By Leticia Vasquez
Editor

Known for its superior music program, the University of Houston Moores School of Music (MSM) is becoming synonymous with some of the nation’s premier music schools.

Whether it’s by attracting students and professors from other countries or by showcasing its preparatory school, MSM is making itself known.

According to director David Ashley White, it is common for MSM professors traveling in other countries to recruit students.

Fredell Lack, C.W. Moores Professor of Violin, has traveled to China to teach students in the conservatory.

“She’s done very well professionally,” White said. “The students are very interested in learning music, and it works well for recruiting students. The bottom line is that when you have outstanding faculty, students are attracted to the school.”

Lack, who has been on more than 20 European tours and has been a soloist with such orchestras as the Halle Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic, is not the only professor to attract students from overseas.

Andrzej Grabiec, string area coordinator and professor of violin, has peaked students’ interests as far away as Poland, his country of origin. A former concertmaster in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Grabiec has been an MSM faculty member for many years and lends his hand to helping MSM maintain its good relationship with schools and students abroad.

“We have a lot of faculty members who teach here but have studied in other countries,” White said. “Many of them travel to perform various concerts, and it is favorable to introduce our school to so many talented students.”

Abbey Simon, a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Professor of Piano, travels back and forth throughout the year between the United States and Geneva, where he currently resides. Earlier this year, Simon helped celebrate the 20th anniversary of the International Piano Festival, in which he and other two other guest artists performed recitals and held master classes for a select group of students.

Ruth Slencyznska, who was born in Poland but moved to the United States with her family when she was a young girl, and Peter Frankl, a Hungarian pianist who now lives in London, also were on hand for the event.

“To have artists of this caliber perform at the International Piano Festival speaks a lot about the Moores School of Music,” said Alan Austin, director of special projects. “It’s also very attractive for the students who look at our school.”

But, when it comes to finding prospective faculty members to teach in the school, White said international relations isn’t something he seeks out. Instead, he simply looks for the best-qualified candidate.

“Our job search is much the same as other departments. We look for the person who has the best qualifications for the job. We don’t specifically look for someone who has taught in other countries or who has lived in other countries, but we do have a lot of faculty members who have done those things.”

A division of the MSM Preparatory School, the Houston Boychoir has been actively touring the country and has plans to resume its international tours summer 2005.

According to Kathy Lysinger, the 60 members of the choir, who range in age from 8 to 14, had to put off international tours after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The Houston Boychoir has participated in previous concert tours throughout Europe and Asia and was the first American Boychoir to be invited to participate in the International Festival of Boychoirs in Poznan, Poland.

“We have an outstanding group of boys who come from all over the area to become part of the Houston Boychoir,” Lysinger said. “They have performed for some very important people all over the country, including Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.”