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FEATURED NEWS

Photo by Kristin Hoebermann    

Elaine Alvarez (BM ’02 / MM ’04) recently sang for Maestro Ricardo Muti, who then engaged her to be soloist in the Rossini Stabat Mater for a tour this summer of Italy, Greece, and Spain. Elaine’s unexpected debut last year with Chicago Lyric brought reviews such as: "Luminous" (Chicago Sun-Times), "Conveying lyric pathos seems to come as naturally to Alvarez as breathing” (Chicago Tribune), and “Elaine Alvarez rendered Mimì with an ample, buffed-bronze soprano. . . she displayed a lissome, floated top. . . Her portrayal was, moreover, compellingly characterized, subtly naturalistic and fully drawn . . . an intelligent, musically satisfying performance” (Opera News). [posted 3/25/08]

The June 2007 issue of Downbeat magazine included many mentions of alumni in a variety of articles, awards, ads, and interviews. Some of those include: Stefon Harris (BM ’95 / MM ’97), D.D. Jackson (MM ’91), Jane Monheit (BM ’99), Liam Sillery (MM ’04), Chris Potter (MM ’92), Jason Moran (undergraduate studies ’95–’97), and Scott DuBois (BM ’00 / MM ’02). A feature entitled “25 Trumpeters to Watch” included Ambrose Akinmusire (BM ’05), Taylor Haskins (MM ’96), and Philip Dizack (BM ’07). We also salute the recent grads from the Jazz Arts Program, of whom five were winners in Downbeat’s annual competition: Josh Paris (MM ’07), Remy Le Boeuf (BM ’07), Pascal Le Boeuf (BM ’07), Lars Dietrich (MM ’07), and Donald Vega (MM ’07).

The July 2007 issue of Opera News might have well been named the “Manhattan School of Music Issue” for all the connections. Dolora Zajick (MM ’83 / honorary doctorate ’02) and Elizabeth Batton (graduate studies ’95–’98) were joined by current student Krysty Swann for a cover story entitled Alumni Report, offering a “multi-generational perspective of a student singer’s life at Manhattan School of Music.” Dawn Upshaw (MM ’85) and Elaine Alvarez (BM ’02 / MM ’04) were given much ink in the On the Beat section, and Dolora Zajick (again), Georgia Jarman (MM ’99), Susan Graham (MM ’87), and Lauren Flanigan (graduate studies ’81–’84) were quoted in Surviving Bad Advice.

MSM alumni dominated the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition. The winner of the 2007 competition and a $20,000 scholarship was Ambrose Akinmusire (BM '05) with second place going to Jean Caze (BM '04), who received a $10,000 scholarship. Other semifinalists included Philip Dizack ’07, Josh Evans ’07, Nadje Noordhuis ’05, and Charles Porter ’03. The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition is regarded as the most prestigious jazz competition in the world. The panel of judges included Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert, Terence Blanchard, Hugh Masekela (undergrad studies, '60–’64), Clark Terry, and Roy Hargrove. Three contestants were selected from a group of ten outstanding young jazz trumpet players (six of whom are MSM alumni) following the semifinals of the competition, which were held on October 27 on the UCLA campus. In addition, the famous Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles held its first major jazz concert ever on October 29, as celebrities, entertainment executives, business leaders, and musicians converged onstage to pay tribute to one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, legendary music icon and 10-time GRAMMY® winner Herbie Hancock (special studies '61). Furthermore, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz established the Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award, which will be given each year to a person who has used their passion and influence for the greater good of society and mankind. Producer and friend Quincy Jones presented Hancock with the inaugural award saying, “Over the course of his career Herbie Hancock has not only changed the world of music, he has used music to change the world.”

Welcome to our Alumni News Highlights page, consisting of recent activities and accomplishments of our former students in the college division, submitted in the past few months. (To read archived news items, dating back to 2004, click here.) The information on these pages has been submitted directly to us by individual alumni and/or their publicity representatives.

These listings are organized under the last year each alumnus/na attended the School and shows the degree program(s) in which they were enrolled. There is also a section honoring the memory of those alumni and faculty who have passed away in the last few years.

1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s

In Memoriam

Class Notes Archive (2004 – 2006)

Send us news: Alumni should submit and share their Class Notes with other alumni through our new Online Alumni Community; register now by clicking here.

[Latest updates posted on this page: March 25, 2008]


1940s

Ludmila Ulehla (BM ’47 / MM ’48) has had two chamber works published by TrevCo Music, Unrolling a Chinese Scroll for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon, and Wild Geese for Viola and Bassoon. [posted 3/25/08]

1950s

John Cannon (BM ’52) has had the premiere of his orchestral tribute to Christopher Reeve, entitled Dauntless Knight, given by the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Precollege faculty member James Sadewhite. [posted 12/1/07]

Photo by Joseph Wilder    

Joseph Wilder (BM ’53), pictured, was named a 2008 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, an honor awarded to “living legends, those who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz.” [posted 3/25/08]

Nancy Bloomer Deussen (BM ’53 / MM ’56) has had many of her works performed this season, including American Hymn and Regalos (Hilo Symphony Orchestra in Hawaii); Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano (American Chamber Ensemble in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and the International Alliance of Women in Music conference in Bejing); and A Silver, Shining Strand and Regalos (Winchester Symphony Orchestra in California). [posted 3/25/08]

Kenneth Lane (undergraduate studies, ’51–54) performed his concert, entitled "Heroes," at the New Life Expo this spring at the New Yorker Hotel. [posted 3/25/08]

Lynn Strongin (undergraduate studies, ’56–59) is an American poet who now lives and writes in Victoria, British Columbia. Her poetry has most recently been published in Artlife, IRIS, and the Italian publication Storie. [posted 3/25/08]

Frances Walker-Slocum (undergraduate studies, piano) has authored an autobiography entitled A Miraculous Journey, recently published through Author House. Ms. Walker Slocum tells the story of “how one Black woman survived a fire in early childhood managing to stay alive and rise to the top of her profession [as a concert pianist and professor at Oberlin Conservatory] despite insurmountable physical odds.” [posted on 12/5/2006]

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1960s

Michael Abene (undergraduate studies, ’59–61) has joined with colleague and fellow alumnus Richard Sussman to co-author a textbook, Jazz Composing and Arranging in the Digital Age, to be released by Oxford Press in 2009. The book combines traditional techniques of writing for small and large jazz ensembles with computer-based compositional tools such as notation and sequencing software; there will be a companion website with audio and software examples. [posted 3/25/08]

Adolphus Hailstork (BM ’65 / MM ’66) has had his Symphonies nos. 2 and 3 released on the Naxos label, performed by the Grand Rapids Symphony. Hailstork is artist-in-residence at Old Dominion University in Virginia. [posted 12/1/07]

Rupert Holmes (undergraduate studies 66–67) wrote the book and contributed lyrics for Curtains, the John Kander and Fred Ebb musical, which is playing on Broadway. [posted 12/1/07]

Patricia Guthrie (BM ’66 / MM ’69) has had her first novel, a romantic suspense, In the Arms of the Enemy, released by Light Sword Publishing. Her next work, Water Lilies Over My Grave is scheduled for publication this year. [posted 3/25/08]

Photo by Richard Brodzeller Photography    

Joseph Rescigno (MM ’69) has recently celebrated his 25th year as artistic advisor and principal conductor of the Florentine Opera Company in Milwaukee. He conducted Carmen at New York City Opera in October and November. [posted 12/1/07]

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1970s

Anthony Scelba (BM ’70 / MM ’71) is a professor and music department chair at Kean University in New Jersey; he is also director of its concert artist program, which he founded and where he frequently performs. [posted 12/1/07]

Charlotte Miller Sylvia (MM ’71) has been winning composition prizes in the New Haven area; she also performed her songs at Connecticut’s Festival of Arts and Ideas this past summer. [posted 3/25/08]

Michael Feves (BM ’73 / MM ’74) has recently co-authored and published A Cellist’s Companion: A Comprehensive Catalogue of Cello Literature, the first of this scope. [posted 3/25/08]

Michael Philip Davis (MM ’76) has recently been seen on public television in The Classic Kurt Weill and American Jewish Composers in Classical Song, as well as in a Kurt Weill concert in San Francisco and Anton Coppola’s opera Sacco and Vanzetti in Tampa. He is resident stage director of the California Opera Association and made an acclaimed directing debut at Virginia’s TodiMusicFest with The Tragedy of Carmen. [posted 12/1/07]

George Manahan (BM ’73 / MM ’76) conducted several productions at New York City Opera this season as their music director, including Richard Danielpour’s Margaret Garner, which the New York Times described as “a supple, shimmering and, during the frequent bursts of propulsive music, articulate performance.” [posted 3/25/08]

Mercedes Alicea (MM ’77) organized a touching memorial last November at Columbia University’s St. Paul’s Chapel for former faculty member Rose Bampton, attended by several alumni. [posted 3/25/08]

Judith Blazer (BM ’77) appeared in the Broadway production of LoveMusik for a limited engagement at the Biltmore Theater this summer. [posted 12/1/07]

Elliot Goldenthal (BM ’77 / MM ’79) has composed the score and arranged some 33 Beatles songs for the current Sony Pictures release Across the Universe, a film by Julie Taymor. [posted 12/1/07]

Robert Bonfiglio (MM ’79) performed his debut as harmonica soloist this last season with the Pittsburgh Symphony, National Symphony at Kennedy Center, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Orquesta Sinfonica de Principado de Asturias, and the Bochumer Symphoniker. [posted 3/25/08]

Barbara Curialle Gerr (BM '78 / graduate studies, piano) is delighted to announce that she has begun the three-year teacher certification program at the American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York City. [posted on 1/24/07]

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1980s

Fred Bronstein (MM ’82) has taken over as President and CEO of the St. Louis Symphony, having led the Dallas Symphony for the past five years. [posted 3/25/08]

Fung Ho (MM ’82) is currently serving as Music Director and Conductor of the Olympia Philharmonic and Olympia Youth Orchestras in San Gabriel, California. [posted 3/25/08]

Isabella Eredita-Johnson (BM ’81 / MM ’82) is the director of a successful series in Northport, Long Island, called “Opera Night,” which presents up-and-coming vocalists and promotes the art of singing. [posted 3/25/08]

Jinny (Hwei Jin) Liu (MM ’82) is chair of the music department at Taipei National University of the Arts and principal flutist of the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. [posted 12/1/07]

Dr. Lynne Aspnes (DMA ’83) has been appointed associate dean and professor of harp at the College of the Arts at Arizona State University, in a new position created for her. [posted 12/1/07]

Paul Brantley (BM ’83) has had several compositions premiered recently: the Goliard Ensemble premiered Looks of Love on tour; Brantley premiered One Door for solo cello in NYC; soprano Amy Blake Synatzske premiered Divan in France; the Left Bank Ensemble premiered Mandorla for two cellos at the Kennedy Center; the experimental group Ethel premiered Divers at Joe’s Pub and the Winter Garden in NYC; baritone Alexander Hurd premiered Rilke Sonnets on the Concerts in the Heights series; the Excelsior Brass Ensemble premiered Service Music at St. Bartholomew’s in NYC; and the MSM Symphony gave the NYC premiere of Brantley’s On the Pulse of Morning, a setting of Maya Angelou’s inaugural poem conducted by Kenneth Kiesler. [posted 12/1/07]

Neil Semer (BM ’83) is teaching singing in New York, Toronto, Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Cologne, and Frankfurt. His Summer Vocal Institute in Germany is in its twelfth year and his students are singing in major houses around the world. [posted 3/25/08]

Dolora Zajick (MM ’83 / honorary doctorate ’02) recently sang Amneris in Houston Grand Opera’s production of Aïda and appeared in the title role for Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans with the Collegiate Chorale and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall. [posted 12/1/07]

Lauren Flanigan (graduate studies ’81–’84) added a seventh world premiere opera to her repertoire in June when she took on the title role in Fort Worth Opera’s production of Frau Margot, an opera by Thomas Pasatieri. [posted 12/1/07]

Saul Davis Zlatkovsky (MM ’84) is founder and artistic director of Performing Arts Traditions, which produced the Harp Music Festival of Philadelphia this May, honoring the centenary of esteemed former MSM harp faculty member, the late Lucile Lawrence. [posted 12/1/07]

   

Dawn Upshaw (MM ’85), pictured, has been awarded a $500,000 grant by the MacArthur Foundation for “breaking down stylistic barriers and forging a new model of a performer who is directly involved in the creation of contemporary music.” [posted 3/25/08]

Richard Sussman (MM ’85) has joined with colleague and fellow alumnus Michael Abene to co-author a textbook on Jazz Composing and Arranging in the Digital Age, to be released by Oxford Press in 2009. The book combines traditional techniques of writing for small and large jazz ensembles with computer-based compositional tools such as notation and sequencing software; there will be a companion website with audio and software examples. [posted 3/25/08]

Emmy Chen (MM ’86) teaches piano at Shih Chien University and Taipei National University in her home country of Taiwan. [posted 3/25/08]

Valentin Schiedermair (BM ’85 / MM ’86) was appointed Visiting Professor of Piano at Shenzhen University in China and has toured parts of Asia performing and giving master classes. [posted 3/25/08]

George Robert (MM ’87) has been appointed director of Lausanne Conservatory’s new jazz department, after leading the Swiss Jazz School in Berne for 11 years. He is also continuing to lead an international performing career and has been signed to Blue Note Records. [posted 12/1/07]

Dmitry Rachmanov (DMA ’89) has joined the music faculty of California State University–Northridge and been appointed chair of the piano department. [posted 3/25/08]

Robert Auld (BM ’89) is a freelance audio engineer whose work is frequently heard on National Public Radio. A specialist in audio restoration, he was presenter of historical programs at the 2007 Audio Engineering Society convention. [posted 3/25/08]

Gennady Filimonov (BM' 84 / MM '85, violin) is a member of the Seattle Symphony and is first violinist of odeonquartet. "This young, vibrant group has made a Kronos-like commitment to a 20th century music all over the artistic map," (Seattle Weekly) and recently opened the Earshot Jazz Festival along with Wayne Horvitz and jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. The ensemble was recently featured on Chamber Music America's website. [posted 1/24/07]

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1990s

 

   

Shuler Hensley (BM '90), pictured with co-star Roger Bart, is currently starring as "The Monster" in Mel Brooks' new musical,Young Frankenstein, on Broadway. Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote: “the production does offer confirmation of the distinctive, very different talents of Sutton Foster, Shuler Hensley and Andrea Martin. And Shuler Hensley (Judd in the most recent Broadway revival of “Oklahoma!”) is terrific, turning Frankenstein’s monster into the most human character onstage… what really makes it fly is Mr. Hensley’s evocation of the monster’s pleasure in what he’s doing. This big galoot of a mannequin is being seduced by the singular joys of musical comedy and loving it. For the first and only time in the show, so are we.” [posted 03/25/08]

Thomas Michael Allen (MM ’91) recently appeared on European TV singing with Cecilia Bartoli at the Zurich Opera in Handel’s Semele conducted by William Christie. Other appearances last season included performances with the Chicago Symphony, National Symphony (Washington D.C.), Opera Monte Carlo, and Netherlands Opera. He can be heard in a recent Virgin/EMI release of Purcell’s Divine Hymns with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants. [posted 3/25/08]

Pierre Charvet (graduate studies, ’89–’91) has created a new television show in France about classical music. He writes and hosts Presto!, a weekly, primetime show with millions of viewers. [posted 3/25/08]

   

Kimilee Brant (MM ’92), pictured, appeared as Princess Ida in January as the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players opened its 2008 season at City Center. Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times wrote: “Kimilee Bryant brought a plush soprano voice and lovely presence to the title role.” March has Kimilee singing The Phantom of the Opera’s Carlotta in Texas, California, and Canada. [posted 3/25/08]

Victor Kioulaphides (DMA ’92) had his Canzona premiered in Madison, Wisconsin, by mandolinist Carlo Aonzo and guitarist René Izquiero, on their tour of the Midwest; the final performance of this tour featured the New York premiere at BargeMusic in March. [posted 1/24/07]

Erika Sunnegardh (BM ’92) sang the final scene of Richard Strauss’ Salome this season with the Swedish Radio Symphony, Myung Whun Chung conducting, followed by her first staged Salome at the Florentine Opera. She also appeared at the 2008 Salzburg Easter Festival in a production of Wagner’s Die Walküre conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. [posted 3/25/08]

Barron Coleman (MM ’93) organized a benefit gala concert at Manhattan Center, hosted by actress Lynn Whitfield, for Opera Noire of New York, which he co-founded. [posted 3/25/08]

Deborah Loach (BM ’93) recently won a percussion position with the Mobile Symphony in Alabama. [posted 3/25/08]

Richard Graber (MM ’93) has recently won a position with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra as assistant principal percussion. [posted 3/25/08]

Ruth Ellis (BM ’91 / MM ’93) has recently sung in New York, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, as she tours with fellow alumnus Scott Holden in a program called “Sing a New Song.” Based in Utah, Ruth has founded the Ruth Ellis Vocal Academy, where she teaches private lessons, master classes, and three children’s choirs. [posted 3/25/08]

Susan Deaver (BM ’75 / MM ’76 / DMA ’94) was the conducting coach, with on-screen credit, for actor Freddie Highmore in the film August Rush. [posted 1/24/07]

Brian Register (MM ’94) has been added to the roster of the Emerging Artists Program sponsored by the Wagner Society of Washington, D.C., who will sponsor him in learning and performing the works of Richard Wagner under the personal tutelage of Evelyn Lear. [posted 3/25/08]

Gail Archer (DMA ’95) received the following review by the New York Times in January: “While it may seem rash to make the claim so soon, a survey of Messiaen’s organ music performed by Gail Archer is sure to be among the year’s highlights, to judge by the initial installment... Ms. Archer’s well-paced interpretation had a compelling authority. She played with a bracing physicality in the work’s more driven passages and endowed humbler ruminations with a sense of vulnerability and awe.” [posted 3/25/08]

Kristjan Järvi (BM ’95) inaugurated the Grafenegg Music Festival in Austria last summer as conductor of the Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich in a concert that featured soprano Renée Fleming. Larry L. Lash of MusicalAmerica.com wrote: “The Tonkünstler, the orchestra-in-residence, enjoy the leadership of Järvi, who can be credited with collaborating with Fleming on the adventurous opening program (broadcast live over ORF)…Järvi and his home band could not have selected better vehicles to demonstrate their versatility.” [posted 3/25/08]

Robert Selvaggio (MM ’95) recently had his new CD, Unspoken Dialogue, released by Playscape Recordings, of which Downbeat magazine wrote, “the arrangements make the difference… music that’s thoughtful, slyly subversive.” [posted 3/25/08]

   

Cornelius Claudio Kreusch (MM ’96), pictured, is CEO and founder of MUSICJUSTMUSIC™, a worldwide aggregator and digital distributor with offices in New York and Munich, which allows their artists to sell digital audio content on over 350 online and mobile music sites in 58 countries. As a Steinway Artist, he appeared in a solo concert of original, improvised works at New York’s Steinway Hall in November of 2007. [posted 3/25/08]

Greg Wramage (BM ’94 / MM ’96) was awarded the American Opera Project’s Mark Adamo Chair in Composition, which will allow him to work with Adamo on works to be premiered by AOP. [posted 1/24/07]

Salvatore Di Vittorio (BM ’97) is founder and conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, which had its debut at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in October. He has also joined the Manhattan School of Music Alumni Council. [posted 1/24/07]

Jason Moran (undergraduate studies ’95–97) was named a United States Artists Fellow in a program to “nurture, support, and strengthen the work of America’s finest living artists.” Moran premiered his latest work IN MY MIND: Monk at Town Hall 1959 in October, a multimedia performance co-commissioned by Duke University, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Chicago Symphony Hall, and the Washington Performing Arts Society. In a review of recent performances at the Village Vanguard, the New York Sun called him “one of the Big Boys,” “a major pianist,” and “brilliant.” [posted 3/25/08]

Misha Piatigorsky (MM ’97) has released a new CD entitled Uncommon Circumstance. He appears as pianist and musical director for singer Mark Murphy and can be heard on the major motion picture soundtracks of four releases: Chaos Theory, Pretty Persuasion, RX, and Danika. [posted 1/24/07]

Paul Beck (BM ’98) has begun his sixth year as assistant librarian of the Metropolitan Opera. He has also joined the Manhattan School of Music Alumni Council. [posted 1/24/07]

Frances Duffy (MM ’98) is principal harp of the area orchestras of Wheeling, Allentown, Hudson Valley, and Altoona. [posted 1/24/07]

Angelo Favis (DMA ’98) has had his second CD, Philippine Treasures, Volume 2, released on the VGO label. He has also recently received tenure at Illinois State University. [posted 3/25/08]

Justin Hines (MM ’98) was appointed mentor/teacher for the Academy, a new program of Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and the Weill Music Institute; he is also both principal percussionist and education consultant for the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. [posted 1/24/07]

Brandon Jovanovich (graduate studies ’97–’98) was announced recipient of the 2007 Richard Tucker Award. [posted 1/24/07]

   

Jane Monheit (BM ’99) has released her seventh album, entitled Surrender, her first on the Concord Music Group label. [posted 1/24/07]

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2000s

Matthew Burns (MM ’00) has returned for a fifth season to New York City Opera, where he sang Masetto in Don Giovanni. Other season highlights include Martín y Soler’s Una Cosa Rara at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Grand Rapids, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Colline in La Bohème at Boston Lyric Opera, and his Dayton Opera debut as Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia. [posted 3/25/08]

Kirill Gerstein (BM ’99 / MM ’00) appeared as piano soloist with the Houston Symphony in September, performing Liszt’s Totentanz and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. [posted 1/24/07]

Aaron McDonald (MM ’00) has been appointed principal timpanist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. [posted 1/24/07]

Simon O’Neill (MM ’00) made his Metropolitan Opera debut this season as Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walkure, having first sung the role in the new Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Reviews describe him as “the star,” “an exemplary Siegmund,” “a towering presence,” “a turbo-charged tenor.” [posted 3/25/08]

   

Viviane Hagner (Postgraduate Diploma ’00), pictured, made her New York Philharmonic debut in January, performing the Mendelssohn Concerto under the baton of Maestro Maazel; the New York Times called it “a winning performance” and said she “brought an appealing flexibility to the solo line, as well as focused intonation and a sound that was consistently large and projected well without seeming weighty or excessively sugared. Her reading of the Andante was a picture of melting beauty, and in the fast outer movements she played with the kind of virtuosity that makes things sound easier than they are.” She was featured, before her debut, in a New York Times article, where Allan Kozinn wrote: “she has the goods: confident phrasing, rhythmic precision, a flexible and sometimes appealingly earthy tone, all the speed you could want and the maturity to use it expressively.” [posted 3/25/08]

Sungji Kim (PS ’01) won second prize in the 2008 Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition in Maryland; first prize at the 2007 Paul Robeson Vocal Competition in Washington, D.C.; and second prize at the 2007 Little Italy Soprano Competition in New York. [posted 3/25/08]

Rolando Garza Rodriguez (MM ’01) was selected for Mexico’s National Youth Award, the highest that the government gives to an outstanding young citizen. His recent projects include the Basel Opera Theater (assistant music director), Atelier of the Opera National du Rhin (assistant conductor), the Schwetzinger Festspiele in Germany, the Acanthes Festival in Belgium, and his recent conducting debut with
Le nozze di Figaro in Bourgas, Bulgaria. [posted 1/24/07]

Stephen Slater (BM ’01) has recently been offered a position in the horn section of the Jerusalem Symphony. He worked as a performer/teaching artist with the ensemble Tales & Scales, putting on performances combining music, theater, and dance for family audiences and giving over 200 performances while traveling
the United States. [posted 1/24/07]

Nancy Chang (BM ’00 / MM ’02) has been appointed to the violin section of the Florida Philharmonic. [posted 1/24/07]

Rafal Jezierski (BM ’02) has been appointed by Maestro Loren Maazel to the post of principal cellist with the Palau De Les Arts Reina Sofia Orchestra in Valencia, Spain. [posted 1/24/07]

Jennifer O’Loughlin (MM ’02) made her Salzburg Festival debut this summer singing Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. [posted 1/24/07]

   

Mateusz Wolski (BM ’99 / MM ’01 / PS ’02), pictured, has recently been appointed concertmaster of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra in Washington state. He has also joined the Manhattan School of Music Alumni Council. [posted 1/24/07]

Chaerim Kim (BM ’03) was invited to join “The President’s Own” United States Marine Chamber Orchestra in November 2007 as a violinist. Staff Sergeant Kim is performing regularly at White House State Dinners, receptions, and other functions, as well as with the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. [posted 3/25/08]

Stephen Jacobsohn (MM ’03) has been promoted to manager of artistic administration for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. [posted 1/24/07]

Matthew Worth (PS ’04 / MM ’03) is singing this season in the New York Festival of Song, in Die Zauberflöte (Papageno) with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Così fan tutte (Guglielmo) with Opera Naples, and in Carmina Burana with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and the Baton Rouge Symphony. As a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center last summer, he sang Guglielmo in Così with James Levine conducting. Matthew is the recipient of a 2007–08 Sullivan Foundation Award. [posted 3/25/08]

   

Conor Nelson (BM ’03) has been appointed Assistant Professor of Flute at Oklahoma State University. In addition, he was the first wind player ever to win the grand prize at the WAMSO Young Artist Competition, which will give him the opportunity to appear as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra. [posted 1/24/07]

Amy Shoremount-Obra (BM ’01 / MM ’03) was recipient of a 2007 Metropolitan Opera Education Fund Grant and has been added to the 2007–08 artist roster of the Metropolitan Opera. [posted 1/24/07]

Adam Ward (BM ’03) is in his second season singing countertenor with Chanticleer, the professional all-male chorus, and will be giving over 100 concerts this year around the world. [posted 1/24/07]

   

Elaine Alvarez (BM ’02 / MM ’04), pictured, recently sang for Maestro Ricardo Muti, who then engaged her to be soloist in the Rossini Stabat Mater for a tour this summer of Italy, Greece, and Spain. Elaine’s unexpected debut last year with Chicago Lyric Opera brought reviews such as: “Luminous” (Chicago Sun-Times), “Conveying lyric pathos seems to come as naturally to Alvarez as breathing” (Chicago Tribune), and “Elaine Alvarez rendered Mimì with an ample, buffed-bronze soprano. . . she displayed a lissome, floated top. . . Her portrayal was, moreover, compellingly characterized, subtly naturalistic and fully drawn . . . an intelligent, musically satisfying performance” (Opera News). [posted 3/25/08]

Brenda Earle (MM ’04) was a finalist in the 2007 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition held in Washington, D.C. Brenda has also recently become a member of the Manhattan School of Music Alumni Council. [posted 1/24/07]

Rohin Khemani (MM ’04) has been accepted into the teaching artist roster of Young Audiences New York for the 2007–08 academic year. The percussionist’s show, created with fellow alumnus saxophonist Max Wild (MM ’04) and entitled “East Meets West Music as a Universal Language,” takes elementary school children on a fun, educational journey through the world of music. [posted 1/24/07]

Roland Barber (MM ’05) has been awarded a Chamber Music of America New Works Grant, providing funding to write and present new compositions in the coming year. [posted 1/24/07]

Gabriel Katz (PS ’05) has been appointed to the double bass section of the KZN Philharmonic in South Africa. [posted 1/24/07]

David Morris (MM ’05) has been appointed to the cello section of the New World Symphony in Florida. [posted 1/24/07]

Alexandre Moutouzkine (MM ’03 / PS ’05 / Artist Diploma ’06) placed third and was awarded $15,000 in the 17th biennial Cleveland International Piano Competition this summer. He was also awarded the Beethoven Prize (of $2,000), for his “Waldstein” Sonata. In the finals, Moutouzkine performed Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concert with the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall. [posted 3/25/08]

Melissa Wegner (MM ’05) sang the premiere of David Bruce’s Piosenki, a work written for her, at Carnegie Hall as part of the Weill Music Institute’s “Composer and the Voice” workshops at Carnegie Hall. This summer she appeared in Bard SummerScape’s production of Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg. [posted 1/24/07]

Pascal Archer (MM ’06) has been appointed principal clarinetist of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. [posted 1/24/07]

Kristin Ezell (MM ’06) made her professional New York debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall through the Osvaldo Golijov and Dawn Upshaw Workshop for Composers and Singers in April 2007, where she performed the world premiere of Scenes by Johannes Lauer. Ms. Ezell was awarded a full scholarship to be one of the eight members of the inaugural graduate vocal program at Bard College Conservatory of Music under the artistic direction of MSM alumna Dawn Upshaw. This past March, Kristin created the role of Narrator 1 in the world premiere of David Bruce's opera A Bird In Your Ear, which was commissioned by Bard Conservatory. [posted 4/02/08]

Bill Morris (MM ’06) has been appointed to the bass section of the Louisiana Philharmonic. [posted 1/24/07]

Louis Reed (MM ’06) has been appointed to the trumpet section of the New World Symphony. [posted 1/24/07]

Kyle Saulnier (MM ’06) debuted his group, Awakening Orchestra, at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center in March. He has also written the underscoring for episodes of the TV program Hunter & Hunted on the National Geographic Channel. [posted 1/24/07]

Pedro da Silva (BM ’99 / MM ’01 / DMA ’06) was recently promoted to Affiliate Professor of Composition at Long Island University and continues to teach at New York University. He contributed to the film scores of Richard Temtchine’s How to Seduce Difficult Women and the Sundance documentary Tijuana nada más, and can be heard playing guitar on the track of Be Kind Rewind. [posted 3/25/08]

Emily Albrink (MM ’06 / PS ’07) sang Despina in the Tanglewood production of Così fan tutte last summer under the baton of James Levine; the New York Times called her “delightful and vocally strong and versatile.” She was just accepted into the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist program at Washington National Opera for 2008–10. Next season, Emily will make her Carnegie Hall debut in Osvaldo Golijov’s chamber opera Ainadamar with Dawn Upshaw and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Robert Spano. [updated 3/25/08]

Jean-Olivier Bégin (MM ’07) has received a College TV Award in the Best Composition category for the original music of Operated by Invisible Hands, a short film written and directed by Nicole Brending. The presentation was made in Los Angeles this March before representatives of the motion picture industry. [posted 3/25/08]

Pablo Sáinz Villegas (Artist Diploma ’07) is currently on an extensive tour as winner of the Parkening International Guitar Competition, performing with such ensembles as the Lexington Symphony Orchestra, Mobile Symphony, South Bay Chamber Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Symphony, and Petrobras Symphony in Rio de Janeiro; he has also given important recitals in Musikverein in Vienna and Spivey Hall in Atlanta. [posted 3/25/08]

Jie Wang (BM ’05 / MM ’07) is a recent recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. Her full-length opera, Nannan, was chosen by New York City Opera for the 2007 VOX: Showcasing American Composers Festival, making her the youngest composer ever to be given that honor. [posted 3/25/08]

Micah Young (BM ’07) has recently made his Broadway debut as pianist/conductor of Spring Awakening and is also subbing on keyboards for Mamma Mia and piano for Chicago. [posted 3/25/08]

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In Memoriam — Alumni and Former Faculty
(since January 2006)*

   

Ardyth Alton (member of the cello faculty from 1969–2005) passed away in February 2008. She also taught at the Juilliard School. Dean of Faculty Richard E. Adams writes: “A gifted and active cellist, Ardyth made over one thousand appearances as a chamber musician. As a dedicated teacher, she was much beloved by her students and colleagues as well.”

 

 

   

Jerome Ashby (orchestral horn faculty, 1991–2007) lost a courageous battle with prostrate cancer on December 26, 2007. He became the Associate Principal Horn of the New York Philharmonic in 1979, and joined the MSM faculty as a founding teacher of the Orchestral Performance Program faculty in 1991. Vice President Richard Adams write: “He will be missed by so many of us in our community as a great artist, enlightened teacher and as a friend of profound dignity and integrity.”

 

 

   

Giampaolo Bracali (member of the faculty since 1970) passed away on December 16, 2006. Vice President Richard E. Adams, writes: “His contribution to the musical and pedagogical life of Manhattan School of Music will resonate well into the future.” Mr. Bracali had taught at the School since 1970, joining the composition faculty in 1972. There was a memorial service for Mr. Bracali on Sunday, January 21, 2007 at the Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew in Manhattan.

 

Walter Engel (undergraduate composition studies, 1973 – 78) passed away on April 1, 2007. Jill Sagarin writes: “It is just like Walter to have been born on All Souls Day and leave us on April Fool's Day (it was also Palm Sunday, but he would have liked for us to remember him on April Fool's Day). He certainly made a feast out of a life that could have been otherwise. He made that feast from the recipe that only he could have concocted, full of sweetness, hurnor, caring, high expectations, stubbornness, love and a desire to feed everyone who came to his home. Walter was proud to call people from many different walks of life his friend. Regardless of where you are from or how he had met you, he touched you smack dab in the middle of your heart with those big brown eyes that bored into you. Those were the eyes that blinked his words, that took everything in, that told jokes, that cursed, that conveyed his anger and frustration, that touched the essence of you and that told you, with no words needed and in no uncertain terms, that he loved you and that you were free to love him. He succumbed to heart failure due to pneumonia after a short illness; he was comfortable to the end…We are asking that any gifts be in the form of contributions to the music festival that bears his name — The Walter Engel Festival of Young Performers." Walter told us for an Alumni News feature published in 2000: “My time at MSM was enriching. Music means so very much to my everyday survival in a wheelchair-bound life. I know that attending MSM helped me overcome this new life of mine. I was honored to walk through those marble corridors with such intense musicians. Asking myself which people really made a difference in my existence on this planet is a daily ritual, and I constantly think of some extraordinary MSM faculty members: Ludmila Ulehla, Nicolas Flagello, Giampaolo Bracali, Earl Carter, Daniel Rice, and George Manahan, to name a few. MSM was full of gorgeous sounds to me. Unfortunately, after a short but sweet conducting career, I suffered a brainstem stroke. I am now without a voice. My communication system is done with my eyes; letter by letter, I form a word, then I construct a sentence. MSM ignited and kindled a flame that enables me to build paragraphs of my life. My visual art and haiku continue to be on exhibit and the festival I run for young performers is celebrating a ninth season. I am ever so grateful for the MSM experience!”

 

   

Maxwell "Max" Roach (undergraduate studies, 1950 – 1952 / Honorary Doctorate, 1990) passed away on August 16, 2007. He was 83. Peter Keepnews wrote in the New York Times: “[Roach was] a founder of modern jazz who rewrote the rules of drumming in the 1940’s and spent the rest of his career breaking musical barriers and defying listeners’ expectations.” Mr. Roach’s partnerships ran the gamut of 20th-century innovators and included artists in a variety of fields including: Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Sam Shepard, Alvin Ailey, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Donald Byrd, Charles Mingus, Oscar Brown Jr, Abbey Lincoln, Cecil Bridgewater, Kit Fitzgerald, George Ferencz, and the Uptown String Quartet. Mr. Roach has been credited with the development of the form of jazz that came to be known as bebop. In 1972, he became one of the first jazz musicians to teach full time at the college level when he was hired as a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was the first jazz musician to receive a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation. Concerned with the political issues of his time, he told Down Beat magazine after the release of his album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, “I will never again play anything that does not have social significance… We American jazz musicians of African descent have proved beyond all doubt that we’re master musicians of our instruments. Now what we have to do is employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people and what we’ve been through.” Manhattan School of Music awarded Mr. Roach an honorary doctorate in 1990.

Jeffrey Schlegel (undergraduate studies, 1970–1975, horn) passed away in Sanfa Fe, Argentina, on October 8, 2007. The obituary placed in the New York Times by family and friends, read: “Born in New York, Jeff was a beloved friend and colleague, an exceptionally gifted musician, and teacher. Principal Horn: Orquesta Sinfonica Provincial de Santa Fe; Orquesta Sinfonica de Entre Rios; Banda Sinfonica de la Policia de Santa Fe; Banda Municipal de la Ciudad de Santa Fe. Jeffrey is survived by his children Gabriel, Jonatan, Jennifer and step-son Diego of Santa Fe; sisters Stephanie Manning of Davis, CA, and Sully Bonn of Newton, MA; and many loving friends and colleagues on both continents. He will be remembered for his love of music, his wit, generosity and free spirit. Jeffrey will be grievously missed by all who knew him and we will celebrate his memory as he will continue to live on in our hearts.” A Times Guest Book will remain online for a full year (click here for access). Friend and colleague Howard Heller (Class of 1973) tell us: “Although Jeff had been gone for so long, he remained in touch with a few of us here in New York and he left a lasting impression on all who knew during his time at MSM and while living in his apartment on Claremont Ave.”

Ralph A. Schwartz (MM 1975, trumpet) of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, died August 13, 2007, after a sudden illness. He was 56. Born in Havre, Montana, Mr. Schwartz grew up in nearby Big Sandy. His extraordinary musical talent was evident early and he received many music awards while in high school. He graduated with music degrees from St. Olaf College, 1973 and Manhattan School of Music, 1975. He remained in New York City working as a professional musician until 1982 when he moved to the Twin Cities continuing as a respected freelance trumpeter. Ralph was preceded in death by father, Robert and brother, Richard. He is survived by children, Melani and Kyle; former wife, Patti Arntz; mother, Evelyn; brothers, Robert Jr. and Bruce and sister, Sondra. Please visit and sign a tribute page set up by family and friends. (Information courtesy of Steven Sako ’78)

Dorothy Stone (BM ’80, flute) died on Morch 7, 2008. Chris Pasles of the Los Angeles Times wrote: “Dorothy Stone, an award-winning composer and virtuoso flutist who in 1981 co-founded the new-music ensemble the California EAR Unit, has died. She was 49. Stone was found dead March 7 by police at her home in Green Valley, Calif. No foul play is suspected, said her father, Jerome J. Stone of Kingston, Pa. Results of an autopsy are pending, he said. Dorothy Ann Stone was born June 7, 1958, in Kingston. She earned a bachelor's degree in music at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where she studied with Harvey Sollberger, and a master of fine arts degree at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. While at CalArts, she also studied composition with Stephen "Lucky" Mosko, Mel Powell, Leonard Stein and Morton Subotnick. She and Mosko were married in 1989. During her performing career, Stone premiered solo works throughout the U.S. and Europe, and was showcased on National Public Radio and WGBH's "Art of the States" program. She also built a special electronic system for her solo flute composition, "Wizard Ball," which received a Freeman Composition Award as well as prizes from the International League of Women Composers and the ARS Electronica festival in Brussels. She recorded for Cambria, Crystal, New Albion and other labels and played on Subotnick's Voyager CD-ROM, "All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis," which was written for her and members of the EAR Unit. Her New World Records solo album, "None but the Lonely Flute," includes works composed for her by Milton Babbitt and Mosko, who wrote all of his flute music for her. Other composers who wrote for her include Rand Steiger, William Roper, Ann Millikan and Louis Andriessen. She and Mosko directed the U.S. premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Sternklang" for the Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival in 1984. Mosko died at their Green Valley home in 2005 at age 58. The couple had no children. In addition to her father, Stone is survived by her mother, Dorothy B. Stone of Kingston; and two brothers, Jerome E. Stone of Kingston and Donald G. Stone of Mountain Top, Pa.”

Elias Tanenbaum (faculty member from 1971–2001) died on Thursday, January 10, 2008, in New Rochelle, New York, after a long illness. Mr. Tanenbaum was the founder of the Electronic Computer Music Studio at Manhattan School of Music. He composed over 140 works in all idioms, including music for concert, jazz, theater, television, ballet and electronic and computer music. His music has been performed extensively throughout this country, Europe and Japan and recordings of his music can be found on Albany, New World, MMC and other labels.Born in 1924 in Brooklyn, New York, Elias Tanenbaum studied trumpet at an early age and played with many jazz bands. He volunteered for the U.S. Army in World War II, and lost his right leg above the knee in Southern France in 1944. After being awarded a Purple Heart, he received a Bachelor’s from the Juilliard School of Music in 1949, and an M.A. from Columbia University, all on the G.I. bill. Besides music, he loved art, movies, reading, cooking, politics and comedy. He lived in New Rochelle, New York from 1959. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, pianist Mary Tanenbaum, his brother Ray, two children, David and Jacob, and three grandchildren, Zachary, Simon and Nicky.

Walter Turnbull (MM '68 / DMA '84, voice) who founded the Boys Choir of Harlem, passed away on March 23, 2007. As reported on www.1010wins.com: The Boys Choir of Harlem has announced funeral arrangements for their founder, Dr. Walter J. Turnbull. The wake will be held on Wednesday, March 28 from 2 p.m.until 8 p.m. at the Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Church on West 123rd Street. An additional viewing will be held Thursday, March 29 from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. and the funeral service will begin at 4 p.m. Here is a profile reprinted and excerpted from a commemorative brochure published at the time of Dr. Turnbull’s being awarded the 5th annual Heinz Award: “Dr. Walter Turnbull receives the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities for his creation of the Boys Choir of Harlem, an innovative program using music to educate and motivate inner city children to become disciplined, confident and successful adults. Dr. Turnbull himself has traveled a long and difficult road. From the fields of the South where he chopped cotton as a child, to graduating with honors in classical music and vocal performance from Mississippi's Tougaloo College, Dr. Turnbull eventually settled in New York City where he hoped for a career as an opera tenor. But that professional ambition was sidetracked when he took a job teaching music in Harlem to support himself. There he discovered that despite the lure of the streets and unstable home lives, "music caused kids to focus." Thus, the idea for the Boys Choir of Harlem was born. It began 30 years ago, when he gathered 20 youngsters in the basement of Ephesus Church. The Choir moved from being a performing ensemble for church services to one presenting concerts and recitals in public venues. Dr. Turnbull's infectious enthusiasm, his dedication, and his relentless enforcement of discipline paid handsome dividends. With its repertoire of Bach chorales, Mozart, spirituals and hymns, the Choir quickly became the pride of the area. And, just as important, it grew, actively reaching out to the community, opening auditions in local elementary schools, and providing academic tutoring and counseling to its members and their families. By the end of 1979, both a touring choir and the Girls Choir of Harlem had been established. The desire to prove that children from Harlem could succeed academically propelled Dr. Turnbull to create the Choir Academy of Harlem, opened in 1986 as an on-site school serving grades 4 through 8 ... Dr. Turnbull specializes in more than cultivating the love of music in children, he is equally dedicated to turning lives around. He and the Choir give at-risk youths a chance to succeed, an opportunity many of them might never have had without Dr. Turnbull's love and commitment. Most are from single-parent households receiving some type of government assistance. But the Choir teaches these youngsters to walk with pride and to hold their heads high, regardless of their circumstances. Dr. Turnbull has commented, "It's not just about the Choir. It's about discipline. It's about feeling good about yourself. That's hope." It is this spirit, combined with Dr. Turnbull's commitment to his craft, which has transformed a church basement dream into an international success. The path that long ago diverted him from his personal ambitions as a singer has led him instead to create an institution that elevates the art of song, while inspiring hope and pride in young people who otherwise might have none.”

* NOTE: for obituaries before 2007, please visit our
Archives page.
______________________________________________

Research, editing, and/or proofing assistance:

John Blanchard
Susan Meigs
Gina Taglieri

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