Alumni News
Kyung Jun (Joseph) Park (DMA, piano, student of Kyung Kim) won first prize in the Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition (solo piano category) and first place in the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition, both held in New York, NY. He performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in April 2019.
Katia Tesarczyk (Bravo! alumna, violin, student of Sally O’Reilly) performed in the Salon Se Lève’s Larson Award Recital on November 18, 2018. She was accompanied by her mother Claudia Chen (MM 1995, collaborative piano). The $500 Larson Award and recital presentation is given annually to the student deemed the most outstanding performer from the previous year’s Salon Se Lève recital series.
1977 __________________________
Arthur Maud’s (PhD 1977, composition) Art Songs and Choral Music was performed August 22 at the Catholic Church in Bayfield, Wisconsin as part of the Bayfield Summer Music Series. The singers are professional soloists from various Twin Cities churches conducted by the composer. Included in the program items were song-sets written for the Bethnal Green (London) Arts Festival, the Schubert Club commission “In te Domine speravi”, “Libera me, Domine” from the ‘Requiem Mass’, arrangements of medieval songs from the Concentus Musicus years, and the 7-part motet series, ‘Vultum tuum’, by Josquin Desprez.
1983 __________________________
Maria Schneider (BM, 1983, composition, student of Dominick Argento) was named a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts bestows the nation’s highest honor in jazz—the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships—on individuals who have made significant contributions to the art form. The NEA announced the four newest recipients of this lifetime honor— Stanley Crouch, Bob Dorough, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Maria Schneider.
1994 __________________________
Jeffrey Scott Doebler (PhD 1994, music education, advisee of Paul Haack) was named a Distinguished Hoosier by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb on November 3, 2018. Doebler serves as professor of music and director of music education and bands at Valparaiso University (IN). He is a former president of the Indiana Music Education Association and the Indiana Bandmasters Association. He was a quarterfinalist for the Grammy Music Educator Award in 2014. In a typical year, Dr. Doebler works with more than 3,000 students. In addition to the three concert bands at Valparaiso University, Doebler conducts the 151-year-old Michigan City Municipal Band, the Lutheran Summer Music Concert Band, and Windiana Concert Band. Windiana has toured Australia, Hawaii, Italy, New Zealand—and ten tours in China. In 2018, Doebler conducted the Indiana All-State Handbell Choir, believed to be the first such ensemble in the nation.
1995 __________________________
Douglas C. Orzolek (PhD 1995, music education) was promoted to professor of music at the University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, MN. At UST, Orzolek serves as the director of the graduate programs in music education, the associate director of bands, and the associate chair of the Music Department. He teaches music education methods and techniques, conducts the Symphonic Band, and teaches musical acoustics, music literature, and conducting. He has also served on the board of directors of the Minnesota Band Directors Association, co-chaired the 2007 Minnesota Arts Education Standards Revision Committee, and served on several other committees related to music education and teacher preparation. Nationally, he is a past chair of the Society for Music Teacher Education, was the local chair for the 2004 NAfME/MENC National Conference and he currently serves on the editorial committee of UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music Education.
1996 __________________________
David Evan Thomas (PhD 1996, composition, student of Dominick Argento) was initiated into Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) Minneapolis/St. Paul Alumnae Chapter as a National Arts Associate. According to SAI’s website, “a National Arts Associate is a man or woman who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts.”
1999 _________________________
Justin Patch (BM 1999, jazz studies/ guitar, student of James Macguire and Ronald McCurdy) is an assistant professor of music at Vassar College where he has taught since 2012. His book, Discordant Democracy: Noise, Affect, Populism and the Presidential Campaign, was published by Routledge Press.
2000 _________________________
Margaret McDonald (BM 1998/MM 2000, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) presented a master class and performed a duo recital with violist Erika Eckert at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL in October 2018. McDonald is associate professor of collaborative piano at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
2001 _______________________
In November 2018, Jeri-Mae Astolfi (DMA 2001, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) performed a series of solo piano recitals featuring music by Wisconsin composers at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, La Crosse New Music Festival, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Capitol Lakes Grand Hall in Madison, and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
2002__________________________
Emine Pinar Bașgöze (2000-2002, piano, student of Paul Shaw) and Susana Pinto, members of the Başgöze-Pinto Piano Duo, are the recipients of the 2018 MacPhail Artist Development Grant, funded by the McKnight Foundation. In anticipation of their forthcoming compact disc, the Başgöze-Pinto Piano Duo performed their award-winning program in a recital at the MacPhail Center for Music’s Antonello Hall in June 2018. The duo announced the release of their compact disc recording, Harmonia, inspired by folk songs and traditional music of Portugal and Turkey. The CD release concert, made possible by a MacPhail Artist Development Grant provided by the McKnight Foundation, took place on December 1, 2018, at Antonello Hall.
Christine Gangelhoff (DMA, 2002, flute) co-organized Puentes Caribeños (Caribbean Bridges), a Symposium of Caribbean Art Music. The Symposium began in 2013, conceived by Christine Gangelhoff at the University of The Bahamas, as the International Symposium on Composers of African and Afro-Caribbean Descent. The third installment of the Symposium was held at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (CMPR) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The CMPR hosted the event as part of its annual Symposium of Music Research, now in its fifth year. For this third Symposium of Art Music, the event adopted its new name, Puentes Caribeños (Caribbean Bridges).
Congratulations to alumni Tark Katzenmeyer (BM 2002, music education) and Steve Schmitz (BM 2003, music education) on being listed among the 40 semifinalists for the 2019 Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award. Tark Katzenmeyer is band director at Woodbury High School in Woodbury, MN. Steve Schmitz is director of bands and world drumming at St. Louis Park High School in St. Louis Park, MN.
2004 _________________________
Matthew McCright (DMA 2004, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) released his album, What is Left Behind, on the Proper Canary label. The full- length release features pieces by Linda Buckley, Andrea Mazzariello, Reinaldo Moya, Stephen Andrew Taylor, and Amy Williams, and showcases piano music that defines, reshapes, and narrates the composers’ experiences by way of migration, passing, and journey.
2005 __________________________
Yung-Eun Choe (DMA 2005, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) began a piano teaching position at the University of Guam in August 2018.
Corey Hamm (DMA 2005, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) was on the piano faculty for the 2018 Music Fest Perugia in Italy. In addition to teaching, Hamm also performed a solo recital featuring Frederic Rzewski’s massive The People United. Hamm performed Rzewski’s hour-long solo piano epic The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for a special concert celebrating Rzewski’s 80th birthday at Spectrum in Brooklyn, NY on November 4, 2018. Hamm embarked on an extensive Asian concert tour from November to December 2018, performing solo recitals featuring Rzewski’s The People United, and presenting master classes and lectures. He appeared at the Hong Kong Performing Arts Academy and Hong Kong Baptist University, in Bangkok, Thailand, at Shi Chien and Soochow Universities in Taipei, Taiwan, and at the Shanghai Conservatory and Capitol Normal and Ren Min Universities in Beijing, China. Hamm returned to the School of Music in February of 2019 to present a piano master class and also perform the Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto with the Kenwood Symphony under the direction of Yuri Ivan (DMA 2008, conducting) on the 16th. He was awarded the Dorothy Somerset Teaching Award at the University of British Columbia.
2006 __________________________
Jocelyn Hagen (MA 2006, composition, student of Judith Lang Zaimont) is featured in Graphite Publishing’s #ComposeLikeAGirl campaign. Hagen and other U of M School of Music composers are featured in this campaign. #ComposeLikeAGirl works “to encourage women to compose, to encourage conductors to intentionally diversify their programming, and raise awareness that gender inequality is an issue in the Arts.”
2007 __________________________
Andrew Staupe’s (MM 2007/BM 2005, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) appeared with the Lawton Philharmonic in Oklahoma, performing Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety under the direction of Jon Kalbfleisch on August 28, 2018 and with the San Diego Symphony under Sameer Patel performing Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto on August 30, 2018 in San Diego, CA. Staupe made his Canadian debut on October 20, 2018, with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Hall in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, performing the Chopin Piano Concerto #2. In a return engagement on February 17, 2019, Staupe performed the Chopin E minor Piano Concerto with John Zoltek and the Glacier Symphony in Whitefish, Montana. He returned to Minneapolis to perform the Ravel G Major Piano Concerto with Ho-Yin Kwok (DMA, orchestral conducting, student of Mark Russell Smith) and the Mississippi Valley Symphony on March 3, 2019. Staupe returned to Holland for his second cruise and concert tour with Performance Today’s host Fred Child in April 2019. On April 23, Staupe returned to Minneapolis to perform the Beethoven Second Piano Concerto with Yuri Ivan (DMA 2008, conducting) and the Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra at the Church of St. Albert the Great in Minneapolis.
2008 __________________________
Vicki Fingalson (DMA 2008, voice, student of Barbara Kierig) performed several roles in 2018, including Tanya (Mamma Mia!) for the grand re-opening of the restored NorShor Theatre, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with Lyric Opera of the North, Girl (Oh, Coward!) at the newly constructed Hanifl Performing Arts Center, Victoria (It’s a Grand Night for Singing) for the NorShor Concert Series, and premiered a new chamber opera by composer Wang Jie (It Rained on Shakopee) with the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra. In addition, Fingalson serves as associate professor of voice and director of opera workshop at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Hiyas Hila (DMA 2008, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) performed the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (under the direction of Yoshikazu Fukumura) at the Philippine Cultural Center in Manila on Jan. 18, 2019.
2009__________________________
Stephanie Claussen (BM 2009, harp, student of Kathy Kienzle) competed at the Edinboro Scottish Harp Competition on September 9, 2018 and won the title 2018 US National Scottish Harp Champion. Claussen, a Minnesota native, now performs and teaches full- time around the Twin Cities.
Eric McEnaney (DMA 2009, collaborative piano and coaching, student of Timothy Lovelace and Noriko Kawai) made his subscription concert debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, playing piano and celesta on the US premiere of Geoffrey Gordon’s bass clarinet concerto, Prometheus. McEnaney is also co-founder and music director of Opera Reading Project, a role reading series that serves as a professional-level music preparation tool for aspiring singers. He continues to serve as principal production pianist and coach at Florentine Opera, master coach at Minnesota Opera, and maintains a private vocal coaching studio in Minneapolis.
2010 __________________________
Justin Knoepfel (DMA 2010, viola, student of Korey Konkol) was recommended for continuous tenure and promotion to associate professor of music at Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN). He teaches viola, music theory, and conducts the Gustavus Philharmonic Orchestra at Gustavus Adolphus College.
2012 __________________________
Paula Gudmundson (DMA 2012, flute, student of Immanuel Davis) and James DeVoll (DMA, flute, student of Julia Bogard-Kogan) performed the Fantasia Mexicana by Samuel Zyman at the 2018 National Flute Association Convention in Orlando, FL in August 2018 in a concert titled Dedicated to Diversity, sponsored by the Cultural Outreach Committee. Gudmundson performed a recital with pianist Sue Ruby at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis on June 12, 2019. She also hosted the 5th Annual University of Minnesota Duluth Flute Workshop in Duluth (June 6-8, 2019). The workshop, led by Immanuel Davis (flute) and Gudmundson, included repertoire classes, orchestral excerpts, piccolo, technique clinics, daily warm-ups, and flute ensemble.
Soojung Hong (DMA 2012, piano, student of Alexander Braginsky) performed a solo recital at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts at the Chicago Public Library on October 19, 2018. The program featured works by Liszt, Medtner, and Kapustin and was streamed live on Facebook.
Jiye Kim (DMA 2012, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) and Min Sun Kim (DMA 2012, piano, student of Alexander Braginsky) performed a two piano recital on December 9, 2018, at the Sejong Chamber Hall in Seoul, Korea. Their program included two-piano works by Brahms, Ravel, and Richard Rodney Bennett.
Adam Meckler (MM 2012, trumpet, student of David Baldwin and Dean Sorenson) was recently named assistant professor of music/director of Jazz Studies at the Visual and Performing Arts Department of Michigan Technological University. Meckler is the third director of the Jazz program, which has a 52-year history of Jazz in the Midwest. Initially founded in 1967 under the direction of Don Keranen and continued under the direction of Mike Irish from 1991-2018, the non-major Jazz program at Michigan Tech has thrived at a school primarily known for its STEM curriculum. Meckler holds degrees from Lawrence Conservatory and the University of Minnesota. A trumpet player, composer, and educator, Meckler is an Edwards Instrument Co. Performing Artist and Clinician and leads The Adam Meckler Orchestra (AMO), an 18-piece big band that plays his original compositions. The AMO’s debut album, When the Clouds Look Like This was listed among 2014’s Best Jazz Releases by iTunes. Meckler held faculty positions in trumpet and Jazz at Macalester College, MCTC, and the MacPhail Center for Music. He tours and records with The Hornheads (Prince), Youngblood Brass Band, and Nooky Jones, and plays regularly with a host of bands around the Twin Cities including Lulu’s Playground, The Jana Nyberg Group, Jack Brass Band, The Graydon Peterson Quartet, and The Pete Whitman X-Tet. His latest release, Magnificent Madness is available via Ropeadope Records and on all streaming platforms.
2013 __________________________
Laura Hynes (DMA 2013, voice, student of Adriana Zabala) was a featured performer for Music and the Brain: A Conversation with Renée Fleming at the University of Calgary, where she is currently assistant professor and head of voice.
Brent Nolte (DMA 2013, organ, student of Dean Billmeyer) was appointed to the chairmanship of the Department of Music at Ohio Christian University in Circleville, OH. In this position, he will teach music history and appreciation, as well as instrumental music. Nolte has served on the faculty of Talladega College in Alabama as college organist since 2016, and recently chaired the department.
Hannah Schendel (BA 2013, violin) was named a conducting fellow with the Allentown Symphony. The Allentown Symphony Conducting Fellows Program supports the opportunity for promising conductors to hone their craft and enrich their musical experience through mentorship and participation in the Allentown Symphony Association’s orchestral and community programs.
Patrick Terry (BM 2013, voice, student of Adriana Zabala) made his debut on March 27, 2019 at the Royal Opera House in London as Arsace in a sold-out new production of Handel’s Berenice. Terry is a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme 2018-19.
2014 __________________________
Casey Clementson (PhD 2014/ BM 1999, music education) presented two sessions at the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) Midwinter Clinic in Minneapolis in February of 2019. The first session, “Fostering Fascination in Students: Using Music Psychology in Rehearsal” explored practical applications of music perception/cognition in secondary ensembles. The second, “10 Things to Know About the New Minnesota in K-12 Music” was co-presented with Wendy Barden (PhD 1988/MA 1983/ BS 1977, music education) of the Perpich Center.
Alexander Corbett (DMA 2014, violin, student of Sally O’Reilly) accepted a tenure-track teaching position as assistant professor of music at Temple College (Temple, TX).
Tanja Miric’s (DMA 2014, guitar, student of Maja Radovanlija) arrangement for solo guitar of the popular Bosnian song “Snijeg pade na behar, na voce (Snow Has Fallen on Blooming Trees)” was published in Classical Guitar Magazine (No. 392, Winter 2018). Miric and Darka Kooienga (DMA 2014, guitar, student of Maja Radovanlija), as Duo Miric, had their arrangement for guitar duo of Bach’s Concerto in D BWV 972 (after Vivaldi) published by Lathkill Music Publishers (UK).
2015 __________________________
LaTannia Ellerbe (DMA 2015, violin, student of Sally O’Reilly) was appointed as the Suzuki strings coordinator at the Bermuda School of Music in Pembroke, Bermuda. As a member of the string faculty at the Bermuda School of Music, Ellerbe teaches more than thirty private students and conducts two string orchestras. Her students have earned high marks in both the ABRSM (UK) and RCM (Canada) exams, won several awards, and are often invited to perform throughout the island.
Angelika Strub (BM 2015, violin) graduated with a masters degree in violin performance from the renowned University Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria on June 27. Strub was in the class of Prof. Esther Hoppe. This summer Strub participated in the famous classical music festival “Salzburger Festspiele” as a substitute player of the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, performing an opera with Plácido Domingo.
Regina Stroncek (BM 2015, voice, student of Wendy Zaro-Mullins) participated in the Semana Nacional de Letras at the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia in Brazil in June. She presented an interactive workshop titled “Cantando para Justiça Social” on American folk songs and their use in social movements in the 20th century. Stroncek was invited to perform a recital for voice and saxophone highlighting works by American women composers at the Conservatory of the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In August 2018, she presented a recital of Brazilian and American folk songs at the Federal Institute of Brasília and also participated in the inaugural year of the Seraphic Fire Professional Choral Institute at Aspen Music Festival.
2016 __________________________
Jason Flowers II (2014-2016, piano student of Paul Shaw) was awarded the Frances Hall Ballard Scholarship by the Manhattan School of Music in recognition of his artistic and academic achievements and contributions as a member of the MSM student community.
Gabriel Quenneville-Bélair’s (DMA 2016, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) debut piano solo CD was released in Canada for international distribution in June 2018. The CD features works by Grieg, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Gougeon, Hétu, and McIntyre. The CD was funded by the Laval Foundation in Quebec. Quenneville-Bélair also performed his New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall on June 30, 2018 as one of the winners of the American Protege Competition. Quenneville-Bélair was invited to perform the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, with Maestro Henry Janzen and the Hart House Orchestra in Toronto, Canada, on November 15, 2018.
Greta Yates (MA 2015, music therapy), neurologic music therapist, and nurse Megan Voss developed the music therapy program at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Their music therapy program not only helps lift the spirits of kids during long hospital stays, but also uses music, instruments, and other engaging activities to help kids ease their symptoms and work towards their treatment goals. Thanks to a generous grant from Otto Bremer Trust through Children’s Cancer Research Fund, Yates and Voss’s program recently received a $50,000 grant to continue funding the program and lay groundwork for future expansion.
2017 __________________________
Katherine Chan (DMA 2017, choral conducting, student of Kathy Saltzman Romey and Matthew Mehaffey) was named assistant professor of music and director of choral activities at Northeastern University, Boston.
Bethany Gonella (DMA 2017, flute, student of Immanuel Davis) and Katie Anne Kohler (MM 2016, flute, student of Julia Bogorad-Kogan and Immanuel Davis) organized the Upper Midwest Flute Association (UMFA)’s Marathon Flute Concert, a fundraiser event to support UMFA’s flute student scholarship fund. The event took place on October 27, 2018, at the Mall of America.
Maria Mannone (PhD 2017, composition, student of Alex Lubet) participated in the New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) Conference, held in June 2018 at Virginia Tech. In collaboration with researchers from the Tohoku University in Japan, she gave a poster presentation about the magnetic and electronic prototype of a new musical instrument, the CubeHarmonic, a musical version of the Rubik’s cube. Mannone’s paper “Introduction to gestural similarity in music. An application of category theory to the orchestra” was published by the Journal of Mathematics and Music. Mannone’s article “Musical Combinatorics, Tonnetz, and the CubeHarmonic,” written in collaboration with Japanese researchers, was published in the sixth issue of the Collected Papers of Academy of Arts of Novi Sad. Mannone contributed to the book Theoretical and Practical Pedagogy of Mathematical Music Theory, published by World Scientific (Professors Mariana Montiel and Francisco Gómez, editors), with a chapter titled “Can Mathematical Theory of Music Be Easily Learnt and Also Be Fun?”.
Soyoung Park (DMA 2017, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) performed a solo recital at the YoungSan Art Hall in Seoul, Korea on April 20, 2019. Her program included Rameau and sonatas of Beethoven and Brahms.
Nanyi (Neil) Qiang (DMA 2017, collaborative piano and coaching, student of Timothy Lovelace) was invited to teach at the 2018 Bay View Music Festival as guest faculty in July (Bay View, MI). He also presented a collaborative piano workshop there and was eagerly received by the festival participants. In June 2018, Qiang participated and performed at SPLICE Institute at Western Michigan University. In June 2018, Qiang participated and performed at SPLICE Institute at Western Michigan University.
Carson Rose Schneider (DMA 2017, collaborative piano and coaching, student of Timothy Lovelace) spent the summer of 2018 as a resident artist coach at Opera North. In fall 2019, Schneider was a Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist at Virginia Opera.
2018 __________________________
Olivia Bergh (BM 2018, music therapy, student of Michael Silverman and Todd Schwartzberg) was the student speaker at the 2018 University of Minnesota Foundation’s Heritage Society Dinner. At the Heritage Society Dinner, she gave moving remarks on her experience in the U of M School of Music’s music therapy program and led the attendees in a rousing round of “Hail! Minnesota.”
Jeehoon Kim (DMA 2018, voice, student of Philip Zawisza and David Walsh) accepted a position in the Palm Beach Opera’s Benenson Young Artist Program for the 2019-2020 season. The Benenson Young Artist Program is a stepping stone to a successful career as an opera singer for emerging professional artists. The Benenson Young Artists appear on the mainstage in supporting roles, cover leading roles, and perform in concerts and special events throughout our community. Kim is now represented by Stephen Nicolson Artists Management in New York City. As a student at the U of M School of Music, Kim performed with University Opera Theatre and was mentored by University Opera Theatre Director David Walsh.
Kaitlin Lalmond (BM 2018, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) joined Joseph Choi in a four-hand piano recital for the Classical Artist Series at the First United Methodist Church in Pflugerville, Texas on April 28, 2019.
Alison Lee (DMA 2018, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) was the first prize winner of the National Young Artists Competition hosted by the Coeur d’Alene Symphony in Idaho on Jan. 15, 2019. She performed the first movement of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Coeur d’Alene Symphony at the Ray and Joan Kroc Center on March 8 and 9, 2019.
Fanya Lin (DMA 2018, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) won two piano competitions in Taipei, Taiwan: the New Taipei City Music Star and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in May 2018. She will perform as a featured soloist with the Taipei Symphony next season and will present a solo recital in Taipei. Lin opened the 2018-19 concert season with Kenneth Freed conducting the Mankato (MN) Symphony on October 6, 2018, performing the Ravel G Major Piano Concerto and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at the Mankato West Auditorium. In Feb. 2019, Lin participated in the 2019 Concours International de Piano France-Amériques in Paris, France where she won 2nd prize (€1500) and Special Prize (€500) for the Solo Piano American Work Award (playing Liebermann and Barber). Dr. Lin also accepted a one- year assistant visiting professor of piano position at the University of Arizona- Tucson, beginning August 2019, running through May 2020.
Bingjie Liu (DMA 2018, piano, student of Paul Shaw) was offered a faculty position at Hunan First Normal University in China.
Fanya Lin (DMA 2018, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw) performed a solo piano recital at the Casa Orfeo in Positano, Italy on July 9, 2018.
Daniel Parks (MM 2018, choral conducting, student of Kathy Saltzman Romey and Matthew Mehaffey) was awarded a teaching fellowship at the University of Colorado where he will pursue a DMA in choral conducting.
Mario Ángel Pérez (MM 2018, voice, student of Adriana Zabala) and Justin Anthony Spenner (MM 2013, voice, student of Philip Zawisza), the B-Sides Art Song Collective, presented Do You Drear What I Drear on December 13, 2018 at the Underground Music Café in Minneapolis, MN.
Amanda Weber (DMA 2018, conducting, student of Kathy Saltzman Romey and Matthew Mehaffey) has accepted the position of minister of music and the arts at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. The full-time position started on June 1, 2019. In her position, she will work with the choirs to develop a new concert series.
2019 __________________________
Matthew Harikian (MM 2018, piano, student of Lydia Artymiw and MM 2019, theory, student of David Damschroder) accepted an adjunct visiting professor of theory position at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN for the Fall 2019 semester.
Additional Alumni News
Learn about our alumni who created the One Thirteen Composers Collective. Their work is featured in the MPR News story “Twin Cities’ 113 Composers Collective creates opportunities for experimental music makers.” From the article: “113 strives to make challenging, experimental new music available and accessible to everyone, regardless of their knowledge of or experience with such music.” – Joey Crane (PhD, composition).
Regina Stroncek (BM 2015, voice, student of Wendy Zaro-Mullins) and Taylor Burkhardt (DMA 2018, collaborative piano and coaching, student of Timothy Lovelace) gave a recital on May 4, 2019 at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Long Lake, MN as part of the Shirley Tulberg Memorial Concert Series. The program featured song cycles by local favorites Edie Hill (PhD 2001/MA 1992, composition, student of Lloyd Ultan) and Jocelyn Hagen (MA 2006, composition, student of Judith Lang Zaimont), as well as Brazilian composer Helza Camêu and British composer Rebecca Clarke.
John De Haan’s (voice) voice studio students and alumni had a busy summer full of music-making. Rhianna Cockrell (MM, 2018 voice), mezzo-soprano, is an Opera Saratoga Young Artist. Young Eun (Cecilia) Lee (DMA, voice), soprano, is an Aspen Music Festival Young Artist and performed the leading role (The Doll) in The Tales of Hoffman. Lee also performed two Roussel pieces with Juilliard Professor of Flute Carol Wincenc. Mary Kate Hubbard (MM, voice), soprano, was a Guest Artist with the Connecticut Symphony. Wesly Frye (MM, voice), tenor, was a Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre Young Artist and performed the solo tenor role in Brigadoon. Samuel Baker (DMA 2018, voice) performed the role of Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Steamboat Springs Opera. Christina Adamoli (MM 2017, voice) was a finalist in the Edvard Grieg International Vocal Competition.
Ming Hui (DMA, flute, student of Immanuel Davis), Katie Anne Kohler (MM 2016/BM 2014, flute, student of Julia Bogorad-Kogan and Immanuel Davis), and Lauren McNee (DMA 2017/BM 2011, flute, student of Julia Bogorad-Kogan and Immanuel Davis) participated in the Upper Midwest Flute Association’s (UMFA) 40th annual Flute Fest on March 23, 2019 at Plymouth Congregational Church (Minneapolis). Flute Fest 2019: Unleash Your Creativity features guest artist Mark Sparks.
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