Class Notes

1937 David Diamond (see ’69).

1951 Alan Abel (see pages 58–59).

1952 William Pursell ’53 (MM), ’95 (DMA).

1955 Thomas Hohstadt ’62 (DMA) published Film Music: A Journey of Felt Meaning (Damah Media) in 2016 and The Age of Virtual Reality (Damah Media) in 2013. Both books are now available in Spanish. Thomas is a senior lecturer in the music department at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas.

1956 Carl Leazer (MM) sends an update. His older daughter, Kristin, and her husband, Keith Uhl, presented triplet granddaughters to Carl and his wife, Beverly, in 2015. Carl adds that his granddaughters “are now ready to graduate from preschool and on their way as very good singers. That’s Poppy’s opinion!”

1957 James Hughston (see pages 58–59).

1962 Thomas Hohstadt (DMA) (see ’55).

1965 Riana Ricci Muller ’70 (MM) writes, “I published an article titled ‘Violin Recital Programming from Paganini to Today’ in the August issue of the American String Teacher magazine. Also, my arrangement of The Battle of Trenton, by James Hewitt, is now available at Sheet Music Plus. The arrangement is for middle school string orchestra and percussion with added narration and optional staging.”

1967 Nancy Goodman Weintraub (see ’72).

1969 Vivien Goh writes, “Led by Kang (Joshua) Tan ’01, the Eastman Camerata, a group of Eastman alumni in Singapore, gave their debut performance in February at the Esplanade Recital Studio, featuring ‘Rounds for String Orchestra’ by [the late] David Diamond ’37 and Adeline Wong ’98.” Pictured (page 70) are (front row) Edward Tan ’07; Adeline; Lynette Lim ’84; Wern Yeow (Gerard) Chia’98, ’03 (MM); Cindy Lee Kim ’00, ’11 (PhD); Boon Hua Lien ’18 (DMA); Brett Stemple ’90; (back row) Vivien, Jan Wea Yeo ’94; Han Oh ’99; and Wang Xu, “our non-ESM bass player.”

1970 Geary Larrick (MM) sends an update: he wrote an article titled “Marimba Classics” that appears in the December 2019 issue of Rhythm! Scene, published by the Percussive Arts Society. He says his first article for the society was a history paper he wrote while a student at Eastman in 1967 that was published a year later in the journal Percussionist. . . Art Michaels has written A Practical Guide to Becoming a Composer: A Wealth of Advice, Tips, Strategies, and Examples (self-published). “I wrote the book mainly to help those early in their journeys as composers,” writes Art. . . . Riana Ricci Muller (MM) (see ’65).

1972 Jason Weintraub (MM) writes that he has retired from the Chautauqua Symphony at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state after 48 years as English hornist. For 25 of those years he also served as the personnel and business manager. Jason founded and still conducts the Chautauqua Community Band. He and his wife, Nancy Goodman Weintraub ’67, also have retired the “Weintraub Duo.” Since moving to Florida in 2004, the Weintraubs have performed more than 300 concerts for retirement communities and country clubs and as guest entertainers on Celebrity cruise ships. They now plan to focus on their main job of grandparenting.

1973 Ted Moore composed and arranged music for his jazz trio’s new CD, The Natural Order of Things (Origin Records). The Ted Moore Trio features Ted on drums, pianist Phil Markowitz ’74, and bassist Kai Eckhardt. The CD, recorded in 2019 at Skywalker Sound in California, marks 30 years of Ted and Phil’s musical partnership that began in 1970 at Eastman. Ted also continues as director of the jazz department at the University of California, Berkeley.

1977 Fredrica Prior Phillips ’78 (MM) has been named by the Texas Music Teachers Association to be a Music Teachers National Association Foundation Fellow in 2021. She also received the Texas association’s Teacher of the Year 2020 award.

1979 Composer Michael Isaacson (PhD) has been commissioned by the Schola Cantorum of Florida and its music director, Patricia Fleitas, to create “Una Vida Cubana,” a Cuban life cycle choral suite with interim dramatic monologues for soprano, tenor, alto, and bass chorus and soloists. He also has completed a new musical, Two Hans Please! , based on two Hans Christian Andersen stories: “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Ugly Duckling.” Michael wrote both the lyrics and the music.

1980 David Finck (see ’85). . . . Walt Weiskopf (see ’85).

1981 Dan Locklair (DMA) was commissioned in 2019 by the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to compose pieces in memory of Dale Volberg Reed. Chapel Hill Service premiered in February 2020.

1984 Darrell Grant was commissioned by Portland, Oregon’s experimental music organization Third Angle New Music to compose Sanctuaries, a site-specific chamber jazz opera. Darrell, an associate professor of music at Portland State University, writes, “Over the past four years, I’ve had the chance to immerse myself in the backstory of gentrification in Portland and beyond. . . . The paths of discovery that Sanctuaries has led me down are so numerous it’s hard to list them—cultural history, urban planning, critical race theory, redlining, urban renewal, community development, housing policy, restrictive covenants, genealogy, collaboration, grant writing, the history of the Black Panthers, composition, orchestration, notation, vernacular expression, slam poetry, exclusion laws, community organizing, storytelling, and identity are among them.” Blending elements of jazz, spoken word, and devised theater, Sanctuaries bears out the experience of displaced residents of color in Portland’s historically black Albina district. . . . Lynette Lim (see ’69).

1985 Trombonist John Fedchock (MM) has released his 10th album as an ensemble leader. Into the Shadows (Summit Records) features the John Fedchock NY Sextet, which includes tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf ’80 and bassist David Finck ’80. . . . Maria Schneider (MM) was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences last April.

1986 Lisa Albrecht, the second trombonist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, has released Sound & Resound (Barkeater Music), featuring solo and ensemble works for trombone and organ. She is joined on the recording by organist Amanda Mole ’09 and fellow members of the Hohenfels Trombone Quartet Heather Buchman ’87, Ben Aronson ’08, ’15 (DMA), and Matthew Halbert ’12 (MM). . . . Terry Rhodes (DMA) has been named dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before being named interim dean in 2019, she served for seven years as senior associate dean for fine arts and humanities in the college. She joined the faculty in 1987.

1987 Gregg August, a bassist, composer, arranger, and educator, has released a new recording, Dialogues on Race (Iacuessa Records), which explores the issue of race relations through instrumentals and vocal pieces inspired by the works of poets Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and others. Live performances of some tracks can be found on YouTube. . . . Heather Buchman (see ’86).

1989 Mike Goldberg (see ’91).

1990 Linda Neuberger Chatterton released her seventh CD, Songs and Dances for Solo Flute (Proper Canary), featuring works for solo flute spanning four centuries by Marin Marais, CPE Bach, Yuko Uebayashi, Arthur Honegger, and Eugène Bozza and including the recording premieres of works by Yip Ho, Kwen Austin, and Cristóbal Halffter. . . . Brett Stemple (see ’69).

1991 Thomas Lanners (DMA), a professor of piano at Oklahoma State University, sends an update. He was selected to serve as an adjudicator for the #StayHome International Piano Competition, an online event in June. The international panel included Andrei Pisarev, chair of the Moscow Conservatory piano faculty. Thomas was also selected to judge this year’s Shanghai International Young Artist Piano Competition, having judged the Music Teachers National Association Southern Division competitions last December. In the past few months, Thomas presented the monthly MTNA webinar session to the organization’s membership of 25,000; participated in a panel discussion as part of the first MTNA virtual conference; and presented sessions at both the Shanghai Conservatory International Piano Pedagogy Conference and the Shanghai Music Teachers Association Piano Pedagogy Conference, also teaching master classes at both events. Thomas is pictured at the Shanghai Conservatory in October 2019. Canadian Music Teacher published his feature article in September 2019. . . . Paul Merkelo, the principal trumpet with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for the past 25 years and an active soloist, has released a new CD, The Enlightened Trumpet (Sony Classical). He is joined on the album by the UK’s Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and its founder and music director Marios Papadopoulos. Paul was interviewed in February on the Richmond, Virginia, public radio station VPM Music by Mike Goldberg ’89, a classical music host at the station. . . . Robin Kornblith Sneider (see ’91 College).

1993 Kelly Hall-Tompkins was selected by New York City classical radio station WQXR as one of the “20 For 20” Artists to Watch for the Upcoming Year for 2020. She joined fellow musicians cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and violinist Elena Urioste and others. She also was scheduled to make her debut as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony in two concerts and her nonprofit Music Kitchen—Food for the Soul, an organization she founded to bring top artists in concert to homeless shelters, was scheduled to give the world premiere of a project the organization commissioned, Forgotten Voices, in association with Carnegie Hall. . . . David Klement (MM) writes that after completing his doctorate in May 2018 at the University of Northern Colorado, he has begun a tenure-track position as an assistant professor of choral studies at the University of Idaho’s Lionel Hampton School of Music, where he directs choirs, teaches choral and instrumental conducting and secondary choral methods, and actively composes choral works for local and national choirs.

1994 Carter Pann (see ’97). . . . Jan Wea Yeo (see ’69).

1995 ComposerRobert Paterson and the American Modern Ensemble premiered his new work, The Four Seasons (American Modern Recordings), at Carnegie’s Weill Hall in April. The performance celebrated Robert’s 50th birthday as well as the release of The Four Seasons CD, which was available for the first time at the performance.

1996 Kurt Fowler (DMA) (see ’97).

1997 Jennifer Blyth (DMA) (see ’97). . . . Jennie Oh Brown (DMA) is featured on two commercially released albums with Innova Recordings. Her solo album, Giantess, features works by Carter Pann ’94. Kate Carter ’05 (MM) also performs. Jennie is also featured on the album Vox as a member of the Heare Ensemble with Kurt Fowler ’96 (DMA) and Jennifer Blyth ’97 (DMA) performing music by George Crumb, Narong Prangcharoen, Stacy Garrop, and Carter Pann.

1998 Wern Yeow (Gerard) Chia ’03 (MM) (see ’69). . . . Adeline Wong (see ’69).

1999 Jonathan Bumpus (MM) (see ’20). . . . Han Oh (see ’69).

2000 Cindy Lee Kim ’11 (PhD) (see ’69).

2001 Kang (Joshua) Tan (see ’69).

2003 Wern Yeow (Gerard) Chia (MM) (see ’69).

2004 Composer and bassist Dan Loomis (MM) released a new album in February, Job’s Trials: A Jazz Song Cycle (Self-released), based on the biblical Book of Job. Along with Dan on bass, the performers are singers Song Yi Jeon and Yoon Sun Choi, guitarist Jeff Miles, drummer Jared Schonig, and actor Daniel Breaker as narrator. In addition to performing and recording with his own bands, Dan is also an active sideman based in New York City and has performed in all of New York’s major clubs and at Jazz at Lincoln Center in addition to appearing on stages across Europe, Canada, Australia, China, and throughout the United States.

2005 Kathleen (Kate) Carter (MM) (see ’97).

2006 J. (JG) Miller performed on a recording of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with the French horn section of the US Army Field Band, which was included as one of three songs in the NASA astronauts’ playlist for their ride to Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex last May to board SpaceX’s spacecraft for the first manned space launch from the US since 2011.

2007 Mike Cottone has released his second CD, Thank You (self-produced). . . . Olukola (Kola) Owolabi (DMA) joined Notre Dame’s Department of Music and Sacred Music faculty in fall 2020 as a professor of music and head of the graduate organ studio. Kola previously taught courses in organ performance, improvisation, and sacred music at the University of Michigan, and before that he taught at Syracuse University. . . . Edward Tan (see ’69). . . . Christopher Thibdeau has been named artistic director of Boston’s Project Step, a string training education program for talented young musicians from communities that are historically underrepresented in classical music.

2008 Ben Aronson ’15 (DMA) (see ’86).

2009 Nick Finzer has released Cast of Characters (Outside in Music), his third recording. The nine-track CD is on his own record label. Nick’s compositions are brought to life by his Hear & Now sextet. . . . Amanda Mole (see ’86).

2010 Gregory Millar (DMA) writes that he made his acting debut in the film In the Shadow of the Moon, released in 2019 and streaming on Netflix. He appears during the opening sequence of the film as a concert pianist whose recital takes a horrifying turn. The scene features Gregory’s actual performance of a solo piece by Jeff Grace. The film was shot in Toronto, where Gregory lives with his wife and fellow Eastman graduate Lisa Raposa (DMA). . . . Kara LaMoure (see ’11). . . . Matt Podd (MM), a pianist, composer, arranger, and music director based in Brooklyn, organized a performance of a virtual chorus performing “How Can I Keep from Singing” with a new arrangement and orchestration as a way to bring an uplifting message during the last spring’s pandemic shutdown. Matt writes on his website that he and his brother Adam “ended up with over 100 singers in the choir and 35 musicians in the orchestra, all longing to make something together, even if the process was in isolation.” . . . André Washington has been appointed to the board of the Illinois Arts Council agency by the governor of Illinois. The council is charged with developing the state’s public arts policy, fostering culturally diverse programs, and approving grant expenditures to artists and arts organizations throughout the state. André is an associate in the Global Finance group at the law firm Sidley Austin and a board member of SkyART, a nonprofit that provides free visual arts programming to underprivileged children on the south side of Chicago.

2011 Cindy Lee Kim (PhD) (see ’69). . . . As members of the wind quintet Windsync, Emily Tsai, Kara LaMoure ’10, and Julian Hernandez were guests of the Eastman School’s Dr. James E. Clark Chamber Music Residency for 2019–20. The quintet gave a public performance and a public master class and presented workshops and private coaching sessions for Eastman students during a three-day campus visit last March.

2012 Matthew Halbert (MM) (see ’86). . . . Dongryul Lee was named a 2020–21 postdoctoral researcher for the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition at the University of Chicago beginning this fall. He received his DMA in music composition from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign earlier in 2020. Dongryul will develop new works for the center’s resident Grossman Ensemble and guest artists, and he will teach an undergraduate course, provide music lessons, and participate in the center’s workshops and events.

2015 Ben Aronson (DMA) (see ’86).

2016 Arda Cabaoglu (DMA) completed a long-duration performance art project, Forced Misophonia: BLAST BLOW PULSE, in which he improvised for eight hours a day. The project took place in Istanbul. The four-and-a-half-week performance was recorded, with a clip available at instagram.com/p/B9hF4prgg9T/. . . . Mezzo-soprano Margaret (Sun-Ly) Pierce won first place in the Houston Grand Opera’s 32nd annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers Concert of Arias. More than 650 singers from around the world applied to the competition. The concert was the final event in a months-long process of selecting winners. Sun-Ly completed the graduate vocal arts program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

2017 Peter Folliard (DMA) has been named the inaugural dean of the School of Music at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Peter has been the conductor of the Augustana Orchestra since 2017 and was instrumental in establishing the university’s recording studio. Before joining Augustana, he served as interim director of orchestras at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam. . . . Stephen Morris ’20 (MM) (see ’20).

2018 Mitchell Hutchings (DMA) is a tenure-track assistant professor of music at Florida Atlantic University. Last February 2020, an alumna of his voice studio competed in the semifinals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In June, CSMusic.net (Classical Singer online) published a double interview with Mitchell and one of his voice students, who credits Mitchell with saving his life after Mitchell observed early warning signs of thyroid cancer. . . . Boon Hua Lien (DMA) (see ’69).

2020 Denin Koch (MM) wrote the song “b reactor” after a 2016 visit to the Hanford Site in Washington, home to the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world and near his hometown of Richland. Plutonium manufactured at the site was used in Trinity, the first nuclear explosion, and in Fat Man, the bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan. In an interview with Northwest Public Broadcasting, Denin says that one of his Eastman professors encouraged him to arrange “b reactor” for a big band. Doing so inspired him to write re: manhattan project, a 10-movement song cycle for jazz quintet. The quintet, beta particle, that Denin brought together for the project consists of Jonathan Bumpus ’99 (MM) on trombone, pianist Seiji Yamashita, bassist Robert MacPartland (MM), and drummer Stephen Morris ’17 (MM), as well as James Marshall, a current graduate student at Eastman, who plays viola on the final track. The CD was released on August 6, 2020, 75 years after the Little Boy bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Denin is beginning a doctorate in jazz studies at the University of Northern Colorado this fall.