Recent News
'San Francisco Symphony Member to Perform at March 10 Cal Poly Wind Bands Concert
Feb 11, 2019
Jessica Valeri to be Featured on Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 3
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly’s Winter Band Concert will feature the 50-member Wind Ensemble and 55-member Wind Orchestra at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 10, in Harold J. Miossi Hall of the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
The concert — the second in the bands’ season series — is titled “Time in Space.”
The Cal Poly Wind Orchestra will open the program with music from the long-running British science fiction TV show, “Doctor Who,” followed by works from the expanded wind band repertoire, including Claude Debussy’s “Girl With the Flaxen Hair” and John Mackey’s “The Rumor of a Secret King.”
San Francisco Symphony Horn Player to Present Master Class March 9 at Cal Poly
Feb 11, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Jessica Valeri, a horn player with the San Francisco Symphony, will present a master class for Cal Poly music students at 3:10 p.m. Saturday, March 9, in Room 218 in the Davidson Music Center (No. 45) on campus.
The event is free and open to the public. During the class, several of the Music Department’s leading horn students will perform and be critiqued.
Valeri has been a member of the San Francisco Symphony since 2008. She was previously a member of the St. Louis Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Grant Park Orchestra and the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. She spent many years freelancing in the Chicago area where she performed with a variety of groups, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and the International Contemporary Ensemble.
Cal Poly ROTC Ranger Team Continues Winning Streak, Advances to National Competition
Feb 11, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal Poly ROTC Ranger Team again took first place in a competitive skills event that challenges cadets’ mental and physical toughness, advancing the team to the national Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at West Point Military Academy on April 12-13.
The team won the 8th Brigade’s Best Ranger Challenge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Seattle, against three of the best teams representing 31 university and college programs in the Pacific and Western U.S. The win secured the Cal Poly team’s spot at the Sandhurst Competition, which hosts more than 15 other U.S. ROTC programs plus six to eight international teams.
Reimagine Paradise: Cal Poly Architecture Students Design Future of Devastated Northern California Town
Feb 8, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Three months after the Camp Fire destroyed much of the Northern California town of Paradise, Cal Poly students are working on plans intended to give its thousands of displaced residents hope for the future.
Thirty-six third-year architecture students are coordinating with peers from two other universities to reimagine how Paradise can rebuild after the devasting fire killed 86 people and burned more than 13,900 homes in November.
Two architecture design studios, taught by Cal Poly faculty members Stacey White and Kent Macdonald, are developing a design concept plan for a complete community of 30,000 people — from roads and circulation to determining where residential, commercial, public and other uses could be located. Paradise residents will have a chance to vote on the various options to determine which of them is developed into the final concept.
Cal Poly Students to be Honored by Lawmakers at State Capitol on Feb. 11
Feb 7, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Nineteen Cal Poly students will be recognized for their awards and other accomplishments by state lawmakers on the floors of the state Assembly and Senate in Sacramento on Monday, Feb. 11.
“These fine young men and women are among our best and brightest students,” said university President Jeffrey D. Armstrong, who is accompanying the group to Sacramento. “They will share the value of Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing education with our state lawmakers and university boosters.
“Our faculty, staff and I take great pride in their accomplishments and know that they will bring to their careers the same energy, determination and creativity that they have displayed in their studies and extracurricular activities.”
Cal Poly Named ‘Military Friendly’ Campus for 2019-20
Feb 7, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO –– Cal Poly has been named a Military Friendly® School for 2019-20 by VIQTORY, a veteran-owned digital media, advertising technology and data utilization company.
Cal Poly is one of seven large public universities in California to receive the designation for efforts in serving military veterans and veteran-dependent students.
“I am extremely proud of the important work being done in the Veterans Success Center and across campus to support our military-connected students,” said Cal Poly Dean of Students Kathleen McMahon. “We hope more military-connected students will choose Cal Poly, knowing that we are committed to creating a meaningful and inclusive experience for the military community.”
Cal Poly’s Western Bonanza Junior Livestock Show to Celebrate 35 Years Feb. 15-17
Feb 6, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly’s Western Bonanza Junior Livestock Show will celebrate its 35th anniversary when it returns to the Paso Robles Event Center Friday to Sunday, Feb. 15-17.
Western Bonanza — the largest student-run exhibition of its kind on the West Coast — began as a senior project in 1985 and has grown to be one of the largest and most successful student-run jackpot shows with more than 658 exhibitors and 1,200 steers, heifers, lambs, hogs and meat goats entered in the show.
Cal Poly Vice President for Student Affairs Recognized by National Industry Association
Feb 5, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The American College Personnel Association (ACPA) has named Keith Humphrey, Cal Poly’s vice president for Student Affairs, as its 2019 Innovative Practice Award recipient.
The award honors student affairs practitioners for their innovative approach to creating co-curricular experiences that positively impact students.
Cal Poly Symphony to Feature Student Soloists and Music of Space at Winter Concert March 3
Feb 4, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly Symphony’s Winter Concert will showcase the talents of student soloists at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 3, in Harold J. Miossi Hall in the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center. In addition, the orchestra will perform music from “Star Trek” and Holst’s “The Planets.”
The Student Soloist Showcase will include performances by six instrumentalists, all winners of the Cal Poly Music Department’s Solo Competition in November.
The soloists are Grant Smith, who will perform Josef Rheinberger’s Organ Concerto No. 2, third movement; Victor Wei, who will play Takashi Yoshimatsu’s Saxophone Concerto “Cyber-bird,” Op. 59, second movement; Justin Privitera, who will play Franz Strauss’ Horn Concerto, Op. 8, third movement; Nico Borst, who will perform Joseph Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. 11 in D Major, first movement, and the duo Clay X. Froelich, violin, and Laila Zaidi, viola, who will play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante,” KV 364, first movement.
Cal Poly’s University Jazz Bands to Showcase Improvisation at Just Jazz Concert on March 2
Feb 4, 2019
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The art of improvisation will be showcased at Cal Poly’s University Jazz Bands annual Just Jazz concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 2, in Harold J. Miossi Hall in the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
“The excitement and surprise inherent in the art of improvisation will be in the hands of a new generation of jazz musicians,” said Paul Rinzler, director of jazz studies. “It’s great to hear the emotion and the attitude that the students bring to the craft of jazz improvisation. Their personalities really shine through in a way that makes it easy for an audience to appreciate and to accompany the musician on the journey that is jazz improvisation.”