Student’s original music underscores creative approach to arts administration

In the fall, every Master of Art Administration (MAA) student creates a case study project as part of their introductory course. This assignment challenges students to research and gain a fuller understanding of the community engagement of selected arts organizations.

This project, which contains a creative component, provides students with the opportunity to exercise their artistic muscles and apply their field specific interests to academic research. By giving few parameters, students are encouraged to apply their individual artistic practice.

Avery Bumgarner’s case study highlighted the way in which recent rebranding and programming changes at North Carolina’s Western Piedmont Symphony (WPS) resulted from years of data collection, that started with the hiring of a new conductor and artistic director in 2019. The symphony's new innovative programming is redefining the term "chamber music" for its community and bringing ensembles you wouldn't typically expect from a "classical music" organization.

Bumgarner decided to take a particularly creative approach to his project, by composing a new piece of music in a new and novel way to underscore his final presentation.

“The idea for this piece came to me when I was sick with COVID-19 and was thinking about all of the ways I could ‘play’ my instruments without blowing air into them," Bumgarner said. “This score takes inspiration from Colombian Cumbia music, so the sounds in this piece consist entirely of ‘key clicks’ on alto and tenor saxophones and are intended to imitate the percussion instruments that are typical of the genre.”

Cumbia music is percussion-heavy, with a signature double beat typically played on a maraca or drum.

‘Key Click Cumbia’ scored the video presentation he created to present his case study project on the innovative community engagement efforts of WPS, a symphony with a deep regional history.

Bumgarner is currently pursuing both a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance and a MAA with an area specialization in Music Leadership, and is the 2022 First Prize (Master Division) Winner of the Medici International Music Competition, an international online music competition.