Class Notes

Eastman School of Music

1944
Margaret Vardell Sandresky (MM) won the 2004 American Guild of Organists’ distinguished composer award. She is professor emeritus of composition and theory at Salem College in Winston-Salem, N.C.

1960
John White (PhD) writes to say that he held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the University of Vienna, where he taught at the Institut für Musikwissenschaft. John and and his wife, Marjorie Manuel White ’60W (Mas), lived in Vienna for nearly five months last winter while he taught three courses at the institute. “We considered it a great privilege to live and work in what is arguably the most musical city in the world,” he says. “My wife and I, and our son, David, have all had previous Fulbright scholarships to Scandinavian countries—a total of five Fulbrights in our immediate family.” John also is the editor of New Music of the Nordic Countries.

1961
H. Bruce Lederhouse ’63 (MM) writes to say that he retired in July 2003 as director of music at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans, Mass. Bruce, an Episcopal priest, lives in New York City with his wife, Sue, who is a student at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church.

1963
William Anderson ’64 (MM) is the author of the 2004 edition of Integrating Music into the Elementary Classroom with Joy Lawrence and the editor of World Musics with Patricia Shehan Campbell. He also wrote several chapters for World Musics.

1965
A. Laurence Lyon (PhD) composed the title song for the 2003 Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD, Consider the Lilies. Ten performances of his 2001 oratorio, Visions of Light and Truth for chorus, orchestra, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, were given in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada in March 2003. A recording of the oratorio is available on CD and DVD.

1968
Bill Cahn (see ’69).

1969
Percussion group Nexus, featuring Bob Becker ’71 (MM) and Bill Cahn ’68, gave the premiere performance of Rituals for percussion and chamber orchestra, by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre in Memphis, Tenn.

1970
Frederick Koch (DMA) writes, “I have been named Distinguished Alumnus by the Cleveland Institute of Music, where I earned my bachelor’s degree. I also had a premiere of my Triptych for chamber orchestra with piano by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and baritone Andrew White and I performed concerts of my songs at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory and Akron State University. The Cleveland Museum of Art sponsored a concert of my music in June, and I also was a guest composer at Principia College in Elsah, Ill., my daughter’s alma mater.” . . . Geary Larrick (MM) is a music reviewer for Multicultural Review and the Journal of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors. In March, Geary celebrated 35 years of teaching music with a youth concert at Gesell Institute, featuring the premiere of two new compositions, Song for Gong and Toccata for Claves.

1971
Bob Becker (MM) (see ’69).

1972
Madeline Borquist is head of the keyboard department of a new music school, the Wayfarer Arts Academy of Carmel, in California. . . . Murray Foreman (MM) is organist at Grace Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pa. He also gives private organ and piano lessons. . . . Nancy Uscher has been appointed provost of the California Institute of the Arts. She will be chief academic officer and also will teach at the Institute’s music school.

1976
Julie Charland Ribchinsky ’78 (MM) is a pianist in the Connecticut Trio, which celebrated its 10th anniversary with a free concert at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Conn., in May.

1977
Robert Weeks participated in the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Ft. Worth, Texas, in May. Robert is a database manager who lives in Sheldon, Vt.

1978
Julie Charland Ribchinsky (MM) (see ’76).

1979
Keith Rittel, Washington State’s 2004 principal of the year, has become principal of Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, Wash. . . . Leslie Sawyer writes that she is in her third year with the Colorado Symphony and also teaches violin and chamber music at Regis University. “Another new adventure is becoming a foster parent to a 17-year-old girl,” she says.

1981
Two choral works by Dan Locklair (DMA), Pater Noster and Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God, are included on the new CD, My Spirit Sang All Day. . . featuring the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham, N.C. Dan’s Symphony of Seasons (Symphony No. 1), was given its North Carolina premiere in March by the North Carolina Symphony, and, also in March, his Salem Sonata was premiered by Boston organist Peter Sykes at the rededication of the 1800 Tannenberg organ in historic Old Salem in Winston-Salem, N.C. Dan was commissioned to compose a two-movement work for solo organ, In Mystery and Wonder (The Casavant Diptych), for the 125th anniversary of Casavant Frères organ builders in Quebec.

1982
Dave Flippo (MM) is a jazz pianist and composer for three Chicago bands—Flippomusic, the Dave Flippo Group, and Pong Unit. Dave also is the musical director of Unity Church of Lake County, which, he says, “gives me free reign to play any kind of music that even has a hint of a spiritual message to it (Hendrix, Flaming Lips, Carole King, Bach).” He teaches jazz piano and composition at the College of Lake County and the Swain Music Studios and is preparing to release his third CD. He and his wife, Melissa Leeb, have two children, Gabriel, 9, and Gillian, 7. His Web site is www.flippomusic.com. . . . Ed Reid ’87 (MM) is associate professor of music at the University of Arizona, where he is a trumpet instructor. Over the summer, he planned to take 18 students and a conductor to Bangkok, Thailand, to take part in the International Trumpet Guild competition. . . . Stephen Wogaman has been named executive director of the Allentown (Pa.) Symphony Association. Previously, he was the founding artistic director of New Performing Arts Inc., a performing arts education program based in Louisville, Ky.

1983
Steve Bramson (MM) has composed 191 original scores for the television show JAG—one of the longest runs in television history for a single orchestral composer on an hourlong drama. . . . Craig Cramer (DMA), professor of organ at the University of Notre Dame, was a featured performer in the St. Cecilia Cathedral’s Organ Festival series in Omaha, Neb., last spring. . . . Byron Stripling headlined the 27th annual guest artist concert at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill., last spring.

1984
Mark Hierholzer (MM) directed the Fredericksburg Chorale, the Arion German Men’s Chorus, and the Hermann Sons Mixed Chorus of Fredericksburg, Texas, at Fredericksburg’s 13th annual Van Der Stucken Music Festival in April. . . . Pianist Bryan Pezzone and singer Danielle Rose Dotzenrod performed at the Inland Empire Philharmonic’s season finale concert in Riverside, Calif., in April.

1987
Donna Coleman (DMA), head of keyboard at the Victorian College of the Arts in Australia, has released the CD, Rags to Riches: A Syncopated Century. . . . Michael Davis taught a master class in trombone at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh last April. He also performed with the school’s jazz ensembles at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. . . . Joe Gilman (MM) took the top prize in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition at the Jacksonville (Fla.) Jazz Festival last April. . . . Ed Reid (MM) (see ’82). . . . Mark Andrew Richards sang the role of Turiddu in the production of Cavalleria Rusticana at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts in New Orleans last April.

1988
Timpanist Stuart Chafetz (MM) was named an “emerging artist of 2004” by Symphony magazine. He has conducted orchestras across the country, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Austin Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic. . . . Jeff Knutson is principal trombonist for the U.S. Navy band and a member of the band’s brass quintet. . . . Paul Stencel (PhD) is a member of the Kenmore-Tonawanda (N.Y.) school board. Paul is an associate professor of humanities at Erie Community College, where he has taught for 14 years.

1989
Mike Goldberg is a meteorologist for WTVR Channel 6 in Richmond, Va. He is the founder of the chamber ensemble Crescendo with several members of the Richmond Symphony. Mike has played with the symphony several times as a substitute clarinetist.

1990
Douglas Cleveland, assistant professor of organ and church music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., gave a concert at the Coshockton (Ohio) Presbyterian Church last May. . . . Heath Hendershot ’99 (MM) is principal of Oxford (Conn.) Central School. . . . Drummer John Hollenbeck ’91 (MM) is bandleader of the jazz group Claudia Quintet. . . . Michael Kleinschmidt (MM) gave an organ recital at St. Michael’s Church in Marblehead, Mass., last May. Michael is director of music and organist of Trinity Church in Boston. . . . Violist Peter Sulski writes, “After 15 years in Europe and the Middle East, I’m back in my hometown of Worcester, Mass., where I’m on the faculty of the College of the Holy Cross, Clark University, University of Massachusetts–Lowell, and the Joy of Music Program. My performing projects include working with Mistral, the touring group of the Andover Chamber Music Series, and leading the Clark Sinfonia string ensemble. My wife, Anita, is expecting in September. I look forward to hearing from any classmates in the New England area.”

1992
Samantha George ’93 (MM) was a guest concertmaster with the Oregon Symphony last May. She is associate concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony. . . . Daniel Koontz writes, “My latest piece, a work for choirs and organ entitled The Life of Towns, will premiere in Binghamton, N.Y. I composed the piece on commission from the Choral Society of the Hamptons, which will perform the premiere.” . . . Timothy Lees is concertmaster and first violinist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

1994
Suzanne Kibby Nelson is director of alumni relations at the Kansas City (Mo.) Art Institute.

1995
Pianist Marcella Branagan (DMA), who teaches at Buffalo State College and Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., gave a recital in Buffalo last March as part of the Friends of Vienna series. . . . Christopher Wicks is organist and choir director at Jason Lee United Methodist Church in Salem, Ore.

1996
Patrick Long (DMA) was guest percussion soloist with the Mount Carmel (Pa.) Area Symphonic Band for their spring concert last April. Patrick is a professor of composition at Susquehanna University. . . . Helen Pridmore (DMA) was granted tenure and was promoted to associate professor at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. As a member of the group Motion Ensemble, she performed in New York City and toured western Canada last year. Motion Ensemble also released a CD of the music of John Cage. The group’s Web site is www.motionensemble.com. . . . Benjamin Rankin and Carla Lucarelli were married on March 27 in Paraty, Brazil. Benjamin works at Louis Vuitton Malletier in Paris. . . . Cellist Aron Zelkowicz is the founder of the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival, which took place last April. The festival focuses on the influence of klezmer music on Jewish composers.

1997
Eileen Shin (MM) and Roger Chen were married on April 3 in Lexington, Ky. Eileen is an associate at the New York City law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Roger is a staff advisor on financial risk management at Ernst & Young.

1998
Scott Provancher is executive director of the Louisville Orchestra. Previously, he was chief executive of the Rockford (Ill.) Symphony.

1999
Heath Hendershot (MM) (see ’90).

2000
Bassoonist Peter Kolkay (MM) performed as a guest artist with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra last March. Peter is visiting professor of bassoon at West Virginia University.

2001
Anthony Dean Griffey (MM) performed at his alma maters last spring—at the Eastman School in March and at Wingate University in North Carolina, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree, in April. . . . Jon Hamar (MM) is professor of bass at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. . . . Joseph Rackers (MM) performed in the University of South Carolina’s Southern Exposure contemporary music series last April. Joseph is visiting assistant professor of piano and chamber music at the school.