Defining the CVPA: R. Sparky Weintraut discusses his mentor

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R. Sparky Weintraut with his mentor, Robert Trent, professor of music.

Recently Margaret Devaney, the dean of the CVPA, shared her thoughts on what defines the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The definition includes mentorships, faculty who are professionals in their fields, guest artists, interdisciplinary projects, experiential learning opportunities, community engagement, performance and exhibit prospects, original student work, and technology as applied to the arts.

To help illustrate these points, students of the CVPA were asked how these ideas impact or affect their experience at RU. In upcoming issues of This Week in the Arts, you will meet these students and read their own words on the subject.

On being mentored

R. Sparky Weintraut begins this series by discussing his mentor, Robert Trent, professor of music. Weintraut is a graduate student in his second year of the Master of Arts program in music, with a concentration in classical guitar performance.

“At Radford, Dr. Trent is my studio teacher, and my academic advisor. His role in my education here is really to oversee my progress throughout in my program in every aspect. I have weekly private lessons with him where we address everything in my playing from technical studies to intensive study of the vast repertoire that exists for the guitar, lute, and vihuela. In these, we set goals that will help with both my plans to complete a terminal degree (either Doctorate of Musical Arts or Artist Diploma) and my career as a professional musician and educator.

Dr. Trent also mentors me in my position as a graduate teaching assistant. In this role, I assist with teaching undergraduate courses in guitar ranging from its history and literature to performance practices. Dr. Trent oversees my work and guides me in making decisions that will allow me to best aid our students.

In addition to teaching lessons and the majority of my course work, Dr. Trent is the advisor for both of my graduate projects. My first is a solo guitar recital consisting of works that span the repertoire of the classical guitar, which will occur on Oct. 24 of this year.

My second project is a lecture recital. Typically, lecture recitals are a requirement of a doctoral program because they include both a research and a performance aspect. Dr. Trent has mentored me in selecting an appropriate topic for the project. With his guidance, I have begun the thesis portion for a topic that I will likely be able to expand upon during my doctoral work. With his help, I expect to complete this project and its lecture during the spring semester. Consequently, I intend to also present at several conferences during the following year, which will really help to jump-start my career.”

Weintraut starts out the RU Department of Music’s student recital season. On Oct. 24, at the Performance Hall in the Covington Center, his solo guitar recital will consists of a repertoire of works for classical guitar. It begins at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free.

Weintraut is originally from Erial, New Jersey. He completed his Bachelor of Music degrees in jazz studies, classical guitar performance, and music education at Rowan University in New Jersey.

For more information about the Department of Music, please visit www.radford.edu/music.
 

Oct 23, 2014
CVPA
540-831-6237
cvpa411@radford.edu