The National Musical Academy of Ukraine has teamed up with the TCU School of Music to create a new student exchange program for this spring.

Music theory and composition professor Gerald Gabel said three School of Music student composers, Kyle Roderick, Scott Adams and Rodrigo Diaz, will attend a seminar April 1-5 in Kiev, Ukraine.

During the seminar, they will conduct lectures about their music and have the chance to hear their works performed in concert. The students may also have the opportunity to be published in a compilation of the conference, he said.

Gabel said he became involved in the exchange program when he visited Ukraine to write an article about the university’s music program in 2006. By the fall of 2008, the program was created.

Roderick, a senior theory and composition major, will be one of the students attending the seminar. He said he was most excited about presenting his music at a conference in Europe because he has never been there.

“Internationally going overseas to present my music at such a young age 8212; it’s a very, very prestigious thing,” Roderick said. “I’m very excited to be able to have that honor.”

Adams, a graduate student working toward his doctorate in composition, and Diaz, a junior violin performance and composition double major from Peru, will join Roderick at the seminar. Gabel said Adams was the first composition doctorate student ever at the university.

Adams said he was still preparing for the lecture, but spent all of last semester composing his piece that he will bring to the conference. He said he was looking forward to adapting to a new culture, both socially and musically.

“The classical music culture [in Ukraine] is a lot different than it is in America, so I’m excited to witness that firsthand,” Adams said.

Gabel said Diaz was one of the program’s best international students since enrolling at the School of Music.

“He’s sort of mixing western classical traditions with ethnic Peruvian traditions in music, and it’s a wonderful style,” Gabel said. Diaz could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.

The experience will be a great career-booster for the students, Gabel said.

“They will be able to indicate on their résumés that they had performances and delivered lectures at this seminar in Ukraine,” Gabel said. “It will be a good cultural experience for them and for me as well.”