UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, director of wind band studies and assistant professor of music, has been appointed the fourth recipient of the College of Arts and Architecture’s Agnes Scollins Carey Memorial Early Career Professorship in the Arts. The three-year professorship, from 2024 to 2027, will fund her travel and research in Ghana for “Griot Tales: Creation Stories of West Africa.” Through interviews with West African storytellers, known as griots, she will explore the development of Darius Milhaud’s “La Creation du Monde,” a short jazz-influenced ballet based on an African creation story.
Established in 2014 by the children of Agnes Scollins Carey, the endowed Carey Professorship’s goal is to help the College of Arts and Architecture compete for support and retain outstanding scholars and practitioners in the arts in the early stages of their careers.
Mitchell-Spradlin has a diverse background as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, educator and international speaker. Before her appointment at Penn State in 2020, Mitchell-Spradlin served in director positions for band programs at the University of South Carolina and Valdosta State University. At Penn State, in addition to conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, she oversees all aspects of the concert band programs.
As a proponent of new music, Mitchell-Spradlin is engaged in building the wind band medium. She led the consortium and premiere of Aaron Perrine’s “Beneath a Canvas of Green” for wind ensemble and percussion quartet, which was also the source of her doctoral dissertation. She is active regularly in other consortiums and premieres for new music.
Mitchell-Spradlin will also use funds from the professorship to restage “La Creation du Monde” with West African dance, instruments and the added element of narration using primary material from Ghanaian storytellers. The entire project culminates in the first adaptive historically and culturally informed presentation of the ballet professionally recorded for commercial release.
Mitchell-Spradlin said she is “overjoyed” to bring this project to life.
“While the research undertakings are a solo endeavor, this project brings together talented individuals spanning continents. I look forward to creating a link between the Penn State School of Music and the University of Accra in Ghana, as well as collaborating with faculty and artists from Penn State’s School of Music, School of Theatre, film department, English department and the Center for the Performing Arts,” she said. “I hope that our culminating performance will inspire further investigation of pieces with African backgrounds in hopes of creating beautiful and authentic musical experiences for performers and audience members.”
According to Ann Marie Stanley, director of the School of Music, Mitchell-Spradlin is already known for her innovative approach to wind band performance.
“This professorship will enable her to take this skill further and deepen the presence of interdisciplinary artistry in the school,” Stanley said. “Our students will experience boundary-pushing thematic programming, thanks to her scholarship of Ghanaian traditions in art, dance, music and storytelling. The way she will bring her research back to the creative practice of wind conducting will likely make a significant impact on the profession.”
Mitchell-Spradlin joins Daniel Zolli, assistant professor of art history; Ted Christopher, associate professor of music; and Felicia Davis, associate professor of architecture, as recipients of the Agnes Scollins Carey Memorial Early Career Professorship.