APSU music grad student wins state-wide research competition
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – While an undergraduate at Bowling Green State University, Hayden Giesseman often heard his clarinet professor complain about audition music. Specifically, he didn’t like the outdated pieces musicians are often required to play when auditioning for a spot in an orchestra.
“Someone needs to update these excerpts,” the professor said. “No one plays these pieces anymore.”
Over the years, Giesseman has thought more about this topic, and as a graduate music student at Austin Peay State University, he began looking into the matter. When the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) announced its Woodwind Day College Research Competition, Giesseman decided to enter his research.
Last month, he received an email from UTM, which read, “Congratulations! You have been chosen as the winner of the 2018 UTM Woodwind Day College Research Competition! We found your submission original, relevant, and interesting.”
On Feb. 24, Giesseman traveled to Martin, Tennessee, for Woodwind Day, where he delivered his lecture, “The Pops Clarinet: Investigating the Discrepancy In Audition Materials & Pops Music.”
“I was so excited and proud,” Giesseman said. “I was so happy that I now had a platform to really discuss my topic and begin to have a conversation that had not happened yet. This helped make me feel like others were listening and felt that this issue was as important as I felt it was.”
Giesseman arrived at Austin Peay last year as a talented clarinetist, not an academic, but then Dr. Spencer Prewitt, APSU assistant professor of clarinet, encouraged him to delve deeper into this topic.
“Before this project and presentation, I had very little experience in this part of academia,” Giesseman said. “Now, I feel much more confident in my skills as a researcher and presenter. Dr. Prewitt was enthusiastic about my work too and wanted me to share it somewhere, telling me, ‘It’ll be great regardless of what the outcome is.’ I see myself coming back to this in years to come and trying to do even more with this research. I plan to keep this conversation going and influencing others to have it too.”