The Influence of Vietnamese Traditional Music on the Cello Works of P. Q. Phan, Vân-Ánh Võ, and Nhật Minh Nguyễn - Spring 2022
Presented at Washburn University in Topeka KS, College of Southern Maryland in La Plata MD, Midwest Music Research Collective, Asian Classical Music Initiative International Conference, and 71st Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs in Lawrence KS. 

hello

if you are reading this, there is a good chance that you are interested in music in some way or another. I appreciate you visiting my website. Feel free to shoot me a message via the "contact" module using jamesalexandercello (at) gmail.com if you have any interests in lessons, world music, collaboration, samples, and/or random conversation. 

I have spent the better part of my life, like many people, a bit obsessed with music. Like most, I went through many different phases of preferred styles/genres/artists but eventually came to realize that I was an "ethnosonicologist" to use Timothy Rice's term i.e. someone who is interested in studying how different groups of people use and understand sound as a phenomenon and cultural practice. 

My main focus is being the director of orchestras for Muskegon Public Schools however I do maintain my work as an adjunct professor of world music, introduction to the arts, and cello performance at Lake Michigan College and a freelance musician. I consider these jobs as a related to one another rather than viewing them as competitive interests. My work as a substitute cellist with the West Michigan Symphony for example has allowed me to acquire tickets for my students and will hopefully contribute to the pilot "Muskegon Orchestra Camp" in Summer 2024 and moving forward. 

Accomplishments for the program so far: 

1. After-school music club
2. First Concerts for High School and Middle School as director
3. Five middle-school students participation in District Honors Orchestra
4. Five nominations for full-ride scholarships to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp 
5. March "Traditional Music" and April "Concerto" concerts planned
6. BLK BOK performance on May 8th during High School seminar
7. Field Trip to Sphinx Finals Competition at Orchestra Hall with upperclassmen 
8. Planning Muskegon Orchestra Camp

Personally I have realized that I am happiest when I pursue performance, composition, and improvisation simultaneously as well as remaining open to the pursuit of all other interests. 

I sense that there is a hesitation to reveal one's candid thoughts perhaps in fear of consequences from being misunderstood or disliked but I do feel a sense of catharsis in communicating one's own goals and thoughts into the void. It's funny that it seems society is more connected than ever through various threads of social media we are at the same time disconnected from the human experience. 

To administration reading this: know that I am doing my absolute best to teach my students; provide them access to resources within and beyond our community; and cultivate the "orchestra program of tomorrow" i.e. one that practices interpretive and generative creativity as mutually beneficial practices and adapts with the technological evolution. 

To students reading this: please read the above and understand that "orchestra" class is ultimately about refining the subtlety of your listening, collaboration with those around you, and self-expression through sound. 

summer plans to participate in SPLICE Institute 10th anniversary; record/release a double album this summer; recording arts camp at Lake Michigan College; do sound at the Deck on Lake Michigan. 

-james