Class Notes
Eastman School of Music
1959
Katherine Hoover (see ’00).
1968
Bill Cahn, a member of the percussion group Nexus and Eastman associate professor of percussion, writes that he and Michael Burritt ’84, ’86 (MM), Eastman professor of percussion, are coproducing Percussion Rochester, a new festival that will take place at the Eastman School on May 4 and 5, 2012. “The theme of the festival is ‘Percussion with Others’—music featuring percussion in mixed-instrument ensembles and in various musical styles and genres. There will be ensemble performances—from duos to chamber and jazz ensembles to full symphony orchestra—all with an emphasis on percussion. A major highlight of the festival will be the awarding of the $5,000 John Beck Prize for a new and original composition to be selected by a distinguished panel of judges consisting of composers, conductors, and performers. In addition to the cash prize, there will be a premiere performance of the winning composition.” Bill invites classmates to www.percussionrochester.com for more information. . . . Webb Wiggins (MM), an associate professor of harpsichord at Oberlin College, writes that he has released a CD, Johann Jacob Froberger: Libro Quarto, 1656 (Smithsonian Friends of Music).
1981
Dan Locklair (DMA), composer-in-residence and professor of music at Wake Forest University, has written Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, which premiered in June at the American Guild of Organists Region IV Convention in Greensboro, N.C.
1983
Leonard Foy ’85 (MM), a trumpeter and professor of music at Depauw University, was invited to perform with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Russia in May.
1984
Michael Burritt ’86 (MM) (see ’68).
1985
Zachary Wadsworth has won a King James Bible Composition Award for his choral work Out of the South Cometh the Whirlwind, which contains several verses from the Book of Job. The work will be sung during a service at Westminster Abbey in November to celebrate the King James Bible. It will also be published by Novello.
1991
Timothy Sparks (MM), a tenor and a lecturer in the University of North Carolina music department, has released a CD, Gustav Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth) (Centaur Records).
1992
Christopher Theofanidis (MM) has been commissioned by the San Francisco Opera to compose an opera to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The opera, Heart of a Soldier, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist James Stewart, will premiere on the evening of Sept. 10.
1993
Marc Thayer ’95 (MM) writes: “I’ve left the St. Louis Symphony to become director of education with the Association of American Voices, a cultural diplomacy nongovernmental organization based in Houston and Bangkok. I’ll remain in St. Louis, where I’ll also begin a graduate program at Washington University.”
1995
Classical guitarist Peter Fletcher (MM) will perform at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City in January 2012. He will join tenor David Michael Schuster to perform The Divan of Moses-ibn-Ezra, a song cycle written in English by Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and translated from the works of 12th-century Spanish poet, philosopher, and rabbi Moses-ibn-Ezra. He will also perform a commission of Brazilian composer Clarice Assad, and pieces by Schubert, Bach, Michael Praetorius, and Federico Mompou.
1996
Composer Jeremy Gill writes that he’s released his second CD on the Albany Records label, Book of Hours/Helian. The recording features pianist Peter Orth in Book of Hours and baritone Jonathan Hays in Helian.
2000
Peter Kolkay (MM), an associate professor of bassoon at the University of South Carolina, has recorded a CD, BassoonMusic (CAG Records). He writes that the CD “consists of 21st-century American music for bassoon and piano. Joining me on the disc is pianist and former assistant dean of academic affairs at Eastman Alexandra Nguyen ’03E (DMA). Featured on the disc is Journey, by Katherine Hoover ’59E, which we premiered in Panama City in October 2009.” . . . Beth Meyers ’00RC, ’02E (MM), violist for the Janus Trio, sends an update. She writes that the trio’s recording I Am Not (New Amsterdam Records) was one of Time Out Chicago’s top 10 albums of 2010 to check out and one of National Public Radio’s top 10 albums of 2010 to buy. She adds: “Earlier this season, Janus toured through Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York to support the album and made a lot of new friends along the way. We were so glad to work with students and composers in miniresidencies that produced 10 excellent new works for the flute/viola/harp combination.”
2003
Alexandra Nguyen (DMA) (see ’00).
2005
Sarah Chan (DMA) was awarded the 2011 American Prize in piano performance for her performance of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25.
2008
Jo Nardolillo (DMA), a violinist and a member of the Tangletown Trio, has released a CD, Song Nouveau (LarkFrost Publishing), consisting of premiere recordings of works by composer and pianist Mark Olivieri and composer and mezzo-soprano Sarah Mattox. . . . Christopher Ziemba was awarded first place in the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition at the Florida Theatre as part of the kickoff event for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival last May.
