Grammy-Winning Band Performs, Works with BVU Students
Roomful of Teeth presents concert with BVU choirs
A Grammy Award-winning vocal band performed and worked with students at Buena Vista University this fall, a feature of the Doris Grau Performing Arts Series made possible by the philanthropy of the late Doris Grau.
BVU’s Concert Choir and Vista Chamber Singers performed several pieces from their fall repertoire to open the concert. Eight members of Roomful of Teeth and the group’s sound engineer gave a high-energy performance that included pieces old and new. “The Isle” by Caroline Show is part of the group’s newest album release, “Rough Magic,” a creative reimagining of texts from William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” “Rough Magic” was nominated for another Grammy.
“How many college students can say they’ve shared the stage with one Grammy Award winning artist, let alone nine? We are extremely grateful!”
-Christopher Phalen, BVU Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities
By engaging collaboratively with artists, thinkers, and community leaders around the world, Roomful of Teeth seeks to uplift and amplify voices old and new. The group worked with the Vista Chamber Singers and the BVU Concert Choir in a choral clinic setting, helping BVU students explore their creative potential through rehearsal and performance. Finally, Roomful of Teeth worked with BVU Music Production students in a masterclass about orchestration and composing music for voice.
Additionally, Roomful of Teeth collaborated with the BVU choir students to record an improvised arrangement of our Alma Mater, “Praise to Thee, O Buena Vista,” in its unique style. The arrangement features singers from both BVU choirs and Roomful of Teeth with a special solo performance by Roomful of Teeth member, Mingjia Chen. It has become a tradition during the Doris Grau Performing Arts Series Guest Artist Residency to close the event with a collaboration of the Alma Mater in the style of the guest artist. A recording of the collaboration will be shared on the BVU Music Department social media pages this spring. (You can find BVU Music on Facebook and Instagram by following @BVUMusic.)
“In addition to being phenomenal performers and artists, each band member was a class act, individually, excited to engage with our students, helping our student musicians reach their full artistic potential,” said Christopher Phalen, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities. “While I was aware of their skill on the stage prior to their residency at BVU, this was my first opportunity to see Roomful of Teeth at work with students. They elevated our students by meeting them where they were and giving our choirs real strategies for taking the next step as performers.
“With the help of the Doris Grau endowment for choral initiatives, we have been able to work with incredibly talented individuals, from Dr. Simon Estes to the vocal ensemble Cantus, and now Roomful of Teeth. How many college students can say they’ve shared the stage with one Grammy Award winning artist, let alone nine? We are extremely grateful!”
Grau, who died in 2019, helped create an endowment in support of BVU music programming, a legacy that followed her establishment of a BVU scholarship in the name of her late parents. Grau attended BVU in the 1940s before heading west to work and reside in California, where she achieved success with Wells Fargo as an investment and trust manager, managing real estate throughout the country. A lover of opera, Grau was also an accomplished pianist who enjoyed taking part in cultural and symphonic events in San Francisco for years.
BVU remained in her thoughts throughout her life, and she illustrated the University’s impact through her family’s scholarship and her vision for a future in the arts.