Kent State University's School of Music bids farewell to three exceptional faculty members this spring. Dr. Scott MacPherson, professor of music and Director of Choral Studies, Dr. Jungho Kim, Director of Orchestra, and Professor Kent Larmee, professor of horn and coordinator of brass area, have made a lasting impact on the students and Kent State community. Dr. MacPherson will be retiring after 44 years of teaching, 40 of which were at the collegiate level, 15 years of leading the Kent State Choral Department, overseeing six ensembles and conducting the KSU Chorale and Kent Chorus. Dr. Kim will be continuing his teaching career at the University of North Carolina Greensboro as an associate professor of conducting and Director of Orchestras. Professor Kent Larmee will be retiring after teaching horn for 30 years at Kent State.
On Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. in Cartwright Auditorium we will be hosting a Farewell Concert: Orchestra with KSU Choirs. Join us as we celebrate the contributions of Dr. Jungho Kim and Dr. Scott MacPherson, as they say goodbye to Kent State. Tickets are available at the at the door, Performing Arts Box Office, by calling 330-672-2787, or at https://www.kent.edu/artscollege/box-office.
About Dr. Scott MacPherson
Conductor Scott MacPherson has served as professor of Music and the Director of Choral Studies in the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State University since his initial appointment in 2008. In addition to conducting the KSU Chorale and Kent Chorus, Dr. MacPherson leads the graduate choral conducting program. His innovative programming blends a variety of musical styles ranging from early music through new works commissioned especially for him and his ensembles.
Over the years Dr. MacPherson conducted 25 concerts with the KSU Orchestra and Kent Chorus with other KSU Choirs and 45 concerts of the KSU Chorale. He has conducted the premieres of 15 pieces with Chorale and Kent Chorus, including works by esteemed colleagues Frank Wiley and Tom Janson. Conducting the Orchestra and combined KSU Choirs in the KSU Centennial Concert in Severance Hall in 2010, was a memorable performance. Over the years. Dr. MacPherson led the Chorale on concert tours to New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, and numerous trips throughout Ohio. Another favorite memory of his, was when the KSU Chorale was invited for a feature performance at the Ohio Choral Directors Association Conference in 2014. He and the Chorale have been honored to perform at many campus events, including the May 4, 1970 Commemoration on the Commons.
During his time at KSU, he also conducted three professional choirs—groups he founded—The San Antonio Chamber Choir (San Antonio, TX), The Isthmus Vocal Ensemble (Madison, WI), and the Cleveland Chamber Choir. All of these groups have been invited to perform at the National American Choral Directors Association Conferences (2013, 2014, 2023) as well as many other prestigious performances under his direction. In the summer of 2021, the Cleveland Chamber Choir earned the designation of “Choir of the World,” winning an adjudicated competition with over 250 other international choirs.
His research in contemporary choral music and choral teaching techniques in Germany has resulted in guest conducting appearances with the Vokalensemble Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral Choir), the award-winning Modus Novus Chor based in Cologne, and the acclaimed male vocal ensemble Arcanum Musicae in Dresden. He was also invited to lecture on American Choral Music at the Musikhochschule (Conservatory of Music) in Cologne. His international reputation has also drawn praise in Taiwan, where he conducted festival choirs and led workshops in conducting, choral eurhythmics, and choral pedagogy at conferences in Pingtung City and Taipei. Most recently, Dr. MacPherson has been invited for three years (2017, 2018, 2019) to conduct choirs and lead choral workshops for children's choirs, middle school and high school choirs, as well as collegiate and community choirs in Beijing, China and surrounding cities. Dr. MacPherson frequently presents workshops on choral eurhythmics at state and regional music educators association conferences. He is in demand as a conductor of regional and all-state honor choirs.
About Dr. Jungho Kim
In 2017, Dr. Jungho Kim joined the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State University as the Director of Orchestra. Collaborations with faculty soloists were his favorites during his time at Kent State. The Cello Concerto by Dvořák with Keith Robinson, a Cello professor who retired in 2020, and the “Four Seasons” by Vivaldi with Amy Jungmin Lee, Associate Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra and former professor of Violin are a few of the examples. Another favorite performance is the “I Sing the Body” concert in collaboration with the Wick Poetry Center, School of Theatre and Dance, School of Media and Journalism, student composers from the School of Music, combined KSU Choirs and KSU Orchestra.
Over the last two decades of his conducting career, Dr. Jungho Kim has established an outstanding reputation for his superb musicality and leadership on the podium. He has conducted the Savaria Symphony Orchestra and Dohnanyi Orchestra Budafok in Hungary, National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada, Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra, and Omaha Symphony Orchestra, as well as Rochester Philharmonic and Buffalo Philharmonic in New York State.
Following his first professional three-year position as a section violinist at Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea, Kim went on to earn two master’s degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati–one in violin performance and the other in orchestral conducting, studying with Anna Vayman and Mark Gibson. During this time, a string orchestra Queen City Virtuosi was formed at the conservatory by more than twenty graduate students from all over the world. Kim was asked to conduct the group at its inception. Together, they performed dozens of concerts in the greater Cincinnati area. They were invited to a concert series by the local radio station when their collaboration with violinist Dr. Piotr Milewski was aired on WGUC public radio.
It was the renowned conductor Maestra Xian Zhang – Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and La Verdi Orchestra Sinfonica in Milan, Italy–who took Kim as the Associate Conductor of the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, where he conducted classical subscription, holiday, and pops concerts as well as educational concerts that reached out to more than 6,000 public school students in Northwest Iowa over the span of three years. Collaborations with Phil Smith, former principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, and Huang Ruo, resident composer of the Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, mark some of the highlights from this time.
Kim completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music under the guidance of Maestro Neil Varon. He served as the assistant conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic and was awarded the Walter Hagen Conducting Prize during his doctoral studies. Along with the opportunities he has had to study with world-famous artists such as Maestro Kurt Masur and Pinchas Zukerman, he takes the most pride in some of the comments he has received from musicians in orchestras he has worked with–one of the evaluation sheets from a professional orchestra simply said “Hire him.” His uncanny ability to bring out the best in the people he works with has led to countless many lasting friendships and memories that speak to his humility, character, and musicality.
About Professor Kent Larmee
Kent Larmee, a native of Ohio, has been an associate professor of horn at Kent State University for 30 years. In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate horn, he has performed with the Kent Brass and Wind Quintets. Previously, he was a faculty member of The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Hiram College, Denison University and the New England Music and Westchester Music and Arts Camps. Larmee holds degrees in Music Education and Horn Performance and Pedagogy from Ohio State University and has attended the Aspen Music Festival and Blossom Festival School.
His professional performing experience includes principal horn with the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Opera and Ballet, Sinfonia da Camera of Illinois, and the Champaign-Urbana Symphony. He was a charter member of the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus and a member of the Columbus Symphony, Canton Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, and Springfield Symphony Orchestras. Larmee has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Metropolitan Brass Quintet, Burning River Brass, and Keith Brions' New Sousa Band.