When she was in elementary school, Rebecca Noyes’ great-grandmother taught her to play the piano. In high school Becky decided to become a music major. A native of Bedford, New Hampshire, Becky will graduate in May 2009 with a bachelor's of arts in pre–teaching in music education with an honors designation from the University Honors Program. She has already begun courses for her master's of arts in teaching degree here at the University of New Hampshire. As is evident from her article, her goal is to teach music in middle school. Writing the proposal for her Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship was, she says, “a research project in itself.” Becky plays piano and clarinet, likes both classical and world music, and enjoys hiking and cooking to round out a very full life.
Becky was inspired by Dr. Andrew Boysen’s class in orchestration and asked him to be her mentor for her research project. Dr. Boysen is an associate professor of music and the Director of Bands in the Music Department of the University of New Hampshire. His special interests are in conducting, composition and orchestration; and he has been on the faculty here for eleven years. Dr. Boysen was enthusiastic about his first experience as a faculty mentor. The best part of mentoring Becky, he says, was seeing the great work she did: “It was exciting to work with someone so talented and realize that she might even be able to get her work published, and that this might be the start of something important in her career.” Dr. Boysen also supported Becky during the writing of her article, offering suggestions and guidance when she asked. He makes it clear, however, that “she did all the writing and deserves all the credit for what she accomplished.”
Read Rebecca Noyes’ research article Orchestrating High–Quality Middle School Band Music >>
