRAM NOTES
elements from Sunk Lyonnesse by Walter de la Mare, Homer’s Odyssey, and Mary Shelley’s The Last Man
The piece explores themes of transformation and transcendence through an intensive focus on the present moment, utilizing voice, exhaustive repetition, and transfiguration of simple gestures and drones within a spatialized environment. This arrangement by Eric Dries is performed by the CSUF New Music Ensemble, featuring Molly Pease as the vocalist-improviser, based on the solo vocal work Neried’s Lyre.
Other works in this collection include Why Women Weep: IT IS THE QUICKEST WAY TO REJOIN THE OCEAN, for solo cello and electronics (featuring the recorded voice of Anais Nin and cellist Ashley Bathgate), and Sea-Change for spoken voice and trio (clarinet, violin, piano).
Approaches and Departures (1995) (from Four Meditations for Orchestra) PAULINE OLIVEROS
Each of the Four Meditations for Orchestra has been performed in versions for voices or smaller instrumental ensembles. There is no conventional notation used. The score consists of recipelike instructions which are the same for each player. Each performer is responsible for their own part within the guide- lines given. Since there is no written part to watch, all the performers’ attention can be given to sound and invention.
The shape of each meditation emerges from the nature of the score guidelines and the dynamic interplay of the orchestra members. There is no melody, no harmony and no metrical rhythm. The direction is sound-oriented.
Approaches and Departures (1995)
Each player selects independently one pitch (or sound) to be used for the entire piece. Each player invents unique stylistic musical
approaches and departures to and from their selected pitch (or sound) using the following options. Options may be selected in any order. Sing a quotation from some other piece of music at a very soft threshold dynamic level. The duration of the quotation is arbitrary. Just listen Choose from the following texts by Ione and chant using neighboring tones to emphasize selected words:
Who
Night and the owl’s calling. While sleeping in the guest room the guest arrives.
Dreaming I Am
Dreaming I am inside the places that I am Always knowing more than after or before.
Moon Swallow Sun Bee
Moon swallow Sun bee Moon buzzing my hair Sun be
Le Voyage
Faire un voyage dans le rève—être le rève— rèver d’être—être le voyage voyager être
Moon Chant
Be who you are Be who You Are I am who I am I am who I am I am who you Are in my hair buzzing swallows Sun be
Appear in the performance space and disappear without distracting the audience. If there is a stage approach it and depart from it in as many different ways as possible i.e. walk, crawl, glide, run etc. Try to be invisible until you are discovered. Merge with the music.
Molly Pease
Molly Pease is a GRAMMY-winning LA-based vocal artist and composer whose singing has been described as “sonically mesmerizing” (LA Weekly) and her genre-defying compositions described as “achingly gorgeous” (New Classic LA). Known for her singular interpretations of music in a range of styles, Molly brings expressiveness and theatricality to every performance. She is well-versed in folk, jazz, classical, opera, experimental, contemporary, and improvisational music. Passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, she merges music, movement, and visuals in her work; performing in and composing for operas, albums, and concerts. Molly uses improvisation and extended vocal techniques to achieve an ethereal sound described by Emerging Indie Bands as “not of this world,” and draws listeners in with memorable melodies and textural harmonic soundscapes. She is inspired by nature and speaks honestly about mental health in her music. Molly is currently working with librettist Divya Maus on a new opera exploring myths and truths about women called HYSTERIA, for which she was awarded Opera America’s 2025 Discovery Grant for Women Composers. It builds upon her work that centered around women and the supernatural during her residency with Barcelona-based Cel del Nord in November 2020. As a performer, Molly has worked with numerous companies and ensembles, in addition to her solo work. Recent performances include Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands (Sue) and Cynossema: A Dirge from the Dog’s Tomb (Kassandra) with Overtone Industries, The Marvelous Puppet Show with theatre dybbuk, Outcast at the Gate (Ismene) with Impulse New Music Festival, Conference of the Birds (Soloist) with the Resonance Collective, and Sweet Land (Soloist) with The Industry. A specialist in new music vocal performance, she has also performed on the world premiere of Sidney Hopson’s Through the Looking Glass with Wild Up, Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians with the TAPS LA Music Festival, and Stockhausen’s Stimmung with HEX. Molly is a member and assistant director of the experimental vocal sextet HEX, and regularly performs with LA Master Chorale, LA Choral Lab, and Tonality. She has performed with Björk, Tune-Yards, Sigur Rós, and Kronos Quartet. Film and TV credits include vocals on The Legend of Ochi (2025), Down Low (2024), Shoes Off (2023), Hulu’s Castle Rock (2019), and CBS’s Strange Angel (2019). Molly completed her MFA in Jazz Studies at California Institute of the Arts in 2017, and received her BFA at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.
David Bergstedt
David Bergstedt is a versatile Southern California pianist who is currently on staff in the vocal area of Cal State Fullerton’s School of Music. In that role, he accompanies and coaches in the choral and opera programs. He has performed with the orchestra and combined choirs in the Requiems of Mozart and Brahms as well as the premiere of Pamela Madsen’s Oratorio for the Earth. He has worked as a collaborative pianist and organist around the region for many years, and he has had past positions at Villa Park High School and the Village Community Presbyterian Church in Rancho Santa Fe.
New music has always been a significant interest of David’s, and he was the inaugural pianist for the Orange County new music ensemble Choral Arts Initiative and has premiered student compositions at CSUF and ASU.
David completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance at CSUF, studying with Eduardo Delgado and Ning An and performing in jazz and new music ensembles. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Dr. Baruch Meir at Arizona State University and has participated in piano and chamber music festivals in Italy, Germany, and Hungary.
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
Pamela Madsen, artistic director, composer
Pamela Madsen is a composer, performer, theorist, librettist and curator of new music. From massive immersive concertlength projects, solo works, chamber music to multi-media opera collaborations her work focuses on issues of social change, exploration of image, music, text and the environment. With a Ph.D. in Music Composition from UCSD, studies with Brian Ferneyhough, Mellon Foundation Doctoral Research Award in theory at Yale University, Post- Doctoral research in Music Technology at IRCAM, Paris, and Deep Listening Certificate with Pauline Oliveros, her creative projects and research focuses on the evolution of compositional thought, improvisation, electronic music, and women in music. Her works have been commissioned and premiered world-wide by such artists as Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Brightwork newmusic, flutists Claire Chase, Jane Rigler, Anne LaBerge, Lisa Moore, JACK, Ethel, Lyris, Formalist and Arditti string quartets with multi-media collaborations with artists Quintan Ana Wikswo, Camille Seaman, Jimena Sarno and Judy Chicago. Major concert-length projects include her Opera America and National Endowment for the Arts Funded Opera: Why Women Went West, National Endowment for the Arts and New Music USA supported Oratorio for the Earth. Selected as Huntington Library Mellon Research Fellow, Alpert Award Panelist, Creative Capital artist “on the radar”, American Scandinavian Foundation, artist residency fellowships at MacDowell Colony, UCross, Wyoming, Women’s International Studies Center, New Mexico, Wurlitzer Foundation Award, she is a frequent guest artist at festivals and universities worldwide. She is Director of Cal State Fullerton New Music Series where she is Professor of Music Composition. www.pamelamadsenmusic.com
Eric Dries, director
Eric Dries is a pianist, improviser, composer and educator who explores the innovative fields between traditional jazz, free improvisation, and contemporary classical music. His work explores a wide range of stylistic practices from jazz and contemporary music worlds in diverse performance situations. Dries is interested in expanding experimental ideas while honoring the fundamental tenets of the jazz tradition. His solo piano performances reinterpret and invigorate the tradition of jazz standards with a foundation of rhythmic experimentation and harmonic and melodic expansion. Dries has performed and recorded with some of the top studio and freelance musicians in southern California where he is in high demand at high profile performance venues, and jazz festivals. Dries early notated compositional works explore virtuosic solo instrumental experimentation and unusually orchestrated chamber ensemble combinations. His current compositional work combines the rigor of compositional technique with improvised frameworks of traditional jazz and experimentalism of new music to create systems of group dynamics that encourage performer-composer collaboration and new sonic exploration in each performance. He holds a Ph.D. in Composition and M.A. in Music Theory from University of California San Diego, where he studied with Rand Steiger, George Lewis, Anthony Davis, Roger Reynolds and Brian Ferneyhough, with post-doctoral studies and research in Music Technology at IRCAM. He studied jazz improvisation and composition with bassist Richard Davis and saxophonist Les Thimmig at University of Wisconsin Madison where he received his BM in Music Composition, studying with Stephen Dembski. Dries currently is a Lecturer in Music composition, theory, jazz, and music technology at California State University Fullerton School of Music.
CSUF New Music Ensemble, under the direction of Pamela Madsen and Eric Dries focuses on the instruction in the techniques of contemporary concert music, and preparation of performances of contemporary instrumental, vocal, improvisational and electroacoustic music literature fro1m the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. We study and perform a wide range of repertoire from the contemporary period: from, experimental, atonal, to extended tonal, minimalism, post-minimalism, post-modernism to multi-media collaboration, film music, deep listening and improvisational forms to explore both the repertoire and performance practice in New Music. As part of the New Music Series we work with guest composers, performers and perform with contemporary New Music Ensembles. Chosen by Los Angeles Audience Choice Award as the Best New Music Ensemble in 2022, we have worked with guest ensembles Los Angeles based Brightwork newmusic, Stacey Fraser, HEX Vocal Ensemble and guest artists Jean Ferrandis, and Dominique Williencourt last season.. This season we will work with guest artists: Hub newmusic, Brightwork new music, loadbang, Nicholas Isherwood, Galan Trio and Hex Vocal Ensemble.
Eric Dries, director • Pamela Madsen, artistic director
Alicia Byer, clarinet
John Gerling, clarinet
Cooper Koerner, saxophone
Beatriz Gongora, saxophone
Julio Hernandez, saxophone
Cruz Boschini, trombone
Paul De La Rosa, trombone
Lily Partridge, trombone
Emily Arnold, violin
Shannon Hayden, cello
Jonathan Binns, guitar
Giovanni Guillen, guitar
Ethan Gutierrez, piano
Daniel Meyers, piano
Luke Templeman, piano
Julia Craft, keyboards/electronics
Christian Polo, voice
Scott Dilbeck, voice
$500,000 +
Mrs. Junko Klaus
$100,000-$499,999
Johnny Carson Foundation
$50,000-$99,999
CSU Northridge Foundation
Leo Freedman Foundation
Ms. Susan Hallman in Memory of Ernie Sweet ‘77
Mr. Matthew Scarpino & Ms. Karyn Hayter
Mr. Steve & Mrs. Robin Kalota
Dr. Sallie Mitchell*
Dr. Tedrow & Mrs. Susan Perkins
Mrs. Louise Shamblen
$25,000 - $49,999
Mr. Darryl Curran
Mrs. Lee C. Begovich
Mrs. Marilyn Carlson
Ms. Mary A. and Mr. Phil Lyons
Mr. Bob & Mrs. Terri Niccum
Mr. Ernest & Mrs. Donna Schroeder
Dr. Ed & Mrs. Sue Sullivan
$10,000-$24,999
Dr. Joseph & Dr. Voiza Arnold
Mr. John Aimé & Ms. Robin de la Llata Aimé
Dr. Marc Dickey
Mrs. Evelyn Francuz
Mr. Edward & Mrs. MaryLouise Hlavac
Ms. Kathleen Hougesen
Ms. Kathy Mangum
Mr. James & Mrs. Eleanore Monroe
Mrs. Norma Morris
Mr. John Brennan & Ms. Lucina Moses
$5,000-$9,999
Mr. Nick & Mrs. Dottie Batinich
Continuing Life LLC
Ms. Harriet Cornyn
Mr. William S. Cornyn
Dedicated 2 Learning
Mr. Richard & Mrs. Susan Dolnick
Ebell Club of Fullerton
Friends of Jazz, Inc.
Dr. Margaret Gordon
DONOR APPLAUSE
Mr. Norm & Mrs. SandyJohnson
Ms. Teri Kennady
Mrs. Jill Kurti Norman
Morningside of Fullerton
Mrs. Bettina Murphy
Mr. David Navarro
Dwight Richard Odle Foundation
Dr. Stephen Rochford, DMA
Southern California Arts Council
Swinerton Builders
Mr. Framroze & Mrs. Julie Virjee
$1,000-$4,999
Mr. John A. Alexander & Mr. Jason Francisco
Mrs. Judy Atwell
Mrs. Lois Austin
Mr. Tod Beckett-Frank
Ms. Karen Bell
Mr. John &
Ms. Shanon M. Fitzpatrick
Dr. Keith & Mrs. Renae Boyum
Mr. Allan & Mrs. Janet Bridgford
Mrs. Marion Brockett
Mr. James & Mrs. Diane Case
Mr. Stephen Collier & Ms. Joann Driggers
Mr. William H. Cunliffe, Jr.
D Barry Schmitt Trust
Ms. Jeannie Denholm
Mr. Gordon & Mrs. Lorra Dickinson
Mr. Kenneth & Mrs. Stacey Duran
Mr. Greg & Mrs. Shawna Ellis
Ms. Judi Elterman
Dr. Anne Fingal
Fullerton Families & Friends Foundation
The Jane Deming Fund
Mrs. Marsha Gallavan
Mrs. Terie Garrabrant
Dr. Leon & Mrs. Annette Gilbert
Mrs. Janet M. Green
Mr. James Henriques
Mr. David &
Mrs. Margret Hoonsbeen
Mr. Mike Ibanez
Mr. Darren &
Mrs. Tatyana Jones
Ms. Michelle H. Jordan
Ms. Gladys Kares
Ronald L. Katz
*deceased
Very special care has been given to the prepartion of this donor list. For questions or concerns, please contact: Ann Steichen | 657-278-3347
Family Foundation
Mr. Raymond & Mrs. Masako Kawase
Mr. Jeffrey & Mrs. Gayle Kenan
Dr. Kristin Kleinjans & Mr. Anthony Dukes
Mrs. Shirley Laroff
Mr. Lynn & Mrs. Susan Lasswell
Mrs. Marilyn Little
Mr. Juan Lopez
Mr. Paul Coluzzi & Mr. John Martelli
Dr. George& Mrs. Karen Mast
Mrs. Thelma Mellott
Mr. Michael & Mrs. Mary Miguel
Mr. Carl Mrs. Patricia Miller
Stifel Nicolaus
Mr. Ujinobu & Mrs. Yoshino Niwa
Mr. Colin Connor & Ms. Debra Noble
Dr. Arie & Mrs. Deanna Passchier
Mr. Jarrold Petraborg
Mr. John Phelps & Mrs. Kerry Laver-Phelps
Mr. Jim Plamondon
Mr. E. B. & Mrs. Linda Powell
Mr. Robert Rennie & Mrs. Nancy Rennie
Ms. Christine Rhoades
Ms. Mary Rupp
Mr. Thaddeus & Mrs. Eleanor Sandford
Mrs. Rita Sardou
Mr. D. Schmitt
Mrs. Martha Shaver
Mrs. Ingrid R. Shutkin
Ms. Barbara Kerth & Ms. Lorena Sikorski
Ms. Janet Smith
South Coast Repertory
Ms. Ann Sparks
Mr. Robert & Mrs. Roberta Sperry
Mr. Douglas Stewart
Mr. Tom & Mrs. Carolyn Toby
Liqi Tong
Viet Tide
Ms. Verne Wagner
Dr. Sean & Dr. Tina L. Walker
Dr. Robert & Mrs. Teri Watson
Dr. Wayne & Dr. Ruth Zemke
Gifts received from July 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024
ONTIVEROS SOCIETY
The Ontiveros Society includes individuals who have provided a gift for Cal State Fullerton through their estate plan. We extend our deep appreciation to the following Ontiveros Society members, whose gifts will benefit the students and mission of the College of the Arts:
ANONYMOUS
JOHN ALEXANDER
LEE & DR. NICHOLAS A.* BEGOVICH
GAIL & MICHAEL COCHRAN
MARC R. DICKEY
JOANN DRIGGERS
BETTY EVERETT
CAROL J. GEISBAUER
& JOHN* GEISBAUER
SOPHIA & CHARLES GRAY
MARYLOUISE & ED HLAVAC
GRETCHEN KANNE
DR. BURTON L. KARSON
ANNE L. KRUZIC*
LOREEN & JOHN LOFTUS
ALAN A. MANNASON*
WILLIAM J. MCGARVEY*
DR. SALLIE MITCHELL*
ELEANORE P. & JAMES L. MONROE
LYNN & ROBERT MYERS
MR. BOB & MRS. TERRI NICCUM
DWIGHT RICHARD ODLE*
SHERRY & DR. GORDON PAINE
*deceased
DR. JUNE POLLAK
& MR. GEORGE POLLAK*
DR. STEPHEN M. ROCHFORD
MR. STAN MARK RYAN ‘75
MARY K. & WILLIAM SAMPSON
LORENA SIKORSKI
DOUGLAS G. STEWART
ANDREA J. & JEFFREY E. SWARD
RICHARD J. TAYLOR
VERNE WAGNER
RICHARD WULFF
DR. JAMES D. & DOTTIE YOUNG*
The College of the Arts Proudly Recognizes the 300+ Members of Our VOLUNTEER SUPPORT GROUPS
ALLIANCE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: The Alliance for the Performing Arts (formerly MAMM) benefits performing arts students through underwriting visiting artists; special theatre, dance, and music performances; and other unique experiences for members.
SPECIAL SUPPORT AND EVENT UNDERWRITING
Judy Atwell
Drs. Voiza & Joe Arnold
Dr. Margaret Faulwell Gordon
Susan Hallman
Norma Morris Richard Odle Estate
Kerry & John Phelps
Jeanie Stockwell Verne Wagner
ART ALLIANCE: Art Alliance promotes excellence and enjoyment in the visual arts, and their fundraising efforts contribute to student scholarship, gallery exhibitions, opening receptions and sculpture acquisition on campus.
SPECIAL SUPPORT AND EVENT UNDERWRITING
Fay Colmar
John DeLoof
Joann Driggers & Steve Collier
Loraine Walkington
MUSIC ASSOCIATES: Music Associates maintains a tradition of active involvement and community support, and raises scholarship funds for School of Music students through annual fundraising events and membership dues.
SPECIAL SUPPORT AND EVENT UNDERWRITING
Marilyn Carlson
Evelyn K. Francuz
Sandy & Norm Johnson
Marti & Bill Kurschat
Karen & George Mast
Thelma & Earl Mellott
Bettina Murphy
Grace & Ujinobu Niwa
Kerry & John Phelps
Mary & Jerry Reinhart
Ann & Thad Sandford
Dodo V. Standring
Carolyn & Tom Toby
John Van Wey
MORE INFORMATION: Haley Sanford • 657-278-2663
There are many ways to support the College of the Arts, the School of Music, Department of Theatre and Dance, and Department of Visual Arts
COLLEGE OF THE ARTS • SELECT EVENTS | FALL 2025
*Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano, with David Bergstedt, piano
September 19 • Meng Concert Hall
33rd Annual Fall Choral Festival
September 27 • Meng Concert Hall
Simon Shiao, violin
October 2 • Meng Concert Hall
Soo Kim: (Charlie sings in the quietest voice) and Carole Caroompas: Mystical Unions
October 4, 2025 – May 17, 2026
College of the Arts Galleries
University Symphony Orchestra
October 4 • Meng Concert Hall
University Wind Symphony & Alumni Band: Alchemy of Sound
October 5 • Meng Concert Hall
Caroline Chin, violin
October 9 • Meng Concert Hall
Men on Boats
October 9–18 • Hallberg Theatre
9 to 5: The Musical
October 23–November 1 • Little Theatre
Shakespeare in Sound feat. the University Symphonic Winds
October 12 • Meng Concert Hall
University Singers and Concert Choir
October 19 • Meng Concert Hall
Fullerton Jazz Orchestra and Fullerton Jazz Chamber Ensemble
October 24 • Meng Concert Hall
Dr. Garik Pedersen, piano
October 25 • Meng Concert Hall
Ernest Salem, violin & Alison Edwards, piano
October 26 • Meng Concert Hall
Irina Kulikova, guitar
November 4 • Meng Concert Hall
The House of the Spirits
November 6–15 • Young Theatre
Mackenzie Melemed, piano
November 9 • Meng Concert Hall
Opera Scenes
November 14–16 • Recital Hall
Fullerton Pops Here’s Johnny: A Tribute to Johnny Carson feat. University Symphony Orchestra and Fullerton Jazz Orchestra
November 16 • Meng Concert Hall
Jazz Singers
November 19 • Meng Concert Hall
University Symphonic Winds
November 21 • Meng Concert Hall
Fall Dance Theatre: “Tethered”
December 4–13 • Hallberg Theatre
Fullerton Jazz Orchestra
December 5 • Meng Concert Hall
University Wind Symphony
December 7 • Meng Concert Hall
Titan Voices and Singing Titans
December 8 • Meng Concert Hall
Fullerton Jazz Chamber Ensemble and Fullerton Latin Ensemble
