Class Notes
Eastman School of Music
1963
William Anderson ’65 (MM) has published the ninth edition, with Joy Lawrence, of Integrating Music into the Elementary Classroom (Cengage Learning).
1970
Geary Larrick (MM) writes that he’s published a review of a book by Angela Smith, Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History (Rowman & Littlefield), in the December 2013 edition of the Music Educators Journal.
1971
Composer Robert Lau (MA) was awarded a 2013 Alumni Citation by his college alma mater, Lebanon Valley College. Robert taught at Lebanon Valley College for more than 20 years, and has written more than 200 published choral and keyboard works.
1976
Andrew Dabczynski, professor of music education and chair of the music education division at Brigham Young University, has won the university’s Joseph E. White Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship. He’s written more than 100 published books and compositions, and directs Brigham Young’s New Horizons Orchestra, an ensemble for beginning adult string students and a teaching lab for music education students.
1980
In our January-February issue, we reported that David Scott Allen ’81 (MM) had married Mark Sammons, his partner of 18 years. He included a photo, which we inadvertently omitted. We include the photo in this issue, with apologies to David for the oversight. As David previously wrote, “The wedding took place in the garden of Rochester classmate David Higgins ’80RC, ’87 (PhD) and his husband, David Miles, in San Diego in July.”
1983
Michael Hayden (MM), director of choirs at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., is one of five teachers named a 2014 California Teacher of the Year. He conducts four choirs, two a cappella groups and teaches music appreciation. In April, he’ll be taking 55 students to France and England, where they’ll sing Mass in the Notre Dame and Chartres Cathedrals, and perform concerts in Canterbury Cathedral and St. Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle.
1984
Pianist Bryan Pezzone and composer Bob Dusek have released a CD, Runes: A Piano Fantasy (Ravello Records). It’s their first collaboration in 25 years.
1988
Eric Lyon (MA) has been hired as an associate professor of practice in Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts and Cinema. He’ll teach courses in orchestration, music technology, and digital sound manipulation.
1989
Lance Hulme (MM), who teaches theory and composition at North Carolina Central University, writes that the Ablaze Records Orchestral Masters Series selected his work, Sirens’ Song, for inclusion on its Orchestral Masters, Volume I, CD. Ablaze Records issues calls for scores to discover high quality orchestral works that haven’t been recorded and mastered for a commercially released CD. Sirens’ Song, along with seven works by other winning composers, was performed by the Czech Republic’s Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, with Mikel Toms conducting, for the recording. Lance writes that the piece, which is his fourth orchestral recording, was commissioned by the University of Oklahoma Philharmonic.
1994
Matthew Marullo (MA) has written his second novel, Gludman’s Proof (CreateSpace), a mystery in which four scientists try to prove mathematically the existence of heaven.
1995
Classical guitarist Peter Fletcher (MM) released Edvard Grieg (Centaur Records) in February. In January, he embarked on a national tour promoting the recording.
1999
Flutist and arranger Monica Williams has released a CD, Mystic Places (Phoenix Rising) with pianist and composer Wendy Loomis. Monica and Wendy perform as the duo Phoenix Rising.
2001
Violinist Yasmin Craig Vitalius (MM) joined the faculty of Bowdoin College. She writes: “I still play regularly with the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra and maintain my private violin studio as well. Along with my husband, Brit, Coltrane, 5, and Allegra, 2, keep me laughing and busy. Life is good!”
2003
Dave Stringham ’11 (PhD), assistant professor of music at James Madison University, is a coeditor of Musicianship: Composing in Band and Orchestra (GIA Publications). The book includes essays by 35 teachers and composers and offers an introduction to the use of composition in instrumental music instruction from the elementary through the college levels.
2013
Rob McManmon, who graduated with a degree in guitar performance and education and was a member of the University’s cycling team, writes that he’ll lead a team of 30 cyclists on a cross-country bike trip to promote and help build affordable housing. The trip, organized by the Philadelphia nonprofit Bike and Build, will begin in Providence, R.I., in June, and end in San Francisco, Calif., in August. Rob has set up a webpage at http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/7275. He adds that he’s the fourth Rochester graduate to participate in Bike and Build, the first Eastman graduate to do so, and the first Rochester graduate to be selected as a trip leader. Other Rochester alumni who’ve completed cross-country rides with Bike and Build are Ryan Brown ’12RC, Karla Sordia Lozano ’13RC, and Varun Sehgal ’10RC, ’11S (MS).
