Jason Caslor, an assistant professor of music and associate director of bands and orchestras at ASU, is a graduate of the program, earning his doctorate in music arts in 2010.
“It’s kind of a surreal place because the level of faculty and the level of the players is so incredibly high that in some ways, it’s almost easy to take it for granted,” said Caslor, who conducts the wind ensemble and the Philharmonia and teaches conducting.
“Not every place in the country can do what we do at the level we do it. I always say that I work with rock stars.”
In his time at ASU, Hill collaborated on several cross-disciplinary research projects. He was part of the team that created the motion-capture lab in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, thanks to a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation. He studied the use of motion capture in teaching conducting.
“The standard way for conducting students to evaluate themselves is to look at a videotape, but when we do that we look at ourselves less objectively,” he said.
“You tend to see flaws in yourself because you’re biased.”
But seeing an image created through motion capture was more objective.
“All of ‘you’ is out of the picture and all you see is a stick figure and you can immediately notice, ‘Look how my shoulder is raised’ or ‘My hands are in a funny position.’”
A few years ago, Hill presented a seminar on using science to improve performance in large ensembles. (One tip: Changing things around increases arousal in the brain and improves focus and memory, so reconfigure the seats during rehearsal.)
Another project involved collaborating with a neuroendocrinologist to study how biomarkers change when making music with other people.
“Those results were published in a number of science journals, which was very exciting,” he said.
Hill has spent the last few weeks preparing the wind orchestra for its performance at the conference, which will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Gammage Auditorium.
The orchestra will play seven selections, including the world premieres of two remarkable pieces.
“The Automatic Earth” by Steven Bryant is a dreamy, disorienting piece with vibraphone and harp, which is accompanied by a digital score of beeps, chirps and thumps created by the composer.
“That piece is about the challenges we face with climate change, combined with technology, that’s changing how we view the human,” Hill said.
“It’s art about a significant potential catastrophe and his take on that, and it’s a very powerful piece.”
The other premiere is “Places We Can No Longer Go,” which composer John Mackey dedicated to his mother, a musician who has early-onset dementia. Three years ago, he posted on social media that while his mother could no longer speak complete sentences, she still knew music. Hill saw the post and persuaded Mackey to compose a piece about it.
Hill has performed as a guest conductor around the world and will continue to do so after retiring from ASU.
“I’m contracted to do a lot of things next year, but it will be different from having the daily interaction with really bright students,” he said.
Top photo: Gary Hill, professor of music and the director of bands at ASU, rehearses with the wind orchestra. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
Download Full Image
