Deborah Kavasch Plays On

Although Deborah Kavasch has transitioned from a full-time professor to a part-time educator at Stanislaus State through the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP), she has no plans to slow down in sharing her love and knowledge of music.

In her 47th year at Stan State, the professor emerita of music theory and composition is continuing to reach audiences near and far. Her work and that of her late husband, former mathematics professor and fellow musician and composer John Marvin, are featured on Juventas New Music Ensemble's new record, "Throughlines," released May 1, 2026, through PARMA Recordings' Navona Records label.

Kavasch composed "Refugee," a song for soprano and piano on the fourth track of the album. It is followed by Marvin's song cycle, "Journeys," for soprano, horn and piano.

"I've done a lot of work with PARMA before, and I was asked to submit a few pieces that could potentially be recorded and released," Kavasch said. "I submitted 'Refugee' because it was one that had such a strong message. I decided to also submit 'Journeys' just in case they didn't pick any of my pieces. I thought it'd be great to know that John's work could be selected and recorded. Why not leave a legacy for him?"

Kavasch's poet-collaborator, Linda Bunney-Sarhad, wrote "Refugee" in 2016, when Opera Modesto proposed a project that paired Stan State composition students and local poets to turn poetry into music for a concert performance. A Stan State alumna and emeritus director of international studies, Bunney-Sarhad wrote a poem inspired by the stories of refugees crossing the Mediterranean from North African countries in unsafe boats. The composition was not completed until 2023, and was premiered in Los Angeles by Kavasch, accompanied by Deon Nielsen Price.

"Her poem seemed timely but also timeless," said Kavasch. "'Refugee' describes a woman who has children, waiting anxiously for a boat to take them away to an unknown location with an uncertain welcome. It describes challenges that can happen on the way, and the longing for home, which is 'the mightiest urge there is.' The poem always had me in tears."

Marvin's "Journeys" is a song cycle based on three works by famed 19th-century poet Walter Whitman: "A Noiseless Patient Spider," "The Runner" and "The Last Invocation."

The making of "Journeys" took place in the Marvin-Kavasch "thunder room," a dedicated home music studio to produce "thunderous music."

"John was a marvelous composer," Kavasch said of her late husband, whom she met at the Ernest Bloch Symposium in Newport, Oregon in 1996 and married a year later. "I wasn't planning on having our works featured at the same time, but it just played out that way. I thought, 'Here's a chance to get his music recorded by a really superb group.' And oh my gosh, they did a fantastic job."

The Boston-based Juventas New Music Ensemble is a contemporary chamber group devoted to performing music by contemporary composers. "Throughlines" marks the first full-length album the group has released through PARMA Recordings since beginning to work together in 2011.

Kavasch's other collaborations with PARMA include the London Symphony Orchestra's recordings of "Desert Storm" and "The Peace of Wild Things: A Reflection," with an upcoming recording of "Evolutions, "as well as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's recording of "Lost Voices," and The Crossing's recording of her choral work, "Feather on God's Breath." Her solo for horn, "Dragonslayer," was recently recorded by Czech hornist Radek Baborák, and her orchestral arrangements of "Refugee" plus a new song, "Leaving," will be recorded this fall by soprano Bree Nichols with the Nürnberger Symphoniker. Her music also appears on Soundset Recordings, Cambria Recordings, Troppe Note Classical, Lovely Records and Composers Recordings, Inc.

A tribute concert for Kavasch and Marvin was held on campus in 2019. The event featured her piece "Five Miniatures for Reed Quintet," commissioned, premiered and recorded by Paradise Winds. It was a fitting dedication for the couple. Kavasch arrived on campus in 1979 and is known for writing and composing the University's alma mater alongside Bunney-Sarhad in 1996. Marvin taught at the University from 2000 to 2017.

In 2024, she established the Dr. Deborah Kavasch Music Scholarship. That same year, her dedication to the campus community was recognized by friends and colleagues at the Deborah Kavasch 75th Birthday Salute.

"I'm only teaching half-time right now, but I still have a lot of things in the works," Kavasch said.

With more time to spend in the Thunder Room, Kavasch plans on writing and composing more music and hopes that even more collaborations and recordings will come to fruition in the near future.

"It seems like whenever I finish something, there's always something that comes up," she said with a laugh. "I absolutely love it."