Natalie L. Haslam College of Music

UT Music’s Melinda Crecelius-Lanham and James Fellenbaum Honored at 2024 Honors Banquet

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Melinda Crecelius-Lanham, Director of Advising, and James Fellenbaum, Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Orchestras, were celebrated on Wednesday night at the 2024 University of Tennessee’s Honors Banquet.  

Each spring, UT takes the opportunity to acknowledge academic and professional excellence. These awards spotlight individuals who embody the Volunteer spirit through remarkable research and creative endeavors, impactful contributions to campus life, and exemplary leadership and service, both within the university and beyond. 

Crecelius-Lanham was honored for her Excellence in Advising, a distinction bestowed by the Office of the Chancellor and the Teaching Council of the Faculty Senate to honor outstanding advising work. Melina serves as the inaugural Director of Advising for the COM. 

“Being a Volunteer means stretching yourself and stepping beyond the bounds of comfort to gain a deeper understanding of self and the world. In doing so, we are better equipped and ready to support others in doing the same. The breadth and depth of UT’s investment in student success is unlike any other that I’ve seen elsewhere,” said Crecelius-Lanham. 

Fellenbaum, Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Orchestras, received the Research and Creative Achievement honor. This award recognizes senior faculty members for their excellence in research, scholarship, and creative achievement. Fellenbaum not only oversees and conducts the Orchestra program but is also the Resident Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, and Artistic Director of the Brevard Philharmonic, NC. 

“Since I joined UT, the sense of community, resources, excellent and supportive leadership, and outstanding faculty colleagues have allowed me to flourish as a conductor and develop the UT Orchestra Program to become an example of performance and education excellence. Being a Vol has meant a lot to me – I get to share my love of music, I am blessed with a wonderful family that started here in Knoxville, and I look forward to contributing back to a community that has given me so much,” said Fellenbaum. 

Those interested in learning more about the Academic Honors Banquet and various awards can visit the Academic Honors Banquet website. 

Special mention: We would also like to congratulate Joesph Beller, a UT senior double majoring in Physics and Applied Music, for being honored as the 2024 Undergraduate Researcher of the Year for his work in the UT Physics department.   

Spring 2024 Convocation: Celebrating Talent, Community, and Achievement

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Last Thursday marked a special occasion as we gathered to honor the accomplishments of our talented College of Music students throughout the academic year at our biannual convocation. Attendees were treated to captivating performances, showcasing the top three winners of the Exhibition for Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURECA).

The highlight of the event was the recognition of our exceptional graduating seniors, who were awarded for their outstanding contributions in their major. Additionally, undergraduate students were applauded for their noteworthy achievements, while new members of Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society were duly acknowledged. The event also served as a platform to commend the 2023-24 student ambassadors and unveil the incoming 2024-25 student ambassadors.

Throughout the proceedings, the vibrant musical spirit and sense of community that define our college were on full display, underscoring the collective dedication and passion shared by our students and faculty alike.

2024 Awards & Recognition

Outstanding Graduating Seniors

  • Brass – Nichole Hollenback
  • Jazz – Braden Jones
  • Keyboard – Nia Brown
  • Music Business – Max Horsewood
  • Music Education – Chandler DeArmond
  • Music Theory/Composition – Madison Joy
  • Musicology – Matthew Stanley
  • Percussion – Ethan Booher
  • Strings – Elizabeth Burch
  • Voice – Jacob Altrock
  • Woodwind – Alan Cook

Gerald W. Barnes Woodwind Award

The Gerald W. Barnes fund for Excellence in Woodwinds was established by the Arkansas Community Foundation to provide an annual award to a student of excellence in woodwinds at the University of Tennessee. The sole criterion for this award is excellence.  

  • Matt Rhoten

Exhibition for Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURECA)

1st Place – Stephen Arthur, Cello

2nd Place – Undergraduate Trombone Quartet: Jacob Noel, Jaydon Headrick, Matthrew Walker, and Bryce McCracken

3rd Place – The Tennessee Valley Sax Quartet: Jordan Cannon, Jordan Cathelyn, Dawson May, and Anna Caten

Honorable Mentions: Eli Parsley, Pianist

Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society – New Members

Pi Kappa Lambda is an honor society, the only music organization recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. It was dedicated by its founders to the fostering of scholarly interest in the theoretical and historical aspects of music, and the pursuit of eminent achievement in performance, composition, music education, and research.                                                                            

  • Sophia Bennett
  • Christian Carroll
  • Caleb Delong
  • Braden Jones
  • Avery Noe
  • Michael Ray
  • Micah Rdzok
  • Lillian Smith

2023-24 Student Ambassadors – Graduating

  • Kyra Greene
  • Jaydon Headrick
  • Kallen Miller
  • Julianne Moss
  • Lilli Smith

2024-25 Student Ambassadors – Additions

  • Caleb DeLong
  • Issac Hair
  • Reagan McNabb
  • Faith Navarez
  • Phillip Troutman
  • Matthew Walker

UT Student Avery Noe Wins Stanford Humanities Division with Delaney Research

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This past week, Avery Noe, a junior double majoring in Musicology and History, was selected to attend the Stanford Undergraduate Research Conference and the Harvard Graduate Music Forum Conference to present her research on the lives and legacies of two influential artists: Beauford Delaney and Frédéric Chopin. Notably, Noe was named the winner of the Humanities Division in the Stanford Undergraduate Research Conference, culminating in her research being published in the Stanford Undergraduate Research Association (SURA) journal.

The Stanford Undergraduate Research Conference is a yearly conference run by the Stanford Undergraduate Research Association (SURA). It features poster presentations from undergraduates from all over the world but is highly selective. Only 10 humanities projects are selected every year after a rigorous application process.  

While at Stanford, Noe presented on Beaford Delaney’s time in New York. She used her skills in transcribing archived letters, interviews, and journals to put together, piece by piece, what Delaney was doing in that period. For her research, Noe primarily relied on newspaper databases through UT Libraries while also pulling from a few secondary sources. 

“Because information on Delaney’s time in New York is so scarce, my goal was to fill in gaps in the history, specifically his movement between circles in Harlem and Greenwich Village and eventual move to Paris,” said Noe. 

The following weekend, Avery attended the Harvard Graduate Music Forum Conference. Established in 1947, the Harvard Graduate Music Forum is a yearly conference for graduate students and post-doctorates to share and discuss recent research. This year’s conference topic was music criticism, which was also the topic of the first conference in 1947. At Harvard, Noe presented how reviewers between 1840-1999 continued to bring up Chopin’s gender expression. Noe drew from a diverse array of sources, including digital newspaper archives, anthologies, and scholarly databases. 

“I wanted to show how the gender anxiety of a given time was projected onto Chopin after his death and how these reviews influence popular perceptions of the composer today,” said Noe.

On top of all these accomplishments, Noe was the only undergraduate from any institution who presented at the Harvard Graduate Music Forum Conference after being personally invited to submit her research abstract. As she continues her academic journey, Avery’s work serves as an inspiration to aspiring scholars, reinforcing the importance of understanding history, culture, and artistic expression.