By
Hillary Davis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Cockrell brings focus on teaching to position
The UA orchestral program is on the verge of something big - but Thomas Cockrell could have said that.
Cockrell, the newly appointed director of orchestral activities and an associate music professor at the University of Arizona, made the move from California to Tucson this summer because he saw potential in Arizona's orchestra program.
"The school is very attractive to me because it's a school that's poised to really start receiving national recognition," Cockrell said.
Cockrell oversees the 80-member UA Symphony Orchestra, as well as a smaller opera orchestra - which suits Cockrell, who said he is "equally in love" with both styles.
Cockrell is also the first holder of the Nelson Riddle Endowed Chair in music, a new endowment offered to the UA School of Music and Dance by the estate of composer Nelson Riddle - who worked with such artists as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald - that will allow Cockrell to expand and improve the orchestral program.
Before relocating to Tucson, Cockrell was the director of orchestral activities at the University of California, Irvine. He studied music at Yale and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and has studied composing in France and Italy. He has also worked with American composer Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Center, a summer music workshop.
Cockrell's approach to teaching takes into account the historical and cultural contexts of the vast orchestral repertoire, the fundamentals of musicianship and personal interaction to create an integrated view of a career in music.
"I believe training young musicians - let's say pre-professional musicians- involves a balance of teaching them how to approach music - working, playing together... how to listen, and integrating these various aspects of being a musician," he said. "In part it's teaching skills, while at the same time preparing some of the greatest works of the music literature for performance."
Cockrell said that as a teacher he must be an advocate for past composers - that he must present the composers' works to his students so that they understand the importance of the music.
While he was trained as a trumpeter, Cockrell also plays piano and sings. As a youngster, Cockrell said records were often playing in his home, and he was involved with his church choir.
"It (music) was always in my ears as far back as I can remember," he said.
Steven Hedden, Vice Dean of the UA College of Fine Arts, said Cockrell was the best candidate because he possessed a combination of strengths.
"Dr. Cockrell made a powerful impression on us because of the outstanding blend he possesses - musicianship, conducting ability, intelligence and, most importantly, the ability to share his musicianship with our student-musicians," he said. "Said another way, he impressed us as a teacher."
The UA Symphony Orchestra's first concert of the year will be held on Oct. 27 at Crowder Hall and will feature selections from Walton and Schumann.
