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January 31. 2012 3:17PM
Rick Cook
Birthplace: Elliot Hospital, Manchester
Family: Wife, Kim Cook, music teacher at Danville Elementary School; father, Brad Cook, lawyer at Sheehan, Phinney, Bass and Green; mother, Kathy Cook, grant manager for the Bean Foundation; younger brothers, James Cook, communications coordinator at FedCap Manhattan, and Tom Cook, recent Bowden Graduate working at Fidelity Investments
High school: Manchester Central High School, class of 1996
College/post grad degrees: Undergraduate degree in music education at St. Olaf College and UNH; master's degree in music education, UNH; Ph.D., music education (ABD) UMass, Amherst
Current job: Director of music, Southern New Hampshire University
Most admired person (outside your family): David Bresnahan was the band director at Manchester Central High School when I was a student there in the mid-1990s. In my opinion, his program was the strongest in New Hampshire at that time. In addition to consistently receiving top ratings at music festivals and sending more students to the N.H. All-State Music Festival than any other school during those years, Dave's success as an educator can be seen in the large number of his students who went on to become professional musicians themselves. Many became successful public school music teachers, some teach at the college level, some are free-lance performers, and I know of at least three who now play with premier military bands in Washington, D.C. I am particularly impressed with Dave's talent for inspiring a passion for excellence in his students, and by his ability to succinctly convey what is most important about a piece of music.
Very fortunately for Southern New Hampshire University, Dave was retiring from teaching in the Manchester schools just as we were looking to create a music education degree. He now teaches the six-semester sequence of fieldwork-based courses that makes up the heart of the new music education program at SNHU. With 35 years of outstanding public school music teaching experience, he is the perfect guy for that job.
Last major achievement: Developing the Southern New Hampshire Community Music Ensembles was my last major achievement, though I am only one of many people responsible for the success of this program. In the fall of 2009, I wrote a grant request to the Frederick Smyth Trust to create a high-quality community band for the southern New Hampshire area. The Smyth Trust generously agreed to support this idea and we hired Dave Bresnahan to direct the group with me. During that very first semester, we rehearsed in the SNHU Athletic Building, but we didn't own any of the musical equipment needed to run the group, so before each rehearsal we would take a university box truck up to the local middle school, load up all of the percussion equipment and music stands and move it to campus for rehearsal. It took us about two hours each time. Then when rehearsal was over at 9 p.m., we would move it all back so the middle schools students could rehearse the next morning. Fortunately, we don't have to do that anymore. The SNHC Band now has 100-plus members and is made up of about a third local music teachers, a third students from the university, and a third other community members, including some advanced high school musicians. We added Dr. Gary Corcoran, director of bands emeritus at Plymouth State University, as a conductor for this past fall semester. The program for our April 16h spring concert at the Palace Theater will include Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy and Persichetti's Symphony No. 6.
The year after we created the SNHC Band, we expanded the new university string ensemble into the 50-plus member Southern New Hampshire Community Orchestra, a full symphony orchestra now directed by Dave Brien, orchestra director at Memorial High School, and Luke Miller, a music teacher in the Chelmsford public schools. The SNHU Chorus, directed by Sophia Santerre, is also now open to community members. We believe the Southern New Hampshire Community Music Ensembles program to be the largest of its kind in the state. The audience at our holiday pops concert this past December filled St. Joseph Cathedral. If you would like to see video of this concert, visit snhu.edu/music. Participation in any of the community groups is free, and all concerts are free and open to the public. If you are interested in joining any of these ensembles, please send me an email at r.cook@snhu.edu.
Key current professional challenge: Developing a strong music program at Southern New Hampshire University is my key current professional challenge. When I was hired as a full-time faculty member at SNHU in the fall of 2008, I was the only music faculty member at the school, we had only one performing ensemble, a chorus with 18 members and we had only one academic music course, FAS 223 Music Appreciation. To expand the program that first year, I started at the registrar's office, which at that time still had paper copies of every current university student's application and high school transcripts. I searched through all of these applications looking for any musical experience in students' backgrounds. I then used that data to invite students to these sort of unofficial weekly music ensemble opportunities in the evenings. One night each week the rock band students would get together, one night the a cappella chamber choir students would get together, one night was jazz combo, one night was this thing we called a brass choir even though it had a bass clarinet and electric bass in it, and so on. Students were not receiving any academic credit for these ensembles and they weren't even really official university activities, it was just something we were doing in the evenings for fun. However, as these programs gained popularity, we were able to convince the university that there was enough student interest to justify adding some for-credit music ensembles, and things began to snowball from there.
We have since grown the SNHU music program into 11 for credit performing ensembles ranging from chamber choir, to rock bands, to the 100-plus member community band. We now offer the academic coursework to support a music minor and a music major.
I am particularly proud of the SNHU music education major. It is the first new program of its kind in New Hampshire in over 60 years and it is based on the idea that the best way to prepare students to become great music teachers is to constantly place them in actual teaching settings alongside outstanding veteran music educators. The core of the program is a six-semester fieldwork based course sequence taught by David Bresnahan, a 35-year veteran of the N.H. public schools.
Currently, we are looking into the idea of developing a music major option that would pair well with complementary pre-existing majors at SNHU, like business or video game design, to form strong double majors that could lead to some interesting career opportunities. We are also exploring ways to sequence the music education degree so that by taking online courses from home over the summers students could complete the B.A. in music education in three years or graduate with the B.A. in music education / Masters in education pairing in four total years.
The emergence of a vibrant music program in Manchester has had a noticeable positive impact on the Southern New Hampshire area. Public school music teachers now have university student interns available to help them teach. The new Southern New Hampshire Concert series brings a variety of professional chamber music concerts to campus each year that are free to community members, and the growing community music ensembles are providing free quality performing opportunities for many N.H. residents.
Many people have contributed to the development of the SNHU music program. Dave Bresnahan, director of music education at SNHU, Mary Heath, dean of education at SNHU, Karen Erickson, dean of arts and sciences at SNHU, Marcia McCaffrey, arts consultant for the N.H. Department of Education, Ron Sherwin, our outside program development consultant, and many others have been instrumental in creating the program we have today.
What book are you reading now? The book I am reading for enjoyment right now is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl called “Gateway” that my brother Tom gave me for Christmas this year. Before that I read “The Stars My Destination” by Alfred Bestor, which was also given to me by my brother Tom. The book I am currently reading for professional knowledge is “Teaching Music in Higher Education” by Colleen Conway. Dr. Conway is a music education faculty member at the University of Michigan who shares a lot of my views about the value of extensive field work in the undergraduate music education curriculum.
Rick Cook is bringing the sound of music to the campus of SNHU
Rick Cook
Rick Cook, 34
Home: SandownBirthplace: Elliot Hospital, Manchester
Family: Wife, Kim Cook, music teacher at Danville Elementary School; father, Brad Cook, lawyer at Sheehan, Phinney, Bass and Green; mother, Kathy Cook, grant manager for the Bean Foundation; younger brothers, James Cook, communications coordinator at FedCap Manhattan, and Tom Cook, recent Bowden Graduate working at Fidelity Investments
High school: Manchester Central High School, class of 1996
College/post grad degrees: Undergraduate degree in music education at St. Olaf College and UNH; master's degree in music education, UNH; Ph.D., music education (ABD) UMass, Amherst
Current job: Director of music, Southern New Hampshire University
Most admired person (outside your family): David Bresnahan was the band director at Manchester Central High School when I was a student there in the mid-1990s. In my opinion, his program was the strongest in New Hampshire at that time. In addition to consistently receiving top ratings at music festivals and sending more students to the N.H. All-State Music Festival than any other school during those years, Dave's success as an educator can be seen in the large number of his students who went on to become professional musicians themselves. Many became successful public school music teachers, some teach at the college level, some are free-lance performers, and I know of at least three who now play with premier military bands in Washington, D.C. I am particularly impressed with Dave's talent for inspiring a passion for excellence in his students, and by his ability to succinctly convey what is most important about a piece of music.
Very fortunately for Southern New Hampshire University, Dave was retiring from teaching in the Manchester schools just as we were looking to create a music education degree. He now teaches the six-semester sequence of fieldwork-based courses that makes up the heart of the new music education program at SNHU. With 35 years of outstanding public school music teaching experience, he is the perfect guy for that job.
Last major achievement: Developing the Southern New Hampshire Community Music Ensembles was my last major achievement, though I am only one of many people responsible for the success of this program. In the fall of 2009, I wrote a grant request to the Frederick Smyth Trust to create a high-quality community band for the southern New Hampshire area. The Smyth Trust generously agreed to support this idea and we hired Dave Bresnahan to direct the group with me. During that very first semester, we rehearsed in the SNHU Athletic Building, but we didn't own any of the musical equipment needed to run the group, so before each rehearsal we would take a university box truck up to the local middle school, load up all of the percussion equipment and music stands and move it to campus for rehearsal. It took us about two hours each time. Then when rehearsal was over at 9 p.m., we would move it all back so the middle schools students could rehearse the next morning. Fortunately, we don't have to do that anymore. The SNHC Band now has 100-plus members and is made up of about a third local music teachers, a third students from the university, and a third other community members, including some advanced high school musicians. We added Dr. Gary Corcoran, director of bands emeritus at Plymouth State University, as a conductor for this past fall semester. The program for our April 16h spring concert at the Palace Theater will include Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy and Persichetti's Symphony No. 6.
The year after we created the SNHC Band, we expanded the new university string ensemble into the 50-plus member Southern New Hampshire Community Orchestra, a full symphony orchestra now directed by Dave Brien, orchestra director at Memorial High School, and Luke Miller, a music teacher in the Chelmsford public schools. The SNHU Chorus, directed by Sophia Santerre, is also now open to community members. We believe the Southern New Hampshire Community Music Ensembles program to be the largest of its kind in the state. The audience at our holiday pops concert this past December filled St. Joseph Cathedral. If you would like to see video of this concert, visit snhu.edu/music. Participation in any of the community groups is free, and all concerts are free and open to the public. If you are interested in joining any of these ensembles, please send me an email at r.cook@snhu.edu.
Key current professional challenge: Developing a strong music program at Southern New Hampshire University is my key current professional challenge. When I was hired as a full-time faculty member at SNHU in the fall of 2008, I was the only music faculty member at the school, we had only one performing ensemble, a chorus with 18 members and we had only one academic music course, FAS 223 Music Appreciation. To expand the program that first year, I started at the registrar's office, which at that time still had paper copies of every current university student's application and high school transcripts. I searched through all of these applications looking for any musical experience in students' backgrounds. I then used that data to invite students to these sort of unofficial weekly music ensemble opportunities in the evenings. One night each week the rock band students would get together, one night the a cappella chamber choir students would get together, one night was jazz combo, one night was this thing we called a brass choir even though it had a bass clarinet and electric bass in it, and so on. Students were not receiving any academic credit for these ensembles and they weren't even really official university activities, it was just something we were doing in the evenings for fun. However, as these programs gained popularity, we were able to convince the university that there was enough student interest to justify adding some for-credit music ensembles, and things began to snowball from there.
We have since grown the SNHU music program into 11 for credit performing ensembles ranging from chamber choir, to rock bands, to the 100-plus member community band. We now offer the academic coursework to support a music minor and a music major.
I am particularly proud of the SNHU music education major. It is the first new program of its kind in New Hampshire in over 60 years and it is based on the idea that the best way to prepare students to become great music teachers is to constantly place them in actual teaching settings alongside outstanding veteran music educators. The core of the program is a six-semester fieldwork based course sequence taught by David Bresnahan, a 35-year veteran of the N.H. public schools.
Currently, we are looking into the idea of developing a music major option that would pair well with complementary pre-existing majors at SNHU, like business or video game design, to form strong double majors that could lead to some interesting career opportunities. We are also exploring ways to sequence the music education degree so that by taking online courses from home over the summers students could complete the B.A. in music education in three years or graduate with the B.A. in music education / Masters in education pairing in four total years.
The emergence of a vibrant music program in Manchester has had a noticeable positive impact on the Southern New Hampshire area. Public school music teachers now have university student interns available to help them teach. The new Southern New Hampshire Concert series brings a variety of professional chamber music concerts to campus each year that are free to community members, and the growing community music ensembles are providing free quality performing opportunities for many N.H. residents.
Many people have contributed to the development of the SNHU music program. Dave Bresnahan, director of music education at SNHU, Mary Heath, dean of education at SNHU, Karen Erickson, dean of arts and sciences at SNHU, Marcia McCaffrey, arts consultant for the N.H. Department of Education, Ron Sherwin, our outside program development consultant, and many others have been instrumental in creating the program we have today.
What book are you reading now? The book I am reading for enjoyment right now is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl called “Gateway” that my brother Tom gave me for Christmas this year. Before that I read “The Stars My Destination” by Alfred Bestor, which was also given to me by my brother Tom. The book I am currently reading for professional knowledge is “Teaching Music in Higher Education” by Colleen Conway. Dr. Conway is a music education faculty member at the University of Michigan who shares a lot of my views about the value of extensive field work in the undergraduate music education curriculum.
SANDOWN - Rick Cook's passion for music has struck a chord with students at Southern New Hampshire University and beyond.
Cook, 34, is director of music at the university, but his efforts to expand the school's offerings have reached far beyond classroom walls.
The Sandown resident and 1996 graduate of Manchester's Central High was instrumental in creating the Southern New Hampshire Community Band composed of local music teachers, students from the university, and other community members, including some advanced high school musicians.
The 100-plus member band was created after Cook wrote a grant request to the Frederick Smyth Trust in 2009 seeking to establish a community band for the southern New Hampshire area. The grant was approved and David Bresnahan, former band director at Central High School and now an instructor at SNHU, was brought on board to help Cook direct the group.
During the first semester, Cook said the band rehearsed in the university's athletic building, but because the band didn't own any of the musical equipment, members had to drive a university box truck over to a local middle school, pick up percussion equipment and music stands, and haul them over to the campus for rehearsal.
“It took us about two hours each time. Then when rehearsal was over at 9 p.m., we would move it all back so the middle school's students could rehearse the next morning. Fortunately, we don't have to do that anymore,” he said.
At the same time that the band was formed, Cook said the new university string ensemble grew to a 50-plus member Southern New Hampshire Community Orchestra. The SNHU Chorus is also now open to community members.
Cook has accomplished a lot since becoming a full-time lecturer at SNHU in 2008. At the time he was the only music faculty member at the school, which had only an 18-member chorus and one academic music course.
Cook was determined to expand the program, so he found students with musical experience and invited them to unofficial weekly music ensemble opportunities in the evenings. As interest in the music program grew, Cook was able to convince the university to add some music ensembles that would allow students to earn credits.
The program has expanded to 11 for-credit performing ensembles ranging from chamber choir, to rock bands, to the 100-plus member community band.
“Many people have contributed to the development of the SNHU Music program,” he said.”Dave Bresnahan, director of music education at SNHU, Mary Heath, dean of education at SNHU, Karen Erickson, dean of arts and sciences at SNHU, Marcia McCaffrey, arts consultant for the N.H. Department of Education, Ron Sherwin, our outside program development consultant, and many others have been instrumental in creating the program we have today.”
Academic offerings also now support a music minor and a music education major.
Cook is proud of the music education major because he said it's the first new program of its kind in New Hampshire in over 60 years. The core of the program is a six-semester fieldwork based course sequence taught by Bresnahan, Cook said.
Cook said the program is “based on the idea that the best way to prepare students to become great music teachers is to constantly place them in actual teaching settings alongside outstanding veteran music educators.”
Cook, 34, is director of music at the university, but his efforts to expand the school's offerings have reached far beyond classroom walls.
The Sandown resident and 1996 graduate of Manchester's Central High was instrumental in creating the Southern New Hampshire Community Band composed of local music teachers, students from the university, and other community members, including some advanced high school musicians.
The 100-plus member band was created after Cook wrote a grant request to the Frederick Smyth Trust in 2009 seeking to establish a community band for the southern New Hampshire area. The grant was approved and David Bresnahan, former band director at Central High School and now an instructor at SNHU, was brought on board to help Cook direct the group.
During the first semester, Cook said the band rehearsed in the university's athletic building, but because the band didn't own any of the musical equipment, members had to drive a university box truck over to a local middle school, pick up percussion equipment and music stands, and haul them over to the campus for rehearsal.
“It took us about two hours each time. Then when rehearsal was over at 9 p.m., we would move it all back so the middle school's students could rehearse the next morning. Fortunately, we don't have to do that anymore,” he said.
At the same time that the band was formed, Cook said the new university string ensemble grew to a 50-plus member Southern New Hampshire Community Orchestra. The SNHU Chorus is also now open to community members.
Cook has accomplished a lot since becoming a full-time lecturer at SNHU in 2008. At the time he was the only music faculty member at the school, which had only an 18-member chorus and one academic music course.
Cook was determined to expand the program, so he found students with musical experience and invited them to unofficial weekly music ensemble opportunities in the evenings. As interest in the music program grew, Cook was able to convince the university to add some music ensembles that would allow students to earn credits.
The program has expanded to 11 for-credit performing ensembles ranging from chamber choir, to rock bands, to the 100-plus member community band.
“Many people have contributed to the development of the SNHU Music program,” he said.”Dave Bresnahan, director of music education at SNHU, Mary Heath, dean of education at SNHU, Karen Erickson, dean of arts and sciences at SNHU, Marcia McCaffrey, arts consultant for the N.H. Department of Education, Ron Sherwin, our outside program development consultant, and many others have been instrumental in creating the program we have today.”
Academic offerings also now support a music minor and a music education major.
Cook is proud of the music education major because he said it's the first new program of its kind in New Hampshire in over 60 years. The core of the program is a six-semester fieldwork based course sequence taught by Bresnahan, Cook said.
Cook said the program is “based on the idea that the best way to prepare students to become great music teachers is to constantly place them in actual teaching settings alongside outstanding veteran music educators.”
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