Flagship Fellows Program Strikes New Chord in Graduate Music Education

Wiktoria Kolodziejczyk, a native of Poland and a classically trained violinist, and Ted Rogers, a guitarist from Kaysville, Utah, are this year's Flagship Fellows. Both are master's students in music performance.

The department launched the Flagship Fellows program to recognize and reward talented full-time students who plan to pursue careers in performance. The honorees attend special workshops, perform as a chamber ensemble on campus and tour as ambassadors of the university.

"The Department of Music is already a recognized leader among universities nationwide," said Nancy Maria Balach, chair and professor of music. "The Flagship Fellows allow us to showcase the incredible talent of our graduate students while also supporting them as they prepare for their professional careers."

Kolodziejczyk enjoyed 11 years of conservatory-level training at music schools across Poland before earning her undergraduate degree in music at Weber State University. She serves as a graduate assistant in the department and hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in violin performance or music.

"I am also looking forward to expanding our duet performances and, hopefully, recording an album one day," she said.

Rogers earned his bachelor's degree in instrumental performance, also from Weber State University. He hopes to become a touring musician who records both his solo works and collaborations with Kolodziejczyk.

"I also am studying conducting to expand my horizons because I also would love to get involved with large ensembles and other projects for music productions," Rogers said.

"I believe my accomplishments for my selection for the fellowship were because of how I have done a lot of work with my own productions, particularly working with Wiktoria with our own concert series in Utah – our guitar and violin duo – as well as my work and experience with music teaching and pedagogy."

Selim Giray, associate professor of music and director of orchestral studies, mentors this year's fellows. He said both students show great potential as performers.

"Their recent successful performance at the New York archives was an excellent indication of their promise as chamber musicians," he said.

Giray and Balach accompanied Kolodziejczyk and Rogers to New York for the Eliot Chapo Artist Residency in September at the New York Philharmonic Archives.

The week's activities included a collaborative interview with the archives and Chapo, as well as a performance by the Ole Miss students at Lincoln Center. The experience allowed them to connect their studies to real-world performance opportunities and represent the university as ambassadors of its music program.

"Performing in a historic setting like that made the performance feel unique," Kolodziejczyk said. "I have once more learned the importance of being able to adapt to unknown performing settings and environments, especially those for high-profile audiences."

"I will be forever grateful for this honor and opportunity that I had, as it allowed me to practice my professionalism and presence skills." 

The duo performed "Café, 1930," a movement from Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla's "Histoire du Tango." The performance was attended by the entire New York Philharmonic Archives team.

"I always dreamed about having an opportunity to perform in New York," Rogers said. "This residency helped me see so much of the purpose of what I'm doing in academia. Helped me understand things that I can do to give my career the best opportunities and so on and so forth."

Top: UM graduate students Victoria Kolodziejczyk (left) and Ted Rogers perform at the Phi Kappa Phi fall induction ceremony earlier this month in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Kolodziejczyk and Rogers are the inaugural Flagship Fellows, an initiative by the Department of Music to recognize and train exceptional graduate students. Photos by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services