Dear Mason Music Family,

We are excited to announce our Dewberry School of Music Fall 2025 Concert Series.  Individual tickets are now on sale.

We hope you will join us for our opening concert of the season on Sunday, September 21 at 3 pm for our Grand Piano Celebration honoring Mason's All-Steinway School and celebrating the 20th Anniversary of our Friends of Music at Mason!

We are eagerly anticipating ARTS by George! on September 27 and our Mason Bands "Celebration in Motion" concert on September 30.   We are pleased to showcase our students as we share the joy of music throughout the month of September. 

Thank you to our Friends of Music at Mason for your incredible support of our Dewberry School of Music students and faculty.  We are thrilled to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of our Friends of Music at Mason on September 21! 

Warm regards,

Dr. Linda A. Monson
Director, Dewberry School of Music

Grand Piano Celebration Honoring George Mason's All-Steinway School and the 20th Anniversary of Friends of Music at Mason.

Join us for a spectacular opening of our 2025 Fall Concert season with A Grand Piano Celebration on Sunday, September 21 at 3 p.m. in Mason's Center for the Arts. This concert honors Mason's All-Steinway School and the 20th Anniversary of the Friends of Music at Mason. Outstanding student and faculty artists of the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music at George Mason University will be on stage to display their marvelous talents. The concert will be led by Dr. Linda Apple Monson, International Steinway Artist. Additional piano faculty artists include Dr. Anna Balakerskaia, Dr. John Healey, and Dr. Eunae Ko Han. Professor Jennifer Casey Cabot, soprano, and guest artist Dr. Kris Monson, bassist, will also perform in this celebratory event.

Duo-pianists Monson & Balakerskaia will perform a world premiere by American composer Scott Wheeler in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Friends of Music at Mason. Exciting and dramatic piano works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bizet, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Florence Price, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, and William Bolcom will be performed by student and faculty artists! Mason's faculty piano ensemble (8 hands) will also be showcased!

ARTS by George! has raised more than $4.6 million since it began in 2006. This annual benefit event supports student scholarships for George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, Mason Community Arts Academy, Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason season at the Center for the Arts.

The evening begins at 5 p.m. by showcasing the remarkable talents of Mason Arts students throughout studios and performance spaces while enjoying a buffet dinner, and it culminates in the Center for the Arts at 8:30 p.m. with premium orchestra seats for a special concert by Darren Criss followed by a dessert reception on stage with the artist. Criss received the 2025 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in the Broadway hit Maybe Happy Ending!

The Mason Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony proudly open the 55th Anniversary year of the Mason Bands with Celebrations in Motion—a vibrant program of historical and contemporary works that explore the idea of celebration through energy, reflection, and musical movement.

The Symphonic Band program includes Adrian B. Sims’s Centennial Celebrations, a thrilling work filled with brilliant fanfares that herald the beginning of a yearlong tribute to the Mason Bands’ rich history. 

The Mason Wind Symphony portion of the concert features a compelling array of works that explore modern voices, historical depth, and cultural expression. The evening includes Roshanne Etezady’s Shoutout, a high-octane work bursting with syncopation, color, and urban groove. Lili Boulanger’s D’un Matin de Printemps offers a brief but radiant glimpse of spring. At the heart of the program is Gustav Holst’s Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo, a cornerstone of the wind band repertoire that captures both the quiet dignity and bustling chaos of London’s Hammersmith district. To conclude the program, the ensemble invites the audience to move with Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, a beloved tribute to Latin American dance rhythms and orchestral flair. 

As part of this special anniversary event, the Mason Bands are excited to welcome the Centreville High School Wind Ensemble, conducted by Melissa Hall (Mason BM ’02, MM ’05), as a featured guest. A proud alumna of George Mason University, Hall brings her award-winning ensemble to share the stage in a celebration of musical excellence and Mason's lasting impact on music education in the region.

From urban rhythm to pastoral charm, and from symphonic grandeur to dance-floor exhilaration, Celebrations in Motion sets the stage for a landmark season of the Mason Bands.

Jenna Day is a nationally recognized advocate for music education and the co-owner of Day Violins LLC, Northern Virginia’s premier string shop. Through her business, she has built a model that not only provides high-quality instruments and resources but also actively supports teachers, students, and families in accessing the transformative power of music.

As both an entrepreneur and community leader, Jenna has created internship and entrepreneurship opportunities for students in her shop, writing curriculum that helps young people gain real-world business experience. She recently expanded this work internationally, traveling to El Salvador to launch similar entrepreneurship programs in local communities, along with delivering instruments and supplies to much needed areas.

She also serves on the NAMM Board of Directors and the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra Board. She is a sought-after speaker at national conferences and has spent years championing music education at the local, state, and federal levels. At the core of all her work is a belief that talent is universal, but opportunity is not—and entrepreneurship can be the bridge that creates access and equity.

Prof. Thomas E. Tyra holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Technology and an Engineering emphasis with a minor in Audio Production from George Mason University. He also holds a Master of Arts in Audio Sciences with a concentration in Recording and Production from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.

As an audio engineer, Mr. Tyra works with a variety of artists, musical acts, and voice talent at Bias Studios in Springfield, VA. He also provides location recording and live sound reinforcement in the greater Washington, D.C. area. His experience in recording and mixing spans a broad range of musical styles, including influences from classical, jazz, R&B, funk, hip-hop, pop, rock, and world music. Additionally, Prof. Tyra has worked extensively in recording and post-production for audiobooks, podcasts, spoken word, and commercial voice-over.

Prof. Tyra is also a classically trained low brass musician, specializing in tuba. He has performed and recorded with a wide variety of musical ensembles including promotional events for Cirque Du Soleil, D.C. United, and The Nissan Motor Corporation. He has also performed at multiple national and international brass music conferences and at the White House National Christmas Tree Lighting PreShow. 

Renowned for her sensitive artistry, vivid tonal palette, and expressive musicality, Dr. GaYoung Lee has established herself as a highly sought-after solo and collaborative pianist on prominent stages worldwide. Her ability to seamlessly integrate and elevate musical synergy with fellow musicians has earned her acclaim in solo recitals, chamber music, and vocal collaborations.

Since 2022, she has served as the official collaborative pianist for the Spanish Young Music Talents (SYMT) program, in partnership with the Embassy of Spain, supporting exceptional young artists from Spain in cross-cultural performance settings. This role highlights her deep commitment to collaboration and mentorship on a global scale.

A seasoned vocal pianist, Dr. Lee currently serves as an opera pianist at George Mason University, where she brings her extensive experience and artistry to productions and student coaching. 

Dr. Lee holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from George Mason University, where she studied under Dr. Linda Apple Monson. During her doctoral studies, she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Collaborative Piano, coaching vocal and instrumental students in recitals, lessons, and masterclasses. Her academic credentials also include a Master of Music in Piano Performance from George Mason University, a Bachelor of Music from the Catholic University of Korea, and additional graduate studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. 

Seven members of the George Mason Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble recently had the opportunity to travel to Emory University in Atlanta, GA to participate in the 22nd International Euphonium and Tuba Festival. The program is a week-long, intensive program attracting students from around the country to perform and receive instruction from some of the top tuba and euphonium professionals in the world. The GMU ensemble included graduate-student euphonium players: Hunter Swanson and Casimir Campagne and undergraduates Jenna Hoffman, Dillon Johnson, and Alex Allred. Also, two tuba undergrads: Jonathan Pacheco, and Steve Bechtel (whose primary instrument is bass trombone but is a fantastic doubler on tuba!)

The group was invited by the festival chair, Dr. Adam Frey, to perform on one of the festival’s gala recitals in the beautiful Schwartz Center Concert Hall on campus. Under Dr. Jenkins’ direction, the group performed works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Biebl, Astor Piazzolla, and John Philip Sousa. Later in the week the students entered the festival’s chamber music competition, taking home the first prize. We couldn’t be more proud of the hard work and dedication of our GMU tuba and euphonium students and are thrilled at their success at the festival!

Malcolm Taylor (DMA Candidate; featured left) and his ensemble Matchstick Percussion has been invited to perform on Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center on October 11, 2025 at 6 p.m. The performance will include a collaboration with local cellist, Wesley Hornpetrie, and a piece that is closely related to Taylor's research on Afro-Futurism in Percussion and Electronics. Additional composers include Baljinder Sekhon, Susanna Hancock, Julia Wolfe, Val Jeanty, Sebastian Zhang, and Viet Cuong.

Kudos to Band Director Andrew W. Sharrock (Mason Alumnus BM Music Education 2016, MM Composition 2022) to being awarded Outstanding Secondary Teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools. "In his seven years at Glasgow, Andrew has expanded the band program to over 300 students, six concert ensembles, and a jazz band. He believes all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, can achieve at the highest level. He is dedicated to fostering daily success while providing world-class performance opportunities. His ensembles consistently earn superior ratings at district assessments, and in 2024, the Glasgow Middle School Wind Ensemble became the first Title I school in FCPS history to perform a featured concert at the Virginia Music Educators Association Conference. Andrew is an active composer, recently being invited to participate in “Composing in the Wilderness” for the 2025 experience in Denali National Park in conjunction with the National Park Service."

"When Dr. Andrea Reinkemeyer first sat down at a piano as a child, her teacher didn’t just assign scales and practice pieces. She handed over a simple directive: create something.  

That early encouragement—to treat music as a space for invention, not just replication—shaped everything that followed. Today, as Associate Professor and Director of Composition at George Mason University’s Dewberry School of Music, Reinkemeyer brings that same spirit of fearless creativity to a new generation of students. 

“It was just like giving a kid a crayon,” Reinkemeyer recalls. “You hand it over, and they start drawing. Composing music felt natural to me from the beginning.”...

Article By Lakin Raybuck