Washington Adventist University Music Professor Hawes Completes Doctorate
Takoma Park, MD (February 18, 2016) – Washington Adventist University Assistant Professor of Music Preston Hawes has completed the requirements for his Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) in Violin Performance from the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. His dissertation, “The Programmatic and Biographical Nature of Bernstein’s Serenade, after Plato: Symposium,” is available at the Friedheim Library at Peabody.
Hawes is the recipient of a substantial number of musical awards, and he has been in leading orchestral positions under the batons of such conductors as Sir Neville Marriner, Marin Alsop, and John Rutter. He received an Associate Performer’s Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1997 at the age of 16, and after joining the New England Youth Ensemble on a tour of Europe as a recruit of Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse, DMA, he continued his studies at Washington Adventist University — then known as Columbia Union College (CUC). He graduated from CUC in 2004 with a Bachelor’s of Music degree. He earned a Master of Music degree in 2006 and an Artist Diploma in 2007 from Yale University, culminating in his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute.
When asked what motivated him to choose the topic of Bernstein’s composition on Plato’s Symposium, he said, “The first time I heard the piece was as an orchestra member of the Waterbury Symphony, and Lara St. John played the solo part. I fell in love with the piece then and there, knowing very little about it or about Bernstein — apart from that he wrote West Side Story.” Now that he has completed his thesis, Hawes says his number one focus is on seeking out new young talents and building up the New England Youth Ensemble. His second goal is to review the Bernstein papers again and refine his dissertation to submit for publication. And lastly, he hopes to find a way to get Martin Scorsese a copy of his dissertation to read before the film director begins an upcoming movie on the life of Bernstein.
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Washington Adventist University is Montgomery County’s only four-year private college. Part of the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education, Washington Adventist University has been educating college students since 1904 on a 19-acre campus in suburban Takoma Park, close to the nation’s capital. Approximately 1,100 students of all faiths participate in the university’s nine graduate and 31 undergraduate programs. The 2014 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington Adventist University among the best regional colleges in the north.
Media Contacts:
Angie Crews, 301-891-4134, acrews@wau.edu
Donna Bigler, 240-286-1169, dbigler@wau.edu