Category: News

A piece by Dr. Thomas Dempster, associate dean for Arts and Humanities and director of bands at ASMSA, was featured during a session at the 53^rd annual International Double Reed Society conference.

“Zugzwang,” a piece for horn in F and bassoon, was performed by Allison Nicotera, a bassoonist and assistant professor of bassoon at the University of Kentucky, and Bert Hill, a horn in F musician, at the conference on July 22. The performance was included in Nicotera’s conference session, “The Brass Tacks of Bassoon: Exploring Brass Influence in Bassoon Writing.” The conference was held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Dempster said the piece “explores various colors and possibilities of the uncommon pairing of bassoon and horn.” He said the bassoon has horn-like moments while the horn may occasionally sound more bassoon-like using techniques such as muting, stopping and playing in lower registers.

The piece’s title is related to a term in chess and game theory, Dempster said. A Zugzwang is a situation where one player is placed at a disadvantage through being forced or obligated to make a move. He said the Zugzwang is a pursuit or a chase before an endgame scenario.

“I imagined the piece as a series of melodic moves that bounce between the instruments and a long sequence of chases,” Dempster said. “While it sounds somewhat serious, the piece has many moments of humor and silliness, and unlike a turn-based games, both players end up in a harmonious draw at the end.”

Dempster said he feels very fortunate and thankful to have a piece reach an audience such as the one at the conference, which is a peer-reviewed, prestigious international conference for double-reed instruments such as oboe and bassoon as well as double-reed auxiliary instruments such as the English horn and contrabassoon. He also appreciates the work of the performers to bring the piece to life.

This performance marked the first appearance of “Zugzwang” at an IDRS conference, Dempster said. He has had several other works performed at pervious IDRS conferences, generally for bassoon alone or chamber music featuring the bassoon.

To learn more about IDRS, visit https://www.idrs.org/.

Much has changed about ASMSA during its three decades of existence. Students once lived in a former hospital converted into residential space until the Student Center opened in August 2012. The school joined the University of Arkansas System in 2004. The campus’ first new academic building opened in 2019. An arts and music program has bloomed in the last decade.

But there has been one constant at ASMSA from the day it opened — Ernestine Ross.

Ross serves as a member of the Humanities Department faculty, primarily as a speech, psychology and sociology instructor. She has degrees in counseling and mental health counseling, so her current courses now reflect her interests in helping students better understand how the mind works.

Four Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students are using special opportunities this summer and over the next school year to expand their language capabilities and explore new cultures.

Three students — two recent Class of 2024 graduates and one member of the Class of 2026 — will travel abroad during the summer for language and culture immersion programs sponsored by the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y). The fourth student will spend a full academic year in Germany through the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) program.

Eight Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned recognition in 2024 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regional competition.

Olivia Busby, Elisa Guess and Maddox Jessup earned regional Gold Keys for their competition submissions. Busby received a Gold Key for a digital art piece titled “Sheet Over the Flowers.” Guess received a Gold Key for a poem, “For Moon.” Jessup earned a Gold Key for her poem “Girlhood.” Jessup also earned Honorable Mention recognition for a second poem, “Seasons of Love.”

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. It is among the nation’s most prestigious program for creative teams. Previous award-winners during the competition’s history include Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Tschabalala Self and others.

Other students who earned recognition include:

• Ella Campbell, Silver Key for her portfolio of visual arts pieces titled “Life in Color”;
• Jaime Hernandez, Silver Key for “Seven Dollars and Seventy-Six Cents,” a short story;
• Kuhno Lee, Silver Key for “The Black Box,” a flash fiction piece;
• Hailey Judkins, Honorable Mention for “54,” a poem; and
• Kayla Long, Honorable Mention for “The Birds of Christmas,” an adapted screenplay of a short story.

To learn more about the competition, visit www.artandwriting.org.

Eight students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts have been selected as QuestBridge College Prep Scholars.

The program provides high-achieving high school juniors from low-income backgrounds tools to help them apply to top colleges across the nation. QuestBridge provides resources such as full scholarships to college summer programs, college prep and scholarship application guidance, a community of supportive peers and other specialized resources to help the scholars get a free head start on the college application process. As seniors, students may apply for QuestBridge’s National College Match program, which connects them with top colleges and universities that offer full-ride scholarships.

ASMSA students selected as 2024 QuestBridge College Prep Scholars are:

• Karilynn Arellano of Mineral Springs;
• Damian Biggs of Washington County;
• Morgan Broadway of Mablevale;
• Jaime Hernandez of Decatur;
• Maddox Jessup of Ulm;
• Katherine Quintanilla of Nashville;
• Zeke Summers of Paragould; and
• Plinio Tola of Little Rock.

Twelve Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy for the Spring 2024 semester.

The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is awarded each spring and fall to students in ninth through 12th grades who demonstrate a proficiency in English and at least one other language before graduating high school.

Four teams from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts took the top four spots in the state 2024 TEAMS competition, the second year in a row that teams from the school have done so.

TEAMS, which stands for Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science, is an annual science, technology, engineering and mathematics competition that challenges middle school and high school teams to work collaboratively to solve real-world challenges by applying their math and science knowledge in practical, creative ways. This year’s theme was “Engineering Another World.”

The one-day, three-part competition includes a design and build challenge, a multiple-choice test and an essay section. The Arkansas competition was held in February, and results were announced in April.

Two Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students were recognized as national finalists in the American Chemistry Society U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad, and Dr. Burt Hollandsworth was honored as the Central Arkansas ACS Chemistry Teacher of the Year.

Senior Christian Lu of Jonesboro and sophomore Kalyn You of Everton were recognized as national finalists in the competition at the Central Arkansas ACS awards banquet held on April 18 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The students participated in the national exam earlier that day at UALR. The national examination takes more than five hours with two written examinations and a lab practical exam.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts held its 30^th annual Commencement celebrating the graduation of the Class of 2024 at the Oaklawn Event Center on Saturday, May 18.

The ceremony honored 111 graduates from 33 counties. The graduates earned $24.5 million in scholarship offers, pushing the overall total to more than $328.5 million over the school’s 30-year history. The event also included a special recognition of the school’s 3,000^th graduate — Tim Palmer of Mena.

Matt Bell — who is co-founder, president and chief executive officer for Origami Sake in Hot Springs —  served as Commencement speaker. Daniel Nkunga of Sherwood, Kaira Harper of Jonesboro and Gwen Oliver, formerly of Jonesboro — all members of the Class of 2024 — were student speakers.