The Competitive Summer Research Grant is intended to fund substantive summer research that contributes meaningfully to the faculty member’s discipline. The $10,000 award is provided through the generosity of an anonymous donor and may be used for stipend, travel, equipment, books, supplies and student assistants.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to receive this award. It will enable me to pursue an exciting research project that would not have been possible otherwise,” says Wooldridge.

Wooldridge will use the money to develop a solo recital program entitled “Sacred Percussion Music: Expressions of the Inexpressible.” “The recital will use music and visuals to present perspectives on the Christian faith that transcend what words are able to express,” says Wooldridge.

The recital will consist of six new works commissioned for this project. One will be composed by Wooldridge and the other five will be developed by Frank Felice, Butler University; Mark Hijleh, Houghton College; Greg Sanders, Texas A&M Kingsville; Scott Robinson, Eastern University; and Ralph Kendrick, a resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The recital will be presented at a Northwestern conference entitled “Music in Community: A Festival of New Music,” which will take place Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, 2006, and will bring together the membership of the Iowa Composers Forum and the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers. Wooldridge plans to present the recital later at additional sites across the country.

Wooldridge directs Northwestern’s Percussion Ensemble and teaches music theory, percussion, composition and piano. He serves as percussionist and assistant principal timpanist with the Sioux City Symphony and gives 15 to 20 performances a year as a solo recitalist or guest soloist with a symphonic band. He holds three graduate degrees from the University of Buffalo: a Ph.D. in music theory, a Master of Fine Arts degree in percussion performance and a Master of Arts in music theory.

Dr. Carl Vandermeulen, professor of English and communication studies, and Dr. Joonna Trapp, associate professor of English, were recipients of the Competitive Summer Research Grant in 2004 and 2005, respectively.